¡A por ellos, como en Madrid! DTO (id:#66340)

(Alea #36 ID: 2GM-5)   [next]   [previous]

Bir Hakeim, Libya 1942-05-27 (11 others)

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Overview:

"Go for them, like in Madrid!" -- Bir Hakeim was an oasis in the middle of the Libyan desert about 60 km from the coast where there was a ruined Ottoman fort. The position was at a crossroads and had an approximate shape of an equilateral triangle with sides of more than 5 km and the point of support on some summits whose highest point, Hill 186, was to the NE of the position - actually it was about two small embankments of accumulated sand on the ruins of two old water tanks nicknamed "the boobs" (les mamelles). The fort was located on the southern edge of the device. There were trenches and emplacements buried and consolidated with sandbags, in addition to some 50,000 scattered mines, leaving corridors for the patrols. A portion of the position had barbed wire. At 09:00 hours, a wave of 50 tanks and a second wave of 30 from the 132 Division Ariete under the command of General De Stefanis launched the attack on the position. De Stefanis, very irritated, radioed the following message to the section leaders: "Don’t stop, go ahead, go ahead!"

Defender: Free French (Elements of Marine and Pacific Infantry Battalion, 1st Marine Rifle Battalion (DCA) and 1st Company AT and 2nd and 3rd Battalions Foreign Legion (BLE))  

Errata (source)