Wednesday, August 31, 2005

By 1pm on February 6th, 1941, there had been a big tank battle

Starting from earlier in the morning, the 2/RTR and 7th Hussars had fought a series of engagements against Italian tanks. They actually had to deal with the tail of one column and the head of the next. The brigade commander, Brigadier Caunter, estimated that they had fought as many as 100 Italian tanks. Reinforcements were on the way, thankfully, as the HQ 7th Armoured Brigade and 1/RTR, with an artillery battery, were headed for the battle from Antelat. By 1pm, the 2/RTR was reduced to six cruiser tanks. Only slightly later, the 3rd Hussars was reduced to four cruiser tanks. They were fighting Italian medium tanks (probably largely M13/40's). This is based onthe account in To Benghazi.

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