Operation Brevity was an attack in mid-May 1941, during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. Conceived by the commander-in-chief of the British Middle East Command, General Archibald Wavell, Brevity 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. Although the operation got off to a promising start, throwing the Axis high command into confusion, most of its early gains were lost to local counter-attacks. With German reinforcements being rushed to the front, the operation was called off after one day.
Egypt had been invaded by Libyan-based Italian forces in September 1940, but by February of the following year a British counter-offensive had advanced well into Libya, destroying the Italian 10th Army in the process. British attention then shifted to Greece, which was under the threat of Axis invasion. While Allied divisions were being diverted from North Africa, the Italians reinforced their positions and were supported by the arrival of the German Afrika Korps under Generalleutnant Erwin Rommel. Rapidly taking the offensive against his distracted and over-stretched opponent, by April 1941 Rommel had driven the British and Commonwealth forces in Cyrenaica back across the Egyptian border. Although the battlefront now lay in the border area, the port city of Tobruk—100 mi (160 km) 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 committed his main strength to besieging the city, leaving the front line only thinly held.
Wavell defined the objectives of Brevity to be the acquisition of territory from which to launch another offensive toward Tobruk and the depletion of German and Italian forces in the region. With few battle-ready units to draw on, in the wake of Rommel's recent successes, on 15 May Brigadier William Gott attacked in three columns with a mixed infantry and armoured force. The strategically important Halfaya Pass was taken against stiff Italian opposition and Fort Capuzzo, deeper inside Libya, was captured. German counter-attacks commanded by Colonel Maximilian von Herff regained the fort during the afternoon causing many casualties to its defenders. Gott—concerned that his forces were in danger of being caught by German armour in open ground—conducted a staged withdrawal to the Halfaya Pass on 16 May and Brevity was ended. Eleven days later the Halfaya Pass was recaptured by Axis forces in Operation Skorpion.
Background
In early September 1940, the Italian 10th Army based in Libya conducted the Italian invasion of Egypt, and three months later the British and Commonwealth troops of the Western Desert Force began a counter-offensive, codenamed Operation Compass. In two months, the British advanced 500 mi (800 km), occupying the Italian province of Cyrenaica and destroying the 10th Army. The advance was halted in February 1941 due to supply shortages and because priority had been given to the Battle of Greece. Renamed XIII Corps and reorganised under HQ Cyrenaica Command (CYRCOM), the troops of the former Western Desert Force adopted a defensive posture. Over the next few months, HQ Cyrenaica lost its commander, Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson, followed by the 2nd 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 to the Nile Delta for rest and refitting. Wilson was replaced by Lieutenant-General Philip Neame; parts of the 2nd Armoured Division and 9th Australian Division were deployed to Cyrenaica but both formations were inexperienced, ill-equipped and, in the case of the 2nd Armoured Division, well under strength after detachments to Greece.
The Italians sent the 132nd Armored Division "Ariete" and 102nd Motorized Division "Trento" to North Africa. From February 1941 until early May, Operation Sonnenblume saw the arrival of the German Afrika Korps in Tripoli to reinforce their Italian allies. Commanded by Generalleutnant Erwin Rommel and consisting of the 5th Light and 15th Panzer Division, the Afrika Korps was to block British attempts to drive the Italians out of the region. Rommel seized on the weakness of his opponents and, without waiting for his forces fully to assemble, rapidly went on the offensive.
During March and April, the remaining units of the 2nd Armoured Division were destroyed as the Axis forces advanced, which also forced the British and Commonwealth forces into retreat. Neame and the General Officer Commanding British Troops in Egypt—Lieutenant-General Richard O'Connor—were captured and the British command structure had to be reorganised. HQ Cyrenaica was dissolved on 14 April and its command functions taken over by a new HQ Western Desert Force (Lieutenant-General Noel Beresford-Peirse). The 9th Australian Infantry Division fell back to the fortress port of Tobruk and the remaining British forces withdrew a further 100 mi (160 km) east to Sollum on the Egypt–Libya border.
