Action at Bir el Gubi (December 1941)

Action at Bir el Gubi (December 1941)
Part of Operation Crusader during the Second World War

Members of the Battalion Group "Giovani Fascisti" operating a Mod. 35 (81 mm) mortar in North Africa.
Date4–6 December 1941
Location
Bir el Gubi, Italian Libya
31°32′15″N 24°01′51″E / 31.5374°N 24.0307°E / 31.5374; 24.0307
Result Axis victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom
Commanders and leaders
Strength
Casualties and losses
  • 300 killed
  • 250 wounded
  • 71 prisoners
  • 10 tanks
  • 60 killed
  • 117 wounded
  • 31 missing and prisoners[3] 10 tankettes

The Action at Bir el Gubi (December 1941) was fought in the Second World War in Libya, between 4 and 6 December 1941, by the Battalion Group "Giovani Fascisti", reinforced on 5 December by German tanks and the 11th Indian Infantry Brigade, part of the Eighth Army. Fighting took place around Point 174 and Point 182, that were held by the "Giovani Fascisti". The 11th Indian Infantry Brigade quickly overran Point 182 but the defenders of Point 174 defeated several attacks, inflicting many casualties. The action was a success for the defending Axis force but a minor part of Operation Crusader, a British victory.

Background

On 18 November 1941, the British Eighth Army began Operation Crusader, which was intended to relieve Tobruk, defeat the Axis armoured divisions and push the German and Italian forces out of Cyrenaica. The British tanks and motorised infantry made a sweeping flanking movement, did not go as expected for the British. The 22nd Armoured Brigade was repulsed by the 132nd Armored Division "Ariete" at Bir el Gubi on 19 November.[4][5]

Despite inflicting heavy blows on the British during Operation Crusader, by 1 December the Axis forces were becoming exhausted and depleted by the battle of attrition in which the British were bringing up fresh troops. According to Ken Ford, [the] "Eighth Army was maintaining its strength whilst Rommel's command was being whittled away. The German commander now saw his chances of victory fading fast".[6]

The "Ariete" Division was part of XX Corps (CAM Corpo d'Armata di Manovra) which was the most mechanised and best equipped of the two Italian Corps fighting around Tobruk. CAM had a reconnaissance force attached to it, called RECAM. This included on its strength, the Battalion Group "Giovani Fascisti"; two infantry battalions of volunteer Fascist students, who according to Ian Walker, were fanatical, well-trained and properly equipped. The Battalion Group was deployed at two positions north-west of Bir el Gubi, Point 174 and Point 182. CAM headquarters informed them on 3 December there was intelligence they would be attacked the following day.[7][8]

Action

In early December 1941, the Allies planned a fresh attempt to breakthrough to Tobruk and the commander of XXX Corps positioned the 11th Indian Brigade, 22nd Guards Brigade and 4th Armoured Brigade near Bir el Gubi.[9] The 11th Indian Infantry Brigade, supported by 16 Valentine tanks and artillery, was to attack Points 174 and 182, where they were expecting light resistance. After a night march, their attack began on the morning of 4 December, with the 2nd Battalion of the 5th Mahratta Light Infantry, supported by 13 tanks, taking Point 182 "with ease" (according to Murphy) and 250 Giovani Fascist surrendered.[10] At Point 174, the defenders inflicted a costly defeat; initially from the 2nd Battalion of the Cameron Highlanders supported by 3 tanks and later by the Mahrattas.[11]

The 4th Armoured Brigade was ordered by Army headquarters to move 20 mi (32 km) to the east, after reports of Axis troop movements elsewhere. This would leave the 11th Indian Infantry Brigade vulnerable should Axis tanks arrive in force. On 5 December, 49 tanks from the 15th Panzer Division and the 21st Panzer Division broke through the Mahrattas and linked up with the Italian defenders. In the afternoon of 6 December, the commander of the 15th Panzer Division, Major-General Neumann-Silkow, was mortally wounded, then the evening saw what Murphy described as an "inconclusive mêlée".[12]

