Could the British have done anything about Sonnenblume?

Wiki has an unusually good article on Operation Sonnenblume https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Sonnenblume, very detailed and from what I've read from in other sources quite accurate.

What I want to know is given the resources at Cyrcom disposal, not what went to Greece or anything, could Cyrcom have done much better than OTL?

Just as a reminder of what was deployed forward of Tobruk:


  • 2nd Armoured division
    • 3 AB - 1 regt light tanks, 1 regt cruiser tanks, 1 regt of Italian M13/40
    • 2 SG - 1 mot inf btn, 1 artillery regt, 1 AT regt , 1 MG coy
    • 3rd Indian Motor Brigade (chopped to 2nd AD in April) - 3 mot inf btns


  • 9th AIF Division
    • 2 Infantry Brigades
 
Wiki has an unusually good article on Operation Sonnenblume https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Sonnenblume, very detailed and from what I've read from in other sources quite accurate.

What I want to know is given the resources at Cyrcom disposal, not what went to Greece or anything, could Cyrcom have done much better than OTL?

Just as a reminder of what was deployed forward of Tobruk:


  • 2nd Armoured division
    • 3 AB - 1 regt light tanks, 1 regt cruiser tanks, 1 regt of Italian M13/40
    • 2 SG - 1 mot inf btn, 1 artillery regt, 1 AT regt , 1 MG coy
    • 3rd Indian Motor Brigade (chopped to 2nd AD in April) - 3 mot inf btns

  • 9th AIF Division
    • 2 Infantry Brigades

Both Wavell and Rommel took big risks

Wavell took a risk by basing his estimates on when the Germans could attack on his experiance of fighting the Italians - thus believing that he still had 2 months to refit his units - and therefore he thought he was okay to keep the worn out tanks of the 2nd (which Lt Gen Neame Predicted would break down as soon as they moved - he was proved correct) and the inexperianced and under equipped 9th AID as the force guarding / conducting operations on the fontier

I guess sucessfully opening up Benghazi as a port would have been a serious 'game changer' (hate that term) but the Axis got a vote in that by consistantly bombing and mining the place and therefore this did not happen before the Axis advance - I cannot see this being changed in tiem to have an impact

Rommels risk in attacking as soon as he had a bare bones of an attacking force - paid off - he was facing a force using worn out tanks and underequipped inexperianced infantry with not enough transport

Given that Wavell did not really have any other choice he could perhaps have kept 6th AID in place (perhaps using 9th AID to provide reinforcements) and stripped other units in Egypt of transport - making Cyrcom more mobile and thus allowing it to conduct a more mobile defence reducing the chances of parts of it being out flanked etc - basically I think the best he could have done was to prepare the force to be able to withdraw effectively in the face of a strong Axis attack.

Given that the Sucesses by 'Wavells 30,000' was far far above expectations given the forces he had to hand against the Italians at the beginning of the campaign - I think giving up Cyrenaica and preserving Cyrcom to fight another day would be the best the British could have been expected to do in the face of Fresh well equipped Axis (DAK) forces.
 
I think maybe the forces could have been deployed a touch better than they were. Given that logistics made it impossible to supply a garrison west of El Agheila, the only defensible position, and the 2nd AD was limited to movement between supply dumps then I think the 2nd Support Group should not have been placed near Mersa el Brega but about 150km further back at somewhere like Antelat or Msus, the last place where a force has to split to go along the coast or inland. When we're talking about conserving truck and tank/AFV miles then a 300km round trip adds up over a week. The extra time will also allow a bit of breathing space for recon and intel to become clearer and allow Rommel to have a few breakdowns of his own, as it was his forces ran out of fuel a couple of times during the advance.

 
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I think maybe the forces could have been deployed a touch better than they were. Given that logistics made it impossible to supply a garrison west of El Agheila, the only defensible position, and the 2nd AD was limited to movement between supply dumps then I think the 2nd Support Group should not have been placed near Mersa el Brega but about 150km further back at somewhere like Antelat or Msus, the last place where a force has to split to go along the coast or inland. When we're talking about conserving truck and tank/AFV miles then a 300km round trip adds up over a week. The extra time will also allow a bit of breathing space for recon and intel to become clearer and allow Rommel to have a few breakdowns of his own, as it was his forces ran out of fuel a couple of times during the advance.



I wonder what would have happened if 3rd Tank Bde had attacked on the 31st March near Breda (East of El Aghelia) rather than just retreating?

I suspect thta with the tanks they had and the lack of supporting arms it would be a disaster

For me the whole ultimate purpose of Cyrcom was to prevent the Axis from advancing into Egypt and threatening the Canal - this they could have done by trading distance for time and inflict attrition on Rommel's force

To this end it would have made more sense for the 2nd AD to cover the Area South East of Benghazi - but the overall poor condition of their tanks makes any use of them to almost certainly result in their loss - probably from mechanical reasons.

Therefore I would accept the loss of Benghazi - its been proven that air power (bombing and mining) can shut the place down making it untenable as a supply port - therefore useless to both sides - and conduct a fighting retreat to Tobruk and then newly refitted divisions (ie 7th Armoured, 6th AID and 2nd NZ) can counter attack during May/June before the DAK can recover.

Basically use Cyrenaica as a buffer!
 
Benghazi was untenable as a usable port in February, the better part of a month before rommel advanced, that and the raft of other difficulties could have been justification for pulling the forward deployed forces back to where they could be more easily supplied. Given that the British expected the tiger convoy to provide the tanks to refit the 7th AD and other gear to change the situation this redeployment to the rear need only be planned as a temporary solution.
 