With the main Axis force conducting the siege of Tobruk a battlegroup (Kampfgruppe) commanded by Colonel Maximilian von Herff continued to press eastwards. Capturing Fort Capuzzo and Bardia in passing, it then advanced into Egypt; by the end of April it had taken Sollum and the important Halfaya Pass. Rommel garrisoned these positions, reinforced the Kampfgruppe and ordered it onto the defensive. The Tobruk garrison received supplies from the Royal Navy and Rommel was unable to take the port. The Axis positions at Sollum were at the end of a long supply route from Tripoli, threatened by the Tobruk garrison. The substantial commitment required to invest Tobruk prevented him from building up his forces at Sollum, making further advances into Egypt impractical. By maintaining possession of Tobruk, the British had the initiative.
Prelude
General Archibald Wavell—the commander-in-chief of the British Middle East Command—conceived Operation Brevity as a rapid blow in the Sollum area. Wavell intended to create advantageous conditions from which to launch Operation Battleaxe, an offensive that he was planning for June. Brevity was to recapture the Halfaya Pass, drive the enemy from the Sollum and Capuzzo areas and inflict casualties. A secondary objective was to advance toward Tobruk, although only as far as supplies would allow and without risking the force committed to the operation.
Allied force
Brevity was to be carried out by the 22nd Guards Brigade and part of the 7th Armoured Division. Its armoured component consisted of 29 cruiser tanks of the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment (2nd RTR) and 24 infantry tanks of the 4th Royal Tank Regiment (4th RTR). The Royal Air Force (RAF) allocated all its fighters and a small force of bombers to the operation. Brigadier William Gott—in command of all Allied front-line forces since the retreat—was to lead the operation, and his plan was to advance in three parallel columns.
On the desert flank to the south, the 7th Armoured Brigade group was to move 30 mi (48 km) from Bir el Khireigat to Sidi Azeiz, destroying any opposition encountered en route. This group included three small mobile forces ("Jock columns") of the 7th Support Group, the cruiser tanks of 2nd RTR and the armoured cars of the 11th Hussars, whose task was to patrol the open desert on the left flank and monitor the Sidi Azeiz–Bardia road. In the centre, the 22nd Guards Brigade group was to clear the top of the Halfaya Pass and secure Bir Wair, Musaid and Fort Capuzzo, before conducting a company-sized probe toward Bardia. The group included two infantry battalions (1st Durham Light Infantry and 2nd Scots Guards) and the infantry tanks of the 4th RTR. In the north, the coast group was to advance along the coast road, to capture the lower Halfaya Pass, Sollum barracks and the town of Sollum. The group included elements of the 2nd Battalion Rifle Brigade and the 8th Field Regiment Royal Artillery.
Axis force
The main Axis opposition was Kampfgruppe von Herff on the desert plateau, with 30–50 tanks of the 2nd Battalion, Panzer Regiment 5, an Italian motorised infantry battalion of the Trento Division and supporting arms. The front line area around Halfaya Pass was defended by two companies of Bersaglieri—well-trained Italian motorised infantry—with artillery support. On 9 May, the Germans intercepted a British weather report over the radio. The Afrika Korps war diary noted that "In the past, such reports had always been issued prior to the important enemy offensives to capture Sidi Barrani, Bardia, Tobruk, and the Gebel". Rommel strengthened the eastern side of his cordon around Tobruk as a precaution against sorties from the garrison and ordered Kampfgruppe von Herff to adopt a more aggressive posture. On 13 May, Axis aircraft bombed British tank concentrations and Herff expected an imminent British attack. On the following day aircraft were unable to locate the British and it was reported that the "enemy intentions to attack were not known".