Aftermath

On 7 December, British tanks arrived and the remnants of the 11th Indian Brigade were withdrawn, with 22nd Guards Brigade taking over their positions. The Indian brigade went into reserve and was then withdrawn for rebuilding.[13] Ian Walker wrote that Battalion Group "Giovani Fascisti" that "The stubbornness of their two-day defence against superior forces came as a complete surprise to the British, and would become one of the epics of the campaign".[14] While the action near Bir el Gubi was an Axis victory, it did not change the course of Operation Crusader, as on 6 December Rommel ordered a fighting retreat. The Tobruk garrison was relieved and by the end of the month Cyrenaica was captured for a second time by the British. [15]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Murphy 1961, p. 480.
  2. ↑ Murphy 1961, p. 480.
  3. ↑ Roggiero 2007, p. 128.
  4. ↑ Ford 2010, pp. 25–30.
  5. ↑ Walker 2003, pp. 117−124.
  6. ↑ Ford 2010, p. 86.
  7. ↑ Walker 2003, p. 150.
  8. ↑ Murphy 1961, p. 480.
  9. ↑ Ford 2010, p. 86.
  10. ↑ Murphy 1961, p. 480.
  11. ↑ Murphy 1961, p. 480.
  12. ↑ Murphy 1961, pp. 440, 484.
  13. ↑ Murphy 1961, p. 483.
  14. ↑ Walker 2003, p. 150.
  15. ↑ Ford 2010, pp. 10–11.

Bibliography

  • Ford, Ken (2010). Operation Crusader 1941: Rommel in retreat. Oxford: Osprey. ISBN 978-1-84-603500-5.
  • Murphy, W. E. (1961). Fairbrother, Monty C. (ed.). The Relief of Tobruk. The Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–1945 (online scan ed.). Wellington, NZ: War History Branch, Department of Internal Affairs. OCLC 8000753 – via New Zealand Electronic Text Collection.
  • Roggiero, Roberto (2007). "El Alamein La svolta decisiva". Documente illistrati della storia No. 16. Parma: Delta Editrice. ISSN 1722-876X.
  • Walker, Ian W. (2003). Iron Hulls, Iron Hearts: Mussolini's Elite Armoured Divisions in North Africa. Ramsbury: The Crowood Press. ISBN 1-86126-646-4.

Further reading

  • Boog, H.; Rahn, W.; Stumpf, R.; Wegner, B. (2001). The Global War: Widening of the Conflict into a World War and the Shift of the Initiative 1941–1943. Germany in the Second World War. Vol. VI. Translated by Osers, E.; Brownjohn, J.; Crampton, P.; Willmot, L. (Eng trans. Oxford University Press, London ed.). Potsdam: Militärgeschichtliches Forschungsamt (Research Institute for Military History). ISBN 0-19-822888-0.
  • Cappellano, Filippo (2011). "Carri leggeri in Libia". Storia Militare (208). Parma: Albertelli Edizioni. ISSN 1122-5289.
  • Gooch, John, ed. (1990). Decisive Campaigns of the Second World War. Abingdon: Frank Cass. ISBN 0-7146-3369-0.
  • Hinsley, Harry; Thomas, E. E.; Ransom, C. F. G.; Knight, R. C. (1981). British Intelligence in the Second World War: Its Influence on Strategy and Operations. History of the Second World War. Vol. II. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-24290-5.
  • Greene, Jack; Massignani, Alessandro (1999) [1994]. Rommel's North Africa campaign: September 1940 – November 1942. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo. ISBN 978-1-58097-018-1.
  • Maughan, Barton (1966). Tobruk and El Alamein. Australia in the War of 1939–1945, Series 1 – Army. Vol. III (1st (online) ed.). Canberra: Australian War Memorial. OCLC 186193977.
  • Montanari, Mario (1993) [1985]. Le operazioni in Africa Settentrionale Tobruk, (marzo 1941 –– gennaio 1942) Parte Seconda. Vol. II (2nd online ed.). Roma: Edizione Ufficio Storico SME. OCLC 247554269. Archived from the original on 19 August 2020 – via issuu.
  • Schreiber, G.; Stegemann, B.; Vogel, D. (2015) [1995]. Falla, P. S. (ed.). The Mediterranean, South-East Europe and North Africa, 1939–1941: From Italy's Declaration of non-Belligerence to the Entry of the United States into the War. Germany and the Second World War. Vol. III. Translated by McMurry, D. S.; Osers, E.; Willmot, L. (2nd pbk. trans. Oxford University Press, Oxford ed.). Freiburg im Breisgau: Militärgeschichtliches Forschungsamt. ISBN 978-0-19-873832-9.
  • Shores, C. F.; Massimello, G.; Guest, R. (2012). A History of the Mediterranean Air War 1940–1945: North Africa June 1940 – January 1942. Vol. I. London: Grub Street. ISBN 978-1-908117-07-6.
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