German Armoured Tactics In Libya

[themonsstar]

Diary of the Tank attacks on Tobruk

Extracts from the diary of a captured officer of the 5th Tank Regt describing the attacks on Tobruk of 11th-14th April and 1st MAY.

10th April.
"Towards evening we reach our advanced positions 17 miles in front of Tobruk. We have covered 100 miles...wearily we pitch camp. Vehicles are checked over. I have to force the louvres open with a hammer, the sand having jammed them: they'll just have to stay open now.

11th April.
" At 0900 hrs we move off into the desert again to the S.E. in order to cut off Tobruk from the south. With us are anti-tank, machine-gun and anti-aircraft units.... Ten miles south of Tobruk and already the enemy's artillery is giving us an H.E. welcome...As soon as they get the range we withdraw 100-200 yards. Their fire follows us-their observation must be good. At 1630 hrs we attack with two half-squadrons. The artillery puts down a barrage, but can make little impression on us. Through ! We career on for 1,000 yards and turn carefully through the minefield. As the smoke lifts i see barbed wire and anti-tank trenches. ' Halt ! ' gun-flashes. 'Gun, 900. A.P. shell, light-coloured mound, fire !' A hit. Again-10 yards to the right... with six shots we have finished off the anti-tank position. We move along the wire loking for a gap and the leading tank finds one, and in doing so runs on to a mine, of course. Another goes to its rescue, while i give covering fire.

14th April.
" At 0010 I am called, and ordered to report with the coy commander at 0100hrs.
" Situation: Machine-gunners and engineers have worked a gap through the anti-tank defences; 5 Tank Regt, 8 Manchine-Gun Battalion, anti-tank and anti-aircraft artillery will cross the gap under the cover of darkness and overwhelm the positions. Stuka attack at 0645 hrs.
" 0715 hrs. Storming of Tobruk. With least possible noise 2 Battalion, Regt H.Q. Coy, and 1 Battalion move off completely blacked-out. Bitterly cold. Of course, the enemy recognizes us by the noise and as ill luck will have it, a defective spot-light on one of the cars in front goes on and off.
" soon artilly fire starts up on us, getting the range. The shells explode like fireworks. We travel six miles, every nerve on edge. From time to time isolated groups of soldiers appear-men of 8 Machire-Gun Battalion-and then suddeny we are in the gap. Already the tank is nose-down in the first trench. The motor whines; I catch a glimpse of the stars through the shutter, then for the second time the tank goes down, extricating itself backwards with a dull thud, with engines grinding.
"We are through and immediately take up file in battle order. In front of us 8 Company, then 2 Battalion H.Q. Coy, then 5 Coy. With my troop I travel left of the Coy Commander. With 2 Battalion H.Q. Coy about 60 men of 8 Machine-Gun Batt with Lt Col Ponath are marching in scattered groups. Tanks and infantry?--
Against all rules ! Behind us follow the Regt H.Q. Coy and 1 Batt, plus the other arms. Slowly, much too slowly, the column moves forward. We must, of course, regulate our speed by the marching troops, and so the the enemy has time to prepare resistance. The more the darkness lifts, the harder the enemy strikes. Destructive fire starts up in front of us now-1-2-3-10-12-16 bursts and more.

sorry more to come cheers Roy.

[themonsstar]

Hi All
Part Two

Five batteries of 25-pounders rain hail on us. 8 Coy presses forward to get at them. Our heavy tanks, it is true, fire for all they are worth, so do we all but the enemy with his superior force and all the tactical advantages of his own territory makes heavy gaps in our ranks.
" Wireless '0900 hrs anti-tank gun-1700 hrs, tank ! ' We are right in the middle of it with on prospects of getting out. Fromboth flanks A.P. shells whizz by.
" Wireless ' Right turn,' 'Left turn,' 'Retire,' Now we come slap into 1 Battalion which is following us. Some of our tanks are already on fire. The crews call for doctors, who alight to help in this witches' cauldron. English anti-tank units fall upon us, with their machire-guns firing into our midst: but we have on time. My driver, in the thick of it, says, ' The engines are on longer running properly, brakes not acting, transmission working only with great difficulty.'
" We bear off to the right. Anti-tank guns 900 metres distant in the hollow behind, and a tank. Behind that in the next dip 1,000 yds. away another tank. How many ? I see only the effect of the fire on the terrace-like dispositions of the enemy.... Above us Italian fighter planes come into the fray. Two of them crash in our midst. The optical instruments covered with dust. Nevertheless, I register several unmistakable hits. A few anti-tank gun are silenced, some enemy tanks are burning. Just then we are hit, and the wireless smashed to bits. Now our communications are cut off. What is more, our ammunition is giving out. Ifollow the Battalion Commander. Our attack is fading out. From every side the superior forces of the enemy shoot at us.

