Towards 11:00 hrs the 44th Royal Tank Regiment was ordered to advance and to intercept the panzer spearheads and the graphic words of one of the officers of the reconnaissance detachment convey the morale effect of mass armour, 'On topping a rise we could see on the eastern skyline a solid mass of vehicles stretching southwards into the haze as far as the eye can see'.
This was the 21st Panzer moving on to Trigh Capuzzo and in the battles which then followed the anti-tank gun line of 21st Panzer Division destroyed 18 British tanks from concealed positions in a wadi. [14]
By l0:00hrs the Africa Corps was driving northwards with its flanks protected by 90th Light Division which had encountered British armoured forces west of Bir el Gobi. The Italian XX Corps delayed by the determined resistance of the Bir Hachim garrison had to skirt round the French 'box' and had only reached a point five miles north-east of Bir Hachim, where it regrouped.
The panzer spearhead of the Panzer Army Africa was under attack from east, north, and north-east for although 8th Army had suffered from the initial assault it had pulled itself together and had begun to launch counter-attacks. The 15th Panzer's move just after 15.00hrs was struck in both flanks by artillery and tanks and one British attack at 16.00hrs caused alarm when the 60 tanks which struck at the flank threw back the panzers and the impetus of the British thrust being maintained overran a motorised infantry battalion. Then the armour was among the panzer division's lorries dispersing them in disorder and cutting off from their armoured spearhead the follow-up units. This severing produced a critical situation both at divisional and at Corps level. The commander flung in his headquarter defence unit. This battle group made up of a battery of 8.8cm guns, a panzer platoon, and a light flak company was joined by 16 other 8.8cm pieces from 1st Battalion 43rd Flak Regiment and the whole formed a defensive flank against the armoured assaults, while 15th Panzer Division forced its way northwards. The German guns stood at bay immobile but powerfully armed against an opponent less heavily gunned but with mobility.. As the tanks charged forward the guns spoke and the barrage drove back the British machines. On came the tanks again and yet again; each time they were driven back but still they moved into the assault until 12 of their number were destroyed or burning. They then drew back out of range and stayed immobile until nightfall. With one flank covered by a gun line but encountering opposition which demanded that she fight every step of the way 15th Panzer reached a point 9 miles south of Acroma where both 21st Panzer and Corps Headquarters closed up to her. To the east 90th Light Division and its satellites had reached to within 8 miles of El Adem but were locked there in battle with 7th Armoured Division. The Italian Motorised Corps was echeloned deep in the left rear and the situation around Bir Hachim was quite alarming for aggressive French patrols had intercepted and destroyed German supply columns. The German and Italian troops of CriiwelTs Group were still halted awaiting developments but mine-clearing teams had begun to gap the fields.
Although the panzer army's main objectives had been gained the ulcer of Bir Hachim, together with the ungapped mine-fields, had forced Rommel's supply convoys to make a wide detour round the open southern flank. The British tank attack, which had carried past the southern flank of Africa Corps and which had cut off the panzer units from their supply columns, affected the future of Rommel's plan for neither fuel nor ammunition was reaching the forward units. Seen from the British side Rommel's position was untenable His panzer force had been mauled: 21st Panzer Division had only 80 runners, and 15th Panzer only half that number. After initial successes the Africa Corps was dispersed in packets across the desert surrounded from the east. west, and north and short of the two basic requirements of desert warfare petrol and ammunition.
At 05.15hrs on 28 May the two Panzer Divisions were ordered to advance 15th Panzer upon Acroma and 21st Panzer upon Eleut el Tamar, but 15th Panzer was unable to comply with the instructions. There was a shortage c: tank and artillery ammunition and the petrol tanks were dry. The division's chronicle of woe included the fact that its armoured strength was down runners, that one of its infantry battalions had been destroyed, and that artillery had suffered heavy loss. The 21st Panzer Division went in alone a: 07:30hrs and had captured Eleut el Tamar and the heights at Point 209 sect 90 minutes later. During this sweep the 21st had cut a destructive swathe through the British units in the area. First it had met a mobile column code-named 'Stopcol' and had destroyed it. Tanks from 8th Royal Tank Regiment had been encountered and crushed and then the panzers swept over defensive box at Commonwealth Keep (Point 219) and had taken that out. Although the 21st Panzer units had reached the escarpment there was rx: route down from the summit to the Via Balbia and division halted there.
The situation at last light on 28th was that the Africa Corps was sr£ surrounded and that strong British forces were driving along the Trigh Capuzzo towards the trapped divisions. On the Bir Harmat front the 90th Light was slowly giving ground and XX Corps had sent forward the Trieste Division to gain touch with Africa Corps in response to the urging of the Army Commander. There was a slight improvement in the supply positicr when a number of lorries and tanks which had been dispersed by Britis' attacks rejoined the main body. Then, too, Rommel had made his ow» I reconnaissance and had found a route which his supply columns might use without much difficulty during the following day.
British commentators on this battle describe the 28 May as a quiet day ba it is more accurate to describe it as a day of wasted opportunities. The 8th Army had expected Rommel to maintain his northward progress and bar gathered strength to take the panzers in flank but the comparative inactivity and the inaction of the British units had allowed Rommel to continue with gapping the mine-fields and to reconnoitre routes for his supply trucks.
The battle order for 29 May was 'The Africa Corps will take Acroma in an attack to begin at 09:00hrs' and in an effort to draw the British attention from this drive the Italian Corps on the western Gazala front were ordered to demonstrate. The Africa Corps called in its outlying reconnaissance battalions and these formed a shield on the eastern flank. The number of' “kills” reported for the 28th -241 tanks and armoured cars, 46 guns including anti-tank weapons — gave a hope that there would be a successful outcome to the battle. The destruction of so many 8th Army's tanks was slowly reducing the numerical superiority which the British had enjoyed at the start of the fighting and these 'kills' were the result of the piecemeal and unsupported charges which the British tanks still made against the gun and panzer lines.
At 02:00hrs on 29 May Africa Corps cancelled the order to advance upon Acroma and instead directed that the divisions were to take up a defensive posture. The 21st Panzer was to consolidate on Point 209, the 15th Panzer was to protect the northern flank against the thrusts of 7th Armoured Division, while 90th Light was to stand on the defensive south-east of Bir el Harmat But on the western flank a small ray of hope was visible: Trieste Division had gapped the mine-field in two places — at about the level of the Trigh Capuzzo and the Trigh el Abd. Rommel had, meanwhile, led a convoy along the route he had found and brought it forward to where the vehicles of 15th Panzer lay stranded. His arrival was timely for 2nd Armoured Brigade advancing from Knightsbridge was seeking to drive a wedge between the panzer divisions to the north of and the Ariete Division south of the Trigh Capuzzo. Rommel called up a battle group from 21st Panzer to strengthen the 15th Panzer and then Ariete Division came up. The British advance then came up against the three Axis armoured divisions and from wireless intercepts it was clear that the British brigade had suffered heavily. A second armoured brigade, the 22nd, moved up to stiffen the attack by 2nd Armoured Brigade, and then a third Brigade, 4th Armoured, was drawn into the battle. The 7th Royal Tank Regiment fell victim to the lure of weak panzer forces and was enticed into range of a gun line hidden in the dust of the khamsin.