Division Sabratha attack

While German panzers were trapped in the "Cauldron", Rommel asked General Crüewell to attack along the coast with the Italian infantry divisions in order to harass the British army or to break the Gazala line. The Italian division Sabratha attacked …

1942-05-29

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While German panzers were trapped in the "Cauldron", Rommel asked General Crüewell to attack along the coast with the Italian infantry divisions in order to harass the British army or to break the Gazala line. The Italian division Sabratha attacked the entrenchment of the 2nd South African Brigade, but was repelled by the heavy fire of the South Africans. The Italian division suffered heavy losses. In addition, the reconnaissance plane of General Crüewell was shot down by British fire above Got el Ualeb and the general was captured by soldiers of the 150th Infantry Brigade.

The Cauldron, Libya

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.

Wikipedia: Battle of Gazala

German

British

Game Type: Standard

Board Type: Desert

Website Access: Classified