Gazala - The Cauldron 30th May to 5th June 1942

 Next up in my Gazala series is the infamous Cauldron - a series of engagements which took place in late May and early June 1942 as the Axis forces found themselves trapped behind the British minefields and frantically tried to clear their lines of communications while 8th Army made rather disjointed series of attacks from the east. This scenario attempts to cover the attacks made by 1st Armoured Division on 30th May AND 'Operation Aberdeen', a much more formal assault which took place on 4th/5th June.

Battlefield from the south. The main British minefields and (the well defended 150 Brigade box) are to the west (left). There is a minefield switch line just creeping around the broken ground to the south. The Axis exploited the British mine switch lines to secure their southern and northern flanks. Sidi Muftah is just visible in the north, as is a section of the Trigh Capuzzo, leading back to Fort Capuzzo in the east. Gazala is to the northwest and Tobruk is to the northeast. 

Otherwise the ground is fairly featureless with various low rises and odd patches of bad going and wadis. I've just realised I forgot to put the wadi on the table, it will appear in later photos.

The Axis defenders, in this case elements of Ariete and 15th Panzer Division. 21st Panzer Division is off to the north with its flank resting on another minefield. The Axis set up a pakfront facing east, while all the units they could spare (mainly 90th Light and Trieste supported by elements of Ariete and the two panzer divisions) tried to reduce 150 Brigade to the rear. I'll do the last stand of the 150th  as a separate game.

In the north is 115th Rifle Regiment, now reduced to two battalions after heavy fighting in the vicinity of Knightsbridge, supported by a battalion from 8th Panzer Regiment. II/115 dug in on the ridge has the divisional AT battalion attached, while I/115 is dug into a strong point (Stukzpunkt 1)  reinforced with more AT guns, heavy weapons and 88s. This strongpoint (SP) is one of the objectives. John A commands 15th Panzer and is overall CO.

In the south is 8th Bersaglieri Regiment and a battalion of M13/40s from 132 Armoured Regiment. I've rated all the Itailans as regular as Ariete was a pretty good division by 1942. Like their German pals, one of the Bersaglieri (5/8) has AT guns while the other is in a strongpoint (SP2) reinforced with Heavy AA/AT guns - self propelled 90mm and guns and German supplied 88s. Ariete had to two batteries of 88s along with its 90mm guns. SP2 is the other objective. Tim commanded the Italians as he has a magnificent Italian desert cap.

In support are the Luftwaffe and Reggia Aeronautica. The SM79s are for interdiction and the Ju 88s for close ground support in their dive bomber configuration. There are also a couple of artillery battalions, the rest are shelling the British to the west.

The Axis have two supply columns, but at first they only have one available - 150 Brigade covered the minefield gaps with artillery so the Axis could only bring up supplies at night. Later in the battle, the availability rises to two as the British pocket is reduced.

To win the axis need to control at least one of the strongpoints at the end of the game.

And over in the east we have to British horde! These will come on in two waves, the first being 2nd and 22nd Armoured Brigades, the second being 10th Indian Brigade and 4th Armoured Brigade. Between the attacks on 30th May and Operation Aberdeen, the Germans laid minefields and pulled their defences in tighter. Aberdeen was preceded by mineclearing operations and a heavy preliminary bombardment, which missed the Axis positions as they fell back beforehand (those handy signal intercepts!). So for game purposes we will ignore the German mines and the Allied heavy artillery.

Fans of One Hour Wargames will of course realise that the scenario framework is the 'Fortified Defence' scenario, based on the Battle of Fontenoy! I previously used it for Grossdeutschland at Kursk a few years ago. It works well for massed assault type games and is pretty brutal loss wise.

2nd Armoured Brigade. By now the British armoured units were understrength and units were already being intermingled to maintain fighting power. As far as possible every Regiment had at least one squadron of Grants, who ended up doing much of the fighting, while the lighter tanks did what they could. I've given them two armoured regiments (100-120 tanks in the Queens Bays and 9th Lancers), a mix of Grants and Crusaders, plus their integral motor battalion, in this case 1 Rifle Brigade finally equipped with 6pdrs. They are are supported by 11 RHA with 25 pdrs. Jerry commanded these, with Terry taking the Motor Battalion.

