Rommel halted at Gazala

7th February 1942: A new front line is established in North Africa and a period of static warfare follows

Colonel General Erwin Rommel on an inspection trip to the new bases of the Defence line in the desert in January 1942.

The German surprise assault on the British lines, launched on 21st January, ran out of steam on the 7th February. Rommel, who was pleased that the counter-attack had ‘gone like greased lightning’, wrote¹ to his wife:

Dearest Lu

7 Feb. 194…