"'Retire.' There is a crash just behind us. The engine and petrol tank are in the rear. The tank must be on fire. I turn round and look through the slit. It is not burning. Our luck is holding. Poor 8th Machire Gunners ! We take a wounded man and two others aboard, and the other tanks do the same. Most of the men have bullet wounds. At its last gasp my tank follows the others, whom we lose from time to time in the clouds of dust. But we have to press on towards the south, as that is the only way through. Good God ! Supposing we don't find it ? And the engines won't do any more !

"Close to our right and left flanks the English tanks shoot into our midst. We are hit in the tracks of our tank, and they creak and groan. The lane is in sight. Everyone hurries towards it. English anti-tank guns shoot into the mass. Our own anti-tank and 8.8 cm. guns are almost deserted, the crews lying silent beside them. The Italian artillery, which was to have protected our left flank, is equally deserted ! English troops run out of their position, some shooting at us with sub-machine guns, some with hands raised. With drawn pistols they are compelled to enter our tanks. Then English guns start up, and the prisoners fling themselves to the ground. Lieut. von Huelsen and my machine gunner lie on that side of my tank which faces towards the M.G. Battalion. We go on. Now comes the gap and the ditch ! The driver cannot see a thing for dust, nor I. We drive by instinct.

" The tank almost gets stuck in the two ditches blocking the road, but manages to extricate itself with great difficulty. With their last reserves of energy, the crew gets out of range and returns to camp. Examine damage to tank. My men extract an A.P. shell from the right-hand auxiliary petrol tank.... The petrol tank was shot away, and the petrol ran out without igniting !

14th April.
"At 1200 hrs we retire into the wadi south of us.... We cover up. Heavy cumulus clouds cover the sky. Every 10-30 minutes 2 or 3 English bombers swoop out of them amongst the tanks. Every bomber drops 4 to 8 bombs. Explosios all round. It goes on like this until 1900 hrs without a pause. The Lion has Wings; we have one, in fact several 'Egons.' These hateful birds immediately direct artillery fire over our post. Likewise smoke bombs, which sail down on parachutes producing a streaming veil....
" Casualties in 2 Battalion of 5 Tank Regt, 10 tanks, apart from 57.5cm. guns of 8 Coy. ! A few dead, several wounded, more missing.
The anti-tank units and the light and heavy A.A. were badly shot up and the 8th Machine Gunners were cut to pieces. The Regt has lost all its doctors-presumably captured. The Regt is practically wiped out.

15th April.
" Artillery fire from 0700 hrs. The bombers repeat yesterday's game. " My troop has two heavy tanks again. Tank No 625 isn't running any more, however. It only serves as a pillbox. According to orders, I report at the brigade commander's office at 1200 hrs. Once more the principal subject discussed is the action in front of Tobruk on 14th April. We simply cannot understand how we ever managed to get out again. It is the general opinion that it was the most severely fought battle of the whole war. But what can the English think of us ! A weak Batt, only two squadrons strong, bursts through the complex defence system until it is just on a mile from the town, shoots everything to bits, engages the enemy on all sides, and then gets away again....
" The war in Africa is quite different from the war in Europe. That is to say, it is absolutely indiviual. Here there are not the masses of men and material. Nobody and nothing can be concealed. It doesn't matter whether it is a battle between opposing land-forces, or between air-forces, or both; it is the same sort of fighting, face to face, each side thrusting and counter-thrusting. If the struggle was not so brutal, so entirely without rules, you might compare it with the jousting of knights. It was like this at Marsa el Brega, at Agedabia, and now before Tobruk....

20th April.
"In the afternoon tank No 623 rolls up with a new engine. Now I have the strongest squadron in the Regt: 4 PzKw 11 tanks, 4 PzKw 111. Gradually, however, the job of squadron commander is becoming difficult. I have absolutely nothing to go by, everything is in the desert. Where are the tanks, where are the H.Q. cars, where are A2 and B echelons and squadron office ? And I have no command tank and no motor-cycle and then the reports and the paper-war which begins as soon as the last shot has been fired !

