Desert Warfare: From Its Roman Origins to the Gulf Conflict by Bryan Perrett

Author:Bryan Perrett [Perrett, Bryan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HISTORY / Middle East / General
ISBN: 9781473847460
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Published: 2015-11-30T05:00:00+00:00

Vickers medium, machine-gun team in action. The Vickers was a recoil, gas-assisted, water-cooled weapon with a rate of fire of 450 rounds per minute, although a lower rate was set when the gun was used in the sustained fire role. The water in the cooling jacket boiled after 600 rounds continuous firing, the steam being led off by hose to a condenser can, whence it could be used again on cooling. The gun was very suitable for use in the indirect fire role against distant reverse slopes and suspected enemy concentrations and, using streamlined ammunition, could engage targets up to a maximum range of 4,500 yd. It remained in service with the British Army until the 1960s (Imperial War Museum).

Rommel arrived in Tripoli on 12 February and immediately flew up to the front to assess the situation, leaving orders for 5th Light to follow as soon as its units disembarked, together with the Italian reinforcements which were being shipped to Libya. In Cairo, Wavell was advised of this development but thought it unlikely that the Axis forces would be capable of offensive action before the end of May. In Berlin the Army High Command (Oberkommando des Heer or OKH) had already reached a similar conclusion and had actually forbidden any advance before that date. Rommel, however, decided to act on his own initiative and attack at once, relying on his influence with Hitler to protect him from the wrath of OKH, simultaneously dismissing the nominal authority of Marshal Italo Garibaldi, who had replaced the unhappy Graziani as Italian Commander-in-Chief North Africa after Beda Fomm.

While Rommel’s instinct may have been correct, he could not have been fully aware of the inherent weakness of the British position. O’Connor had gone on sick leave and the British troops in Cyrenaica were now commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir Philip Neame, a fighting soldier and a holder of the Victoria Cross who nevertheless lacked experience of senior command. The 7th Armoured and 6th Australian Divisions had also returned to Egypt and been replaced by Major-General M. D. Gambier-Parry’s 2nd Armoured Division, which held the forward positions, and Major-General Leslie Morshead’s 9th Australian Division, which was in immediate reserve with brigades in Benghazi and Tobruk. Both of these formations were under-equipped, only partially trained and, with a few exceptions, new to the desert. The situation of 2nd Armoured Division was particularly unsatisfactory for one of its armoured brigades and part of its support group had been detached for service in Greece. The remaining armoured brigade–the 3rd–consisted of 5 RTR with 23 worn-out cruisers and 3rd Hussars and 6 RTR equipped with light tanks and Italian M13s captured at Beda Fomm.

By the end of the third week in March Rommel had in hand Major-General Johannes Streich’s 5th Light Division, spearheaded by 70 light and 80 medium tanks, plus three Italian infantry divisions and part of the Italian Ariete Armoured Division. On 24 March, a German reconnaissance unit attacked the British advanced post at El Agheila, situated in a neck of land between the sea and an extensive salt marsh.

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