Operation Battleaxe order of battle

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This is the order of battle for Operation Battleaxe, a World War II battle between the British Commonwealth and the European Axis Powers Germany and Italy in North Africa during June, 1941.

Contents 1 British and Commonwealth Forces 2 German and Italian forces 3 Notes 4 Bibliography

[edit] British and Commonwealth Forces

Commander in Chief, Middle East - General Archibald Wavell

• XIII Corps - Lieutenant-General Noel Beresford-Peirse
  • 7th Armoured Division - Major-General Michael O'Moore Creagh
    • 4th Armoured Brigade - Brigadier Alexander Gatehouse^[1]
      • 4th Royal Tank Regiment (Matilda tanks) - Lieutenant-Colonel Walter O'Carroll
      • 7th Royal Tank Regiment (Matilda tanks) - Lieutenant-Colonel Basil Groves
    • 7th Armoured Brigade - Brigadier Hugh Russell
      • 2nd Royal Tank Regiment (Mk I, II and III/IV cruiser tanks)
      • 6th Royal Tank Regiment (Crusader tanks)
    • 7th Support Group - Brigadier John Campbell
      • 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 106th Royal Horse Artillery
      • 1st King's Royal Rifle Corps
      • 2nd Rifle Brigade
    • Divisional troops
      • 11th Hussars
      • 4th Field Squadron
      • 143rd Field Park Squadron
  • 4th Indian Infantry Division - Major-General Frank Messervy
    • 11th Indian Infantry Brigade - Brigadier Reginald Savory
      • 2nd Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders
      • 1st/6th Rajputana Rifles
      • 2nd/5th Mahratta Light Infantry
    • 22nd Guards Brigade - Brigadier Ian Erskine
      • 1st Buffs
      • 2nd Scots Guards
      • 3rd Coldstream Guards
      • 22nd Guards Brigade Attack Company
    • Divisional troops
      • Central India Horse
      • 25th Field Regiment
      • 31st Field Regiment
      • 4th, 12th, 18th, and 21st Field Company (Sappers and Miners)
      • 11th Field Park Company

[edit] German and Italian forces

Commandante Superiore, Generale d'Armata Italo Gariboldi^[2]

• Deutsches Afrikakorps - Generalleutnant Erwin Rommel
  • 15th Panzer Division - Generalleutnant Walter Neumann-Silkow
    • 8th Panzer Regiment - Oberstleutnant Hans Cramer
      • 1st Battalion - Hauptmann Johannes Kümmel
      • 2nd Battalion - ?
    • 1st Battalion of the 104th Motor Infantry Regiment - Wilhelm Bach (stationed at Halfaya Pass)
    • Reconnaissance Battalion 33
    • 1st Abteilung of the 33rd Artillery Regiment
    • 33rd Panzerjäger Battalion (12 5 cm PaK 38 and 21 3.7 cm PaK 36)
    • 15th Motorcycle Battalion - Hauptmann Curt Ehle
    • One AA battery (with 13 88 mm FlaK 18 and 36 guns)
  • 5th Light Division - Generalleutnant Johann von Ravenstein
    • 5th Panzer Regiment
    • 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion
  • 102nd Motorized Division Trento - Lieutenant-General Giuseppe de Stefanis
    • Three infantry battalions and one artillery regiment (stationed at the Sollum-Musaid-Capuzzo area)
  • Korps troops
    • Two regiments Italian artillery (stationed at Bardia)
    • One regiment FlaK (88 mm gun)

[edit] Notes

1. ^ The 4th Armoured Brigade was under the effective command of Masservy's 4th Indian Infantry Division
2. ^ The Commandante Superiore was Rommel's superior on paper, but not in practice.

[edit] Bibliography

• Pitt, Barrie. The Crucible of War: Western Desert 1941. New York: Paragon House, 1989 (hardcover, ISBN 1-55778-232-6).
• The Lone Sentry - The Development of German Defensive Tactics in Cyrenaica—1941
• Panzer Abwehr