Operation Crusader started on the morning of the 18th of November 1941 with 30 Corps and 13 Corps of the Allied eighth army pushing in and around Tobruk, with the 13 Corps objective to enter into Cyrenaica, Libya and engage with the Axis troops there before moving towards Tobruk to join with the 30 Corps as their objective was to enter Tobruk and hopefully completely relieve those still fighting in Tobruk. The overall goals of Operation Crusader were to finally relieve the fighting at Tobruk and to completely remove the Axis forces in North Africa.
The Operation started very well, just like Operation Brevity, and Battleaxe, with the Allies making great advances into Axis territory. But the improved set up and planning of Operation Crusader was evident as the Allies were not just capturing their objective, but they were also holding down those objectives and progressing to new objectives. Although it was all good news for General Sir Claude Auchinleck who was commanding the operation, as again like in the two previous attempts to relieve Tobruk Axis tanks and anti-tank guns were instrumental to halting the Allied offensive.
The Axis army, Panzergruppe Afrika commanded by General Erwin Rommel, were now comprised of Germans from the Afrika Korps, and Italians from the Italian 10th and 20th Corps. Brynn Hammond believes that Rommel had no idea that the Allies had an attack planned for the 18th of November, and that the Allies had fooled him that they would not launch an Offensive until early December, his evidence to back this up was the fact that Rommel wasn't even in Africa at the start of the attack.
The Allies used deception very well before and during the Operation. They convinced Rommel and his intelligence that an Allied attack would not be possible until early December and also that the Allies would sweep more south than what they did in reality. The Allies also built a fake railway that headed out of Misheifa to Depot number 2 which the Axis armies thought was the main supply route to the Allies on the front line. The Allies also put fake artillery guns next to the fake railway which made the Axis armies all the more convinced that the railway from Misheifa to Depot number 2 was a key part of the Allied survival in North Africa. The Axis aircraft bombed the fake railway on the 28th of November and continued to bomb it for more than a week, this shows how successful the fake railway was, as if those bombs had fallen on the real railway out of Misheifa, the Allies would have found it that much more difficult to bring supplies in.
The plan that was set out for the 30 Corps to enter Tobruk and relieve the fighting there was almost stopped by the very effective Axis defenses bolstered by the anti-tank guns which had pinned down the 30 Corps just outside of Tobruk on the 21st of November. It again looked as if the third attempt to relieve Tobruk would be flattened just days after the beginning of the operation. Luckily for Auchinleck the 13 Corps were making great inroads into the Axis defenses and by the 26th of November, they had already linked up with the 30 Corps and had pushed back the Axis defenses to enter Tobruk and relieve the 70th Division who had been awaiting the lifting of the fighting in Tobruk for what seemed a lifetime.
For the next week or so after the relief of Tobruk, there was a constant swing from side to side of territory with the Axis armies capturing places such as
Sidi Azeiz, and Point 175 and the Allies taking Sidi Rezegh only for it to be taken back only a few days later with many prisoners taken. Rommel ordered many counter-attacks on Allied held positions but opted to pull back most of them to concentrate on a main attack to recapture Tobruk but it wasn't successful as a large amount of the Axis tanks were in dire need of repair and Rommel realised that they could no longer make any critical advances into Tobruk and so by the 6th of November Rommel retreated his forces back to Gazala to form a new defensive front line.
For the most part, December of 1941 was a successful month for the Eighth army, as they forced the Panzergruppe Afrika to withdraw from Cyrenaica, Lybia. The defensive line at Gazala formed by Rommel's forces only stood for just over a week with the Allies making inroads at every chance they got. Although the Allies did find some resistance, as they had thought they had broken through a hole in the line that they had made earlier that day, but in reality just ran into more Axis artillery which caused heavy losses on the Allied side. But Rommel again realised that they could no longer hold their positions and so was forced to withdraw completely from Cyrenaica.
The Allies raced after the retreating Axis armies hoping to deplete their force in any way they could. The Allies finished 1941 with great gains into what was previously Axis territory and the retreat of Rommel's forces saw the end of Operation Crusader.
The Operation started very well, just like Operation Brevity, and Battleaxe, with the Allies making great advances into Axis territory. But the improved set up and planning of Operation Crusader was evident as the Allies were not just capturing their objective, but they were also holding down those objectives and progressing to new objectives. Although it was all good news for General Sir Claude Auchinleck who was commanding the operation, as again like in the two previous attempts to relieve Tobruk Axis tanks and anti-tank guns were instrumental to halting the Allied offensive.
The Axis army, Panzergruppe Afrika commanded by General Erwin Rommel, were now comprised of Germans from the Afrika Korps, and Italians from the Italian 10th and 20th Corps. Brynn Hammond believes that Rommel had no idea that the Allies had an attack planned for the 18th of November, and that the Allies had fooled him that they would not launch an Offensive until early December, his evidence to back this up was the fact that Rommel wasn't even in Africa at the start of the attack.
The Allies used deception very well before and during the Operation. They convinced Rommel and his intelligence that an Allied attack would not be possible until early December and also that the Allies would sweep more south than what they did in reality. The Allies also built a fake railway that headed out of Misheifa to Depot number 2 which the Axis armies thought was the main supply route to the Allies on the front line. The Allies also put fake artillery guns next to the fake railway which made the Axis armies all the more convinced that the railway from Misheifa to Depot number 2 was a key part of the Allied survival in North Africa. The Axis aircraft bombed the fake railway on the 28th of November and continued to bomb it for more than a week, this shows how successful the fake railway was, as if those bombs had fallen on the real railway out of Misheifa, the Allies would have found it that much more difficult to bring supplies in.
The plan that was set out for the 30 Corps to enter Tobruk and relieve the fighting there was almost stopped by the very effective Axis defenses bolstered by the anti-tank guns which had pinned down the 30 Corps just outside of Tobruk on the 21st of November. It again looked as if the third attempt to relieve Tobruk would be flattened just days after the beginning of the operation. Luckily for Auchinleck the 13 Corps were making great inroads into the Axis defenses and by the 26th of November, they had already linked up with the 30 Corps and had pushed back the Axis defenses to enter Tobruk and relieve the 70th Division who had been awaiting the lifting of the fighting in Tobruk for what seemed a lifetime.
For the next week or so after the relief of Tobruk, there was a constant swing from side to side of territory with the Axis armies capturing places such as
Sidi Azeiz, and Point 175 and the Allies taking Sidi Rezegh only for it to be taken back only a few days later with many prisoners taken. Rommel ordered many counter-attacks on Allied held positions but opted to pull back most of them to concentrate on a main attack to recapture Tobruk but it wasn't successful as a large amount of the Axis tanks were in dire need of repair and Rommel realised that they could no longer make any critical advances into Tobruk and so by the 6th of November Rommel retreated his forces back to Gazala to form a new defensive front line.
For the most part, December of 1941 was a successful month for the Eighth army, as they forced the Panzergruppe Afrika to withdraw from Cyrenaica, Lybia. The defensive line at Gazala formed by Rommel's forces only stood for just over a week with the Allies making inroads at every chance they got. Although the Allies did find some resistance, as they had thought they had broken through a hole in the line that they had made earlier that day, but in reality just ran into more Axis artillery which caused heavy losses on the Allied side. But Rommel again realised that they could no longer hold their positions and so was forced to withdraw completely from Cyrenaica.
The Allies raced after the retreating Axis armies hoping to deplete their force in any way they could. The Allies finished 1941 with great gains into what was previously Axis territory and the retreat of Rommel's forces saw the end of Operation Crusader.