#gazala

Battle of Gazala

The Battle of Gazala in Libya in May-June 1942 was a decisive victory for German and Italian forces led by General Erwin Rommel (1891-1944) against British, Commonwealth, and Free French forces during the Western Desert Campaigns (Jun 1940 to Jan 1943) of the Second World War (1939-1945). As a consequence of the defeat and breaking up of the British defensive line at Gazala, the Allies were obliged to surrender the key fortress port of Tobruk and give Rommel his finest victory.

General Rommel, Western Desert

Imperial War Museums (CC BY-NC-SA)

Desert Warfare

Into the second year of WWII, the Allies, then principally British and Commonwealth forces, were keen to protect the Suez Canal from falling into enemy hands, that is into the control of the Axis powers of Germany and Italy. North Africa was also strategically important to both sides' wish to control and protect vital Mediterranean shipping routes. The island of Malta was also crucial in this role and holding the island fortress (then in British hands) was another reason to control potential airfields in the North African desert. Finally, North Africa was the only place where Britain could fight a land war against Germany and Italy and so hopefully gain much-needed victories that would encourage the British people after the debacle of the Dunkirk Evacuation and the horrors of the London Blitz.

For all of the above reasons, a series of desert battles ensued, which are collectively known as the Western Desert Campaigns. At first, the British Army faced poorly equipped Italian forces, but these were soon considerably boosted by German troops with superior armour, weapons, and training.

North Africa proved a difficult theatre of war with its small ports, poor (or often non-existent) roads, and harsh desert environment. For both sides, battling local conditions and overcoming frequent shortfalls in logistics became just as important as bettering the enemy's military forces. As Rommel once reflected: "The battle is fought and decided by the quartermasters before the shooting begins" (Mitchellhill-Green, 264).

One thing the desert had was space, and battles could range over many miles as territorial gains became much less important than inflicting material damage on the enemy compared to other theatres of the war. Other peculiarities of desert warfare included the general absence of any civilian involvement and the fact that both sides frequently used captured equipment, a phenomenon that often made positive identification of exactly who was approaching across the far horizon in clouds of dust and sand extremely difficult. These same dust clouds, and the speed of armoured engagements, also meant that both the Axis and Allied air forces could only play a limited role in battles and so were largely reduced to targeting supply lines or fixed defensive positions.

General Erwin Rommel

Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1977-018-13A / Otto (CC BY-SA)

Bataille de Gazala

La bataille de Gazala, en Libye, en mai-juin 1942, fut une victoire décisive des forces allemandes et italiennes dirigées par le général Erwin Rommel (1891-1944) contre les forces britanniques, du Commonwealth et de la France libre pendant les campagnes du désert occidental (juin 1940 à janvier 1943) de la Seconde Guerre mondiale (1939-1945). À la suite de la défaite et de la rupture de la ligne de défense britannique à Gazala, les Alliés furent obligés de céder le port forteresse de Tobrouk et de donner à Rommel sa plus belle victoire.

VC’s from Revolution Games Gazala the Cauldron. An excellent game and innovative system.

Historical overview:

In our game the Germans advance quickly!

The Italians seek to breach the wire.

Brits lunge down to support !

German attacks go pretty well.

The encirclement begins

After a series of miss communications, we call off the game until my opponent has time to focus. We had…

My very first animation