#232: Operation Battleaxe - TWiE War on the Southern Front

June 1942: By June 14th, Gen Ritchie had accepted the fact that the battle for the Gazala Line had been lost, and ordered the units remaining on the front line to break off the action and withdraw. The Axis closed in at once and surrounded Tobruk by June18th. The Australians had held a long siege the previous year, so the upper echelon expected the same again this time. The Tobruk Garrison this time was roughly the same size as before, and was organized around the 2nd South African Division, but the fortifications were not near as strong. Many of the mines had been pulled to be re-sown on the Gazala Line and, through the changing of the garrison, many minefields were simply lost track of. As before, Rommel by-passed Tobruk and drove the 8th Army back across the border into Egypt. But on the night of June 19th, Rommel disengaged his tanks at the front line and doubled back to strike at Tobruk. When the attack began, General Klopper thought the first strike was a diversionary attack and thus was slow to react with his reserves. Before he could, it was too late. The front line was broken in a sector held by the 11th Indian Brigade, with the Cameron Highlanders and Mahratta Light Infantry, perhaps two of the best regiments in the 8th Army, that were, as it turns out, stretched over too much frontage. The fortress of Tobruk, having withstood the siege for months the previous year, fell in a single day's fight. It was a staggering blow to the British, in particular their leader Winston Churchill, who was said to have muttered, "Defeat is one thing, disgrace is another!"