
	Where results make sense

Topic: Battle of Bir Hacheim

Related Topics

Marie Pierre Koenig

Susan Travers

Marshal of France

In the News (Mon 28 May 12)

EXECUTIVE POWER

Iran

ANALYSIS

Pakistan

Family compact

	AFS in WWII, The Western Desert: Bir Hacheim (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
		Thus, at the beginning of the battle, the British boxes and mine fields extended from the coast on the north to the southern flank at Bir Hacheim approximately forty-five miles.
		Pictured in front of their dug-out inside the Bir Hacheim garrison are the members of the AFS section attached to the Fighting French Forces.
		As Bir Hacheim was the centre of operations, we used Bir Maafes as a reserve and repair point for such cars as were not needed at Hacheim.
	www.ku.edu /carrie/specoll/AFS/4/d/4d4a1.html (2601 words)

	Battle of Gazala - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		The Battle of Gazala was an important battle of the World War II Western Desert Campaign, fought around the port of Tobruk in Libya from May 26 to June 21, 1942.
		The combatants on the Axis side were the Panzer Army Afrika, consisting of German and Italian units and commanded by the "Desert Fox" Colonel-General Erwin Rommel; the Allied forces were the British Eighth Army, commanded by Major General Neil Ritchie under the close supervision of the Commander-in-Chief Middle East, General Sir Claude Auchinleck.
		He then weathered a somewhat late and uncoordinated British counterattack, dispatched strong forces southward to clear the Free French out of Bir Hakeim, and then resumed his eastward advance with his armor once more sweeping around the remaining positions in a repeat of his initial moves several days earlier.
	www.wikipedia.org /wiki/Battle_of_Gazala (658 words)

	Battles 1942 (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
		BATTLE OF GAZALA AND THE CAULDRON (May-June 1942)
		At this stage of the battle the role of the 7th Armoured was to contain the 21st Panzer Division in the south, during the early days of the battle.
		The 1st RTR of the 22nd Armoured Brigade did encounter a rearguard at Agedabia and the battle took the form of a duel between the British Tanks and artillery and the enemy anti-tank guns, which were well concealed in an arc across the road.
	www.btinternet.com /~ian.a.paterson/battles1942.htm (6865 words)

	Marie Pierre Koenig - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		He commanded a Free French Brigade at the Battle of Bir Hacheim in North Africa in 1942.
		He was later promoted to general and took command of the First French Brigade in Egypt.
		His unit was in the Battle of Bir Hacheim until they were forced to withdraw on June 19, 1942, with relatively few casualties.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Marie_Pierre_Koenig (414 words)

	EMC Intro
		The key to the whole enveloping plan was the fort at Bir Hacheim, bitterly defended by the 1st Free French Brigade under General Koenig.
		During the Bir Hacheim battle, the Luftwaffe was much displeased by meeting limited numbers of the new Spitfire MkV in Africa.
		The epic battle of Bir Hacheim locked the opposing air forces in a maelstrom of strike and counter-strike.
	www.ienevents.com /wbiii/emchq/41 (650 words)

	[No title]
		The full brunt of the enemy initial advance to the east of Bir Hacheim was taken by the 3rd Indian Motor Brigade Group, which was overborne by sheer weight of metal, but not until after it had inflicted heavy losses on the enemy and seriously impeded his advance.
		Meanwhile the attack on Bir Hacheim by the Italian Mobile Corps had been beaten off by the Free or Fighting French troops, with heavy loss, and the northward advance of this force seems to have been seriously delayed in consequence.
		The battle swayed backwards and forwards over a wide area, from Acroma in the North to Bir Hacheim, 40 miles to the South, and from El Adem, which is near Tobruk, to our minefields 30 miles to the westward.
	www.ibiblio.org /pha/policy/1942/420602b.html (1764 words)

