Operation Crusader - Order of Battle

Order of Battle

Further information: Operation Crusader order of battle

Eighth Army comprised two Corps: British XXX Corps under Lieutenant-General Willoughby Norrie and British XIII Corps under Lieutenant-General Reade Godwin-Austen. XXX Corps was made up of 7th Armoured Division (commanded by Major-General William Gott), the understrength South African 1st Infantry Division with two brigades (newly arrived from the East African Campaign and commanded by Major-General George Brink) and the independent 22nd Guards Brigade. XIII Corps comprised 4th Indian Infantry Division (commanded by Major-General Frank Messervy), the newly arrived 2nd New Zealand Division (commanded by Major-General Bernard Freyberg) and the 1st Army Tank Brigade. Eighth Army also included the Tobruk garrison with the 32nd Army Tank Brigade, and where the Australian 9th Division under Major-General Leslie Morshead had been replaced by the British 70th Infantry Division and the Polish Carpathian Brigade, under Major-General Ronald Scobie, the Commander of 70th Division, as fortress commander. In reserve Eighth Army had the South African 2nd Infantry Division making a total equivalent of about 7 divisions with 770 tanks (including many of the new Crusader Cruiser tanks, after which the operation was named, as well as the new American light Stuart). Air support was provided by up to 724 combat planes of the Commonwealth air forces in the Middle East and Malta, with direct support under the command of Air HQ Western Desert.

Opposing them were the German and Italian soldiers of Panzergroup Africa under General Erwin Rommel, with the Afrika Korps comprising the 15th Panzer Division, 21st Panzer Division (total of 260 tanks ), the Afrika Special Purpose Division which had been formed in Africa as a composite formation, and was redesignated the 90th Light Africa Infantry Division in late November, and 5 Italian infantry divisions (the 55 Infantry Division Savona, 17 Infantry Division Pavia, 102 Motorised Division Trento, 27 Infantry Division Brescia and 25 Infantry Division Bologna) (the latter four forming the Italian XXI Army Corps under General Enea Navarini). Directly under the Italian High Command in Libya remained the XX Motorised Corps with 132 Armoured Division Ariete with 146 medium tanks M13/40 and 101 Motorised Division Trieste. The Axis forces had built a defensive line of strongpoints along the escarpment running from near the sea at Bardia and Sollum and further along the border wire to Fort Capuzzo. Elements of the 21st Panzer and the Savona divisions manned these defences whilst Rommel kept the rest of his forces grouped near or around the Tobruk perimeter where a planned attack on 14 November had been put back to 24 November due to supply difficulties. Axis initial air support consisted of about 120 German and 200 Italian serviceable planes, but these could be reinforced quickly by transfer of additional units from Greece and Italy.