June 28th, 1942

Mersa Matruh

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.
This map was made by Lobo.

Germany	Great Britain
Ground Forces
Typ 82 Kübelwagen Opel Blitz S 3.6 SdKfz 251/1 Ausf. C "Hanomag" AEC Dorchester 4x4 "Mammut" PzKpfw II Ausf. F PzKpfw IV Ausf. F2 PzKpfw III Ausf. J (early) PzKpfw III Ausf. J (late) PzKpfw IV Ausf. F	Willys MB-2 Chevy 30cwt LRDG Bedford OY Daimler Dingo Mk I Marmon-Herrington Mk. III A Crusader Mk I (late) Grant I Valentine Mk II
Aircraft
Junkers Ju 87B-2 "Stuka"
Stationary Weapons
8.8 cm Flak 18 10.5cm LeFH 18	40mm Bofors Ordnance QF 6-pdr AT Gun Mk II Ordnance ML 3 inch Mortar Mk II Ordnance QF 25-pdr Mk I