Pessoal, este fim de semana é a comemoração da Operação Crusader passada em 41. Aqui deixo alguns dados históricos.
Tobruk is a port city on the Libyan coast near the border to Egypt. During World War II it was a strategically important location that the Allied forces could not afford to lose. The city’s port was vital for the Allies’ defence of Egypt and held great tactical value: While in the hands of the Allies, it forced the Germans to resupply their troops overland rather than by sea, which meant that the Axis forces had to take the long way through 1500km of desert, greatly slowing down the progress of their campaign in Africa.
It was only natural that conflict would arise for control of the city. The Axis positioned themselves in the surrounding area for a long siege, adopting strongholds which allowed them to bomb the city over a sustained period and trapping the Allies inside. However, well-shielded on one side by the waterfront, the city proved hard to take for the Italian-German forces, who were unable to circle it entirely. This left the port open as a major lifeline for the soldiers held up inside. The blockade was established in April 1941 and would last almost until the end of the year, when it would finally be ended in ‘Operation Crusader’.
This famous military offensive pitted well over 200,000 men, more than 1500 tanks and around the same number of airplanes in a deadly fight against each other. More than anything else though, this fight was a duel between the commanding officers of the two parties: Generals Claude Auchinleck for the Allies and Erwin Rommel for the Axis. The two bitter rivals, who would go on to encounter each other in more conflicts during the West Africa Campaign, battled it out on this one in relentless back and forth fighting that caused a lot of casualties on both sides.
Essentially the events of the operation came down to the Allies managing to provoke the Germans into launching a reckless counter-attack that drew most of their forces out of their well-placed defences. Unfortunately though, the Allies paid a high price for this risky diversion: During the first four days of the operation, that had started on November 18th, the 4th Armoured Brigade fell victim to the well-organized 21st Panzer Division. Weakened by poor communication, the British had no choice but to watch the superior German tanks plough their way through the British lines like a hot knife through butter.
Although the Allies managed to temporarily conquer the left-behind German headquarters, Rommel and his right hand, General Crüwell always recaptured what had been taken. However, spread out and tempted to advance even further into their successful counter attack, the Germans stretched their troops over a greater and greater distance. As they advanced further east towards the Egyptian border, the Allies succeeded in performing the crucial coup that would turn the odds in their favour: The main body of their army was able to bypass the German push and hurry all the way back to Tobruk where they could merge with a newly repaired British armour brigade. All of a sudden attacked in his rear, Rommel had to call back his Panzers, using up precious fuel reserves and losing time in the process. The Germans tried to defend as best they could, but now facing the heat from Tobruk as well as the outside, they had no choice but to retreat in the end of December after 17 days of heavy battle.
‘Operation Crusader’ had been successful in liberating Tobruk from a month-long blockade, stopping the Axis threat to Egypt and proving for the first time in WWII that Rommel’s Afrika Korps Panzers could be beaten.
Fonte - world of tanks
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