Lieutenant-General William Henry Ewart Gott,, nicknamed "Strafer", was a senior British Army officer who fought during both the First and the Second World Wars, reaching the rank of lieutenant-general while serving with the British Eighth Army in the Western Desert and North Africa from 1940 to 1942. In August 1942 he was appointed as successor to General Claude Auchinleck as commander of the Eighth Army but, on the way to take up his command, he was killed when his plane was shot down. His death led to the appointment of Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery in his place.
The 7th Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army. It was formed as the Mobile Division (Egypt) on 27 September 1938, after increased tensions between Britain and the Axis powers. This was part of an effort to reinforce and maintain the British strategic presence in Egypt to defend the Suez Canal, which was seen as vital to the British Empire's interests. In February 1940, the formation was renamed as the 7th Armoured Division. During its early years, the jerboa was adopted as the mascot and divisional insignia giving rise to the nickname Desert Rats.
During the Second World War, Jock columns were small combined arms groups of armoured cars, artillery and motorised infantry, generally drawn from the British 7th Armoured Division. They were used in the Western Desert Campaign by the British Army to harass German and Italian forces. The columns were named after an officer who was a superb exponent of the tactic and may have conceived it originally, Lieutenant Colonel John Charles "Jock" Campbell.
Operation Compass was the first large British military operation of the Western Desert Campaign (1940–1943) during the Second World War. British metropolitan, Imperial and Commonwealth forces attacked the Italian and Libyan forces of the 10th Army in western Egypt and Cyrenaica, the eastern province of Libya, from December 1940 to February 1941.
Operation Battleaxe was a British Army offensive during the Second World War to raise the Siege of Tobruk and re-capture eastern Cyrenaica from German and Italian forces. It was the first time during the war that a significant German force fought on the defensive. The British lost over half of their tanks on the first day and only one of three attacks succeeded.
Operation Crusader was a military operation of the Western Desert campaign during World War II by the British Eighth Army against the Axis forces in North Africa commanded by Generalleutnant (Lieutenant-General) Erwin Rommel. The operation was intended to bypass Axis defences on the Egyptian–Libyan frontier, defeat the Axis armoured forces near Tobruk, raise the Siege of Tobruk and re-occupy Cyrenaica.
Operation Brevity was a limited offensive conducted in mid-May 1941, during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. Conceived by the commander-in-chief of the British Middle East Command, General Archibald Wavell, Brevity was intended to be a rapid blow against weak Axis front-line forces in the Sollum–Capuzzo–Bardia area of the border between Egypt and Libya. Although the operation got off to a promising start, throwing the Axis high command into confusion, most of its early gains were lost to local counter-attacks, and with German reinforcements being rushed to the front the operation was called off after one day.
Rifleman John Beeley VC was a British Army soldier and an English recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
Second Lieutenant George Ward Gunn VC MC was a British Army officer and an English recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
The 22nd Armoured Brigade was an armoured brigade of the British Army that saw service during and after the Second World War. The brigade was formed on the outbreak of war on 3 September 1939 from Territorial Army (TA) armoured regiments. It saw a considerable amount of action during the war, beginning with the Western Desert Campaign where it was engaged in Operation Crusader and at the Battles of Gazala, Mersa Matruh, First Alamein and Alam el Halfa. It then joined the 7th Armoured Division for the Second Battle of El Alamein. It remained part of 7th Armoured for the rest of the war, including the campaigns in Tunisia, Italy and North West Europe. It continued in the postwar TA until 1956. The brigade's identity was re-established in the Regular Army between 1981 and 1993.
The 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1693. It saw service for three centuries including the First and Second World Wars. The regiment survived the immediate post-war reduction in forces, and went on to distinguish itself in the battles of the Korean War, but was recommended for amalgamation in the 1957 Defence White Paper prepared by Duncan Sandys. The regiment was amalgamated with the 4th Queen's Own Hussars, to form the Queen's Royal Irish Hussars in 1958.
3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery is a regiment of the Royal Horse Artillery in the British Army. They are currently based at Albemarle Barracks, Northumberland, England.
Brigadier John Cecil Currie was a British Army officer who fought in both the First and the Second World Wars.
Operation Skorpion from 26 to 27 May 1941, was a military operation during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. The operation was conducted by Axis forces under the command of Colonel Maximilian von Herff and British forces under Lieutenant-General William "Strafer" Gott. A counter-attack was made on British positions at Halfaya Pass in north-western Egypt, which had been captured during Operation Brevity (15–16 May).Unternehmen Skorpion was the second offensive operation commanded by Rommel in Africa.
The Italian invasion of Egypt was an offensive in the Second World War from Italian Libya, against British, Commonwealth and Free French in the neutral Kingdom of Egypt. The invasion by the Italian 10th Army ended border skirmishing on the frontier and began the Western Desert Campaign (1940–1943) proper. The Italian strategy was to advance from Libya along the Egyptian coast to seize the Suez Canal. After numerous delays, the scope of the offensive was reduced to an advance as far as Sidi Barrani and the defeat of any British forces in the area.
The Battle of Point 175 was a military engagement of the Western Desert Campaign that took place during Operation Crusader from 29 November to 1 December 1941, during the Second World War. Point 175 is a small rise just south of the Trigh Capuzzo, a desert track east of Sidi Rezegh and south of Zaafran. The point was held by Division z.b.V. Afrika. The 2nd New Zealand Division and Infantry tanks of the 1st Army Tank Brigade captured Point 175 on 23 November, early in Operation Crusader.
The Action at Bir el Gubi took place on 19 November 1941 near Biʾr al-Ġubbiyy, Libya. It was one of the opening engagements of Operation Crusader in North Africa and resulted in a success for the Italian armoured forces.
The 1st Lincolnshire Artillery Volunteers were formed in 1860 as a response to a French invasion threat. They fought on the Western Front during World War I. In World War II, the unit took part in the Battle of France and Dunkirk evacuation, the Anglo-Iraqi War with 'Kingcol', the Western Desert Campaign in which it distinguished itself at the Battle of Sidi Rezegh, and finally fought as infantry in the Chindits. The unit was disbanded in 1947.
Major Thomas Arthur Bird DSO, MC & Bar was a distinguished British soldier and architect whose inspirational command of the anti-tank company of 2nd Battalion, The Rifle Brigade, at Outpost Snipe during the Second Battle of El Alamein helped destroy the armoured counter-attack of General Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps. ‘When all seemed to be lost, there would be Dicky boy, calm and seemingly aloof from the dangers around us…’. The Daily Sketch described Snipe as ‘the finest action of the war’. He later became a noted architect working in collaboration with Richard Tyler from 1955 to 1985 in the neo-classical genre, having rejected an earlier flirtation with modernism.
The British capture of Tobruk was a battle fought between 21 and 22 January 1941, as part of Operation Compass, the first offensive of the Western Desert Force (WDF) in the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. After defeating the Italians in the Battle of Bardia, the 6th Australian Division and the 7th Armoured Division pressed on and made contact with the Italian garrison in Tobruk on 6 January.
