In the months while he waited on defense, eager to receive new tanks, infantry, vehicles and guns, he felt the buildup was far too slow, and chafed that he could never hope to entertain offensive operations again if OKW did not get serious about reinforcing and rearming his troops. That was a fantasy now, he knew, as there could be no advance while that heavy British armor stood watch. Yet why didn’t the enemy attack? That was von Thoma’s question, and now Rommel came to believe that they were building up for something very big.
In that he was quite correct, for the British had been completely rebuilding their own forces in the 8th Army over the last several months. O’Connor was waiting for fresh armor, particularly the new infantry tank dubbed the Churchill that had been promised, along with an influx of American Grants and Shermans. He had two Armored divisions to flesh out, the 7th and 1st, and was told he would get two more. This was later paired down to one, the 8th, as the 10th Armored was held in the UK pending the decision on the timing of Operation Torch.
The 4th Indian would return to relieve the 5th Indian, and the two South African Divisions were sent to invest Benghazi. The veteran Australian 9th Infantry was being called home, and Churchill continued to wrangle for at least the 2nd New Zealand Division to remain in theater. O’Connor was told he could use it to secure Benghazi, but after that, the division would embark from that port and head home. This left only the 50th Northumbrian in hand for offensive operations, and so O’Connor waited to receive additional forces from Britain. These eventually came in the 51st Highland Division, and the 44th Home Counties Division, giving him a solid British Infantry Corps to back his three armored divisions.
All these changes took 60 days, and in the meantime, supplies and fuel were trucked up from Alexandria, new forward depots established, airfields occupied in Cyrenaica, and squadrons built up with an influx of American planes. The plan was to build up sufficient strength to allow the 8th Army to resume full scale offensive operations without having to rely on Kinlan’s Brigade.
It was late July until hostilities resumed with artillery duels at Agedabia, Rommel’s easternmost line of defense. Then, in recent days, the Italians reported the movement of the 4th Indian Division and 2nd New Zealand to reinforce the South Africans around Benghazi. O’Connor wanted to take that port as a secure base and leave no “Tobruk” behind him if he advanced west. The first two weeks of August were therefore devoted to doing exactly that, while Rommel brooded to the south on his Mersa Brega line, unable or simply unwilling to do anything to aid the Italians at Benghazi.
With that port finally cleared on August 18th, O’Connor brought up the last of his armored reserves, the 8th Division. It was his initial intention to combine all three mobile divisions into one Corps, but he then came to think this formation would be too unwieldy. Seeing that the new 8th Division was heavy on the infantry tanks, he decided to parcel out its heavy brigades to bolster his other divisions. He therefore restructured his army with 1st and 7th Armored in X Corps, the three British divisions and 23rd Armored Brigade in XXX Corps, and then 2 New Zealand, 4th Indian and 1st South African forming XIII Corps. 2nd South African was to be held in reserve at Benghazi. He had many of the same cards as Montgomery had at El Alamein, but he had shuffled them about to produce these three balanced corps formations.
While 8th Army grew stronger week by week, Rommel would soon find his own Afrika Korps picked apart to help build an entire new army to defend in the west, the fallout from that unexpected message from Himmler. As a pinning attack, meant to hold German forces in place after the Torch landings, O’Connor moved his XXX Corps infantry up against the Mersa Brega Line while he maneuvered his X corps Armor into position on the southern flank. It was a natural move, not in any way unexpected by Rommel, as that was the formula for most any attack in this long campaign, fix and press the defense on the coastal road, while enfilading the line by a wide envelopment from the south.
“This O’Connor thinks he is fooling me here,” said Rommel to von Thoma. “I know damn well what he is planning.”
It was then that a courier came in, saluting, his uniform covered in dust. He had just come in from the makeshift landing strip, arriving on a Storch, and then riding to Rommel’s HQ on a motorcycle.
“Message from General Kesselring,” he said, handing off the envelope. “There is a map enclosed.”
“Thank you, Leutnant, even though I am certain you bring me nothing but more bad news. Go and see the adjutant in the next building. He’ll see that you get some refreshment.”
“Thank you, sir. The general has requested a response, and I’m to fly off with it at your earliest convenience.”
“Must be trouble,” said Rommel, opening the envelope and moving to the table where an oil lamp illuminated the room with a dull glow in the grey dawn. He found the map, opening it and spreading it out on the table.
“My, my,” he said under his breath. “Come have a look at this, von Thoma. It seems that message you delivered was right on the money.”
Von Thoma stepped over, hands behind his back, head inclined to look at the map. An eyebrow raised, the surprise evident. “Lisbon? The British violated Portuguese neutrality?”
“Oh, I have no doubt they rang the bell with flowers in hand and asked politely before they kicked in the door. And look here…. The Americans have landed at Casablanca.” Rommel raised an eyeglass, looking at the typed message now, then shook his head, a grim expression on his face. “Just as I feared,” he said, the weight of the moment heavy in his tone. “I am requested to immediately release the whole of 10th Panzer Division, and all of Goering’s troops as well. We sit here for three months rebuilding this army, and with this letter, everything I have struggled to secure goes out the door.”
The first shells of the morning artillery bombardment came rumbling ominously in the distance as he finished. Rommel looked at his watch. “Very punctual, these British. It usually lasts for twenty minutes, only this time, I think we will be lucky if it ends before noon. Welcome to Afrika, von Thoma. We are about to get very busy.”
Chapter 11
There was one more force at O’Connor’s disposal, the brigade that had been Rommel’s bane ever since he first encountered it at Bir el Khamsa. The British had used “Kinlan’s Heavies” as they were now called, to spearhead their flanking attack against Rommel’s Gazala line, but this time, with the strengthening of 8th Army, O’Connor suggested they have a go at the enemy without resorting to the use of Kinlan’s Brigade.
“You will always be available should things go wrong,” he explained. “Yet I think we can hold our own. I’ll have six infantry and two strong armor divisions, even after 2nd New Zealand leaves for home. So I propose to keep you in deep reserve. You can move up to the coast after we jump off here. Everything is set to go the first of October.”
“My man Reeves is already at Marada on a forward recon operation,” said Kinlan.
“Our 7th Armored will relieve him, and I’ll return him to you forthwith. We’ve cleared out Tobruk now that I have Benghazi. So I’ve had a good amount of fuel moved south of Tobruk and stored there for your brigade. Sorry to hog it all for my boys, but a tanker came in two days ago at Alexandria, and we’re finally supplied. Replenish those marvelous tanker trucks you use in your train vehicles. Top off your tanks. I’m afraid I can’t offer you more of those charmed rounds your big tanks use, but at least we’ve got the fuel. Once we push Rommel out of Mersa Brega. You can move your brigade there.”