Operation Battleaxe order of battle

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

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 Regiments Royal Horse Artillery
      • 1st battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps
      • 2nd battalion Rifle Brigade
    • Divisional troops
      • 11th Hussars (Reconnaissance regiment)
      • Engineers
        • 4th Field Squadron, RE
        • 143rd Field Park Squadron, RE
  • 4th Indian Infantry Division - Major-General Frank Messervy
    • 11th Indian Infantry Brigade - Brigadier Reginald Savory
      • 2nd battalion Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders
      • 1st battalion 6th Rajputana Rifles
      • 2nd battalion 5th Mahratta Light Infantry
    • 22nd Guards Brigade - Brigadier Ian Erskine
      • 1st battalion Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment)
      • 2nd battalion Scots Guards
      • 3rd battalion Coldstream Guards
      • 22nd Guards Brigade Attack Company
    • Divisional troops
      • Central India Horse (Reconnaissance regiment)
      • 25th Field Regiment, RA
      • 31st Field Regiment, RA
      • Engineers:
        • 4th, 12th, 18th, and 21st Field Company (Sappers and Miners)
        • 11th Field Park Company

German and Italian forces

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

• Afrika Korps - 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 50 mm (1.97 in) PaK 38 and 21 37 mm (1.46 in) PaK 36 anti-tank guns)
    • 15th Motorcycle Battalion - Hauptmann Curt Ehle
    • One anti-aircraft battery (with 13 88 mm (3.46 in) FlaK 18 and 36 anti-aircraft guns)
  • 5th Light Division - Generalleutnant Johann von Ravenstein
    • 5th Panzer Regiment
    • 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion
  • Trento Division - 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 guns)

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.

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