Turning the Tables

The main line of defense in Libya was a natural bottleneck along the coast at Mersa el Brega, with the sea on one flank and an extensive salt marsh on the other. The British mined and wired this line extensively. Rommel launched a full scale assault …

1941-03-31

39

The main line of defense in Libya was a natural bottleneck along the coast at Mersa el Brega, with the sea on one flank and an extensive salt marsh on the other. The British mined and wired this line extensively. Rommel launched a full scale assault on Mersa el Brega which breached the outer British defenses, then bogged down in the face of dogged resistance. The Germans paused to regroup in the swirling dust, and at 1700 hours came on again.

Mersa el Brega, Libya

Operation Sonnenblume was the name given to the dispatch of German troops to North Africa in February 1941, during the Second World War. The Italian 10th Army had been destroyed by the British, Commonwealth, Empire and Allied Western Desert Force attacks during Operation Compass (9 December 1940 – 9 February 1941). The first units of the new Deutsches Afrikakorps (DAK, Generalleutnant Erwin Rommel) departed Naples for Africa and arrived on 11 February 1941. On 14 February, advanced units of the 5th Light Afrika Division (later renamed the 21st Panzer Division), Aufklärungsbataillon 3 (Reconnaissance Battalion 3) and Panzerjägerabteilung 39 (Anti-tank Detachment 39) arrived in Tripoli, Libya and were sent immediately to the front line east of Sirte. Rommel arrived in Libya on 12 February, with orders to defend Tripoli and Tripolitania, albeit using aggressive tactics. General Italo Gariboldi replaced Maresciallo d'Italia (Marshal of Italy) Rodolfo Graziani as the Governor-General of Libya on 25 March and Generale d'Armata Mario Roatta, Commander in Chief of the Regio Esercito (Royal Italian Army), ordered Graziani to place Italian motorised units in Libya under German command. The first German troops reached Sirte on 15 February and advanced to Nofilia on 18 February. On 24 February, a German raiding party ambushed a British patrol near El Agheila. On 24 March, the Axis captured El Agheila and on 31 March attacked Mersa Brega. The understrength 3rd Armoured Brigade failed to counter-attack and began to retreat towards Benghazi the next day.

German

British

Scenario Type = Standard