← Previous Item

Operation CRUSADER

Next Item →

http://wargame-scenarios.com/images/tlds.jpg
http://wargame-scenarios.com/images/tllogo.jpg

Title
Operation CRUSADER
Description
The British winter offensive began on 19 November 1941 with the seattering of Eígth Army's armored forces: 7th Armoured Brigade drove on the escarpment at Sidi Rezeg, 22nd Armoured bogged down attacking the well dug-in Ariete Division at Bir el …
Subject
Source
Publisher
Date
1941-11-19
Scenario#
8D0
Scenario Description
The British winter offensive began on 19 November 1941 with the seattering of Eígth Army's armored forces: 7th Armoured Brigade drove on the escarpment at Sidi Rezeg, 22nd Armoured bogged down attacking the well dug-in Ariete Division at Bir el Gubi, while 4th Armoured Brigade seattered itself in a vain Chase of the screening German armored cars. Rommel, who was just awakening to the threat of the British offensive, dispatched Kampfgruppe Stephan, with the bulk of 2lst Panzer Division's armor and antitank strength, to make a reconnaisance-in-force. The Germans encountered the 4th Armoured Brigade near Gabr Saleh, bloodying the 4th's scattered regiments quite handily. This was a bad omen for an offensive which sought the total destruction of all Axis armored forces in North Africa.
Location
Sidi Rezegh, Libya
Battle Name
Battle Narrative
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.
Narrative Source
Combatants
German
British Commonwealth

Geolocation