The Fortress of Bir Hakeim served as one of the most important strongholds of the Free
French Army against General Erwin Rommel’s Panzerarmee Afrika. In May 1942 around 3700
soldiers of the 1st Free French Brigade faced over 10 times the amount of Axis troops, besieging
the fortress. It was crucial that the French hold the fortress long enough to slow down
the advance of the Panzer Korps, which goal was to capture British-held Tobruk, the strategic
port to the north east. What followed was a true David versus Goliath
battle, with the Free French desperately holding out against the Axis troops. Eventually they
saw no other option but to break out of the fortress in night-time and quite literally
making an incredibly dangerous dash for it.
-intro-
Background
During the early summer of 1940, the French had suffered a humiliating defeat as the battle
of France had lasted for a mere 6 weeks before the Germans marched into Paris. As the war
progressed, French operations in theatres outside of Europe continued. A brigade from
the Free French Legion was deployed to the British 8th Army in North Africa.
2 years after the taking of France, the War theatre in North Africa reached a critical
point. The 13th First Free French Demi-Brigade, under the command of General Marie-Pierre
Koenig, held themselves up in the fortress of Bir Hakeim, in the Libyan desert. Now,
a German and Italian offensive against the British army in the area led to the Battle
of Gazala. The so-called Gazala Line consisted of a series of dense minefields linking a
number of fortresses that were designed to withstand large enemy attacks for multiple
days. The goal of the Axis powers was to capture
the strategically located port of Tobruk. General Erwin Rommel figured that instead
of doing the obvious, namely attacking the northern line of defence, he would launch
a decoy attack in the north and instead concentrate his main attack on the southern line, against
the Fortress of Bir Hakeim, manned by Koenig’s troops.
The 3700 men stationed in the fortress were going to have to fight off the much larger
Afrika Korps. The defenders of the fortress weren’t all native Frenchmen by the way.
There were many soldiers from French Equatorial Africa, a battalion from Tahiti and Syria,
and even some German political refugees that decided to join the French foreign legion
in the wake of the Nazi party overtaking Germany. Besides Koenig, another noteworthy commander
was the emigré Russian prince, Lieutenant-Colonel Amilakvari. He was a Georgian that had fled
the Russian Revolution of 1917, eventually joining the French foreign legion in 1924.
A true mixed bunch. Manning the ruined fortress, located at the
southernmost point of the British 8th Army’s defensive line in the Western Desert, the
Legion was facing a force nearly 10 times the size of their own.
As you can see on this map, the fortress of Bir Hakeim was surrounded by minefields, forcing
the Germans to attack the fortress at certain positions. The French positioned their heaviest
artillery and strongest defences in these pockets. Furthermore, Koenig, a veteran of
the First World War, had ordered his troops to dig a network of shelters and trenches.
These were large enough to house all 3700 men manning the fort.
Now, in the grander scheme of things, the French and British weren’t sure where Rommel
would concentrate his main attack. But if Rommel did decide to take his Afrika Korps
to attack the Gazala Line from the south, Bir Hakeim would become the centre of defending
Tobruk from the Axis powers. Rommel launched his offensive on the 26th
of May, a bit east to Bir Hakeim. The Indian Motor Brigade that manned a box several miles
to the east was overrun without too much trouble. The Axis now rapidly advanced towards the
east. It seemed that Bir Hakeim would in fact become the main battleground against Rommel’s
Afrika Korps.
The First Battles
As the Legion was manning the fortress, Koenig sent out several patrols in order to keep
an eye on possible advancing German troops. On May 26th he received word from one of those
patrols that a large German force, consisting of both Panzers and Infantry, was approaching
the fort. It would turn out to be the Italian 102nd Ariete and part of Rommel's Afrika Korps,
maneuvering themselves for the imminent attack on the French.
The Italian division consisted of 220 light and 50 medium tanks. On the early morning
of the 27th a small part of this division attacked, unsupported by any infantry. Evading
the minefields they charged into the corridors in between them, exactly as the French had
hoped. They charged directly into the 50-odd 75mm anti-tank guns positioned there. Now,
the French allowed the Italian tanks to come as close as 350 metres to the fortress. Then,
they unleashed a barrage of fire onto them until every last tank was forced to a standstill.
Nevertheless, 10 Italian tanks managed to break through the defences. Legionnaires now
jumped onto the tank hulls as soon as they could, firing into the sight slits at point-blank
range. That day, the Italians lost 32 tanks and over 100 men. The legionnaires now dashed
forward to capture the crew of Italian tanks, although barely any were alive - most died
from the impact of the anti-tank guns, exploding mines, or the inferno on the battlefield.
Over the next 4 days heavy fighting concentrated itself to the northeast of Bir Hakeim against
the British. The French defenders enjoyed relative quiet. The British Eight Army seemed
to have gained the upper hand and General Koenig was ordered to send a motorized column
to the west - across the desert - in order to besiege and seize Ronda Segnali, a position
held by the Italians. Unfortunately for the French, Rommel anticipated on their actions.