	Marie Pierre Koenig -- Facts, Info, and Encyclopedia article (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
		He was later promoted to general and took command of the First French Brigade in (A republic in northeastern Africa known as the United Arab Republic until 1971; site of an ancient civilization that flourished from 2600 to 30 BC) Egypt.
		His unit was in the (Click link for more info and facts about battle of Bir Hacheim) battle of Bir Hacheim until they were forced to withdraw on June 19 1942 with relatively few casualties.
		Later Koenig served as Free French delegate to supreme Allied headquarters under General (United States general who supervised the invasion of Normandy and the defeat of Nazi Germany; 34th President of the United States (1890-1961)) Dwight D. Eisenhower.
	www.absoluteastronomy.com /encyclopedia/M/Ma/Marie_Pierre_Koenig.htm (609 words)

	[No title]
		The less one interferes the better, and certainly I do not want generals in close battle, and these desert battles are close, prolonged and often peculiarly indeterminate, to burden themselves by writing full stories on matters upon which, in the nature of things, the home Government is not called upon to give any decision.
		Battle was joined on the 27th along the whole front, and for the first time I am glad to say our whole Army, which had been heavily reinforced with new and fresh troops, was engaged all together at one time.
		The battle is now in the balance, and it is an action of the highest consequence.
	www.ibiblio.org /pha/policy/1942/420702a.html (8806 words)

	The Battle of al-Alamein
		The Battle of al-Alamein, fought in the deserts of North Africa, is seen as one of the decisive victories of World War Two for the Allies.
		By the time of the Battle of al-Alamein, this force had been organized into the Eighth Army with a total of some 220,000 men, It had air superiority and its tank strength (about 1,000) outnumbered Rommels by two to one.
		Military historians usually divide the Battle of al-Alamein into five phases, consisting of the break-in (October 23-24), the crumbling (October 24-25), the counter (October 26-28), Operation Supercharge (November 1-2) and the breakout (November 3-7).
	www.touregypt.net /featurestories/alameinbattle.htm (4477 words)

	BBC - History - World War Two: The Battle of El Alamein (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
		In the Gazala battles of mid-1942 the British time and time again snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
		So in the overall scheme of things, El Alamein mattered, and among the strengths of that prickly and opinionated general, Bernard Montgomery, was a determination to resist political pressure to attack before he was ready.
		But Rommel was not slow in striking back, first in an offensive which took him to line just west of Tobruk and then, in a complex, swirling action between Gazala and the desert outpost of Bir Hacheim, in a battle which eventually saw 8th Army in full retreat.
	www.bbc.co.uk /history/war/wwtwo/battle_el_alamein_02.shtml (611 words)

	War Diaries 1 (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
		The main battle appears to be in the Knightsbridge and Bir Hacheim area.
		Bir Hacheim Box, held by the Free French, putting up a great fight against heavy enemy attacks.
		The Free French in Bir Hacheim are still defending courageously but have only, two days' water supply.
	www.beyondthedoor.co.uk /wardiaries/war1.htm (2039 words)

	Cauldron - Game Notes (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
		Historically, the battles of Gazala represented the greatest triumph for Rommel and the severest setback for British armor in their history.
		The Axis, on the other hands, were sure to out-distance their supply and so all speed was made to bring the supplies to the front line—hence a road- and trail-bound supply line.
		The battle of the Cauldron began when the Italian Trieste Division failed to take Bir Hacheim in the opening rounds and that position, sitting astride the Afrika Korps supply line, choked off the flow of badly needed petrol and ammunition.
	www.hexwar.com /Help/Cauldron/GameNotes.htm (474 words)

	LMT Tech Resource Store: Books : The Battle of Alamein : Turning Point, World War II (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
		The Battle of Alamein is more than a story of the major engagements so well known and oft told, it is also a story of little known elements that played important, if somewhat side-stage, roles in this first major tactical victory for the British Army (represented by the 8th Army in this case).
		This is in glaring contrast to the hellish Russian steppe battles.
		The Battle of Alamein is actually more than a retelling of that battle (hardly THE turning point of WW2; but in fairness to the authors this is the US title), rather it's an overview of the desert war.
	www.elise.com /lmtstore/Reviews/ItemId/0670030406 (1747 words)

	Battle of Gazala - free-definition (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
		The Battle of Gazala, 26 May to 21 June 1942, was a battle of the Western Desert Campaign of World War II, fought between the German–Italian Afrikakorps commanded by Erwin Rommel and the Allied Eighth Army commanded by Claude Auchinleck.
		Following Rommel's attack in January 1942, the Allies had retreated across Libya to a strong position on a line between the port of Tobruk on the Mediterranean coast to the north, and the town of Bir Hacheim to the south.
		The defeat at Gazala led to the dismissal of Auchinleck and his replacement as general of the Eighth Army by Bernard Montgomery.
	www.free-definition.com /Battle-of-Gazala.html (287 words)

