Action at Bir el Gubi (December 1941) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Action at Bir el Gubi (December 1941) |
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| Part of Operation Crusader during the Second World War | |||||||
 Members of the "Giovani Fascisti" Division operating a Mod. 35 (81 mm) mortar in North Africa. |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 United Kingdom |
 Italy Germany |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 Willoughby Norrie Andrew Anderson |
Ferdinando Tanucci (WIA) Ludwig Crüwell |
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| Strength | |||||||
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XXX British Corps |
Battalion Group "Giovani Fascisti" 1,454 men 10 guns 2 tanks and 12 tankettes later reinforced by 3 armoured divisions |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| unknown | 60 killed 117 wounded 31 missing and prisoners 10 tankettes |
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The Action at Bir el Gubi (December 1941) was a battle during World War II. It happened near Bir el Gubi in Libya from December 3 to 7, 1941. Italian and later German forces fought against soldiers from the Commonwealth (like the British and Indian armies).
This battle took place two weeks after another fight at Bir el Gubi, where the Allies tried but failed to capture the area. Bir el Gubi was a very important spot. If the Allies had taken it, they could have gone around the German-Italian forces in Cyrenaica. This battle was part of a bigger plan called Operation Crusader.
Contents
Why This Battle Happened
On November 18, 1941, Commonwealth forces began a new attack called Operation Crusader. This happened north of Bir el Gubi. A few days later, on November 19, Italian forces stopped a British attack at Bir el Gubi.
On November 23, a huge tank battle, known as Totensonntag (which means "Sunday of the Dead" in German), took place in the desert. After this, a group of Italian soldiers called the "Giovani Fascisti" Battalion Group and some other Italian units moved into Bir el Gubi. They were joined by a tank company with ten small Fiat L3 tanks (called tankettes) and two larger M13/40 medium tanks.
The Italian soldiers worked hard to make their defenses stronger. They built places for machine guns and anti-tank guns. They also put up barbed wire fences and dug holes in the ground. These defenses helped them protect Bir el Gubi from attacks coming from any direction. Some of their tanks that broke down were even buried and used as defensive spots.
On December 1, the soldiers took their positions in the holes. It was raining very heavily. The soldiers also had ten 47/32 mm guns, 24 Breda Mod. 37 machine guns, and several anti-tank rifles and mortars.
The GGFF made their mark during Operation Crusader. Tasked to defend the small hill known as Bir el Gobi, they fought off repeated attacks by the 11th Indian Brigade and British 7th Armoured Division during the first week of December, 1941. Despite overwhelming odds, they inflicted massive casualties on the Allies and held their ground despite severe hunger and thirst.
The Battle Begins
After some other fighting, General Neil Ritchie reorganized his forces. He sent more troops to the front lines, including the 11th Indian Brigade and the 22nd Guards Brigade. By December 3, the 11th Indian Brigade was fighting hard near Bir el Gubi. This was about 25 miles south of Ed Duda.
The 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Italian "Giovani Fascisti" group were on a hilltop. They fought off many attacks from British tanks and Indian infantry units during the first week of December.
At noon on December 3, Allied artillery started firing shells at the Italian positions. This caused some injuries, including to Major Fulvio Balisti, who led one of the Italian battalions. During the night, all Italian units outside the main defense area of Bir el Gubi were captured. They lost their vehicles and equipment too.
Fierce Fighting
On the morning of December 4, the Allied forces launched two big attacks on Bir el Gubi. Hundreds of soldiers from the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, supported by tanks and artillery, attacked one part of the Italian lines. At the same time, the rest of the 11th Indian Brigade, with Valentine tanks from the 7th Armoured Division, attacked another part of the Italian lines further north.
Both attacks were pushed back. The attackers lost many soldiers. However, they did manage to surround the Italian positions. Around 2 PM that day, a third attack began. The Italian defenders fought for several hours against more and more infantry and artillery. But by evening, one Italian company had to leave their position and move back.
The small L3 tankettes were good against infantry because they had machine guns and armor. But they couldn't stop bigger tanks. All ten of them were destroyed. General Willoughby Norrie had many more soldiers and tanks in the area. But he didn't manage to bring them all together effectively. The Italians, however, worked well together with their infantry, artillery, and light tanks.
During the fighting, Colonel Ferdinando Tanucci, the Italian commander, was wounded. Lieutenant Colonel Alfred George Butler, a British officer, was killed. Between December 4 and 7, the XXX British Corps launched seven attacks. All of them were stopped by the Italian defenders, who caused heavy losses.
However, the Italian soldiers started to get weak from hunger and lack of supplies. They asked for help. Erwin Rommel, a German general, decided to send armored forces (the 15th and 21st Panzer Divisions) to support the Italians.
Reinforcements Arrive
At dawn on December 5, the first German armored units arrived. They quickly took back a key position after a fierce fight between German and British tanks. After this, the German tanks moved towards Bir el Gubi.
Other Italian divisions, the Ariete and Trieste, were also sent. But the Ariete Division was stopped by an Allied attack. The Trieste Division got lost in the desert. The German general, Crüwell, didn't know that the British 4th Armoured Brigade, with 126 tanks, was over 20 miles (32 km) away. So he pulled his forces back to the west. The Indian Brigade was very damaged and had to be replaced by the 22nd Guards Brigade.
Tank battles continued. During the next night, the Ariete Division finally reached Bir el Gubi. They joined the German tanks led by General Ludwig Crüwell. Their combined forces pushed back the last British attacks. With the Ariete Division there, the Commonwealth forces no longer had more soldiers and tanks. They pulled back, and the battle ended.
What Happened Next
General Crüwell missed a chance to strike a big blow on December 6. The British 4th Armoured Brigade didn't move closer to the 22nd Guards Brigade. Crüwell waited too long, and on December 7, the 4th Armoured Brigade did move up. Walter Neumann-Silkow, the commander of the 15th Panzer Division, was badly wounded on December 6 and later died.
Even though the Axis forces won this battle, they were later forced to leave Bir el Gubi as Operation Crusader continued.
See also
- List of British military equipment of World War II
- List of Italian military equipment in World War II
- List of German military equipment of World War II
