THE ROAD to TOBRUK CYRENAICA — a SECOND WORLD WAR PERSPECTIVE by AKHIL KADIDAL
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This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS MASTERSTROKE 1 TOBRUK — THE VERDUN OF THE DESERT 8 THE START OF THE RELIEF 17 THE SUNDAY OF THE DEAD 21 TOBRUK RELIEVED 23 EPILOGUE 26 ADDENDUM 31 UNITS OF THE TOBRUK GARRISON, 14 APRIL 1941 31 OPERATION CRUSADER 34 THE GERMAN DIVISIONS 38 BRIEF LIST OF SOURCES 41 THE ROAD TO TOBRUK CYRENAICA — A SECOND WORLD WAR PERSPECTIVE by AKHIL KADIDAL MASTERSTROKE hen 1941 dawned on Libya, it heralded a decisive moment in the WNorth African Campaign of the Second world War. British were optimistic. During the previous year, they had routed the poorly- led Italian army from the province of Cyrenaica and had made brisk MAGAZINE SIGNAL progress towards Tripolitania, in DESERT FOX The largely-empty desert Western Libya. But on February 8, playing field was ideally suited to General just as they reached the town of El Erwin Rommel’s (with red tabs) idea of mobile Aghelia, elements of the German warfare. It was also be conducive to his great army began to arrive by ship in the flanks of the British positions. country’s capital, Tripoli. General Erwin Rommel, the commander of the so-called Afrika Korps, arrived himself at Tripoli on the 12th and found a battleground unlike anything that had been encountered before. The flat, sweeping desert plains, broken only by the tall, green hills of the Jebel Akhdar on the rounded bulb of the country seemed to extend to the horizon forever. A narrow strip of fertile coastal land hugged the sea, supporting most of the towns and the population. In fact, the entire place had been described by the British as a “place fit only for war.”1 A main coastal road, AFRIKA KORPS named the Via Balbia, connected most of the towns and had BADGE witnessed the majority of military movements. Rommel, however, planned to break with tradition. He saw the barren desert as a giant thoroughfare and a weakness in the thin british lines. He planned to punch through the enemy front with a concentrated fist of tanks and motorized infantry and as the British reeled from the blow, drive back to Egypt. Little wonder then that Rommel’s English counterpart, General Sir Archibald Wavell, personally a brave man (he had lost an eye in the second battle of Ypres, and in 1 A title that the rebels in modern Libya would undoubtedly take exception to. 1 compensation had been given a Military Cross), faced a dilemma. Unlike the Italians, the Germans were highly motivated and had excellent arms - and worse - Wavell was actually losing troops. An important Royal Air Force (RAF) unit, No. 202 Group, accompanied by major army units were being sent across the Mediterranean to Greece to counter other Italian ambitions in the Balkans. All Wavell had remaining was one British armoured division, the infantry of the 9th Australian Division, a single RAF fighter squadron equipped with obsolete Gladiator biplanes and Hurricane fighters, and a bomber-reconnaissance squadron equipped with the hopelessly outdated and noisy Bristol Bombay. Wavell hoped for a respite, hoping that some of his units would be returned before the major fracas began. But then, on February 24, a small German reconnaissance battalion blundered into a British patrol and opened up, destroying three British scout cars. The Germans suffered no losses. Their reports to Rommel were optimistic; the British had only a thin covering force under Lt-General Philip Neame, VC, at El Aghelia. Rommel, who was still waiting for the greater part of his 15th Panzer Division to arrive, decided to attack with what he had. This was the sort of bravado that would make his reputation as a bold, swift commander, almost fearless in the execution of hastily- made plans. On March 24th, the German 5th Light Division with two Italian divisions for company, advanced out of Sirte and fell upon the British at El Aghelia. The orders to his troops were clear: captured capture Agedabia, Benghazi and secure Cyrenaica. Split into three columns, the Germans and Italians streamed east, leaving a great trail of dust in their wake. On the very first day, one column overran El Aghelia and then March 24 harried the escaping British garrison all the way to Agedabia which it captured on April The German 5th (Right) OBSOLETE Vickers VI Light Division tanks from the 1st Royal Tank attacks El Aghelia Regiment (RTR) in exercises with the 1/6th Rajputana Rifles of the 4th Indian Division in 1940. (Below) Cyrenaica as it was in 1941-42. IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM E777 MUSEUM WAR IMPERIAL 2 COLONIAL TRIPOLI, CIRCA 1930 Italian M-13 German PzIIIG MAIN AXIS TANKS BUNDESARCHIV; MAP: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY OF MAP: BUNDESARCHIV; OFF THE BOAT German Panzer III tanks are unloaded at the Tripoli docks. Later, Axis supplies would have a German PzIVF-1 harder time running the British blockade at Malta. 