42.06 Operation Aberdeen, Libya North Africa, Gazala, 5 June 1942. Ritchie launches Operation Aberdeen to crush Rommels position in the Cauldron. Rommel holds the attack and then launches a counterattack against the British armour, chasing away three armoured brigades and capturing large numbers of infantry. >> Severe desert sand storms meant that the 8th Army could do little on June 1st and 2nd. However, patrols sent out to hinder the Afrika Korps were successful. Sergeant Q. Smythe of the 1st South African Division won the Victoria Cross for action against the Germans in one such patrol. A major attack by the 8th Army against Rommel started on June 5th - 'Operation Aberdeen'. Unfortunately it was poorly managed and coordinated and led to large scale losses in the 8th Army - 6,000 killed or wounded, 150 tanks lost and 4,000 POW's. Tank units felt the full force of expertly placed German 88's and without proper armoured cover, the infantry units that followed on suffered accordingly. >> As part of the on going battles on the Gazala Line, the British 8th Army launches a counter-attack against DAK forces inside the 'Cauldron'. Operation Aberdeen is cursed by poor communication and almost no coordination with noone in sole command of the entire operation. After 22nd Armoured and 32nd Army Tank Brigades are decimated, Rommel counters late afternoon as the 21st Panzer Division shatters XXX Corp and overruns 7th Armoured and 5th Indian HQs. >> Libya. Following the retreat of Allied tanks in the aborted Operation Aberdeen, 3 Indian infantry battalions and 4 artillery regiments left in the Cauldron are overrun by Italian and German troops. With the battle in the Cauldron won, Rommel sends 90th Light Division to assist the assault on the Free French troops at Bir Hacheim fort.