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OPERATION BREVITY/BATTLEAXE
A Command Decision Wargames Campaign
Background |
Historical Outcome |
Campaign Rules |
Maps |
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In May 1941 the British Commonwealth forces in the Middle East stood with their backs to the wall. O'Connor's successful Operation COMPASS over the Winter of 1940/41 had pushed the Italians all the way back to Tripolitania, but the Germans had reinforced their reeling Italian allies with a small contingent of troops in March. These troops, the Deutsche Afrika Korps, and their commander, Generalleutnant Erwin Rommel would become household names over the next few years.
Despite being instructed to simply hold his position, Rommel decided to take the initiative and ordered 5th Light Division to undertake a "reconnaissance in force", which smashed through the British blocking position at El Agheila, destroying 2nd Armoured Division in the process. The Germans, along with Italian troops from Ariete Armoured Division, then pushed the Commonwealth forces all the way back to the Egyptian border; leaving only 9th Australian Division besieged in Tobruk.
General Wavell, in command of all Commonwealth ground forces in the Mediterranean and Middle East, found his position sorely stretched: The Commonwealth troops in Greece had just conducted a costly withdrawal to the island of Crete (and were soon to come under German airborne attack), the campaign to capture Italian East Africa and liberate Abyssinia was still on-going, a pro-Axis revolt had started in Iraq and the islands of Cyprus and Malta needed to be garrisoned. All this meant that the available troops had to be spread very wide and very thin. On top of this, London was pressing for the immediate relief of Tobruk.
The amount of forces available in mid-May was not sufficient for this task, so some reinforcements were sent out from the UK. These were scheduled to arrive in June in time for the start of the main assault to relieve Tobruk (Operation BATTLEAXE). In the meantime, Wavell decided to mount a small limited objective spoiling attack to improve his position on the border. This attack was given the codename BREVITY.