Battle of Gazala

A major Second World War battle fought in Libya from May to June 1942 between Axis forces and the British-led Eighth Army. Axis victory opened the way to Tobruk and the Egyptian frontier.

Operation Venezia: The Axis offensive launched on 26 May 1942 to outflank the British Gazala Line. Its sweeping southern maneuver began the battle and left Axis forces exposed behind British minefields.
Erwin Rommel: A German field marshal who commanded Axis forces in North Africa during much of the campaign. Rommel directed the southern flanking maneuver that broke the Gazala defenses.
Operation Crusader: A British-led offensive in November and December 1941 that relieved Tobruk and pushed Axis forces westward in Libya. Its outcome set the positions from which both sides regrouped before the 1942 Axis offensive.
Fall of Tobruk: The Axis capture of Tobruk on 21 June 1942 after the British defeat at Gazala. The port’s surrender was the battle’s immediate strategic consequence.
Battle of Kasserine Pass: A February 1943 battle in Tunisia in which Axis forces initially defeated inexperienced American troops. Like Gazala, it was an Axis victory in North Africa, but against a different Allied army and later in the campaign.
Gazala Line: A British defensive system of fortified boxes, minefields, and gaps stretching south from the Mediterranean coast near Gazala. The line anchored the Eighth Army’s defense but left its southern flank vulnerable.
Claude Auchinleck: A British field marshal who commanded the Middle East theatre during the 1942 North African campaign. Auchinleck assumed direct command of the Eighth Army after the Gazala defeat.
Siege of Tobruk: An eight-month Axis siege of the Allied-held Libyan port of Tobruk in 1941. The siege made control of Tobruk a central objective in the renewed 1942 campaign.
First Battle of El Alamein: A July 1942 battle in Egypt that halted the Axis advance toward the Nile Delta. The Eighth Army regrouped after Gazala and stopped Rommel’s advance at El Alamein.
Battle of El Alamein: The name commonly used for the decisive Second Battle of El Alamein in Egypt in October and November 1942. Unlike Gazala, it ended in a major Allied victory and forced Axis forces westward.

Linked from 11 pages