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By the morning of the 6th December, what remained of the Axis armoured forces were in the El Adem area.

Early in the day, the 15th German Armoured Division advanced southwards towards El Gobi, leaving the 21st Armoured Division and the remnants of the Ariete Armoured Division just East of El Adem. A chain of anti-tank gun positions had, in the meantime, been established on the line El Adem-El Gobi. In the evening an attack on El Gobi was mounted but failed to develop.

In the course of the operations against the various enemy armoured forces, 23 Italian tanks and 100 M.T. vehicles were destroyed. In addition, a German battery of artillery was annihilated, and General Neumann, the commander of the 15th Armoured Division, is reported to have been seriously wounded.

Further North, the Tobruk garrison had reoccupied Sidi Rezegh and had joined hands with a force of armoured cars which had advanced from the South. Large quantities of enemy equipment were found abandoned and intact, as well as part of the artillery which had been lost on the 1st December. In addition, 700 wounded New Zealanders were found and evacuated.

Patrols from Tobruk were pushed eastward and by nightfall they had gained In touch with South African patrols moving westward from the Bardia area. the course of the day these latter patrols had picked up a number of hungry Germans in the wadis north-west of Bardia.

'It

Commenting on the day's operations, General Auchinleck telegraphed : looks as if the enemy has decided to raise the siege of Tobruk and withdraw on Gazala, but he is evidently prepared to fight on the line El Adem-El Gobi, either to cover his withdrawal, or possibly in the hope of still being able to deal us a crippling blow."

Operations on 7th December.

29. During the morning both German armoured divisions were located some 10 miles west of El Gobi, where they were attacked by strong forces of tanks and infantry, supported by artillery, from the North-East, South-East and South- West.

By midday seven of the enemy's tanks had been destroyed and steps were being taken to intercept the withdrawal westward of the remainder.

During the night there were indications of a withdrawal north-westward of all the Axis forces between El Adem and El Gobi. Orders were accordingly issued for a general advance round the enemy's Southern and Western flank directed on the El Adem-Acroma road. Meanwhile, the Tobruk garrison launched simultaneous converging attacks on the enemy positions about El Adem.

By the following morning troops from El Duda had reached a point 2 miles north of El Adem. The second attack, however, directed southwards from the original perimeter East of the Tobruk-El Adem road, encountered very strong opposition and was brought to a standstill.

Operations on 8th and 9th December.

30. On the 8th December it became apparent that the enemy was fighting a delaying action round and south of El Adem to cover the westward withdrawal and reorganisation of his forces, which had originally been investing Tobruk. Throughout the day, Indian and South African formations advanced steadily north westwards against the enemy's Eastern flank, which was driven back to within 10 miles of El Adem. At the same time, mobile columns of all arms worked round the enemy's Southern flank and by the afternoon were some 20 miles north of Bir Hakeim. The enemy fought a stubborn rear-guard action, deploying some 50 tanks.

On the 9th December, El Adem was occupied and some progress was made further West, while the pressure of our armoured forces and mixed columns against the enemy's covering force and its rear echelons was maintained. During the night, the enemy is believed to have withdrawn his remaining tanks, probably amounting to about 40, Westward.

At the time of writing, the enemy investing force West of Tobruk was still standing firm. An attempt on the afternoon of the 9th December, by the Polish Brigade Group, to drive back the enemy opposite the Medawer Salient gained some initial success, but failed to make further progress during the night.

East of Tobruk and in the frontier area mopping up continues.

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