Operation Crusader
Operation Crusader was a military operation of the Western Desert campaign during World War II by the British Eighth Army against the Axis forces in North Africa commanded by Generalleutnant Erwin Rommel. The operation was intended to bypass Axis defences on the Egyptian–Libyan frontier, defeat the Axis armoured forces near Tobruk, raise the Siege of Tobruk and re-occupy Cyrenaica.
On 18 November 1941, the Eighth Army began a surprise attack. From 18 to 22 November, the dispersal of British armoured units led to them suffering 530 tank losses and inflicting Axis losses of about 100 tanks. On 23 November, the 5th South African Brigade was destroyed at Sidi Rezegh but caused many German tank losses. On 24 November Rommel ordered the "dash to the wire" and caused chaos in the British rear but allowed the British armoured forces to recover. On 27 November, the New Zealanders reached the Tobruk garrison and ended the siege.
Lack of supplies forced Rommel to shorten his lines of communication and on 7 December 1941, the Axis forces withdrew to the Gazala position and on 15 December began 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, taking about 13,800 prisoners. On 21 January 1942, the Panzerarmee Afrika surprised the Eighth Army and drove it back to Gazala where both sides regrouped. The Battle of Gazala began at the end of May 1942.
Background
Intelligence
Nachrichten Fernaufklärungs Kompanie provided Rommel with tactical intelligence of high quality from August 1941 to January 1942. The German organisation benefited greatly from British incompetence in the use of tactical codes, R/T signalling in clear and an ineffective call-sign procedure from brigade to battalion at the front. FAK 621 read much of the War Office high-grade hand cypher, which the wireless traffic from the Eighth Army HQ down to divisional HQs used. Until January, when the British improved their recyphering, the Germans obtained as much information on the British order of battle as the Government Code and Cypher School Ultra decrypts revealed of the Axis equivalents. In October 1941, British Army Enigma decrypts had contained German data about increased British tank strengths. The German information was so accurate that the War Office became seriously worried about signals security but only in July 1942, when the British captured FAK 621, did they learn the extent of German eavesdropping.Axis supply
A German motorised division needed per day, and moving the supplies lorries. With seven Axis divisions, as well as air and naval units, of supplies per month were needed. The Vichy French agreed to let the Germans use the port city of Bizerta, but no supplies reached the port until late 1942. From February to May 1941, a surplus of was delivered. Attacks from Malta had some effect but in May, the worst month for ship losses, 91 per cent of supplies arrived. Lack of transport in Libya left German supplies in Tripoli and the Italians had only to transport supplies to A record amount of supplies arrived in June but at the front, shortages worsened.There were fewer Axis attacks on Malta from June and the British increased the proportion of ships sunk from 19 per cent in July to 25 per cent in September, when Benghazi was bombed and ships diverted to Tripoli, air supply in October making little difference. Deliveries averaged per month from July to October but the consumption of 30 to 50 per cent of fuel deliveries by road transport and 35 per cent of supply lorries being unserviceable, reduced deliveries to the front. In November, during Operation Crusader, a five-ship convoy was sunk and air attacks on road convoys prevented daylight journeys. Lack of deliveries and the Eighth Army offensive forced a retreat to El Agheila from 4 December, crowding the Via Balbia, where British ambushes destroyed about half of the remaining Axis transport.
Convoys to Tripoli resumed and ship losses increased but by 16 December, the supply situation had eased except for the fuel shortage. In December, the Luftwaffe was restricted to one sortie per day. The Vichy French sold of fuel, U-boats were ordered into the Mediterranean and air reinforcements sent from the Soviet Union in December. The Regia Marina used warships to carry fuel to Derna and Benghazi and made a maximum effort from 16 to 17 December. Four battleships, three light cruisers and escorted four ships to Libya. The use of an armada for of cargo ships depleted the navy's fuel reserve and allowed only one more battleship convoy. Bizerta, Tunisia, was canvassed as an wikt:entrepôt, but it was in range of RAF aircraft from Malta and was another west of Tripoli.
Siege of Tobruk
The great importance of Tobruk as an entrepôt for supplies and the denial of it to an opponent led to Oberkommando der Wehrmacht and Comando Supremo making frequent demands for its capture and Winston Churchill and the British War Cabinet demanding that General Archibald Wavell prevent its loss. The garrison, mainly the 9th Australian Division, had defeated an Axis attack in May 1941 and the siege had settled into an active defence by the Australians, who patrolled most nights, reconnoitring, attacking and ambushing, gaining mastery over no man's land. Larger sorties needed reinforcements from Egypt which were not available but the 20th Australian Infantry Brigade improved the Australian position at the Ras el Medauar salient and the 24th Australian Infantry Brigade made an abortive attack on the shoulders of the salient, the garrison then returning to active defence.Eighth Army plan
The Afrika Korps was to be defeated by the 7th Armoured Division as the South African Division covered its left flank. XIII Corps and the 4th Armoured Brigade, would make a clockwise flanking advance west of Sidi Omar. After the destruction of the Axis armour by the 7th Armoured Division, to threaten the rear of the Axis defences eastwards from Sidi Omar, to the coast at Halfaya, XIII Corps was to advance north to Bardia.XXX Corps was to continue north-west to Tobruk to meet a breakout by the 70th Infantry Division. There was also a deception plan to persuade the Axis that the main Allied attack would not be ready until early December and be a sweeping outflanking move through Jarabub, an oasis on the edge of the Great Sand Sea, more than to the south of the real point of attack. That proved so successful that Rommel, refusing to believe that an attack was imminent, was not in Africa when it came.
