#34 - Operation Crusader - Finale (28 Nov - 3 Dec 1941) - PzC 04 Tobruk '41

ed Duda, 28 November 1941: The third, and climatic, phase of Crusader Battles was centered around the Tobruk salient. The garrison sortie had commenced on 21 November but had encountered stiff resistance and had suffered severe casualties. Over the next week, fighting in the bridgehead would continue to flare up but little progress was made. It wasn't until the weight of the New Zealand Division, attacking from the east, was brought to bear that real success against the besieging German and Italian was scored and the link-up accomplished. But the arrival of the German Panzers, returned from the frontier, threatened the New Zealanders from the rear and plans were even drawn up to withdraw them into the fortress. What ensued, however, was a fierce struggle that not only bled the New Zealand Division white but also reduced German armor strength to dangerously low levels, levels that would prove inadequate to resist the reconstituted 7th Armoured Division.