Operation Crusader 1941: Rommel in Retreat (Campaign)

97 Pages·2010·10.67 MB·English

by  Ken Ford

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Campaign • 220 accountsofhistory’sgreatestconflicts,detailingthecommand
strategies,tacticsandbattleexperiencesoftheopposing
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CaMpaIgn • 220
OPERATION
CRUSADER 1941
rommel in retreat
KEN FORD Illustrated by John WhIte
SerieseditorMarcusCowper
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Firstpublishedin2010byOspreyPublishing ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
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CONTENTS
ORIGINS OF THE BATTLE 5
CHRONOLOGY 9
OPPOSING COMMANDERS 12
britishcommanders axiscommanders
OPPOSING ARMIES 18
britishforces axisforces ordersofbattle
OPPOSING PLANS 25
britishplans axisplans
OPERATION CRUSADER 33
thebritishattack theclashofarmour rommeldriveseast
theinfantrybattle rommelinretreat
AFTERMATH 90
THE BATTLEFIELD TODAY 93
FURTHERREADINGANDBIBLIOGRAPHY 94
INDEX 95
3
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April 1941: Rommel’s first offensive pushes Wavell’s forces back to Egypt and
isolates the port of Tobruk
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ORIGINS OF THE BATTLE
On 22 June 1941, General Archibald Wavell, Commander-in-Chief Middle
East,receivedatelegramfromtheBritishPrimeMinister,WinstonChurchill,
which relieved him of his command. Churchill had been disappointed for
some time with the progress being made in North Africa and the Eastern
Mediterranean, but it was the recent failure of Operation Battleaxe that
promptedhimtomakethemove.ThePrimeMinisterhadhighexpectations
fortheoutcomeoftheoperation,believingthattherecentreinforcementof
BritishforcesinthetheatreputWavellinastrongpositiontostrikehardat
theItaliansandGermansgatheredontheborderbetweenEgyptandLibya.
HehopedthattheblowagainstRommelwouldbedecisiveandwouldresult
inthereliefofthebesiegedportofTobrukandtheeliminationofAxistroops
fromCyrenaica.Whentheattackendedinfailurejusttwodaysafterithad
begun,ChurchilldecidedthatWavellwouldhavetogo.
Themovewasunfair,forWavellhadactuallyperformedwellduringhis
two years as commander-in-chief. His was not an easy command, for in
additiontohisNorthAfricanresponsibilitiesWavellalsohadtocounterAxis
movesbytheGermansinGreeceandCreteaswellasthosebyVichyFrench
forces in Syria and Iraq. He had begun well and had achieved remarkable
successesatthestartofthewaragainsttheItalianswhenheconqueredalmost
the whole of Italian East Africa. Under his command, Lieutenant-General
O’ConnorhadpushedbacktheItaliansfromtheEgyptianborderandtaken
theCyrenaicaprovinceofLibyaalongwith200,000prisoners.However,the
abritishartillerytractorpullsa
limberandgunacrossthe
desertreadyforthenextbattle.
thecrewofthe25-pdrfield
gunrideontopoftheirstores
andkitontheoutsideofthe
MorrisC84x4Quad.(IWM,
e7245)
5
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situation in North Africa deteriorated rapidly when Italian troops in the
regionwerereinforcedbythearrivalofGermanunitsledbyErwinRommel,
themasterofarmouredwarfare.AllofO’Connor’sgainsweresoonretaken
when Rommel went on the offensive with the Italians and his German
5.leichte-DivisionandpushedtheBritishbackintoEgypt.Theonlygainthat
Wavell held onto as the Axis tanks sped eastwards was the port of Tobruk.
Itremainedcutoffintherearunderastateofcompletesiege.Itsgarrisonwas
too weak to achieve a breakout and Rommel could not break in with the
forceshehadavailable,althoughhetriedseveraltimes.
WavelltwicelaunchedmajorattackstorelieveTobruk,butwasunableto
penetratetheGermandefencesneartheborder.Eachtimehiseffortwastoo
weak and too badly organized to have an impact. The first, Operation
Brevity,waslaunchedimmediatelyafterRommel’ssecondattempttocapture
Tobruk. Wavell had hoped to catch the German commander off balance
whilst his supply train was stretched to the limit. It was an ill-planned and
prematureattackwhichcametonothing.Wavellthendecidedtowaitforthe
arrival of a major convoy bringing large numbers of tanks, equipment and
reinforcements from England. This ‘Tiger’ convoy carried amongst other
things53Hurricanefightersand295newtanks.WiththeseWavellhopedto
gainafavourablebalanceofpowerwithwhichtostrikeattheenemy.When
theconvoyarrivedChurchilldemandedimmediateaggressiveactionandput
pressureonhiscommander-in-chieftolaunchanewattack.Wavellinsisted
that he needed time to effectively build up his strength and train his forces,
butChurchillwouldnotcountenanceanymoredelays.OperationBattleaxe,
hedemanded,shouldbeginassoonaspossible.