	[No title]
		The 8th Army front extended from Gazala to Bir Hacheim and was interlaced with huge minefields of a scale and complexity never encountered before.
		Rommel entered this battle with 333 German tanks, plus 228 Italian tanks, while the British had a front line strength of over 700 tanks, and a superiority in armoured cars of 10 to 1.
		As they rolled on to their refuelling point southeast of Bir Hacheim, all went well and morale was high.
	www.geocities.com /firefly1002000/gazala.html (1318 words)

	History Page (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
		Neither battle was successful and the failure of armour to reach the infantry in time at the Second Battle led to the loss of 700 men.
		The Commonwealth forces practised a number of deceptions in the months prior to the battle to wrong-foot the Axis command, not only as to the exact whereabouts of the forthcoming battle, but as to when the battle was likely to occur.
		In a reverse feint, the tanks for battle in the north were disguised as supply lorries by placing a removable plywood superstructure over them.
	www.northafrikakorp.com /History.htm (2741 words)

	Panzer Abwehr: Correli Barnett said that tthe British were commanded by a committee at the Gazala Battle with ...
		The result of the British command at Gazala, in 1942, was that decisions were not being made in a timely fashion.
		Bir Hacheim fell because [General] Ritchie had not really made up his mine what his main plan was going to be: There was a token advance towards Bir Hacheim, but it was too far away." (quoted by Correlli Barnett in The Desert Generals, page 156)
		The Gazala Battle was a disaster (31 May-5 June 1942)
	panzer-abwehr.blogspot.com /2005/05/correli-barnett-said-that-tthe-british.html (228 words)

	CHAPTER 5 Rommel Strikes \| NZETC
		THE lull at Gazala-Bir Hacheim ended on 27 May when Rommel attacked on plans which called for the destruction of Eighth Army and the capture of Tobruk in four days.
		The enemy's approach march to the open southern flank of the Gazala-Bir Hacheim position was observed from the air and by armoured-car reconnaissance squadrons.
		The evacuation of Bir Hacheim, the Gazala positions and El Adem box, stubbornly defended by 29 Indian Brigade, led to the final disaster of Tobruk and the invasion of Egypt.
	www.nzetc.org /etexts/WH2Egyp/c5.html (1762 words)

	CHAPTER 8 Battle for Egypt \| NZETC
		In 5 Brigade, 21 Battalion was sent off on a separate mission to guard a petrol dump at Bir Khalda, the 22nd was placed on the west facing south and west, while the 23rd took up positions on a terrace and a flat area to the north of the escarpment.
		The battle of Minqar Qaim was not one in which the 23rd was at all actively engaged.
		Battle was quickly joined; the guns under Brigadier Weir asserted their superiority; 19 Battalion, quickly called to the scene, launched a highly successful attack which completed the destruction of the artillery group of the Italian Ariete Division.
	www.nzetc.org /tm/scholarly/tei-WH2-23Ba-c8.html (16499 words)

	Ford Model T Patrol Car used in WW1
		One generally associates the names of Sollum, Bir Hacheim and Siwa with the mechanised operations of World War 2, but in fact British armour was actively employed in the Western Desert during the Great War as well.
		The tribesmen could not hope to compete with the cars' firepower and mobility, and suffered one shattering defeat after another until they were eventually ejected from their desert fastness at Siwa.
		At Bir Hacheim, a hitherto unknown cistern in the heart of the desert, they lost their trump negotiating card, the survivors of the armed boarding vessel Tara, when the armoured cars swept down from the north, leading a long convoy of Ford and Rolls-Royce tenders and ambulances.
	www.landships.freeservers.com /tford_patrol_car.htm (865 words)

