Operation Battleaxe was a British Army operation during the Second World War in June 1941 with the goal of clearing eastern Cyrenaica of German and Italian forces; one of the main benefits of this would have been the lifting of the Siege of Tobruk.
It was the first time during the war that a significant German force fought on the defensive. The operation did not succeed though, as British forces launched their initial assaults against strong defensive positions created by German General Erwin Rommel. The British lost over half of their tanks on the first day and only achieved victory at one of their three thrusts. They achieved mixed results on the second day, being pushed back on their western flank, but repelled a significant German counter-attack in their centre. On the third day, the British narrowly avoided outright disaster by withdrawing just ahead of a German encircling movement which would have cut them off from retreat.
The failure of this operation led to the replacement of British General Archibald Wavell, Commander-in-Chief of the Middle East, by Claude Auchinleck.
Read more about Operation Battleaxe: Aftermath
Famous quotes containing the word operation:
“Waiting for the race to become official, he began to feel as if he had as much effect on the final outcome of the operation as a single piece of a jumbo jigsaw puzzle has to its predetermined final design. Only the addition of the missing fragments of the puzzle would reveal if the picture was as he guessed it would be.”
—Stanley Kubrick (b. 1928)