Battle
Centre column
On 13 May, Wavell's infantry battalions began to concentrate at their start lines, followed by the tank regiments during the early hours of 15 May. At 06:00, the three columns began their advance, supported overhead by a standing patrol of Hawker Hurricane fighters. Reaching the top of the Halfaya Pass, the 22nd Guards Brigade group ran into heavy opposition from a company of the 8th Bersaglieri Regiment, supported by anti-tank guns, under the command of Colonel Ugo Montemurro. This unit fought tenaciously, doing much to repair the poor impression Rommel had of his Italian allies. Opening fire upon the attacking British tanks, the Bersaglieri found their 47 mm anti-tank guns could not penetrate the armour of the Matilda infantry tanks. At 400 yd (370 m), the gunners shifted targets, aiming at the tracks and undercarriages, when the tanks raised up crossing low stone walls and rocks, seven tanks were disabled. For his conduct during this action, Rommel recommended that Montemurro be awarded the Iron Cross First Class. At the cost of the seven tanks, the position was taken by C Squadron 4th RTR and G Company 2nd Scots Guards, and the brigade group pushed on towards the Bir Wair-Musaid road. At around 08:00, it received the surrender of a large German-Italian camp, and by 10:15 Bir Wair and Musaid had been taken in the face of sporadic opposition.
A Squadron 4th RTR and the 1st Durham Light Infantry (1DLI) continued the advance toward Fort Capuzzo. Concealed in hull down positions behind a ridge near the fort were 20–30 German tanks, supported by anti-tank guns. These engaged A Squadron, disabling five tanks, but were forced to withdraw as the squadron pressed its attack. On the final approach to Fort Capuzzo, contact was lost between 4th RTR's tanks and 1DLI's leading C Company, and the attack on the fort began without armoured support. The fort was vigorously defended, and it was not until just before midday that C Company, reunited with A Squadron 4th RTR and reinforced by A and B Companies 1DLI, eventually took the position. D Company 1DLI—which had been in reserve during the attack—then made a wide left hook to capture a small landing ground to the north of the fort.
In the afternoon, one company of the 2nd Scots Guards probed toward Bardia, the infantry coming under heavy machine gun fire from three positions as they neared Sollum barracks. A group of Universal Carriers—commanded by Sergeant F. Riley—charged the gun positions and quickly neutralised them, but one carrier was disabled when the group was subsequently engaged by anti-tank guns. Riley executed a second charge, silencing these too and taking their crews prisoner. His carrier was hit three times; for his actions Riley was awarded the Military Medal, the battalion's first decoration of the war.
Desert column
On the desert flank, 2nd RTR advanced with the 7th Armoured Brigade group. During the morning, reports were received of up to 30 German armoured vehicles operating nearby, and A Squadron 2nd RTR moved to investigate. Most of the German force had pulled back, but three tanks were located and brought under fire. One Panzer IV was disabled and the other two driven off, for the loss of one British tank due to mechanical failure. A second force of 15 German tanks was engaged by two tanks of No 2 Troop, destroying a Panzer III and forcing the remainder to withdraw. By midday, the brigade group had reached a position west of Fort Capuzzo, and in the afternoon the nine remaining cruisers of A Squadron 2nd RTR began a reconnaissance patrol towards Sidi Azeiz.
Coastal column
The advance along the coastal road—which lacked tank support—was held up all morning by determined Italian resistance at the bottom of Halfaya Pass. This objective was finally achieved toward evening when S Company 2nd Rifle Brigade—supported by Australian anti-tank gunners fighting as infantry—overran the Italian positions taking around 130 prisoners.
Axis reactions
Although the German and Italian commands in North Africa knew that a British offensive was imminent, Operation Brevity nevertheless caught them unprepared, and Rommel recorded in his diary that the initial attacks had caused him considerable losses. By midday on 15 May, Axis command was showing signs of confusion. It was erroneously believed that the offensive involved more than 100 tanks, and repeated requests were made to both the Luftwaffe and the Regia Aeronautica for a concerted effort to defeat it. Forces around Tobruk were redeployed east of the besieged city, to block any attempt at relief and to prevent the garrison from breaking out to meet the British advance. Lieutenant-Colonel Hans Cramer was sent to reinforce Kampfgruppe von Herff with a tank battalion from Panzer Regiment 8 and a battery of 88 mm (3.46 in) anti-aircraft guns, and additional reinforcements under General Hans-Karl Freiherr von Esebeck were despatched the following day.