22nd Armoured Brigade is similar to 2nd, two Regiments with a mix of Grants and Crusaders (2 RGH and 3/4 CLY) and their Motor Battalion. Unusually this is 50 Bn, Recce Corps configured as a motor infantry battalion and supprted by the brigade AT company with 6pdr. Their artillery support is from 107 RHA with 25 pdrs. Russell commanded these, with John B and Ian taking over on Wednesday. Terry took this Motor Battalion too. I separated the tank and infantry commands because the new Armoured Brigade Groups were really rubbish at armour-infantry cooperation to start with,

In the original battle, 4th Armoured Brigade was supposed to take part but got lost in a sandstorm on the way!

At any point the British CO can withdraw the 1st wave and replace it with the 2nd wave, which then enters from the east edge. In the interim the German supply capacity rises to two LOG.

The second wave consists of a hastily reorganised 22nd Armoured Brigade with two Regiments of Grant/Crusader (2 RGH and 3/4 CLY) and one of Grant/Stuart (3/4 RTR) supported by 107 RHA. I'll swap the models in from the first wave.

It also has 10th Indian Brigade Group with three infantry battalions, 2nd Highland Light Infantry, 4/10 Baluchi and 2/4 Ghurka supported by 28 Field Regt with 25pdrs. 2HI are supported by the brigade MMG company, 4/10B have the brigade AT company with 2pdrs while the Ghurkas are Ghurkas. I gave them a bonus in close comabt. 

In support we have P40 Warhawks from ground attack, and some B26 Marauders for interdiction. The latter wont have anyone to bomb until the Germans open up their daylight supply routes. For LOG there is the inevitable Austin ambulance and a huge captured Italian lorry. Terry was the overall CO for both evenings as well as running some of the ground units.

OK, that is the setup, off to battle!

Unsurprisingly 2nd AD mounted an assault on the northern SP, essentially an armoured charge straight forward. There isn't enough room to deploy everything side by side so the motor infantry stayed back. The Marauders turned up but had no-one to attack.

The M13s on the hill called in the Italian artillery, while the German artillery and bombers attacked to support the SP. Once again the Axis used their indirect fire assets on the least vulnerable targets - artillery not being very good against armour. The AT guns opened up ad knocked out some British tanks however.

In a bold move, the Panzer battalion moved up to support the hull down M13s. That put 50 Pz IIIs and IVs out in the open within range of 150+ Grants and Crusaders.

The British split their fire between the SP and the Panzers supported by artillery, while 50 Bn engaged the M13s with their 6pdrs. The 6pdrs missed the hull down Italian tankers, but the SP took a couple of hits while the panzers were mullered, taking four hits and becoming disorganised.

In return the Axis concentrated much of their fire and the Ju 88s on 3/4 CLY which disintegrated under the weight of fire and the SP managed to disorganise 9th Lancers. The panzers chose to to continue to engage rather than reorganise. The SM79s ineffectively bombed the Allied rear echelons.

With the destruction of 3/4 CLY, 50 Bn now had a clear LOS to the panzers and combined with P40 ground attacks artillery and 2 RGH to finish the Germans off. In the north Jerry focused on the SP and inflicted another hit.

The German infantry and 88s supported by the M13s now focussed on the 9th lancers, and another British armoured regiment went up in flames.

However the way was now clear for the British infantry. The tanks and artillery disorganised the defenders and both Motor Battalions closed in to conduct an assault next turn.

The Axis wisely reorganised the units in the strongpoint and called own artillery fire on the British infantry, inflicting some hits. 50 Motor Bn was suppressed by the artillery. 

The British tanks, air and artillery pounded the strongpoint, which was then assaulted by 1 Rifle Brigade. The assault failed and 1 RB fell back, but the Germans were left disordered and unable to reorganise (having been assaulted).

The Axis concentrated everything in range on 50 Motor Bn, but the fire from the disorganised SP was fairly ineffective. Even so, the weight of fire took 50 Motor Bn to five hits, disorganised and one step away from disintegration.

The British were not to be stopped however, the remaining armour and 1 RB poured devastating fire into the strongpoint, which was enough to finish off the defenders, enabling the few troops from 50 Bn still on their feet to occupy the position, overunning the 88s. The strongpoint had fallen! 

