Operation Crusader

Operation Crusader
Part of the Western Desert Campaign in the Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II
A Mark I Crusader tank passes a burning German Panzer IV
Date 18 November – 30 December 1941 (1941-11-18 – 1941-12-30) Location Egypt and Libya 30°N 24°E / 30°N 24°E / 30; 24 Result Allied victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom  India  New Zealand  South Africa  Australia Poland  Czechoslovakia[1]	Italy  Germany
Commanders and leaders
Claude Auchinleck Alan Cunningham Neil Ritchie Willoughby Norrie R. Godwin-Austen	Ettore Bastico Erwin Rommel Ludwig Crüwell Gastone Gambara Enea Navarini
Strength
118,000 men[2] 738 tanks[a] 724 aircraft (616 serviceable)[b]	119,000 men[c] 414–552 tanks[d] 536 aircraft (342 serviceable)[e]
Casualties and losses
17,700 2,900 killed 7,300 wounded 7,500 missing[f] c. 800 tanks[6][g] c. 300 aircraft[8]	38,300[2] German: 14,600 1,100 killed 3,400 wounded 10,100 missing Italian: 23,700 1,200 killed 2,700 wounded 19,800 missing 340 tanks destroyed[9] German: 220 Italian: 120 c. 332 aircraft destroyed c. 228 abandoned[8]

Operation Crusader (18 November – 30 December 1941) was a military operation of the Western Desert Campaign during the Second World War by the British Eighth Army (with Commonwealth, Indian and Allied contingents) against the Axis forces (German and Italian) in North Africa commanded by Generalleutnant (Lieutenant-General) Erwin Rommel. The operation was intended to bypass Axis defences on the Egyptian–Libyan frontier, defeat the Axis armoured forces near Tobruk, raise the Siege of Tobruk and re-occupy Cyrenaica.

On 18 November 1941, the Eighth Army began a surprise attack. From 18 to 22 November, the dispersal of British armoured units led to them suffering 530 tank losses and inflicting Axis losses of about 100 tanks. On 23 November, the 5th South African Brigade was destroyed at Sidi Rezegh but caused many German tank losses. On 24 November Rommel ordered the "dash to the wire" and caused chaos in the British rear but allowed the British armoured forces to recover. On 27 November, the New Zealanders reached the Tobruk garrison and ended the siege.

Lack of supplies forced Rommel to shorten his lines of communication and on 7 December 1941, the Axis forces withdrew to the Gazala position and on 15 December began a withdrawal to El Agheila. The 2nd South African Division captured Bardia on 2 January 1942, Sollum on 12 January and the fortified Halfaya position on 17 January, taking about 13,800 prisoners.^[2] On 21 January 1942, Rommel surprised the Eighth Army and drove it back to Gazala where both sides regrouped. The Battle of Gazala began at the end of May 1942.

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