Operation Crusader
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| Operation Crusader | |||||||||
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| Part of the Western Desert campaign in the Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II | |||||||||
 A Mark I Crusader tank passes a burning German Panzer IV | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
Operation Crusader was a military operation by the United Kingdom in 1941 and was a part of the Western Desert campaign of the Second World War. This operation saved the city of Tobruk during the Siege of Tobruk the same year.
The initial plan of the British Eight Army was to destroy the armoured forces of the Axis powers before advancing infantry which failed after the British 7th Panzer Division suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of the German Afrika Korps at Sidi Rezegh, after some stalemate battles. Then, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel urged his armoured divisions to the Axis fortifications on the Egyptian border but failed to find the main Allied infantry, who had bypassed the fortifications and advanced toward Tobruk so Rommel had to withdrew his armoured divisions to fight in Tobruk, although he had some tactical victories here but the need to preserve the remaining forces compelled Rommel to withdraw to the defensive line at Gazala, west of Tobruk, before moving all his troops back to El Agheila. This marked the first land victory for British-led forces against the Germans in World War II.[10]
Notes
[change | change source]- ↑ XXX Corps: 477 tanks; XIII Corps: 135 tanks; Tobruk garrison: 126 tanks. 339 tanks were of various cruiser models with 210 being the latest A15 Crusader. Infantry tanks: 201. XIII Corps had 132, with roughly equal amounts of Matilda IIs and Valentine tanks. The Tobruk garrison had 69 Matilda IIs. XXX Corps had 173 M3 Stuarts and there were 25 Light Tank Mk VI with the Tobruk garrison.[3]
- ↑ 650 aeroplanes (550 serviceable) in Egypt and 74 (66 serviceable) in Malta.[4]
- ↑ 65,000 German, 54,000 Italian[2]
- ↑ 70 Panzer II, 139 Panzer III, 35 Panzer IV, 146 Fiat M13/40, and 162 Italian light tanks.[3] Bayerlein wrote of 260 German (15 Panzer I, 40 Panzer II, 150 Panzer III, 55 Panzer IV) and 154 Italian tanks.[5]
- ↑ A potential Axis serviceable reserve of 750 aircraft in Tripolitania, Sicily, Sardinia, Greece and Crete, excluding transport aircraft, aircraft in mainland Italy or part of the Italian Navy.[4]
- ↑ Casualties have been rounded by source due to flawed data but cover the serious fighting of November, December and the first half of January.[2]
- ↑ 278 write offs.[7]
References
[change | change source]- ↑ Hrbek & Smetana 2009, p. 117.
- 1 2 3 4 Playfair 2004, p. 97.
- 1 2 Playfair 2004, p. 30.
- 1 2 Playfair 2004, p. 15.
- ↑ Rommel 1982, p. 156.
- ↑ Playfair 2004, p. 100.
- ↑ Rommel 1982, p. 178.
- 1 2 Playfair 2004, p. 99.
- ↑ Playfair 2004, p. 100; Stegemann 2015, p. 750.
- ↑ Taylor 1974, p. 86.
