Operation Battleaxe
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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
Soldiers of the 4th Indian Division decorate the side of their lorry "Khyber Pass to Hell-Fire Pass".
Erwin Rommel in his command halftrack, Sd.Kfz. 250/3.
German tanks advance in the desert shortly before the Battle of Sollum.
Italo Gariboldi
Field Marshal Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell was a senior officer of the British Army. He served in the Second Boer War, the Bazar Valley Campaign and the First World War, during which he
Operation Battleaxe
…avoided disaster by withdrawing just ahead of a German encircling movement. The failure of Battleaxe led to the replacement of British General Sir Archibald Wavell, Commander-in-Chief Middle East, by Claude Auchinleck; Wavell took Auchinleck's position as Commander-in-Chief, India. In late March 1941, soon after…
Wavell in 1936
Wavell (right) meets Lt. General Edward Quinan, commander of British and Indian Army forces in Iraq in April 1941.
Wavell at his desk in Delhi during the Second World War
Wavell (right) with Brooke-Popham in WW II