Rommel in the Desert

Page 3 of 7

• 1. Man of promise
• 2. Surprise element
• 3. Battles of Gazala and El Alamein
• 4. Opponents' view
• 5. Lucky breaks
• 6. Ultimate failure
• 7. Find out more
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Battles of Gazala and El Alamein

The Battle of Gazala, fought from 26 May to 20 June 1942, was Rommel's greatest triumph. In a daring and risky move, he drove his army around the flank of the British army and into its rear.

Trapped against the British minefields, his Afrika Korps came within an ace of running out of ammunition and fuel, but his legendary luck held. He was able to repulse every ill-co-ordinated British counter-attack, and then destroy the British armoured forces in a climactic battle around 'Knightsbridge', near Bir Hacheim.

'... rumours of catastrophe for the Allies were in the air ...'

Within days, Tobruk had fallen to Axis forces, and Rommel was pushing his tired men into a drive for the Egyptian cities of Alexandria and Cairo. In the last days of June 1942, with rumours of catastrophe for the Allies in the air, it seemed that he might reach his goal.

However, the British Eighth Army, under the command of General Claude Auchinleck at El Alamein, managed to halt Rommel's headlong drive. Here Hitler's favourite general found himself in serious trouble. The Axis supply line was stretched beyond breaking point, and he could neither go forwards nor back.

Eventually, in August 1942, he launched his last desperate attempt to reach the Nile Delta, at Alam Halfa. This despite the fact that the petrol tanks of his tanks, trucks and half-tracks were virtually empty.

'Rommel was seriously ill after two years of constant fighting ...'

Stranded in the desert, the Axis forces dug themselves in, and laid minefields. Rommel, sick at heart and now seriously ill after two years of constant fighting, returned home. He was not with his army when, on 23 October 1942, the famous bombardment signalled the opening of the British offensive against his position, under the command of General Bernard Montgomery.

Rommel quickly returned to the desert, but he could not stem the tide of war. Having had two years of complete freedom in his independent command, he was shocked when he received a direct order from Hitler to stand firm at El Alamein.

This order, which Rommel attempted to obey even when he had decided on withdrawal, ensured that the bulk of the Axis army was destroyed. Rommel's spell of invincibility was broken.

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Published: 2004-05-10