Sidi Rezegh Airfield

Operation Crusader, the third and ultimately successful British attempt to try and break Rommel's stranglehold on Tobruk, began in a horrendous rainstorm on November 18, 1941. While one British corps was taking up position near Halfaya Pass, the others began …

1941-11-22

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Operation Crusader, the third and ultimately successful British attempt to try and break Rommel's stranglehold on Tobruk, began in a horrendous rainstorm on November 18, 1941. While one British corps was taking up position near Halfaya Pass, the others began moving across the desert in three columns. The central one headed for Tobruk to link up with a planned breakout of the besieged garrison troops. Racing forward, the 7th Armoured Brigade and 7th Support Group took the airfield at Sidi Rezegh, almost coming within sight of Tobruk. Wedged between the city's garrison and the advancing British armor, and realizing the precariousness of his situation, Rommel reacted quickly. The airfield was soon back in German hands, with Major Kummel's 15th Panzer Division laying in wait...The British 7th Armoured Division advanced along the Trigh Capuzzo Road to take the airfield back. Upon reaching the 175 Gap in the escarpment, the British tankers began to move through. But Kummel's tanks waited in ambush, striking fast and hard. Cautiously, the British fell back rather than sending more of their tanks through the narrow gap. The Germans seized the initiative, moving through another gap a little further west and dealing the Desert Rats a resounding defeat!

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

British

Game Type: Standard

Board Type: Desert

Website Access: Available