Gott’s Desert Group smash through a light screen of Axis troops. They slip around the
German and Italian flank. It’s May 15th 1941, and Gott achieves complete surprise
as Operation Brevity begins.
The Centre Group appear out of nowhere at the Halfaya Pass. 2nd Battalion Scots Guards
and a squadron of Matilda tanks from 4th Royal Tank Regiment, overrun the Italian positions.
The Italians are startled but manage to knock out 7 Matilda tanks before they’re subdued.
The Coast Group, a mixed force of mostly infantry and anti-tank units, moves across broken ground
towards the Halfaya Pass and engages the enemy. But the Italians fight viciously and manage
to hold the British at bay. Much to Gott’s displeasure, they hold on for several hours.
The British move forwards. Bir Wair and Masaid are taken by the Centre Group. But the Germans
at Fort Capuzzo stand their ground. Despite losing contact with their tank support, 1st
Battalion Durham Light Infantry attack, and even with a tough defence by the German forces
there, Capuzzo falls.
Gott’s orders are to drive the enemy from Sollum and Fort Capuzzo. If this proves successful,
he has permission to move towards Tobruk and possibly relieve the siege. But he must preserve
his men for a future operation, an operation that his superior needs to be victorious.
For Gott, everything seems to be going ok. The northern end of the Halfaya pass isn’t
taken, but otherwise the attack is proceeding to plan.
However, his enemy isn’t willing to sit there and let him win. General Erwin Rommel
has a man on the ground that he can rely on to stop Gott.
Herff, German Colonel, now goes head to head with Gott. Herff reacts by withdrawing from
Capuzzo towards Bardia. During this move, he’s hit on the flank by fire coming from
7th Armoured Brigade, part of the Desert Group.
German recon units shadow the 7th Armoured Brigade, thinking the cruiser tanks are the
heavily armoured Matildas. Herff considers a flanking move but instead decides to stay
where he is, and resist the British attacks. Under pressure though, Herff sends a report
back to his commander, exaggerating the strain his forces are under.
Rommel sees this attack as the beginning of the British attempt to relieve Tobruk, and
reacts accordingly. He shores up Axis forces at the Tobruk siege, then promises Herff that
vital reinforcements are on their way. With said promise, Rommel orders Herff to counter-attack,
now!
The Coast Group finally take the Halfaya Pass, collecting 124 prisoners from their enemy.
But for the British, 9 tanks have been lost so far, and in their weakened state the Centre
Group isn’t able to push beyond Capuzzo.
With his orders to counter-attack, Herff sends 2nd Battalion of 5th Panzer Regiment to Fort
Capuzzo. And 1st Battalion Durham Light Infantry take heavy losses from German Panzer counter-attacks
there.
Gott orders the Desert Group near Sidi Azeiz to relieve the pressure on the Durhams defending
Fort Capuzzo. And in what proves to be a serious reverse, 2nd Royal Tank Regiment takes hits
from Herff’s Panzers. Unable to delay Herff for long, they’re forced to pull back to
Sidi Suleiman.
As a consequence of this major failure, the Durhams are driven back to Musaid, and Fort
Capuzzo once again falls into Axis hands. Worse, Gott receives word from Bletchley Park
stating that Rommel has ordered a counterattack, and realises that the Centre Group is sat
on exposed ground.
Gott considers the possibility of withdrawal, but feels like he doesn’t have the authority
to make that decision. At 2100hrs, he sends a request to his superior, General Beresford-Peirse
at the Western Desert Force Headquarters asking him what he should do.
Gott ponders the situation. He knows that if he keeps the Centre Group where it is,
it won’t be able to resist a determined German counter-attack. But if he withdraws,
it would leave the Desert Group alone to fight the Germans.
It’s his first independent command as a Brigadier, and he doesn’t want to fail.
Brevity is meant to be a raid. His orders are to preserve his forces. And he knows the
Centre Group no longer has the strength to fight the Germans.
It’s a tough decision, and without orders just before 0200hrs on May 16th, Gott decides
to withdraw the Centre Group to the top of the Halfaya Pass. Then at 0245hrs, Beresford-Peirse
finally replies and orders Gott to hold his positions.
The General wants time to examine aerial photographs of the situation before making a decision.
It’s unclear whether he knows about Bletchley Park’s information regarding Rommel’s
counterattack, but what is clear is that Beresford-Peirse is too late. Gott’s Centre Group is already
withdrawing.
With the withdrawal of the Centre Group from Herff’s southern flank, Herff now has a
choice as well. He is free to move against either the Centre Group, or 7th Armoured Brigade
and the rest of the Desert Group.
It was then, at 0300hrs, that the reinforcements from Tobruk arrive. Kampfgruppe Kramer comes
to a halt near Sidi Azeiz. And their presence places 7th Armoured Brigade in a precarious
situation between Herff’s 2nd Panzer Battalion and Kramer’s 5th Panzer Battalion.
Kampfgruppe Kramer slips around the British and reaches Fort Capuzzo at 6:30am. And at
8:00am makes contact with Herff. With these vital reinforcements, Herff hopes that with
their powers combined, the two kampfgruppen can pummel the British into submission.
Gott holds the Desert Group at Sidi Azeiz and scouts out the German positions. The Germans
don’t come forwards for most of the day and Gott can’t understand why the Germans
won’t attack. But Herff knows the exact reason. The issue is - both kampfgruppen have
stopped dead in their tracks - because of a lack of fuel.
To quote Butler - “Had Gott known of this and immediately ordered an attack by the 7th
Armoured Brigade and the 22nd Dragoons Guards, he could have destroyed almost half of the
Afrika Korps’ tank strength. As it was, none of his reconnaissance units divined the
reason for von Herff and Kramer’s immobility, and the opportunity passed.”
Herff and Kramer are finally able to move at around 4pm and engage the Desert Group.
5th Panzer Battalion fights a company of cruiser tanks from 7th Armoured Brigade, with both
groups repelling each other and withdrawing.
Gott now sees how exposed 7th Armoured Brigade is in the middle of the desert and orders
the Brigade to fall back as well. Delaying Herff’s advance until dark on the 16th,
7th Armoured Brigade withdraws to their start point.
Having stopped the British attack, the Germans halt on the line from Sidi Omar- Sidi Suleiman
- Sollum. They’ve lost the Halfaya Pass to the British, but that is all.
British casualties are heavier than the Germans. The Durham Light Infantry lose 160 casualties
alone. British tank losses amount to 5 Matilda tanks and 13 cruisers damaged or destroyed.
The Germans record 12 killed, 61 wounded and 185 missing, with 3 panzers destroyed. While
Italian casualty records for this battle were subsequently lost, the British claim to have
taken almost 350 Italian prisoners - which wasn’t an unrealistic figure considering
what happened during Operation Compass.
Brevity is over. A short engagement, but an important one in the history of the Western
Desert Campaign. Or is it? Most historians conclude that Brevity is a failure and not that important.