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Title
Gambut
Description
Before the attack of Tobruk, Rommel decided to capture the airfields around Gambut in order to annihilate the RAF and to protect the "Stukas" which were necessary for the air support of the attack. At the same time, on the …
Subject
Publisher
Date
1942-06-17
Scenario#
20366
Scenario Description
Before the attack of Tobruk, Rommel decided to capture the airfields around Gambut in order to annihilate the RAF and to protect the "Stukas" which were necessary for the air support of the attack. At the same time, on the British side, General Norrie ordered the 20th Indian Brigade to leave Belhammed and to withdraw to the Egyptian border. On the 17th of June, the Deutsche Afrika Korps captured Gambut and found the Indian brigade moving on the Via Balbia and completely exposed. In the ensuing battle, the 20th Indian Brigade was entirely destroyed and only a few units escaped to Bardia.
Location
Gambut, Libya
Battle Name
Battle Narrative
The Battle of Gazala was fought during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War, west of the port of Tobruk in Libya, from 26 May to 21 June 1942. Axis troops of the Panzerarmee Afrika consisting of German and Italian units fought the British Eighth Army composed mainly of British Commonwealth, Indian and Free French troops. The Axis troops made a decoy attack in the north as the main attack moved round the southern flank of the Gazala position. Unexpected Resistance at the south end of the line around the Bir Hakeim box by the Free French garrison, left Panzerarmee Afrika with a long and vulnerable supply route around the Gazala Line. Rommel retired to a defensive position backing onto Allied minefields (the Cauldron), forming a base in the midst of the British defences. Italian engineers lifted mines from the west side of the minefields to create a supply route through to the Axis side. Operation Aberdeen, an attack by the Eighth Army to finish off the Panzerarmee, was poorly co-ordinated and defeated in detail; many British tanks were lost and the Panzerarmee regained the initiative. The Eighth Army withdrew from the Gazala Line and the Axis troops overran Tobruk in a day. Rommel pursued the Eighth Army into Egypt and forced it out of several defensive positions. The Battle of Gazala is considered the greatest victory of Rommel's career. As both sides neared exhaustion, the Eighth Army checked the Axis advance at the First Battle of El Alamein. To support the Axis advance into Egypt, the planned attack on Malta (Operation Herkules) was postponed. The British were able to revive Malta as a base for attacks on Axis convoys to Libya, greatly complicating Axis supply difficulties at El Alamein.
Narrative Source
Wikipedia: Battle of Gazala
Combatants
German
British
Additional Information
Game Type: Standard
Board Type: Desert
Website Access: Classified

Geolocation