Chapter 9.1
06-01-1942 23:59hrs Panzer Army Africa Command Post, Arcoma Libya, Commander GeneralOberst Irwin Rommel, Chief of Operations Oberst Siegfried Westphal Commander 621st Radio Interception Company Hauptman Alfred Seebohme
GOER: For decisive leadership in the face of the enemy Hauptman Alfred Seebohme is hereby awarded the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross, he is promoted to major with seniority effective 5-1-42
Captain Seebohme had been instrumental in the destruction of the 150th brigade box; braving British artillery fire and potential brushes with armored car patrols, his listening posts and intercepted communications to the 150th regarding their orders into interdict the swept mine fields to their north and south to delay/damage axis supply convoys; Seebohme had suggested and then commanded a continuation of General Rommel's initial ruse de guerre against the forces at Gazala; namely that a number of trucks had aircraft engines mounted to their beds; for the express purpose of kicking up large dust clouds to confuse British observation
These had been initially used the day before the offensive started, as the DAK and Italian mobile corps marched in circles opposite the British and South Africans at Gazala to try to demonstrate to the 8th army that Rommel was assembling armor for an attack; the trucks added to this by stirring up great sand clouds; which gave the appearance from the ground and from 10000 feet that the entire DAK was being marshaled for a frontal assault on Gazala
Although most supplies had gone through further to the south, direct through Bir Hakeim where there where better paths available after the French Box was defeated; and the DAK had partially lived off the land, Seebohme had been able to show his superiors the orders issued to 150th; 2 specially detailed platoons marched the dust trucks through the swept paths around Sidi Muftah, which as Seebohme expected drew great amounts of artillery fire onto largely empty desert; already isolated the first day of the offensive; the 150th had consumed much of it's remaining stores the previous day in the attempt to link up with relief attacks from Knightsbridge
The emplacement of Ariete and corps artillery assets on Aalagh ridge, had caught these forces by surprise, which lead to the attacks being defeated; and both the Indians and the British suffering considerable casualties; assaults on dug in Italian anti tank guns and machine guns where costly failures; especially in the eastern section of the box where they went into the fresh Trieste division
As much as General Haydon's ammunition was in it's final reserves; it was also the burden of the wounded, and the heavy air attacks on the box that lead him to send a white flag party through the lines to seek terms with his Italian counterparts; the failure of the relief attacks lead to subordinate commanders recommending the unit not continue to suffer; as a second attempt could see the whole sale slaughter of the brigade. The 150th had a difficult war; a first wave territorial formation activated 1939 when war was declared over Poland, they had several near death encirclement brushes with the German army in Belgium; and where evacuated out of Dunkirk in June 1940; one of the first formations to be rebuilt to defend the home islands from invasion; they had eventually been redeployed to Africa; separated from their mother division several times whom remained the Cyprus or other Middle Eastern Garrison duties. Then placed by General Ritchie in a badly exposed section of the line; too far from mutually supporting fire from their sister brigades to the north, or the French to the south; the unit would not be re-raised by London during this war
Rommel would pin a medal on Colonel Fellers himself if he could; the accidental disclosure of glaring weaknesses in the Tobruk perimeter had been confirmed with captured documents at Arcoma; which was being exploited by the 90th light and elements of the 15th panzer division; The south africans for reasons Rommel couldn't understand had much of their ammunition stockpiles located in the south eastern areas of the fortress; which fell in the first few hours of the assault. Why would the South Africans put the ammunition where it was easiest for German tanks to get at it; it was one of a number of strange command decisions Rommel was finding himself having to double think; reading Fellers notes gave part of the answer; political conflict, but the deployment of the Garrison; especially once he disrupted their communications looked badly disjointed. General Kleeman was reporting steady progress, and one of Seebohme's squads was well forward, and had identified the 2nd south african divisions command post and had it under artillery fire
The first 640 paratroopers of the Ramcke Brigade had been flown in and would continue to relieve the 90th light division of it's great burden at Belhamed, general Raus had landed at Tripoli and was briefly overseeing some of the new Littorio division's personel being unloaded; the division would still not be fully ready or delivered for a few weeks; the first elements where getting their desert familiarization course just now. Marshal Kesselring advised that priority would be given to the Ramcke brigades remaining paratroop infantry and then troopers of the 6th panzer would be brought in to make good some of Rommel's crew losses. Rommel bit his tongue when considering that, he had accomplished much; but lost much; a more shrewd commander he thought would realize that both generals had each other by the balls; but Ritchie's mailbox showed he didn't see it that way.
Kesselring advised as well that some additional Italian replacements where being put into the pipeline, with the belief that Rommel had found the schewpunkt and would defeat the 8th army; Marhsal Cavallero had authorized the release of troops from the Livorno assault and landing division; and the special tank regiment (Italian tankers put through a vigorous training program on captured Russian tanks which where intended for operation Herkules) no concrete dates or schedule for these troops had been established yet; but Rommel would still be delighted to eventually have them; he was going to have an army sized army now; well enough replacements to keep his army an army he hoped
Marshal Kesselring had told Rommel with Herkules now postponed indefinently, additional air support could be made available at least temporarily to support his assault on Gazala and Tobruk. Kesselring believed his fighter aircraft would largely have air supremecy over Gazala itself and air superiority over Tobruk for the time being; Kesselring's staff was still working on other commands, and with the Luftwaffe and Heer personel offices to free up more troops and aircraft for the Panzer Army; but with the execution of Case Blue imminent, the cabinets had been emptied, hard; giving Rommel the personel of the 6th as replacements was already a controversial decision within high command; not all of whom where as optimistic as Kesselring; and the commander of OB Sud ran into a stone wall trying to free up anything from units which had finished their great counter attack at Kharkov
Rommel gave 21st most of the day off so their service crews could deal with some of their sickening backlog of work and the tank crews could make up for lack of sleep; Rommel himself and a couple of junior officers had gone down to the coast and put their feet in the water; from his time as younger man he knew such days like this were essential if he was going to keep pushing the men into hard combat on the end of a string; the 4 star general himself added 6 hours of sleep to his severely negative account
