Flanking Maneuver at Bir Hakeim

Following on the success of Operation Crusader, the British Eighth Army had driven Rommel's forces out of Cyrenaica before over-stretching its own supply lines again. Eighth Army had then settled along the "Gazala line" in the desert, west of Tobruk, …

1942-05-27

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Following on the success of Operation Crusader, the British Eighth Army had driven Rommel's forces out of Cyrenaica before over-stretching its own supply lines again. Eighth Army had then settled along the "Gazala line" in the desert, west of Tobruk, in a series of brigade-strength occupied "boxes" protected by minefields and wire. The southernmost tip of the line was the fortified box at Bir Hakeim, held by the 1st Free French Brigade of General Pierre-Marie Koenig. At midday on May 26, Rommel launched a feint frontal attack on the central positions of the Gazala line, using small elements of the XX Motorized Corps and truck-mounted propellers to blow dust and reinforce the deception, before pulling all his armored elements back under cover of darkness. His real objective: a daring flanking maneuver to neutralize the Bir Hakeim box at the southern tip of the line, using the enemy's own minefields to protect his flank and rear! Unfortunately, elements of the 21st Panzer were held up for more than three hours when they ran into the 7th Armoured Division's 3rd Indian Motorized Brigade, some four miles south east of Bir Hakeim. They took heavy losses from their guns before over-running them. Meanwhile the Italian Ariete division was failing to take the box at Bir Hakeim, suffering heavy losses from the 75 mm guns of the 1st Free French Brigade.

Bir Hakeim, Libya

The Battle of Bir Hakeim took place at Bir Hakeim, an oasis in the Libyan desert south and west of Tobruk, during the Battle of Gazala. Theist Free French Brigade defended the position from 26 May – 11 June against much larger Axis forces of Panzerarmee Afrika. The Panzerarmee captured Tobruk ten days later but the delay imposed on the Axis offensive by the defence of the fortress influenced the cancellation of Operation Herkules, the plan for an Axis invasion of Malta. Rommel continued to advance and invaded Egypt, slowed by British delaying actions until the First Battle of El Alamein in July, where the Axis advance was stopped. Both sides used the battle for propaganda, Winston Churchill renamed the Free French as the Fighting French and Hitler called the French the second best fighters after the Germans.

Wikipedia: Battle of Bir Hakeim

German/Italian

British

Game Type: Standard

Board Type: Desert

Website Access: Available