3 CALM COMMANDER Much of the 9th Australian’s resolve at Tobruk came from the its analytical, level-headed leader, Major-General Leslie Morsehead. His resoluteness and adherence to discipline earned him the nickname “Ming the Merciless,” by his men and the Germans had nothing but the highest praise for his leadership. After Tobruk, Morsehead went on to more successes at El Alamein and the Pacific. AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL WAR AUSTRALIAN April 3 2 with over 800 prisoners. The British 3rd Armoured Brigade (the solitary brigade of Shattered the 2nd Armoured Division) attempted to intervene but its two regiments could muster remnants of the only 12 antiquated A-13 cruiser tanks, 20 captured “Eyetie” M-13’s (British slang for 3rd Armoured Italian) and 19 useless Vickers Mk VI tanks that looked as though they belonged in brigade World War I. retreat east The 5th German Division smashed through their defense and reached Benghazi on the night of April 3. For Wavell at headquarters, worse news followed. That morning, an RAF reconnaissance plane had spotted dust plumes on the horizon and reported that several enemy motorized columns were racing towards a large British oil depot at Msus. On hearing the news, the allied force guarding the depot had panicked and set the stores ablaze. The next morning, when the badly battered survivors of the 3rd Armoured Brigade arrived to refuel, they were met by thick palls of black smoke. In reality there had never been any danger. The force spotted on the previous day had been a British LRDG (Long Range Desert Group) unit on patrol, and a recovery section of the 3rd Armoured out looking for salvageable tanks. Starved for gasoline, the tankers of 3rd Armoured were forced to abandon most of their tanks and push on to Mechili, 80 miles away, on foot. The journey was punishing. Amid the sweltering desert heat, the men were attacked time and again by German Ju- 87 Stuka dive-bombers. The RAF seemed nonexistent, but heavy aerial engagements were taking place all along the line. On the afternoon of April 3, seven Hurricanes from the newly-arrived Australian 3 Squadron were flying a patrol when they encountered eight Stukas of II/StG2 and an equal number of Me110 heavy-fighters2 strafing British troops at Derna. Flight Lt. Alan Rawlinson and one section went after the Stukas while the other section took on the escorts. The Australians shot down one Me110 and two Stukas for no loss. The engagement had been remarkable efficient and fortunate for the harried RAF, 2 From 7./ZG26 led by the newly appointed Staffelkapitän, Hauptmann Georg Christl. 4 but the army did not share in that luck. Although many British ground units were able to withdraw into the Gazala plains, most fell into enemy hands soon after, including the remains of the 3rd Armoured Brigade which reached Derna on April 6 only to have the ignominious honor of being captured there. Rommel had achieved fantastic gains, but his offensive across central Cyrenaica had not been easy; the severe terrain had taken its toll on both man and machine. His knack for changing orders at the last moment caused numerous breakdowns among the motorized elements which were pushed to the limit over treacherous terrain with limited fuel. At times even his most hardened troops seemed to reach the breaking point. Some of the forward British 2nd units, ordered to make for Derna and the coast road were in such a desperate state that they Armoured Division were forced to leave behind a large number of vehicles, instead siphoning what little fuel remained so that a small force could reach their objectives. Rommel’s attention now turned to the oasis of Mechili, below the Jebel Akhdar mountains. With the assault on the oasis scheduled to begin in just a few days time the German supply column started back for Tripoli, 620 miles away, for fuel and stores. When it became apparent that they would not reach the front in time, the Luftwaffe attempted to fly in fuel to the 5th Panzer Regiment by landing on a nearby Wadi (an Arabic name for dry salt lake). RAF Hurricanes from the port-town of Tobruk and other airfields once again proved lucky and caught these massive Ju.52 transports on the ground. The result was a fiasco. Many of the Ju52’s were destroyed on the ground. Still, Rommel’s second column captured Msus on the April 7, and Mechili on the following day after a fierce three-day battle. They even overran the headquarters of the 2nd Armoured Division and captured its THE ALLIED PERIMETER as it appeared in this period German map. Translations: Fort: Fortified weapons location Kampstände: Anti-tank guns and Machine-gun post Jn Felsen: Reinforced trench Pakstände: Anti-tank group Panzerabwehrgraben: Anti-Tank ditch Drahtsperren: Concertina Wire with mines Minenfelder: Minefield 5 commander, Major-General Gambier-Perry who now joined some 1,700 prisoners in the bag, including 70 officers and a good deal of badly-needed supplies.