The Battle of Mersa Matruh was fought from 26 to 29 June 1942, following the defeat of the Eighth Army (General Sir Claude Auchinleck) at the Battle of Gazala and was part of the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. The battle was fought with the German–Italian Panzer Army Afrika ( ( Erwin Rommel). The Eighth Army comprised X Corps and XIII Corps.
The battle was fought during the pursuit of the Eighth Army as it retreated into Egypt. Rommel intended to defeat in detail (one after the other) the British infantry formations, before they had a chance to regroup.The fortress port of Mersa Matruh and 6,000 prisoners were captured, along with a great deal of supplies and equipment. The Axis cut off the line of retreat of X Corps and XIII Corps but was too weak to stop the British from breaking out.
Background
After the defeat of the Eighth Army at the Battle of Gazala, the Allied forces were compelled to retreat eastwards. The British left a garrison in Tobruk, which was expected to be strong enough to hold the port while the Eighth Army regrouped and replaced its losses. The British command had not prepared Tobruk for a lengthy siege and planned to return to relieve the Tobruk garrison within two months. The Axis capture of Tobruk in a day came as a shock. The surrender of Tobruk was a great psychological blow to the British and meant that Panzer Army Africa (/) had a port, ample supplies and did not need to leave an investing force to watch the port.
The Italians and Germans could invade Egypt for the second time. After the victory at Tobruk, Rommel pressed on the heels of the Eighth Army. Rommel intended to bring the Eighth Army to battle and defeat it before the British had the chance to bring up fresh units and reform behind a defensive line. Though his forces were badly weakened by the Battle of Gazala, he had speed, guile and surprise. The 21st Panzer Division was given one day to regroup and then was sent down the coast road to Egypt.
Claude Auchinleck, the Commander-in-Chief Middle East Command, offered his resignation on 22 June, which was declined. To slow the Axis advance into Egypt, the British command intended to form a defensive position at the Cyrenaica–Egypt frontier, along the Frontier Wire ("the wire"). XIII Corps (Lieutenant-General William Gott), was to fight a delaying action; Axis forces reached the wire on 23 June, shortly after XIII Corps. There was no time to mount a defence and the Eighth Army lacked the armour to defend the open southern end of the position. Gott recommended falling back another to the Mersa Matruh position. British rearguards tried to destroy the fuel and ammunition dumped at the frontier and then Gott withdrew without engaging the . The British command ordered the Eighth Army to stop the at Mersa Matruh.
Rommel requested freedom of manoeuvre from Mussolini to pursue the Eighth Army into Egypt, which was granted. Additional fuel, equipment and munitions were salvaged from remaining British stores at the frontier. Rommel pushed on unopposed through the night and the next day, meeting no resistance from British ground forces but increasing attack from the air. The Desert Air Force was growing in strength and operating nearer to its bases, while the and were receding from theirs.
After the reverses at Gazala and Tobruk, the Eighth Army was disorganised and shaken but not demoralised. Auchinleck realised a change in command was necessary and on 25 June he relieved Ritchie and assumed command of the Eighth Army. He issued directives to change the Eighth Army into a force that stressed mobility and made it clear that his priority was to keep the Eighth Army intact. The last defensive position before Alexandria was El Alamein. Auchinleck was preparing defences there but a mobile defensive battle was to be fought from Mersa Matruh to the El Alamein gap. It had become apparent to Auchinleck that non-mobile formations were helpless against mobile forces and he could ill-afford to lose more formations. He shifted transport to enable the infantry formations in XIII Corps to be fully motorised and stressed that the Eighth Army forces fighting at Mersa Matruh must not allow themselves to be cut off.