BATTLE OF THE DESERT: With the Bayonet

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As the desert rains came last week Lieut. General Neil Methuen Ritchie's tactical units were still waiting to do final battle with General Erwin Rommel's force. At Agedabia, where Rommel is hanging on, both sides maneuvered and skirmished like fighting cocks. In an attempt to break Ritchie's grip, Rommel sent a tank unit against the British. The British tanks met the German spearhead, claimed the destruction of 22 of Rommel's prized tanks, the damage of 20 others. British Hussars mopped up five truckloads of German infantry after the scrap. But the Axis boasted the destruction of 74 British tanks and armored cars.

The British Eighth Army was preparing to clean up its rear. In an assault on Bardia, South African troops went in with the bayonet against Axis units after a preliminary air and tank blitz. According to Cairo, the whole Axis force, "rather than face repetition [of the attack], decided to surrender unconditionally." When the smoke of battle cleared away, the British found themselves with 7,500 Axis prisoners and General Rommel's right-hand man, Chief Administrative Staff Officer Major General Schmidt. British losses were 60 dead, 300 wounded. The British rescued 1,150 of their own troops imprisoned in Bardia.

With this, the largest Axis pocket, cleaned out, the British went to work on two smaller pockets: Halfaya Pass and Salum. If these could be taken quickly, there was a fair chance that Ritchie would still have time to do battle with Rommel at Agedabia before Axis reinforcements arrived.