As the bigger battle for the Gazala Line was continuing, Rommel himself began to direct
his attention towards the small French unit holding Bir Hakeim.
From their perspective it was clear: if they didn’t capture this small thorn in their
side, they were prone to have their supply lines cut off, or even worse: suffer an attack
from behind. A massive artillery and aerial bombardment should quickly solve the issue
of this slight annoyance, Rommel figured. The German 90th Light Division and Italian
Trieste Division were ordered south, in order to surround Bir Hakeim. As they were moving
into their positions, the French were subject to the immense noise of dozens of Stuka bombers
approaching. Fortunately, the underground shelters of the fort could house the entire
garrison - it really did save their life: the Stuka’s bombed the Fort, wave after
wave, chipping away at its defences. The Stuka bombing raid was only the beginning of a much
larger offensive, however.
Besieged
On the morning of June 2, the men in Bir Hakeim were surprised that instead of a Stuka raid,
2 Italian officers approached the battered fortress with a white flag hoisted. Koenig
went to meet them, and the Italians requested he’d surrender with all his troops. Koenig
refused to do so - and the day after it wasn’t the Italians but Erwin Rommel himself that
came to visit the fort. He didn’t impress Koenig, who once again refused to surrender.
As a response to the refusal of surrender Bir Hakeim once again became the target of
German and Italian artillery shelling. The aerial bombardments stagnated, however: in
the air the Stukas were surprised to meet Hawker Hurricanes of the Desert Air Force.
They were quickly routed, leaving Bir Hakeim relatively unscathed from aerial assault.
Fortunately for the French Legion in the fort, the British managed to resupply them with
water and ammunition during the night: they weren’t completely isolated.
4 days after the initial request for surrender, Bir Hakeim was once again subjected to a large
artillery bombardment. Following the bombardment, an infantry attack was launched against the
southernmost strongpoint of the fort. The infantry had to traverse over open ground,
however, and was rapidly mowed down by machine-gun fire from the fortress. Attempting to launch
a second wave of an infantry assault, these men too were mowed down with relative ease.
The situation inside the fort started to deteriorate, regardless of the fact they managed to fend
off the attackers. On June 8 the last convoy smuggling water into the fort managed to get
through - but from now on water was rationed. Considering the heat, combined with the continuous
shelling, it certainly was taking its toll. The next waves of infantry attacks were supported
by heavy tanks. Bir Hakeim’s defences were being chipped away at. An observation post
was overrun and in some areas hand-to-hand combat broke out where Axis forces managed
to break through the lines of defence. All the french could do was counterattack as best
as they could. During the night of June 9 Koenig did something
radical: he started planning for a break out. He saw that as the only viable option for
survival. The next day, the fort was once again subject to infantry charges and enemy
tanks that tried to strongarm their way into the fort. The French did receive aerial support
from Hurricanes, picking off Axis infantry. The situation became more desperate by the
hour however. Heavy fighting continued far into dusk and Koenig decided that this night
was the night they’d attempt to break out of the fortress.
The Break-out
That night, small scouting troops were sent out in close proximity of the fortress to
clear out the minefields. There wasn’t much time, so only the mines that could pose a
problem for the colonne about to leave were swiftly dug up. Now, initially to safeguard
them from the Stuka bombings, trucks had been stored underground inside the fort. These
were now dug out and placed in position. The French climbed into the trucks, which formed
a long row of silent silhouettes in the night. And then, the defenders launched a series
of machine-gun fire at the Axis positions. It masked the sound of the engines that started
roaring, ready for the break-out. The legionnaires of the 13th Demi-brigade
led the breakout. The trucks had to follow them in a line, as the sappers had only been
able to clear a narrow corridor of mines. The Axis powers, realizing what was going
on, shot flares in the air, illuminating the Allied convoy trying to get through their
own minefield. Machine gun fire opened against the column. In turn, the drivers of the truck
panicked. The trucks, all neatly lined up, ended up in a traffic jam making them ideal
targets for the Axis machine guns. Quite literally sitting ducks to the Axis machine gun assault,
the line of trucks was quite literally stranded in the middle of their own minefield. Several
trucks tried to leave the column and drive to safety, only to trigger the mines that
detonated and blew several trucks to pieces. Some men charged at the Axis machine gun nests,
many of them mowed down as a result. It was a nightmarish spectacle.
In a last-ditch attempt, Koenig ordered the Bren gun carriers to give the Axis powers
hell. They managed to blow a hole in the Axis lines, upon which Koenig now ordered his trucks
to speed through it. His own car was riddled with bullets, yet he made it into the open
desert without being wounded. Together with the trucks that managed to get out of that
hell-hole, they now drove to the west of Bir Hakeim, linking up with the Eighth Army.
In the end, a bit over 2500 French had managed to escape the siege of Bir Hakeim in an incredibly
daring breakout. Around 140 had lost their lives. The breakout had a big impact on the
French morale, with Churchill and de Gaulle praising the operation. Even Hitler had to
admit that “After the Germans, the French are the best fighters”.
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