The Axcis response was fairly muted as by now their units were mostly out of range. The M13s had fallen back to the northern rise with the last German anti tank guns, and could just see 50 Bn clearing the strongpoint. Fire from the ridge sent them packing, reducing 2nd Armoured Division to three effective units.

They clearly didn't have the strength to push on, so the Allied CO called 'Operation Aberdeen'. 2nd AD withdrew and a few days later, 10th Indian Brigade and 22nd Armoured Brigade entered the fray.

Given the significant change in the situation, the Allies were a bit hesitant about what to do. They ended up with the infantry and armour interspersed on a broad front. The general scheme was for 2 HLI and 3/4 RTR to secure the northern SP and stop the Axis retaking it, while everyone else would attack the southern SP.

The Allies pushed on for another turn. This brought 2 HLI in range of the ridge where it was duly shelled and bombed and took some minor losses. In the south, 4/10 Baluchi wandered into range of the Ariete 88/90mm guns and took some losses too.

The Allies had six turns left to take the southern SP, and as we had new players joining the following day, we left it there for the evening, giving the players a chance to ponder their moves for tomorrow.

Pleasingly the situation replicated that in real life, where the Axis had pulled their line back before the Allies could make contact - dodging the heavy preliminary bombardment. An attack with leg infantry supported by armour is a very different business to two armoured brigades attacking side by side.

Having had a bit of a think, the Allies shuffled their forces around. The Indian infantry battalions headed for the rough ground in the south as a covered approach, while the armour concentrated more centrally. The HLI remained in occupation of the northern SP. The Axis shelled the units which were in range and the Ariete tank battalion shifted position to a new location further south.

As the Indians moved slowly through the rocky ground to the south, ambulances helped reorganise thr HLI who were taking heavy losses from German shell fire. The Bays took the southern strongpoint under fire from its elevated position and called in 25pdr fire.

The Indians prepared themselves to attack, receiving more supplies before doing so while the Allies contiued shelling the strongpoint. This was a much more deliberate operation than the first phase.

The Ghurkas, Baluchis and Bays moved into attack positions. 3/4 CLY made a very aggressive move indeed, right into the heart of the Axis fire sack, to maximise the fire lanes onto the strongppoint.

Having had several turns to prepare and resupply, the Axis put out a storm of fire from every unit in range. The Baluchis were hammered by artillery and airstrikes, but the bulk of the Axis fire hit the CLY, which took five hits and become disorganised, one hit away from outright destruction. They had however protected the main assault units.

The CLY pulled back to safety while the Baluchis reorganised. The other allied armoured units, air and artillery pounded the strongpoint, inflicting enough damage to disorganise it. The Ghurkas tried to dislodge the Bersaglieri among the rocks, but unsupported, the task was beyond them.

The Axis resupplied the strongpoint while the Axis guns and bombers turned on the Ghurkas. The extra supplies coming through the minefield gaps to Rommel were proving very useful, and the Luftwaffe was successfully holding off the Desert Airforce. The Ghurkas took enough damage to become disorganised. 

Time was running out very rapidly and unfortuately the Allies didn't have any units in position to assault now. Their only hope was to shoot the Italians out of the position, and have one regimental mobile to occupy it. Sadly the battered CLY were too far away to do it, which meant the 9th Lancers would have to charge.

In the event, it was too little too late - the Allied tanks and artillery reduced the Italians to 2 hits. The Gurkas had two shots left, but a disorganised unit firing at a hard target needs sixes to hit, and the rolled.....6,3. So the Italians survived, and with the Axis holding the last strongpoint at the end of the game, Operation Aberdeen had failed.

That was of course the historical result, but once again it went down to one last hit, so close to the wire (although that final fire attack only had a 1:36 chance of working). Even if the Allies had taken it, they would have advanced into a ring of fire, and I'm not sure they would have held it.

In the end that wasn't as hard to manage as I expected, partly because there were a few turns of non contact movement. I was pleased to have replicated broadly the historical flow of events. The most pleasing thing was the very different feel between the mass armoured assault in the first wave and the much more deliberate infantry/armour assault in the second. When I used the same core scenario for Kursk, there wasn't that level of difference, presumably each of the German waves had a similar composition of tanks and mechanised infantry.