Sunday of the Dead

Day 6 of Operation Crusader found the 6th South African Brigade deployed in anticipation of a German attack near Point 178. The attack commenced around 1500 hours and drew intense artillery and AT fire from the defenders, causing the German …

1941-11-23

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Day 6 of Operation Crusader found the 6th South African Brigade deployed in anticipation of a German attack near Point 178. The attack commenced around 1500 hours and drew intense artillery and AT fire from the defenders, causing the German pace to slacken and their lines to become disorganized. Panzer Regiment 8, separated from its armor support, came under attack from the flank and began to falter. At this moment, the 22nd Armoured Brigade charged the German infantry, but this achieved little as tanks and AT guns were shifted to deal with it. For their part, the South Africans were not unscathed, for one by one their guns were destroyed or ran out of ammunition. As more panzers entered the battle, their weight could not be denied, and the South Africans began to flee or surrender. But the German casualties had been heavy - the worst yet of any single day in the campaign. These largely irreplaceable losses on “Totensonntag” - Sunday of the Dead (Germany’s day of honor for those who fell in WWI) were to be sorely felt in the weeks to come.

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

British

German