Cracking the Cauldron - The Matrix Games version of West Front

Sidra Ridge, 45km SW of Tobruk, Libya: [Best played as Allied] The armored actions fought behind the Gazala Line near Knightsbridge through the end of May 1942 were some of the fiercest of the whole North African Campaign. Realizing that his supplies were nearing exhaustion, Rommel ordered his striking force to fall back into a close defensive position NW of Bir el Harmat in an area that would become known as The Cauldron. However, the British 8th Army was not content to let the Afrika Korps sit and resupply. Operation Aberdeen planned a simultaneous attack from several sides of the Axis positions with the ultimate objective of destroying the mobile panzer divisions, recapturing Benghazi and securing the airbases in Cyrenaica. Early on the morning of 5 June the 32nd Army Tank Brigade launched a diversionary attack from the north against Sidra Ridge where elements of the German 21st Panzer Division had dug in. With very little artillery and infantry support the tanks of the 32nd advanced through murderous anti-tank fire, determined to crack the German defenses and prevent the 21st from interfering with the main attack from the east.