February 1942:The air offensive against Malta begins.
26 May 1942:Rommel's offensive against the Gazala position opens.
2 June 1942:The siege of Bir Hachim at the southern end of the Gazala line begins.
20 June 1942:Having destroyed 8th Army's armoured force, Rommel's force goes on to capture Tobruk.
22 June 1942:The advance begins across Egypt towards the Suez canal.
29 June 1942:Mersa Matruh falls to the Axis Troops.
1 July 1942:The first battle of El Alamein begins.
9 July 1942:The battle of Alam Haifa opens.
30 August 1942:The German armour breaks through at El Alamein but is unable to force a decision.
2 September 1942:The German offensive at El Alamein is broken off.
23 October 1942:Montgomery's offensive at El Alamein begins.
2 November 1942:The 8th Army breaks through the El Alamein front.
4 November 1942:The Axis forces retreat to the Fuka line.
8 November 1942:Operation Torch begins; the landing of the British and Americans in French North Africa.
19 November 1942:German paratroops occupy Gabes aerodrome and other detachments launch an offensive against Medjez el Bab.
20 November 1942:In the second stage of their withdrawal the Axis forces reach the Marsa el Bregha position.
6 December 1942:The offensive by 10th Panzer Division in Tunisia drives back the Allied armour in Blade Force
8 December 1942:The 5th Panzer Army is formed in Tunisia.
24 December 1942:The British assault against the Buerat Line.In the Medjez el Bab sector the Germans capture Longstop Hill.
22 January 1943:The last German units evacuate Tripolitania and cross into Tunisia.
12 February 1943:The desert army and 5th Panzer Army link up in Tunisia. Rommel reaches the Mareth position and prepares for the forthcoming battle.
15 February 1943:The Axis offensive against Gafsa and Sidi bou Zid begins.
20 February 1943:Initial successes at Gafsa and Sidi bou Zid having been scored by the Axis forces, the advance upon Thala and Le Kef is begun.
23 February 1943:Army Group Africa is formed.
6 March 1943:The last major German attack in Africa is made at Mareth and fails on the same day.
20 April 1943:The 8th Army reaches the Enfidaville position, the last ditch defences of the Army Group Africa before Tunis.
3 May 1943:The Allies break through at Mateur and capture it.
5 May 1943:The British offensive opens at Medjez el Bab.
7 May 1943:Tunis falls to the British and Bizerta to the United States forces.
13 May 1943:The Axis armies in Africa capitulate.
Tank Engagement at Sollum
Rommel alerted the Sollum Front on 14 June. The tanks of the 5. leichtc Afrika-Division were directed into tactical assembly areas from which they could easily move out against the Sollum Front, if needed.
On 15 June, the British started Operation "Battleaxe." The formations of the "Desert Rats" assaulted from the south. It was the first time they were to encounter Panzer-Regiment 8. Some of the British forces were armed with the Matilda, a heavy infantry tank. Its 80-millimeter-thick armor plate was impervious to all German tank main guns at the time. Only the 8.8-centimeter Flak was capable of knocking it out.
Halfaya Pass was attacked at the same time and, just as the Germans had done, from two directions. Capuzzo fell to the enemy that evening. The 15. Panzer-Division was directed to attack Capuzzo on 16 June and take the fort back from the enemy.
The fighting see-sawed back and forth, with each side launching armored assaults against the other's perceived weaknesses. In one such counterattack. Oberstleutnant Cramer personally accompanied the II./Panzer-Regiment 8. He observed how one tank after another was knocked out, and the Matilda seemed impervious to his tanker's main guns. As all this was happening, i group of about 20 other tanks rapidly advanced against the left wing of the regiment.
Oberstleutnant Cramer took immediate countermeasures: "Kiimmel, turr_ and engage the approaching enemy!"
Kummel's company turned and approached the advancing enemy. His short-barreled 7.5-centimeter main guns opened fire at a short distance from the enemy.
The first Mark II went up in flames. First three, then a fourth Mark II turned towards Kummel's vehicle. With a violent impact, the first roun; thudded into the ground to the right in front of Kummel's command tank
It covered the vehicle with a fountain of dirt. The flash from the detonation lit up the interior of Kummel's tank. Before the enemy could get off a second round, however, Kummel's gunner acquired him in his sights and clobbered him with a direct hit between the turret and hull.
Kummel's crew worked like madmen. Whenever the next round was rammed home and the breechblock snapped shut, the gunner had another target in his optics. The gun reported, and the empty shell casing smashed against the round deflector and landed in the spent-casing sack. While all this was going on, driver Kruschinski was racing about madly to avoid allowing die enemy the chance to acquire them. By the end of this round of fighting, fcunmel's tank alone had accounted for eight of the enemy. From that point rorward, Johannes Kummel was known as the "Lion of Capuzzo."
Oberstkutnant Cramer ordered another turn, because enemy tanks were then attacking the regiment's right flank. At the moment that the tanks' main guns opened fire again, the regimental command tank took a direct hit. Cramer felt one blow, and then another. When he reached for his head, his h-ind became bloody. He had been wounded by shrapnel on the arm and head.
Despite his personal wounding and the loss of many tanks, the main effort of the enemy had been thwarted. Major Fenski, the commander of the I./Panzer- Regiment 8° had done a great job directing the efforts of the other three tank companies of the battalion. Ik addition, 8.8-centimeter Flak on and in front of Hill 208 had thwarted a series of enemy attacks by nocking out a large number of enemy tanks.
The sharp edge of "Battleaxe" bad been blunted at this hill. In the official British history of the campaign written after the war, the fbllowing was stated about the resistance offered by a single 8.8 centimeter Flak battery on the hill
Operation "Battleaxe," which had started with such high hopes, failed, because the decisive Halfaya Position had not been taken, and it was not possible to proceed past Strongpoint 208. The bravery and the firepower of the opponents was too great. The German 88 proved to be a deadly weapon against all types of tanks. The combined effort of tanks employed with 8.8-centimeter Flak batteries that were positioned well forward was a surprise for the British leadership and an important factor for its defeat. Rommel's victory was a victory of his leadership, of his soldiers, who were fighting in a superior fashion, and of his better weapons.
It should be mentioned that the success of these two days of fighting cost Panzer-Regiment 8 50 of its available 80 tanks. The majority of the tanks lost were recovered in the days that followed and made operational again, however.
The 5. leichte Afrika-Division - to be redesignated the 21. Panzer-Division in August 1941 - started to gain ground in its sector on 16 June. With its Panzer-Regiment 5 in the lead, it had attacked out of the area west of Sidi Azeiz. Generalmajor von Ravenstein was the division's new commander. Rommel told von Ravenstein: "Move as rapidly as possible to the area northeast of Sidi Omar and continue the attack from there towards Sidi Suleiman."