Rommel Denied

  

Despite the shellacking handed them at

Gazala, Tobruk, and Mersa Matruh 

the Eighth was still an army.

They were focused, ready and willing 

to end Rommel's joy ride here and now.

 

The Afrika Korps' sprint into Egypt left their air cover

behind.  The Messerschmitt fighters were notoriously

short ranged and couldn't reach Rommel's forces

as he neared Alamein.  

Britain's Desert Air Force took advantage of Germany's

vulnerability and bombed Rommel's troops without

let up, day and night.  Everything down to refueling

tanks was disrupted.  Still, Rommel urged his men on

with single-minded ferocity.

Time was critical.  Soon the 8th Army would receive

300 Sherman tanks from the US - the first of this

new breed of armor, just off the assembly line.

Ships filled with troops were also on the way.

Rommel had to crush the British now or lose

all hope of taking North Africa.

Rommel charged into the British defenses believing

he was still fighting General Richie.  He wasn't.

Auchinleck's troop deployment was not anticipated

by the German generals and they ran full bore into

a barrage of artillery fire that came from three directions.

For three days Rommel twisted and turned looking

for a soft spot in the British defense.  He found none.

A spent force.

The Afrika Korps was exhausted.

They could go no further.

Rommel's only choice now was to 

set out the mine fields and stretch out

the barb wire.  From here on Rommel

would be on the defensive.

* * * * * 

©  Tom Taylor

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Mersa Matruh

  

The British 8th Army crossed over the border

into Egypt a beaten force; their tank formations

destroyed and doubt replaced confidence in their

view of leadership.  

General Auchinleck stuck his neck way out when

he picked Lieutenant-General Ritchie to lead the

8th Army in a winner-take-all confrontation with

Rommel's Afrika Korps.  A good number of 

battlefield experienced generals were ignored 

in favor of this untested staff officer.

Tobruk was captured and the 8th was 

nearly destroyed.  Firing Ritchie wasn't

enough.  Churchill would also fire Auchinleck

a couple months further down the road.

Rommel remained steadfast in adversity because

he believed he could always out-general the British.

Tobruk brought him the top rank of Field Marshall

and plenty of professional jealousy.  War of epic

scale raged with the Russians in the east while

Rommel soaked up the glory with a two division

sideshow in North Africa.

 The plan was to invade Malta once Rommel

cleared Libya of the British.  Holding North African

ports such as Tripoli and Tobruk wasn't enough

so long as Britain continued to sink Rommel's 

supplies coming from Italy.  Taking Egypt and the

Suez depended on Germany clearing the  

Mediterranean of the RAF and the subs

that patrolled from this strategic base.

 

 Rommel wants to pursue the British into Egypt now.

The opportunity to destroy the 8th Army is at hand.

Hitler agrees.  He's not keen on invading Malta.

It would be a big commitment of resources just when

everything possible is being done to supply the war

in Russia.  Besides Hitler doesn't trust Mussolini.

The Italians are incompetent and he is sure he would

be left to take Malta alone.

 Bernard Montgomery.

The guy talks truth to power.

Most everyone finds him to be a royal pain.

Churchill picked him to straighten out the

Eighth Army, but first they must survive

Rommel's push to destroy the British

at Mersa Matruh.

* * * * *

©  Tom Taylor-

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Tobruk

  

 Rommel needed Tobruk and the British didn't.

Briton's Middle East commanders had no desire

to support another outpost in a siege well behind

enemy lines.  Even if successful, the venture

wasn't worth it to the military way of thinking.

Tobruk appears safe for the moment.

Rommel is stalled for lack of fuel.

"We have him now," General Ritchie proclaims.

Rommel's forces meanwhile take Sidi Muftah,

enabling them to directly resupply their formations.

British minefields inadvertently add to German defense.

Rommel takes this time to plan his next move.

 

 Four days later Rommel sprung from his lair,

known as 'The Cauldron,' to attack a series of 

British outposts strung between Knightsbridge

and El Adem.  The military situation everywhere

soon turned against the 8th Army.

Britain's generals were never trained to deal with

mobile armor.  Instead, the foot soldier still ruled

the battlefield.  The Matilda, Britain's best tank,

went no faster than troops moving double-time.

There was no need for a tank to go faster 

than a guy with his rifle.  

If your a corps commander you better quickly 

learn to think three times faster than you planned.

Forget your carefully prepared flank defense.

According to Rommel, delivering the first iron

punch is all the defense you need to know.

The 8th Army learned bitter lessons from the man

who first figured things out.

Orders from General Ritchie were ignored by 

commanders on the scene.  They were desperately

trying to get their forces to the Egyptian border

before they became trapped and annihilated

by the approaching panzer forces.

Tobruk fell quickly to Rommel.

 

 For Churchill the fall of Tobruk could not have come

at a worse time.  He was currently in Washington

conferring with his most important ally, Roosevelt.

The Prime Minister said, "Not only were the military

effects grievous, but it had affected the reputation

of the British Armies.  Defeat is one thing, disgrace

is another."

This string of failures had to end.

* * * * * 

©  Tom Taylor

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