ASL 35 BLAZIN' CHARIOTS - Combat Mission: Afrika Korps

By dawn on the second day of Operation Cruasader - 8th Army's all-out offensive to break the siege of Tobruk - no real fighting had yet occurred. The British had achieved complete tactical suprise, for Rommel believed they were conducting only a reconnaissance in force. That morning the 7th armoured Division, which on the previous day had arrived unopposed in the Gabr Saleh area some forty miles southwest of Bardia, sent its three armoured brigades off in different directions, with the 4th Armoured brigade probing northeast driving a German recon unit before it. The Afrika Korps at last reacted, quickly forming several units of the 21st Panzer Division into Kampfgruppe Stephan which set out to investigate the reports of British tanks. The Kampfgruppe missed the 4th's two forward regiments, but in the afternoon located its tail-end regiment, the 8th Hussars, alone in the desert- and attacked. The outnumbered Hussars called frantically for help, bringing the other two regiments racing southwest back to Gabr Saleh. Only one, the 5th RTR, arrived before dark, and as it did so it immediately counterattacked