Mersa Matruh Editing in progress ;-) Regimental-Histories_1936-1945 Bright_0151.jpg - The Royal Lancers Museum at Derby
Links... mersa matruh | WW2Talk -- x -- x -- Mersa Matruh - Wikipedia Mersa Matruh Google books : Mersa Matruh - Google Search Find an object | Imperial War Museums -- x -- Battle of Mersa Matruh - Wikipedia -- x -- x -- Episode 396-The Battle of Mersa Matruh | The History of WWII Podcast - by Ray Harris Jr
Events... 1940 THE BRITISH ARMY IN NORTH AFRICA E839 : Object description - Troops of the 1st Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment laying mines at Mersa Matruh, 25 October 1940. 1941 Wednesday 10th December 1941... 10d12m1941... Sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse: A naval battle took place north of Singapore in which the British battleship Prince of Wales and battlecruiser Repulse were sunk by Japanese aircraft. The Battle of Guam ended in Japanese victory. The Japanese occupation of the Gilbert Islands began on Butaritari (Makin). Japanese forces invaded Vigan and Aparri. The American submarine USS Sealion was bombed and damaged during a Japanese air-raid on the Cavite Navy Yard. Los Angeles had its first blackout of the war. Died: Tom Phillips, 53, British admiral and highest ranking Allied officer killed in battle during WWII (died in the sinking of the Prince of Wales). ----- x ----- x ----- 9th Lancers - Mersa Matruh Mersa Matruh - Wikipedia June 1942 Battle of Mersa Matruh - Wikipedia RETREAT FROM THE WIRE; ESCAPE FROM TOBRUK [Allocated Title] AYY233 : Object description - Activities in the Western Desert, June 1942. Full description 24 June. On the morning of 23 June, units holding the Sollum-Halfaya area began to evacuate and move eastwards towards Matruh. South African armoured cars watch the escarpment westwards from Halfaya for enemy movements. Gurkhas of the Indian army retiring eastwards, with ack-ack guns and 25 pounders. Full description Grant tanks south west of the Matruh Line, near the Siwa Track. The twelve tanks are of the 22nd Armoured Brigade, 3rd County of London Yeomanry, B Squadron. Tank commanders Major A W Grant MC, Captain C B Wrey, Lieutenant R Willett and Sergeant R C Roberts in front of a tank. Full description Indian Army armoured cars moving up to the escarpment south of Mersa Matruh. Full description 20 June. On the Egyptian frontier, Captain Parrot tells the story of his escape from Tobruk to Colonel E P Hartshorne of the 1st South African Brigade. Members of the party on the transport on which they made their escape. Captain Parrot gives information to the Intelligence Sergeant at the 1st South African Brigade Headquarters. The men discussing their escape. November 1942 8d11m1942... Is... IWM E19326 : THE BRITISH ARMY IN NORTH AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST 1940-1947 11d11m1942... THE CAMPAIGN IN NORTH AFRICA 1940-1943 E19315 : Object description - The Axis retreat and the Tunisian campaign 1942 - 1943: A British tank crosses a wide ditch outside Mersa Matruh just before the fall of the town. THE CAMPAIGN IN NORTH AFRICA 1940-1943 E19321 : Object description - The Axis retreat and the Tunisian campaign 1942 - 1943: British tanks of the Eighth Army enter Mersa Matruh. MERSA MATRUH IS CAPTURED E19336 : Object description - Original wartime caption: A large German seaplane found wrecked in Mersa Matruh harbour, with sunken ships in the harbour behind. 23d11m1942... WAR PICTORIAL NEWS NO 81 [Main Title] Full description II. 'THE AXIS GOES (RUNS) WEST.'(Titling has "Goes" replaced by "Runs" by a hand using a paint brush) Captured German General Ritter von Thoma is introduced to General Bernard Law Montgomery at his tented encampment in the desert (location undisclosed). Stock shots show a large column of Italian Army prisoners of war in desert terrain. The commentary states that the Germans had seized the Italian's transport vehicles in their eagerness to retreat. Footage taken at a former German Luftwaffe desert airstrip shows abandoned and unserviceable Messerschmitt Bf 109F/Trop fighters of I/JG 53 "Pik-As". A partially damaged German DFS 230 glider is inspected by British troops. Partially dismantled Bf 109F/Trop fighters stand in airfield blast pens, their engines covered by protective tarpaulin. Brief footage shows a Messerschmitt Bf 108 Taifun communications aircraft with its canopy open. Stock shot footage shows long columns of British Eighth Army soft-skinned vehicles on the road to Mersa Matruh. Eighth Army M3 Grant tanks, Crusaders and M4 Sherman tanks (three piece noses) enter Mersa Matruh. Partially sunk merchant shipping lies in the harbour of Mersa Matruh. Italian Army prisoners of war shelter under the wing of a damaged Italian Regia Aeronautica Fiat (Caccia Rosatelli) CR 42 Falco fighter aircraft. A Royal Tank Regiment Crusader drives past the camera position, its commander wears a civilian sheepskin overcoat. British Army M4A1 Shermans drive in convoy along a desert road. Aerial footage shows long column of Eighth Army soft-skins on the move. Italian Army Autoblinda 40 armoured cars burn by the road side. Brief footage shows partially dismantled German Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 109E/Trop and Bf 110 fighter aircraft at an airfield near Sidi Barrani. General Bernard Law Montgomery chats to Air Vice Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham (Commander Desert Air Force) as they consult maps at a tented encampment. Stock shot aerial footage shows (South African Air Force ?) Martin Baltimore Bomber aircraft flying in formation with USAAF North American B-25 Mitchell bombers over desert terrain (cf WPN 80). Bombs drop and impact on the desert floor. British Eighth Army soft-skins head towards Halfaya Pass. Eighth Army Universal carriers armed with Bren .303-inch machine guns and Boys .55-inch anti-tank rifles cross into Libya at a border checkpoint. Stock shots show Italian prisoners of war in the desert. A road sign reads "Tobruk-El Adem". A Swastika flag is taken from a flag pole in Tobruk and replaced with the Union Flag.
Scenario - in Forgotten Hope - Maps "Escape from Mersa. In the strategic seesaw of the war in the Western Desert, fortune was once more in favour of the Afrika Korps. With the advantage of having air supremacy Rommel unleashed his Panzer divisions and with military brilliance the Afrika Korps swept eastwards. Benghazi and Gazala were re-taken by the Germans, along with the seemingly impregnable bastion of defence of Tobruk on 21 June. When Tobruk capitulated on June 21, 1942, 30,000 British soldiers were taken prisoner, and large stores of fuel and supplies fell into Rommel's hands. It was now left for the fragments of the British XIII and XXX Corps to delay the Panzers' advance so that the shaken British forces could regroup. The British shielding force stood about 70 miles inside Egypt at Mersa Matruh, the one obstacle remaining between Rommel and the main British force at El Alamein. Inevitably, the British at Mersa Matruh were surrounded and cut off by Rommel's troops. In the darkness of June 28, 1942, the besieged British troops attempted their breakout." --- x ---