BattleaxewaslaunchedasChurchillhadinsistedanditfailedmiserably.
Within two days Wavell’s XIII Corps, under the command of Lieutenant-
General Beresford Pierse, was in retreat, scrambling to get back behind the
British defences along the border. Rommel had masterminded a sweeping
counter-attack immediately after Wavell’s armour had pressed forwards,
tryingtoisolatetheadvanceformationsofXIIICorps.Wavell’scommanders
werecaughtoffguardandcoulddonothingbutpullbacktopreventarout.
Battleaxe was the third successive defeat at the hands of Rommel in six
thewindingroadthatledover
halfaya(hellfire)pass,which
wasforsolongthefrontline
betweeneightharmyandaxis
forces.(IWM,CM2133)
6
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thecrewofaMatildainfantry
tankofthe32ndarmytank
brigadereadytheirvehiclefor
action,hiddenfromtheenemy
byalargecamouflagenet.the
brigadewaslocatedwithinthe
tobrukperimeterreadyto
supportthebreakoutbattleto
joinupwiththerestofeighth
army.(IWM,e6589)
months and the German general was beginning to build an unbeatable
reputationamongstthosefightinginNorthAfricaonbothsides.
TheoutcomeofBattleaxewasthatWavellhadtogo,eventhoughmany
thoughtthatChurchill’spressuretostartthebattleprematurelywasthecause
of the latest failure. A new man now had to be found to head up the
Mediterraneantheatre,onewhowasexperiencedenoughatthehighestlevel.
GeneralSirClaudeAuchinleckwas,toChurchill,theobviouschoice.Hewas
a very senior officer who had already seen action in the war when
commanding the British part of the failed Anglo-French engagement in
Norway in 1940. He was, at that time, Commander-in-Chief India and
ChurchillnowdecidedthatheshouldtakeovertheMiddleEastcommand.
Wavell would replace him as Commander-in-Chief India. The swapping of
commands would in some ways allow Wavell to continue his army career
withouttherebeinganyhintofdemotion.
As soon as Auchinleck arrived at his new headquarters in Egypt he was
warnedbyhisbossinLondon,theChiefoftheImperialGeneralStaffGeneral
Sir John Dill, to be prepared for pressure from the British Cabinet advising
himtoattackinthedesertassoonaspossible.Verysoonthispressurebegan
tobeappliedwhenChurchillsentasignaltohimaskingwhenheproposed
toresumetheoffensive,urgingimmediateaction.Ashesettledintohisnew
commandAuchinleckcametorealizethathewasresponsiblefortheconduct
ofwarontwofronts.HeknewthatbeforehecouldconcentrateonRommel
andthedesertwarhehadtoconsolidateBritishpowerinIraqandSyria.He
alsoknewthathecouldnotgoontheoffensiveuntilhehadachievedsome
sortofsuperiorityinarmouroverhisAxisopponents.HerepliedtoChurchill
alongthoselines,butfailedtoconvincethePrimeMinister.Thepressurefor
immediate action against enemy forces in Libya continued right up to the
startofOperationCrusader.
Churchill had good reasons for insisting that an early offensive was
essential to the British war effort. Germany’s attack on Russia had made
Stalin a new ally for Britain. The common goal of beating the Axis powers
meantthatBritainhadtogivesomedirectsupporttotheRussians.Theonly
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possiblewayofdoingthiswastoforcetheenemytofightontwofronts;any
troopsthatcouldbekepttieddowninNorthAfricaweretroopsthatcould
notbeemployedagainsttheRedArmyontheRussianfront.Britishsuccess
inthedesertcouldalsoinducetheFrenchcoloniesinNorthAfricaawayfrom
Vichy and might well influence Spain and Turkey to keep out of the war. It
mightalsoencouragetheUSAtojointheconflict.
Therewereotherissuesthataresumptionoftheattackmightachievethat
weremuchclosertoAuchinleck’scommand.Progresswestwardswouldnot
only relieve the besieged garrison in Tobruk and alleviate the need for the
Royal Navy to keep it supplied, the advance would also free up airfields in
CyrenaicathattheRAFcouldusetogivebettercoveragetoMediterranean
shipping,toattackenemysupplylinesandtogivesomerespitetothebattered
islandofMalta.