	Comando Supremo: Events of 1942
		The Ariete joins the 15th and 21st Panzer to battle the 42nd and 7th Royal Tank Regiments, including the II, IV and XXII Armoured, IX and X Indian and the CCI Guards brigades.
		June 11 - Bir Hacheim falls to an attack by the Trieste and the 12th Ariete pepper the XXII Armoured and CCI Guard brigades.
		The fighting lasted for one week and constituted four separate battles; the central sector on the 23rd, the northern sector near Naqb Rala on the 24th, the central sector again on the 24th and 25th, and the southern sector on the 25th, 26th and 29th.
	www.comandosupremo.com /1942.html (3635 words)

	CHAPTER 4 Division in Syria \| NZETC
		Everything would depend on the results of the battle in Russia in the approaching summer, as Germany's first objective must be the removal of the threat of the Russian Army.
		The brigade-group battles, however, were generally directed by the divisional headquarters of the several groups.
		The engineers believed that in spite of the experiences in Cyrenaica, the Division was not sufficiently conscious of the value of mines, of the formidable obstacles they were against attack.
	www.nzetc.org /etexts/WH2Egyp/c4.html (6796 words)

	H.M.S. Hood Association—Battle Cruiser Hood: Biography of Admiral Sir Walter Henry Cowan (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
		He was present at the Battles at Atabra and Khatoum and received the DSO for his service.
		His notoriety spread and at the end of 1899 he was selected to be ADC to Lord Kitchener in the Boer War and later Naval ADC to Lord Roberts.
		In 1942 he saw action at Mechili and Bir Hacheim but was unfortunately captured after the latter of these two battles.
	www.hmshood.com /crew/bios/Cowan_Bio.html (1428 words)

	The Battle for Egypt \| NZETC
		They have sent them into the battle, where, under the command of the heroic Freyberg, again wounded, they have acquitted themselves in a manner equal to all their former records.
		It was while I was near the Caspian Sea that we heard that Bir Hacheim had fallen, and then I knew we should be wanted in the Western Desert.
		The Division was withdrawn from the line on 11 September after taking part in the battles of Minqar Qaim, Ruweisat Ridge, and Alamein—nearly three months in the front line during the heat of the Egyptian summer.
	www.nzetc.org /tm/scholarly/tei-WH2-2Doc-c7.html (11169 words)

	North African Campaign (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
		He intended to outflank it round the desert strongpoint of Bir Hacheim, held by a Free French Brigade, largely Foreign legion in composition, and then drive to seize El Adem in the rear of the British position.
		Rommel's rearward communications were also threatened, however, by the unsubdued resistance of the French at Bir Hacheim and when the Italians succeeded in breaching the British line to its north he decided therefore to withdraw immediately behind the gap they had created.
		By 7 September the battle was at an end; Rommel had secured a little ground at the southern extremity of the British line but he was still 60 miles from his prize, the port of Alexandria.
	www3.sympatico.ca /ergrenier/Africa.html (3646 words)

	Claude Auchinleck - TheBestLinks.com - First Battle of El Alamein, India, June 21, Lord Mountbatten, ... (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
		Initial success at El Agheila (January 1942) was followed by defeat by Colonel-General (later Field Marshal) Erwin Rommel at Bir Hacheim (June 1942).
		The German/Italian advance was finally halted at the First Battle of El Alamein by the Eighth Army, Auchinleck having dismissed Ritchie and assumed the field command himself.
		The Auk, as he was known to his troops, was unfortunate in some of his subordinate senior officers in North Africa: some were incompetent, some were killed and some were captured.
	www.thebestlinks.com /Claude_Auchinleck.html (974 words)

	The writing of David H. Lippman:::Wildbill Guarnere.com World War 2 Repository
		On his long journey to Tennessee, Sakamaki has seen countless factories, endless fields of grain, and massive cities, revealing the full power of the American economy, and knows that Japan is in for a long, bloody, and futile, war.
		By dawn at Bir Hacheim, the French are still struggling to break out from their positions.
		Radio Berlin reports a great victory at Bir Hacheim and adds that the "white and colored Frenchmen taken at Bir Hacheim, since they do not belong to a regular army...will be executed." Charles De Gaulle issues a counter-threat, warning that his troops will retaliate against German PoWs.
	davidhlippman.wildbillguarnere.com /more.php?id=47_0_1_0_M8 (2592 words)

Try your search on: Qwika (all wikis)