Operation Brevity was a limited offensive conducted in mid-May 1941, during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. It was intended to be a rapid blow against weak Axis front-line forces in the Sollum–Capuzzo–Bardia area of the border between Egypt and Libya. Most of its early gains were lost to local counter-attacks, and with German reinforcements being rushed to the front the operation was called off after one day. The British advanced 500 miles, occupying the Italian province of Cyrenaica and destroying the 10thArmy.
About Operation Brevity in brief
Operation Brevity was a limited offensive conducted in mid-May 1941, during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. It was intended to be a rapid blow against weak Axis front-line forces in the Sollum–Capuzzo–Bardia area of the border between Egypt and Libya. Most of its early gains were lost to local counter-attacks, and with German reinforcements being rushed to the front the operation was called off after one day. The operation got off to a promising start, throwing the Axis high command into confusion, but it was closed down on 16 May. The strategically important Halfaya Pass was taken against stiff Italian opposition, and deeper inside Libya Fort Capuzzo was captured, but German counter- Attacks under Colonel Maximilian von Herff regained the fort during the afternoon causing heavy casualties amongst its defenders. The British and Commonwealth forces also forced the Axis forces into retreat, which forced the British and British Troops in Egypt to capture the British Commanding Officer Richard O’Connor. During March and April the remaining units of the 2nd Armoured Division went on the offensive, destroying Axis forces as well as the Italian 10th Army. The offensive was eventually called off on 18 May 1941, and the British troops retreated to the Nile Delta for rest and refitting. In the following months, the British advanced 500 miles, occupying the Italian province of Cyrenaica and destroying the 10thArmy. The advance was halted in February 1941 because of supply shortages and to give priority to the Battle of Greece.
The troops of the former Western Desert Force adopted a defensive posture and were re-designated as XIII Corps. Over the next few months, HQ CyrenAica lost its commander, Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson, followed by the 2 second New Zealand Division and the 6th Australian Division when they were sent to Greece in Operation Lustre. The 7th Armoured division, with virtually no serviceable tanks left, was also withdrawn and sent to the River Nile Delta to rest. The Italians responded by despatching the 132nd Armouring Division Ariete and 102nd Motorised Division Arieta to reinforce the German Afrika Korps in Tripoli. From February 1941 until early May, Operation Sonnenblume saw the arrival of the 15th Panzer Commanded by Generalleutnant Erwin Rommel and consisting of the 5th Light and 5th Panzer Divisions. The German forces were able to block the Allied attempts to drive the Italians out of the region. By April 1941 Rommel had driven the British forces back across the Egyptian border. Although the battlefront now lay in the border area, the port city of Tobruk—100 miles inside Libya—had resisted the Axis advance, and its substantial Australian and British garrison constituted a significant threat to Rommel’s lengthy supply chain. He therefore committed his main strength to besieging the city, leaving the front line only thinly held. The importance of the Halfaya pass as a safe supply route was highlighted to Rommel, and 11 days later it was recaptured.
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This page is based on the article Operation Brevity published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 06, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
