The Need for Organisational Resilience Chapter-6

was very narrow, composed of a short coastal strip. Rommel fortified his garrisons such as those at

Fort Capuzzo, Sollum, and Musaid.

The battle commenced on June 15 th . Soon after, British armoured forces ran into a well-planned

anti-tank screen, consisting of mines, tank trenches and carefully concealed 88mm guns. The British

Matilda and Crusader tanks were easily picked off. On June 17 th , the Allies were in retreat, having lost

220 tanks.

The following months saw events moving back and forth, without any party gaining the upper

hand. In November 1941, Operation Crusader was launched. The Axis forces fell back again to where

they started, at El Agheila. Notwithstanding, after receiving supplies and reinforcements from Tripoli,

they resumed their offensive actions, defeating the Allies at Gazala and capturing the port at Tobruk

in June 1942. Rommel wrote to his wife:

Dearest Lu,

Tobruk! It was a wonderful battle. There’s a lot going on in the fortress area. I must get a few

hours’ sleep now after all that’s happened. How much I think of you. (Liddell Hart 1953, 231)

By now, the logistical shortcomings are becoming obvious. The following weeks after the capture

of Tobruk revealed the precarious logistical situation the Germans found themselves in. Rommel

noted in his diary:

My Panzer Army had now been five weeks in battle against superior British forces. For four of

those weeks the fighting had raged backwards and forwards before Tobruk. We had

succeeded partly by attacks with limited objectives, partly in defence, in wearing down the

British forces. After the fall of Knightsbridge and Gazala we stormed Tobruk. The British had

retired first to Mersa Matruth and then to El Alamein.

This series of engagements brought the strength of my Army to the point of exhaustion.

With our reserves of material – including the immediately usable booty – beginning to run out,

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