Action at Bir el Gubi (December 1941)

Action at Bir el Gubi (December 1941)
Part of Operation Crusader during the Second World War

Members of the Battalion Group "Giovani Fascisti" operating a Mod. 35 (81 mm) mortar in North Africa.
Date4–7 December 1941
Location
Bir el Gubi, Italian Libya
Result German–Italian victory
Belligerents
 United Kingdom  Italy
 Germany
Commanders and leaders
Willoughby Norrie
Andrew Anderson		 Ferdinando Tanucci (WIA)
Ludwig Crüwell
Walter Neumann (DOW)
Strength

XXX Corps
11th Indian Brigade around 3,000 men
7th Armoured Division 14,964 men

22nd Guards Brigade around 3,000 men		 Battalion Group "Giovani Fascisti"
1,454 men
10 guns
2 tanks and 12 tankettes
later reinforced by 3 armoured divisions
Casualties and losses
300 killed
250 wounded
71 prisoners
10 tanks		 60 killed
117 wounded
31 missing and prisoners 10 tankettes

The Action at Bir el Gubi (December 1941) was fought near Bir el Gubi, Libya, between 3 and 7 December 1941, by Italian (later reinforced by German troops) and British forces. It followed the Action at Bir el Gubi (November 1941), a failed British attack on Bir el Gubi two weeks prior. Bir el Gubi was a position whose fall would have allowed the Allies to outflank the German–Italian forces in Cyrenaica. The battle was part of Operation Crusader.

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