A British offensive operation assayed in November 1942,
during the desert campaigns (1940–1943). British 8th Army pressed a real
advantage in numbers of tanks against the Afrika Korps and Italians, for once
taking General Erwin Rommel by surprise. But British armored doctrine, officers,
and training had not mastered combined-arms operations, and the advantage was
wasted in sequential brigade-sized tank assaults that were often unsupported
even by infantry. The Germans also made mistakes, such as a wasteful
counterattack without proper intelligence or air cover. The British offensive
failed, possibly along with the command nerve of General Alan Cunningham . The
main failure came in the face of heavy casualties inflicted by enemy resistance
along the Sidi Rezegh ridge. Hesitation in continuing the advance led to
Cunningham’s dismissal and replacement by General Claude Auchinleck, who
resumed the attack on November 26. The New Zealand 2nd Division retook the
ridge line in a bloody fight, but was assaulted and thrown off the ridge on
December 1 by a German counterattack. That rebuff cut the corridor to the
besieged British garrison of Tobruk. British and Commonwealth forces suffered
nearly 18,000 casualties in CRUSADER while inflicting over 24,000 on the
Germans and Italians. Even so, Rommel had again unnerved an offensive by a much
larger British 8th Army.
SIEGE OF TOBRUK -
1941
Australian defenders of the coastal fortress city of Tobruk
withstood a German siege in 1941, after General Erwin Rommel ’s successful
desert campaign isolated the enclave. Fearing to leave an enemy force in his
strategic rear as he advanced toward Egypt, Rommel twice attacked the
Australian garrison. The Australians held, then counterattacked and captured
two battalions of Italians. Two British and Commonwealth attempts to break the
siege failed. With war approaching Australia’s shores, Australian troops were
mostly pulled out and replaced by British and Polish troops. Rommel was
preparing to strike at Tobruk a third time in the fall of 1941 when the British
offensive CRUSADER interrupted his plans. The Tobruk garrison fought its way
out and linked with British 8th Army.
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