Operation Crusader

The Marmaric Desert, November 19, 1941 - General Auchinleck orders General Cunningham, to launch the British Eighth Army into a massive offensive into Libya in a bid to destroy the Italo-German armored divisions and free up the garrison in Tobruk. …

1941-11-19

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The Marmaric Desert, November 19, 1941 - General Auchinleck orders General Cunningham, to launch the British Eighth Army into a massive offensive into Libya in a bid to destroy the Italo-German armored divisions and free up the garrison in Tobruk. Over the next three weeks, over 700 British tanks face off against 240 German Panzers and 150 Italian tanks in desert battles around Sidi Rezegh and its airfield. The garrison in Tobruk even attempts a break out to connect with the Eight Army. After many engagements with varied outcomes, Rommel is forced to order the remnants of Panzergruppe Afrika to retreat toward Gazala, beaten not by his opponent's strategy, but rather its overwhelming material superiority. Tobruk is free!

Sidi Rezegh, Libya

Operation Crusader was a military operation of the Western Desert Campaign during the Second World War by the British Eighth Army, against the Axis forces in North Africa commanded by Generalleutnant Erwin Rommel. The operation was intended to by-pass Axis defenses on the Egyptian–Libyan frontier, defeat the Axis armoured forces and relieve the 1941 Siege of Tobruk. On 18 November 1941, the Eighth Army launched a surprise attack. From 18 to 22 November, the dispersal of British armoured units led to them suffering 530 tank losses and inflicted Axis losses of about 100 tanks. On 23 November, the 5th South African Brigade was destroyed at Sidi Rezegh but inflicted many German tank casualties. On 24 November Rommel ordered the "dash to the wire" and caused chaos in the British rear echelons but allowed the British armoured forces to recover. On 27 November, the New Zealanders reached the Tobruk garrison and relieved the siege. The battle continued into December, when supply shortages forced Rommel to narrow his front and to shorten his lines of communication. On 7 December 1941, Rommel withdrew the Axis forces to the Gazala position, and on 15 December, he ordered a withdrawal to El Agheila. The 2nd South African Division captured Bardia on 2 January 1942, Sollum on 12 January and the fortified Halfaya position on 17 January and took about 13,800 prisoners.

Wikipedia: Operation Crusader

German/Italian

British

Game Type: Breakthrough

Board Type: Desert

Website Access: Classified