An exposed front
Cyrenaica offers room for columns but almost no cover. Roads, mines, and water points therefore have disproportionate military value.
Battle
Gazala
26 May — 21 June 1942
Desert maneuver fails when its supply system collapses.
Military history
Why did Rommel’s successful outflanking maneuver ultimately weaken the army that carried it out?
Gazala is often reduced to a sweeping tank maneuver across the desert. The real mechanism is harsher: a brilliant maneuver can turn against itself when mines, distances, and depots transform the vanguard into a starving force.
Tobruk as a pivot
The fortress controls coastal communications. Holding it protects the British rear; its fall opens the road toward Egypt.
Rommel’s gamble
The Axis must achieve a rapid decision because maritime and overland supply cannot indefinitely support a deep penetration into the desert.
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Chronological dossier
StalingradUrban combat, stretched fronts and a flank offensive turn a conquest into an encirclement.KurskDefences in depth, intelligence and armoured reserves absorb and then turn back the German offensive.Imphal–KohimaJapanese forces besiege Imphal and Kohima, but the British Army supplies its positions by air and regains the initiative.TarantoBritish Swordfish attack the Italian fleet at anchor and reduce its freedom of action in the Mediterranean.MidwayIntelligence positions the ambush; dispersed attacks disorganise the defence before the dive-bombers arrive.KasserineAxis forces break through American positions in the passes before Allied reinforcements stabilize the front.Sedan BreakthroughHow did concentrated air power and the Meuse crossing produce a breakthrough faster than the French command could contain it?Second Battle of El AlameinHow did Montgomery turn logistical superiority into a breakthrough despite the depth of the Axis minefields?
Military history
Sources
Contemporary sourceErwin Rommel, rapports et notes de campagne d’Afrique du Nord
Entrées consacrées à l’opération Theseus et à la prise de Tobrouk
Objectives, decisions, and perceptions of Axis command.
Modern monographBarrie Pitt, The Crucible of War
Chapitres sur Gazala et la chute de Tobrouk
Operational sequence, troop strengths, and logistical constraints.
Museum and historical overviewImperial War Museums, The Second Battle of El Alamein
Passage rappelant la défaite britannique à Gazala et le repli vers El-Alamein
Connection among Gazala, Tobruk, and the Egyptian campaign.
View ↗Institutional military mapAustralian War Memorial, The Battle of Gazala
Carte de la bataille conservée par l’Australian War Memorial
Coast, Gazala, Tobruk, Bir Hakeim, boxes, and outflanking axes.
View ↗Institutional overviewChemins de mémoire, la bataille de Bir Hakeim
Dossier historique sur les combats du 26 mai au 11 juin 1942
Southern anchor of the line, encirclement, and the role of Bir Hakeim.
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