Right then - so lets assume that Wavell, Winston and the War office take heed of the MI4 and other warnings and expect an attack sooner rather than later

Not having the forces yet available (Forces sent to Greece and 6th AID + 7th AD refitting) to conduct a resonable chance of a sucessful defence of Cyreniaica and decide instead that the region should be used as a buffer zone.

So move the 2nd AD back to the Tubruk region in a timely fashion to allow for mechanical issues - perhaps leaving the Armored cars and transport of the Support group behind for the 9th AID

The 6th Australian Cav Rgt and reinforced infantry Battalion of the 6th AID continue their attack on the Italian Garrison at the Gerabub Oasis (Jarabub) near the Egyptian Border. basically this action to take place pretty much as OTL.

The 2 Brigades of the 9th AID reinforced with additional transport and artillery as well as the cavalry units act as a covering force at Bengazi and Adjedabia / Msus - with a light screen as far as 'west of El Agheila' and basically give ground - this is to give the forces in Bengazi time to demolish the port facilities and Italian supply dump's plus degrade / destroy all of the Rail and Road bridges in the area once passed.

Basically the force is to act as a Motorised Cavalry Division and its task is to inflict delay, and not actually stop any large Axis push into the region.

Hopefully the Cyrcom force can inflict enough of a delay on the DAK for Tubrok to be prepared and the Vet divisions in Egypt to finish being refitted and allow them to conduct a counter attack on Rommels forces in Late May / Early June.
 
I think a reasonable deployment would be the 2 SG being stationed in the pivot point of Antelat/Msus area with the 2nd AD divisional recon unit and perhaps the 9th AIF cavalry unit the only units forward of this position. The 3 AB and 3 IMB being deployed to Mechilli so they can be supplied readily enough until the time comes move forward to support the 2SG or being the anchor on which the 2 AD concentrates. The 3 brigades of the 9th AIF being stationed at Benghazi/El Regima, Tocra and Tobruk able to withdraw onto one another.

The tiny port of Mersa AL Brega could be used partly to supply the armoured cars of the recon units. The rest would be supplied from the railhead at Misheifa in Egypt and port of Tobruk. (below)

 
I think a reasonable deployment would be the 2 SG being stationed in the pivot point of Antelat/Msus area with the 2nd AD divisional recon unit and perhaps the 9th AIF cavalry unit the only units forward of this position. The 3 AB and 3 IMB being deployed to Mechilli so they can be supplied readily enough until the time comes move forward to support the 2SG or being the anchor on which the 2 AD concentrates. The 3 brigades of the 9th AIF being stationed at Benghazi/El Regima, Tocra and Tobruk able to withdraw onto one another.

The tiny port of Mersa AL Brega could be used partly to supply the armoured cars of the recon units. The rest would be supplied from the railhead at Misheifa in Egypt and port of Tobruk. (below)



My issue with the plan is that to commit 2AD to battle is to effectively lose it

It was a poor armor division in terms of experiance and equipment (much of it worn out) the 2nd SG was woefully understrength for the job it had to perform - The Div is particularly poor in the face of the formation it was opposing - namely the DAK based around the 5th 'Light' Division (later 21 Pz Div).

Also because of the poor condition of many of the tanks any long distance move would result in many tanks being abandoned for mechanical reasons.

The 2 Brigades of the 9th AID did not have enough transport and supporting arms - perhaps only deploying 1 Brigade of the Division and freeing up transport to allow it and the 9th AID supporting arms to act as a sort of motor Cavalry Brigade - much like the 3rd Indian

The 3rd Indian Motor Infantry Brigade was also a green newly formed formation that had only been in country for 2 months and like the other formations of Cyrcom lacked its full TO&E.

I think it is better to have fewer units with greater mobility than more with not enough.

For me its threfore move 2nd AD + 1 Brigade of the 9th AID (stripped of its transport) back to Tubruk, use the Recon assets mobile artillery engineers etc of the 2nd ArDiv + the 2nd SG to form along with 3rd Indian and 1 of the 9th AID Brigades - 3 mobile formations that can effectively act as Motorised Cavalry Brigades.

The purpose of these 3 forces + other Cyrcom recon assets is to buy time for the transport, stores/POL, dock facilities and rail/road Bridges to be destroyed while the whole force falls back onto the Frontier / Tubrok -a sort of scorched earth policy if you can use that term for Cyrenaica and the Green Mountains!

The whole purpose of the Desert force was (initially anyway) to defend Egypt and ultimately the Canal - Cyrenaica itself apart from the logistical difficulties it presents to the Italians and Germans advancing in the area is worthless.

The only danger with such a plan in my mind ...is Winston - he didn't like abandoning anything and was quite put out when Wavell (quite correctly) got his out numbered troops out of Somaliland for example.

I could quite easily see the same happening here....and Wavell coming under pressure to stand and fight with inadeqate forces.

But I can also see him doing what needed to be done regardless
 
It's Wavell's instructions and the intelligence appreciation that are the problem as I see it. He was instructed to hold the gains so he put 2 AD and 9 AIF far forward, holding so much so far back won't meet his instructions, so he has to put something forward.
 
What if the British had been able to get Benghazi back in action and only had to deal with German bombing and mining? I imagine that would transform the supply situation and drastically change the possible tactics if the British aren't limited to moving from supply dump to supply dump.

Benghazi_Italiana.JPG


 
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