Battle
First phase
18 November
Before dawn on 18 November, the Eighth Army advanced westwards from Mersa Matruh, crossed the Libyan border near Fort Maddalena, about south of Sidi Omar and turned to the north-west. Storms on the night before the offensive grounded the aircraft of both sides. The 7th Armoured Brigade of the 7th Armoured Division advanced north-west towards Tobruk with the 22nd Armoured Brigade to the west. XIII Corps, with the 2nd New Zealand Division, advanced with the 4th Armoured Brigade on its left and the 7th Indian Infantry Brigade, 4th Indian Division on its right at Sidi Omar.First actions: Bir el Gubi, Sidi Rezegh, Gabr Saleh
On 19 November, 7th Armoured Division was spread out to the south of Tobruk.To the west, the 22nd Armoured Brigade met the Ariete Division at Bir el Gubi: After a sharp action they were forced to withdraw after 25 of its new Crusader tanks were knocked out for an Italian loss of 34 tanks.
In the centre the 7th Armoured Brigade and the Support Group advanced to the airfield at Sidi Rezegh, capturing 19 aircraft and menacing the rear of Division z.b.V. Afrika. After the failure of a counter-attack by Division z.b.V. Afrika and the "Bologna" Division the 7th Armoured Division dug in facing south.
To the east a battlegroup of the 21st Panzer Division moved to Gabr Saleh and knocked out 23 Stuart tanks of the 4th Armoured Brigade, for a loss of three by nightfall.
By attaching the 4th Armoured Brigade to XIII Corps, and letting the 22nd Armoured Brigade to be bogged down against the "Ariete" Division while the 7th Armoured Brigade advanced unsupported towards Tobruk, Cunningham had allowed the British tanks to become dispersed before they met the main Axis armoured force.
On 20 November, the 15th Panzer Division was ordered to Sidi Aziz and thence towards Capuzzo, the 21st Panzer Division was to move north of the Trigh el Abd on Sidi Omar. Nothing but British reconnaissance units was found and then the 21st Panzer Division was stranded, short of fuel and ammunition. Crüwell found that British tanks were moving west along the Trigh el Abd. During the afternoon, the 15th Panzer Division attacked the 4th Armoured Brigade near Gabr Saleh and inflicted another ten tank casualties, reducing it to less than two-thirds its establishment of 164 tanks and forcing the brigade into another retirement. The 22nd Armoured Brigade had been ordered to disengage from the "Ariete" Division and to move east in support of the 4th Armoured Brigade. The 1st South African Division was to take over against the "Ariete" Division and the 4th Armoured Brigade was released from its role as flank guard for XIII Corps. The 22nd Armoured Brigade arrived too late to support the 4th Armoured Brigade. During the night of 20/21 November, Rommel ordered the German tanks north-west for an attack on Sidi Rezegh.
Tobruk
The 70th Infantry Division was to break out from Tobruk on 21 November and cut off the Germans to the south-east. The night before, the garrison gapped the wire, planted and marked minefields and put four bridges over the anti-tank ditch. On the evening of 20 November the 14th Infantry Brigade, the 16th Infantry Brigade the 32nd Army Tank Brigade, the 1st, 104th and 107th regiments RHA and 144th Field Regiment RA, with detachments of the 2nd and 54th Field Companies RE and several armoured cars moved up.The Polish Carpathian Brigade was to mount a diversion just before dawn against the "Pavia" Division. The "Bologna", "Brescia" and "Pavia" divisions on the Tobruk perimeter were to receive 40,000 rounds from 100 guns. The 7th Armoured Brigade and the 7th Support Group was to advance from Sidi Rezegh and capture part of the ridge above the Trigh Capuzzo, then the 6th RTR was to advance and join the breakthrough force at El Duda. The 7th Support Group consisted of 1st Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps, 2nd Battalion, The Rifle Brigade, 3rd Field Regiment RA, 60th Field Regiment RA and a battery of the 51st Field Regiment RA.
The Tobruk breakout force attacked with the 2nd King's Own on the right flank, the 2nd Black Watch in the centre and another battalion on the left flank, to capture strongpoints leading to Ed Duda. The Italians were stunned by the massive fire and a company of the "Pavia" Division was overrun in the dark but the "Bologna" Division recovered. By mid-afternoon, the break-out force had advanced some toward Ed Duda on the main supply road when they paused, as it became clear that the 7th Armoured Division would not meet them.
The central attack by the Black Watch involved a charge under massed machine-gun fire against strongpoints until it reached strongpoint Tiger. The Black Watch lost an estimated 200 men and its commanding officer. The British pressed on but the attack petered out since the infantry could not capture the "Bologna" Division defences around the Tugun strongpoint.
On 21 November, there was a costly action by parts of the German 155th Rifle Regiment, Artillery Group Bottcher, Panzer Regiment 5 and the 4th, 7th and 22nd Armoured Brigades for possession of Sidi Rezegh and the high ground held by the "Bologna" Division. On 22 November, Scobie ordered the position to be consolidated and the corridor widened in the hope that the Eighth Army would link up. The 2nd York and Lancaster Regiment with tank support took strongpoint Tiger and left a gap between the corridor and Ed Duda but attacks on the Tugun and Dalby Square strongpoints failed. The defenders of strongpoint Tugun reduced the strength in one attacking British company to 33 all ranks.