Dash to the Wire

Throughout the month of January, the British 8th Army had to choose between running or fighting to try to delay or stop the pursuing Germans. Rommel ’s advance and the British retreat became a series of local engagements between opposing …

1941-11-23

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Throughout the month of January, the British 8th Army had to choose between running or fighting to try to delay or stop the pursuing Germans. Rommel ’s advance and the British retreat became a series of local engagements between opposing tank forces. One such encounter is the topic of this scenario. A small British infantry force is holding an important crossroads position while some of their tanks are with drawing from the advancing German columns. Together with. the infantry, the British tanks are ordered to make a stand and delay Rommel.

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 defences 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