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| Operation Crusader | |||||||||
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| Part of the Western Desert campaign in the Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II | |||||||||
 A Mark I Crusader tank passes a burning German Panzer IV | |||||||||
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Operation Crusader was a military operation by the United Kingdom in 1941 and was a part of the Western Desert campaign of the Second World War. This operation saved the city of Tobruk during the Siege of Tobruk the same year.
The initial plan of the British Eight Army was to destroy the armoured forces of the Axis powers before advancing infantry which failed after the British 7th Panzer Division suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of the German Afrika Korps at Sidi Rezegh, after some stalemate battles. Then, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel urged his armoured divisions to the Axis fortifications on the Egyptian border but failed to find the main Allied infantry, who had bypassed the fortifications and advanced toward Tobruk so Rommel had to withdrew his armoured divisions to fight in Tobruk, although he had some tactical victories here but the need to preserve the remaining forces compelled Rommel to withdraw to the defensive line at Gazala, west of Tobruk, before moving all his troops back to El Agheila. This marked the first land victory for British-led forces against the Germans in World War II.
