"We're going to get those sauerkraut and macaroni eaters! "
The Battle of Gazala May 1942.
The Africakorps' biggest battle in Cyrenaica before the capture of Tobruk. But Rommel was not far from disaster. Heavy losses on both sides. In one morning, Rommel destroyed a motorized brigade, repulsed three others, including two armored ones, and decapitated the 7th Armored Division (capturing the headquarters and its codes). The D.A.K. was then subjected to a concentric attack by three armoured brigades at the same time. Losses on both sides were severe (on the evening of May 27, the 3rd Royal Tank Regiment had only 5 Grants and 8 Stuarts left), but the position of the Italo-German units was poor on the evening of the first day of fighting.
Field Marshal Auchinleck commanded the 8th Army from July 1941 to August 1942, when he was dismissed by Churchill and replaced by Alexander and Montgomery from August 11.
The fighting began on May 26 with Operation Venezia, a Panzer Afrika offensive on the Gazala line. 400 British tanks were lost (out of 650 to 700), most of them Grants.
The Battle of Gazala was a "hard-fought" victory, as the Axis troops led by Rommel admirably mastered complex, fluid desert operations.
Auchinleck and Ritchie gathered forces from all sides to block access to the Egyptian border, leaving Tobruk isolated...
The armored forces of the 8th Army were crushed and defeated. No support or coordination for British tankers (artillery, infantry escort) in the face of Italo-German artillery, including the terrible 88 mm guns. Poor cohesion in battle for the Grants. Positions not concentrated, too scattered. Following heavy losses, the armored units were amalgamated, depriving the men of cohesion and esprit de corps.
The tankers of the 8th Army suffered a series of defeats and setbacks right up to El Alamein. Auchinleck, a little too confident in his staff, should have been in the field from the start...
. June 2, 1942: The 5th Royal Tank Regiment loses 20 Grants. It has 3 left in the evening...
June 5, 1942: The 22nd Armoured Brigade loses some 60 tanks out of the 156 it lost in the morning...
June 12: The 4th Armoured Brigade, although far from the fighting, has only 4 Grants left.
June 13: The 22nd Armoured Brigade and the 32nd Army Tank Brigade, reduced to around 50 Grant, Crusader, Valentine and Matilda tanks, hold out until the 14th... which means that the British must retreat to the Egyptian border.
As for the 2nd Armoured Brigade, it was out of reach.
The Germans' numerical superiority in terms of artillery and their know-how in terms of inter-army maneuvers came into full play... In the desert, the decision rests less on tanks than on guns (including tank guns). Rommel captured Tobruk on June 21.
The diorama
The available equipment assembles at EL Adem for consideration by the 4th Armoured Brigade. 59 tanks including: 23 Grant, 12 Crusader, 24 Stuart.
The GRANT: LEE tank, manufactured in the U.S.A. in 2,000 units. 28 tons. Two 75mm and 37mm guns. 6-man crew.
At the beginning of 1942, the 8th Army received its first American tanks - in fact Lee tanks - with riveted hulls (strongly inspired by the French B1 BIS in terms of armament).
Dissatisfied with the high turret, the British changed it for a lower, wider version to accommodate a radio. Like the French tank, the 75mm gun on the right-hand side reduces the angle of fire, and forces the tank to turn to position itself, wasting time... It was dethroned at El Alamein by the Sherman.
The Germans discovered the Grant, but underestimated it by intercepting critical British reports. The Panzer IIIs rarely came up against the Grant head-on, leaving the 88mm cannons to fix the enemy's engines, the better to turn and attack them from the flank, or even from behind. A tactic that paid off...
This was the swan song for the Matilda II, replaced by the Valentine (which was no better), with its poor armament and weak armor... Ditto for the Crusader, which had speed on its side... Soon, the first Churchills would arrive in the field at El Alamein...
