#26 - Get through to Bardia! (3 December 1941) - PzC 04 Tobruk '41

Sidi Azeiz, 3 December 1941: The 2nd and 3rd of December were basically rest days for both sides as each sought to regain some strength before the final confrontation. Rommel, however, believed that the reduction of the New Zealand Division had secured him a victory in the coastal sector and that he could ultimately deal with the British armor still operating in the desert. As the panzers rested, columns were dispatched along the Via Balbia and Trigh Capuzzo to reopen the route to Bardia and the frontier. The British were not ready to relinquish control and the German columns were to pay dearly for this information. In the north, the 28th NZ Battalion, composed of Maori tribesmen, ambushed KG.Geissler causing several hundred casualties for the cost of about a dozen. In front of Sidi Aziez, KG.Kanabe faired better against the loose screen of the Central Indian Horse but were ultimately repulsed. This action along with the rumblings of the British 7th Armoured Division back at Bir el Gubi finally convinced Rommel that retreat was inevitable.