#03a - The Witches Cauldron (13-14 April 1941) - PzC 04 Tobruk '41

el Adem, 14 April 1941: The pursuit of the 9th Australian Division by the Afrika Korps was halted abruptly on 11 April. On this day, the three Australian brigades reached the safety of the Tobruk Fortress, and the supporting arms of the additional brigade, the 18th, stationed there. Over the next few days the Afrika Korps would straggle in, feeling the effects of their first full-scale desert operations. Rommel, always impatient, was anxious to continue the pursuit into Egypt. He wanted a quick conclusion to the situation at Tobruk, and ordered the 5th Light Division to take it. The Tobruk defenses, built in previous years by the Italians, were functional, but not impregnable. They consisted of two lines of concrete strongpoints located at intervals of approximately 1km. The entire perimeter was covered by minefields and wire, and some portions by an incomplete anti-tank ditch. But the Germans expected the results at Tobruk to be consistent with their experiences in France; the enemy would throw up their hands in surrender as soon as the panzers were "on the inside". What actually occurred was, from the German view, a debacle! The Infantry made the initial penetration and then the tanks were released into the interior. The Australians, probably too inexperienced to realize their situation, continued to resist, forcing the German infantry to remain at the wire. Thus the panzers went in unsupported and were met by the British secret weapon... the Field Artillery. Beating a hasty retreat, with the Tobruk Tanks nipping at their heels, the panzers departed the way they had come, leaving the Infantry, 2nd Machine-gun Battalion, to extricate themselves as best they could. This scenario includes only the portion of the Tobruk perimeter where the attack took place.