World War: The Technique of Destruction

Strategically, the week’s most important development in Libya was the spectacular British sweep by “mechanized patrols” across the base of the Libyan hump. The patrols could not have been very strong, but they were apparently strong enough to attack and destroy Axis land convoys, which were working along the road which was the only Axis supply line from the west.

This audacious sweep was the key to Britain’s plan in Libya. Like every other British move of the battle so far, it had been conceived with a double-edged purpose : 1) to cut off Axis supplies; 2) to whittle down Axis force and supply by actual attack.

Enveloping Moves. In the first phase of battle the British sent columns shoot ing into the desert to isolate the various Axis cantonments and fortresses. Each column had as its objective certain vital highways and desert tracks. Three of them had as their eventual rendezvous a key point on the biggest Axis highway, Sidi Rezegh. The fourth (mechanized New Zealanders) cut north behind Axis forts on the Egyptian border, isolating them from the rear; then split and hurried along the coast, isolating coastal strongholds like Bardia and Gambut. In that operation the Fleet assisted. With control of land highways, with control of the sea, with initial control of the air, the British had the Axis forces in a vacuum.

Containing Moves. When they had recovered from the first shock, the German armored forces took the initiative. They had three aims: 1) to engage and destroy as many British tanks as possible south of Sidi Rezegh; 2) to maintain a channel to the west below Tobruk, through which infantry and some mechanized forces could escape; 3) to create a diversion behind the British lines. This last move gave the British a short, sharp scare. Tank patrols actually penetrated several miles into Egypt before the British threw them back.

In answer to these challenges, the British made every effort to contain German attacks. The Germans were wearing themselves down. The British wanted to keep them from new supply and repair sources.

Blocking Moves. Fighting next settled down to a duel of attrition. The British stuck by their original bet—that if they could isolate the Germans east of Tobruk, they would eventually wear them down. The German tactic was to join all forces into one phalanx of machinery (south of Gambut) and take on the smaller British units one by one. Because the British were trying to maintain an encirclement, they necessarily had to scatter their forces. This gave the Germans, concentrating the remnants of one Italian and two German mechanized divisions, the advantage of being able to attack a brigade at a time. Advance British units pushed on west of Tobruk.