Auchinleck, however, would not be pressured into acting before he was
BELOW absolutely ready, for Rommel’s forces had been further reinforced and were
theaustralian9thdivisionhad now much stronger. The 5. leichte-Division had been upgraded to Panzer-
heldthefortressoftobrukever DivisionstatuswiththearrivalofaPanzergrenadierregimentandbecame21.
sincerommel’sforceshad
Panzer-Division.The15.Panzer-DivisionhadalsoarrivedinNorthAfricato
surroundedtheportareain
april.Inmid-septemberthese allow the establishment of the Deutsches Afrika Korps (DAK). Auchinleck
troopswererelievedbythe decidedthatthenewoffensive,codenameOperationCrusader,wouldbeginon
menofbritish70thdivisionas 1November1941andnotbefore.Thiswasoverfourmonthsafterthefailure
Maj.gen.scobie’sformation
ofBattleaxe.Churchillremainedunimpressed.HewaslividthatBritain’sonly
tookoverthedefenceofthe
land forces in contact with the enemy were sitting it out in the desert and
isolatedgarrison.here,british
andaustraliantroopsexchange suggested that the commander-in-chief should return to London for
pleasantriesduringthe consultation. If the Prime Minister thought that Auchinleck could be bullied
changeover.(IWM,e6122)
into attacking earlier he was mistaken. The desert commander stood up to
Churchill,stickingtohisoriginaldecisionandrefusingtobudgeonthematter.
BELOWRIGHT
a60-pdrgun,aveteranof AuchinleckreturnedtoCairosomewhatshakenbythepersonalpressure
WorldWarI,firingfromawell- thathadbeenappliedtohim,vowingneveragaintoallowpoliticaldemands
camouflagedpositioninthe
to interfere with purely military decisions. It had been finally agreed in
desert.thesegunswere
LondonthatCrusaderwouldbeginon1Novemberandthathisdesertforce
obsoletebythestartofWorld
WarIIandsawactiononlyin would be elevated to an army command. Also agreed was the appointment
mediumartilleryregimentsin of Lieutenant-General Alan Cunningham to that command, even though
Francewiththebritish
Churchill favoured Lieutenant-General Maitland Wilson for the post. The
expeditionaryForce,andinthe
Prime Minister was beginning to regret that Auchinleck had ever been
earlyfightinginnorthafrica.
(IWM,e6513) appointedCommander-in-ChiefMiddleEast.
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CHRONOLOGY
1941 strongcounter-attackbyRommel’s
AfrikaKorps.
12February GeneralleutnantErwinRommel
arrivesinNorthAfricawiththe 22June GeneralWavellisreplacedas
5.leichte-DivisiontohelptheItalians Commander-in-ChiefMiddleEastby
intheirstrugglewiththeBritish. Gen.ClaudeAuchinleck.
23March RommelcapturesElAgheilaand July–November Auchinleckbuildsuphisforcesready
beginsItalian/Germanoffensiveinto tolaunchOperationCrusaderand
Cyrenaica,pushingBritishforces refusestoyieldtopressurefromthe
underthecommandofGen.Wavell PrimeMinistertolaunchhiscampaign
backtowardsEgypt. prematurely.Rommelalsoconsolidates
hisforcesreadyforamassiveattackon
11April TheportofTobrukissurroundedand Tobruk.BritishEighthArmyisformed
placedunderastateofsiegewhilst underthecommandofLt.Gen.Alan
Rommel’smobileforcesadvanceto Cunningham.
theEgyptianborder.
18November EighthArmylaunchesOperation
11–17April RommelattemptstocaptureTobruk CrusaderwiththearmourofXXX
quickly,butisbeatenoffwith CorpsattackingtowardsGabrSaleh
considerablelosses. hopingtoluretheAfrikaKorpsinto
battle.
30April AmajorAxisattackislaunched
againstTobrukassistedby70tanks, 19November Rommelrefusestomovehisarmour
butonceagainfailswiththelossof againstXXXCorpsbelievingits
over1,000men. advancetobejustadiversionaryattack
todrawhisattentionawayfrom
15–17May GeneralWavellgoesbackonthe Tobruk.BritishXIIICorpsmovesnorth-
offensivewithMajor-GeneralGott eastinanattempttogetbehindAxis
andhisSupportGrouplaunching forcespositionedalongthefrontier.
OperationBrevity,anattackalongthe WithnosignoftheGermanarmour,
coastreinforcedwithallavailable 7thArmouredBrigadeissenttowards
armour.Itfails,aftersomeearly Tobrukagainstnegligibleresistanceand
success,throughlackofstrength. takestheairfieldatSidiRezegh.The
22ndArmouredBrigadeadvancesto
15–17June Wavell’ssecondattackalongthe BirelGubiwhereitclasheswiththe
coastalregiontowardsTobruk, Italian132aDivisioneCorazzata
OperationBattleaxe,againfailsaftera ‘Ariete’andsuffersheavylosses.
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