23rd April.
" The journey Iplanned has been postponed owing to the arrival of Lieut. Grim with 6 tanks, 3 of which belong to our squadron. 621 and 624 are mine so I change from No 602 back to No 621 again. The engines of the tanks are partly new, partly overhauled in the factory. They have new gears, transmission, brakes, etc. The British do not miss the chance of sharing in the welcome with some well-aimed fire. The faithful 625, which is the only heavy tank of the squadron remaining with us, will now be sent back to have its 6 shell-wounds cured. Whilst in the workshop it will have its engines changed.

29th April.
"50 dive-bombers circling over Tobruk. Tank 622 turns up. They tell us about the desert of hunger and thirst, of Benghazi and of Derna. Since tank No 625 is still in the workshops, I am getting No 634 as my 5th tank, with Serjeant Schafer, my driving instructor from Wunsdorf.

30th April.
"Finishing touches to our preparations for battle. 1745 hrs. March to assembly place. Strong Stuka attacks. 2000 hrs: our own strong artillery bombards the enemy heavily. X/105 and X/114 left of us; 8 Machine Gunners in front. 1 Engineer Batt and 1 Batt of Assault Pioneers (Sturm-Pioniere) break through and demolish the barriers on either side. The light signals show that the attack has begun.
" At 2200 hrs. sleep under the tank.

1st May.
"We intend to take Tobruk. My 4th attack on the towm. Up at 0330 hrs., leave at 0430 hrs. We lose touch in the darkness and dust and join up again. We file through the gap where many of our comrades have already fallen. Then we deploy at once, 6 Sqn. on the left, 5 Sqn. on the right, behind H.Q., 8 and 7 Sqns. The Regt is now Hohmann's Mobile Battalion and consists altogether of 80 tanks.
"The English artillery fires on us at once. We attack. No German patrol goes in front to reconnoitre. Tier upontier of guns boom out from the triangular fortification before us. The two light troops of the company and my left section are detailed off to make a flanking movement. I attack. Wireless message: 'Commander of 6 Coy. hit on track.' Then things happen suddenly..... Afrightful crash in front and to the right. Direct hit by artillery shell. No ! It must be mine. Immediately send wireless message: ' Commander Schorm on a mine, will try to get old direction.' 5 metres back new detonation. Mine underneath to the left. Now it's all up with driving. Wireless message: ' Getting back went on mine again.' Now mount tank 623. Back through the artillery fire for 100 yds. and got in. Wireless order: 'Tanks active behind ridge. The men of the mined tank all right.'
"Back carefully. Then with the last tank in Company H.Q. and Lieut. Roskoll I give cover to the north. 9 heavy and 3 light tanks of the squadron have had to give up owing to mines. Of my troop, the commander's tank and both of section leaders' tanks. Of course the enemy went on shooting at us for some time.
"A slight change of position: forward right backwards left ! With the commander's approval I am to go up in front to salvage tanks. Whilst we are on the way we are fired at by M.G. and anti-tanks guns from about 500 yds. I silence them with H.E. and drive in the tracks of 624. I bring up the rear, and then the laborious work of salvaging begins. The anti-tank gunfire starts up again, and has to be kept in check by constant fire.... At last I move off slowly with 624 in tow, through the gap, and on 800yds. 250,000 Marks saved. The crew is really delighted to have its tank back. Farther on to the Batt. It is now late afternoon.
"Dive-bombers and twin-engined fighters have been attacking the enemy constantly. As soon as the planes have gone the artillery starts up furiously. It is beginning to grow dark. Which is friend, which is foe ? shots are being fired all over the place, often on your own troops and on tanks in front on their way back.
" Suddenly a wireless message: ' British attacking gap with infantry.' It is actually true. 2 companies get off their motor lorries and extend in battle order. All sorts of light signals go up green, red, white. The flares hiss down near our M.Gs. It is already too dark to take aim.
"Well, the attack is a failure. The little Fiat-Ansaldos go up in front with flame-throwers in order to clean up the triangle. Long streaks of flame, thick smoke, filthy stink.
"We provide cover until 2345 hrs., then retire through the gap. Itis a mad drive through the dust. At 0300 hrs. have snack beside the tank. 24 hrs. shut up in the tank, with frighful cramp as a result-and a thirst !

2nd May.
"Recovering tanks.
"We got out both of the PzKw 11 tanks....800,000 Reich Marks saved.

Hope you like it. cheers Roy.