Punctually to the minute the Stukas made their entrance and the crash of the explosions of their bombs was hidden by the noise of the artillery barrage. All fire, whether from land or air, was directed upon the south-eastern corner of the town. Under cover of the barrage engineers began to work on lifting mines and then the Africa Corps armour moved forward with the Italian XX Corps on its left both Corps with the same battle order 'Forward to the sea'. By 06.35hrs the barbed wire around one defensive position had been cut away by a unit from 21st Panzer Division and an hour later the 15th Panzer was able to report that they had captured a strong point on their sector of the narrow attacking front. Then, against increasingly heavy British artillery fire, two more positions fell and at 08:30hrs the 15th Panzer Division sent in the first vehicles across a bridge brought forward to span an anti-tank ditch. On 21st Panzer Division's sector German infantry swarmed across the ditches and by 08:50hrs the first tanks of that division had crossed. A break-in had been made, now the situation had to be exploited. British artillery fire and minefields reduced the pace of the advance but could never halt it, and, despite the use of heavy artillery and then of tanks, the Africa Corps forced its way through the British defences; for although Tobruk had a very strong garrison the defences had been run down and it was in no state to stand a new siege.
The Italian Corps had failed in its intent and was still outside the Tobruk perimeter, a situation which resulted in severe flanking fire being poured down upon the German attackers as they moved steadily forward through the maze of defensive positions. The Brescia Division was then brought forward to consolidate the battlefield behind the advancing spearheads. By midday 21st Panzer had reached an important defence point and having sent out groups to clear the ground to the east of the captured box then advanced upon Tobruk harbour. The 15th Panzer, too, had reached the Via Balbia and had turned its guns upon the town and harbour. The Italian Corps still held up outside the perimeter was then brought in behind Africa Corps and ordered to begin to roll up the British front from east to west. The pace of the advance quickened as the perimeter in which the British were imprisoned grew smaller in extent and the defensive positions were no longer able to bring cross-fire to bear upon the attacking Germans. By 17:00hrs 21st Panzer Division
had begun to attack the town — by 18:30hrs the 15th Panzer Division had captured another box against a defence that held out to the last, and by 19:00hrs Fort Pilastrino had fallen. Then the harbour and town was seized together with the town's water supply.
The onset of darkness did not halt the fighting and shortly before midnight 21st Panzer had captured the El Auda area and the pumping station. All through the night detonations rocked the town as the British supply dumps were blown up and thick clouds of black smoke rolled slowly across the desert. The next morning was spent in consolidating the gains made, clearing out the last areas of resistance, and pursuing the British rearguards. No less than 33,000 prisoners were taken and sufficient supplies to nourish the next stage of the Africa Corps' advance. A fortress with a massive garrison, and large masses of supplies, and which had held out for eight months, had fallen within 40 hours. Now the way forward into Egypt was free and Tobruk, the essential harbour was in Axis hands. But then came the blow from Commando Supremo; the advance was to halt so that the forces for Malta might be assembled, and the Corps was not to pass the line Sidi Omar-Halfaya-Sollum. The 90th Light and an infantry battalion had already pushed the advance that far, had reached Bardia, and had halted at Capuzzo which was held by units of 8th Army.
A small comedy of errors was then played out in Tobruk. The British officer, who went to offer the surrender of Tobruk, was directed in error to the headquarters of the Italian Corps commander who then passed him on to the German commander. But this error was enough for Mussolini to proclaim to the Italian people that the offer had been made to the Italians, by implication that the Army had borne the greatest burden in the capture of Tobruk. To trump this Hitler promoted Rommel to the rank of field marshal whereupon Mussolini trumped his partner's ace and first Cavallero and later Bastico both received their marshal's staff. The battle for the Gazala position had ended with the capture of Tobruk and the balance sheet showed that no less than 45,000 British soldiers had been taken prisoner, five of them generals. Nearly 1000 British tanks had been either destroyed or captured, and more than 400 guns had been taken. But this was not the end as Rommel pointed out in an 'Army Order of the Day' 'Now we have the chance to destroy the enemy absolutely. In the coming days I shall make fresh demands upon you in order that we reach our objective.'
Battle of Alam Halfa - First Alamein
The battle for Marmarica was over and on 22 June Rommel, Bastico, and Kesselring discussed the idea of a continued advance. Bastico demanded a halt in accordance with orders but Rommel, pointing to the materials which had been taken in Tobruk, said that the 8th Army was on the run and that with these supplies the pursuit could be continued. The agreement of the Axis leaders was obtained; the attack could proceed. One group thrust forward to capture Sollum and the Halfaya areas while 15th and 21st Panzer Divisions swept eastwards towards Egypt, with the Italian Motorised Corps left far behind in the tempo of their advance. The pace was exhilarating for all ranks knew that speed was of the essence and despite the weeks that they had spent in battle without rest or respite, it was with high hopes that the battle-hardened warriors of Africa Corps drove towards the wire. They crossed it at 20.30hrs but the advance was not halted and the pursuit was maintained throughout the hours of darkness.
Shortly after first light on 24 June the report was received that the British were withdrawing and the speed was increased to cut them off. The pace of the pursuit had been so furious and the columns so widespread that the supply trucks were again having difficulty in locating the columns. Water began to run short for the ration had been cut so that the vehicles could carry more petrol to bring the advance forward. Even so 21st Panzer Division's tank regiment ran out of fuel and to prevent loss of contact with the 8th Army rearguard, petrol was siphoned from other vehicles to keep the point unit mobile. The speed of the advance, the long periods without servicing, the high temperatures, and the appalling going had so affected the panzers that the drop-out rate was high and the strength of the Africa Corps dropped to 60 runners. The Italians were in little better shape: Ariete had been reduced to 10 tanks, 15 guns, and 600 Bersaglieri. The Trieste had 4 tanks, 24 guns, and 1500 Infantry.
The 8th Army was withdrawing with all speed to its prepared positions at Alamein and relied heavily upon the Royal Air Force to impede by bombing the Panzer drive. On 26th the fierce and unrelenting air attacks prevented the panzers from refuelling and neither division was able to resume the advance until 09.00hrs; four hours of daylight and campaigning time had been lost. During the following day the British rearguard near Mersa Matruh, attempting to hold back the panzer drive, was broken and in the ensuing scrimmage 90th Light cut the Via Balbia. Auchinleck took over command of 8th Army and Mussolini wired from Rome orders which included the naming of Suez as the first objective of Panzer Army. In a bid to hold the Germans west of Matruh the 1st Armoured flung in a series of attacks but these were beaten back and the British forces lost another 18 of their armoured fighting vehicles. Fighting continued all through the night of 27/28th as groups of British units, by-passed during the advance of the day, tried to fight their way out of encirclement. During the afternoon of 28th, the 21st Panzer Division had captured the high ground south-west of Fuka and then went on to seize the aerodrome and to cut the road. The advance was putting a strain on the Axis armour and the evening vehicle state showed that the Africa Corps had been reduced to only 41 runners. [15]