Battle EUCOM

In May of 1942, Erwin Rommel, already famed as the "Desert Fox, " launched an audacious campaign against the British forces defending the road to Alexandria, the Suez canal, and the oil-rich Middle East. The prize was Tobruk, the most important port along the Libyan coast east of Tripoli, the Axis base of operations. Possession of this fortress would give the Afrika Korps a secure base of supply almost a thousand miles closer to the Egyptian border. The spring 1942 battle for Tobruk is a study of Rommel, the foremost strategist and tactician of his generation, at his best, daring but never foolhardy. It also studies Rommel the combat leader at his greatest, discerning the critical moment in time and the critical point on the battlefield, and then being present to personally influence the result.

In March 1941, with Wavell's British troops having routed the Italians from Cyrenaica, General Erwin Rommel arrived in Tripoli to command the Deutsches Afrikakorps. Over the next two years the Afrikakorps and its commander would become legendary. In his first offensive, Rommel swept across the desert, driving the British back to the Egyptian frontier and capturing much of the 2nd Armoured Division in the process. One thorn remained in his side - the vital port of Tobruk continued to resist. If it could hold out Rommel's offensive might be halted. Wavell instructed General Morshead and his garrison of 30,000 determined Australians to hold at all cost.