Bir Hakeim

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On February 4, the 1st Light Brigade relieved the 150th British Yorkshire Brigade at Bir Hakeim. A beautiful epic page will open; nothing yet makes it foreseeable. Bir Hakeim then constituted the extreme southern wing of the British system. Muracciole perfectly described the aspect of the battlefield and specified its defensive organization. “In this already inhospitable desert one finds all the same in this season of thin stunted bushes and also sometimes some unexpected beds of multicolored and fragrant flowers. Of the "Bir" which gave its name to the place, only a dry well remains, around which stand guard the collapsed remains of a small Italian post just as big as a small farm in our area. The ground slightly raised compared to the surrounding immensity is hardly animated. On the ground no grass holds the sand that the slightest breath makes swirl in high ocher columns. The layer of sand is thin and the subsoil extremely hard. The works that could be undertaken had to be drilled at the mine. The dug shelters were precarious... General de Larminat took all his care in organizing a very skilfully designed defensive system... Shelters were dug and mine swamps laid around the position forming a wide and solid protective belt... While the position was being organized, under an almost constant sandstorm, our patrols were going to harass the enemy right up to their positions and their rear 150 kilometers from Bir Hakeim. »

Bir Hakeim - Bren carrier

At the beginning of April, General de Larminat handed over command of the brigade to General Kcenig and moved to Bardia where he set up a 2nd brigade similar to the 1st. The threat of an attack on Bir Hakeim becomes clearer on May 26 following an exit from our light columns. Rommel, having received reinforcements after his successes over Aghedabia, Benghazi and Derna in January and February, resumed the offensive. This time he wants to reach Cairo. His forces are articulated in two columns, one follows the coast, the other wants to take Tobruk from the rear and presents itself in front of Bir Hakeim on May 27. All night we heard engine noises and in the daytime, our lookouts reported many moving columns... The garrison of Bir Hakeim was then in the strength of just over 3,500 men. It includes the 1st Foreign Legion demi-brigade (Lieutenant-Colonel Amilakvari), the 2nd colonial demi-brigade (Colonel de Roux), with the No. 2 marching battalion (Commander Amiel), the Pacific battalion (Lieutenant -Colonel Broche), the 1st marine infantry battalion (commander Savey). North African company, engineering formations, signals, anti-tanks, the medical group, the DCA.

Bir Hakeim - Jock Colonn

At Bir Hakeim, the Free French are in a place of honor. Bir Hakeim forbids the enemy "any exploitation of success" and constitutes for the allies "a hub" essential to any maneuver.

The battle of Bir Hakeim will last fifteen days. It can be divided into four phases - from May 27 to 31:attack on Bir Hakeim by the Ariete division; - from May 31 to June 2, our troops prepare to pursue the retreating enemy and begin a pursuit i - from June 2 to 10, 2 new divisions encircle Bir Hakeim... The repeated assaults, the massive bombardments do not shake not our resistance - on the night of June 10 to 11, exit by force. The epic here lies in the very precision of the facts.

On May 27 at 9 a.m., 70 tanks advanced along the eastern minefield, opened fire and charged towards our defences. Furiously, our anti-tank guns go into action. Eighteen enemy machines (these are Italian M. 13s) jump on mines or are immobilized by our shots. Columns of black smoke rise into the sky, and dust spreads in a sheet over the battle area. In front of the Legion, 30 tanks suddenly appear. Our shot is open at 400 meters on some, a few meters on others; 6 other tanks are immobilized inside the position. Then the tumult of battle died down. At 11:30 a.m., the Ariete division withdrew having lost 32 tanks.

The days of May 28 and 29 are marked only by retail operations. The bite of our troops has increased; we make some happy sorties, destroying new tanks and armored cars.

On May 30 and 31, the enemy began to withdraw. In front of our positions the numerous tanks, armored cars and charred vehicles affirm the value of our victorious resistance. We have taken prisoners, our losses are light.

From May 31, the Allied command decided to pursue the enemy. We are to be relieved at Bir Hakeim by British troops. At dawn on June 1, the Pacific Battalion embarked on the pursuit westward. This day was also marked by the visit of General de Larminat who congratulated the troops and "must have been pleased of the device in the design of which he took a personal part", wrote Lieutenant Besnard. During this day, Bir Hakeim served as a target for German bombers and Stukas. For its part, the Pacific battalion reached Rotunda-Segnali at 80 kilometers to the west, putting a light detachment to flight. The brigade awaits its relief and goes forward, when in the night, a counter-order occurs:"Remain at Bir Hakeim and resist on the spot", Rommel has resumed the task. offensive... Between June 2 and June 10, we reach the peak of the battle.

On June 2, around 9:30 a.m., an enemy column of more than 1,000 vehicles was reported to the northeast; everyone at his post awaits the attack which seems imminent... A car bearing a white flag arrives at the east gate. Two Italian officers get out; they are taken to General Kcenig, to whom they make a speech in Italian of which only a few words are understood:"Rommel... circundati... exterminati... capitulare...". In a courteous but firm tone, General Kcenig replied that there was no question of the brigade surrendering without a fight. “You are great soldiers,” replies one of the Italian officers.

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An hour later, the first 105 shells fell in Bir Hakeim. Our artillery retaliates, burning a few vehicles within reach. At the beginning of the afternoon, Bir Hakeim is enveloped in the sand wind and the "heavy expectation" that grips our men only breaks with the evening under an aerial bombardment. The dawn of June 3 is marked by a happy event. Colonel Broche, out in pursuit with the Pacific Battalion, deceiving the surveillance of the adversary, returns to our lines after successful combat. Around 7 o'clock in the morning, he comes to report on his mission to the headquarters of Kcenig and passes among our troops aboard a sidecar on which is painted the insignia of the Pacific battalion... A coconut tree and mountains ! Soldiers rise from their hole to cheer him. They know that with his column, twelve .75 guns entered the position. Around 8 a.m., two Britons showed up at the eastern chicane. They carry a message from Rommel.

This message written in German is signed by the general's own hand. Here is the translation:

To the troops of Bir Hakeim

Any further resistance would only lead to needless bloodshed. You would have the same fate as the two brigades which were at Got-Ualeb and which were exterminated the day before yesterday. We will stop fighting as soon as you raise the white flag and come to us in arms. Koenig's response was not long in coming as the French batteries immediately opened heavy fire on any enemy vehicles that came within range.

At the same time, the general had all the unit commanders given a general order, the contents of which they had to communicate to their men.

1. We must now expect a serious attack by all means combined (aircraft, tanks, artillery, infantry). It will be powerful.

2. I renew my orders and my certainty that everyone will do their duty without weakening, in their place, cut off or not from the others.

3. Our mission is to hold out at all costs until our victory is final.

4. Explain this well to everyone, officers and men.

5. And good luck to everyone.

Headquarters June 3, 9:30 a.m. Signed:Koenig.

A communion of warriors in a quiet courage embraces chief and soldiers of Bir Hakeim "fortress of the desert". The battle escalates in the increased range of artillery fire and aerial bombardment. Then comes the British “hunting”. Around 5 o'clock in the evening, in one minute, 7 Stukas were shot down. The day of June 4 marks the worsening of the air battle. Air battles have crises. It is difficult to distinguish enemies and friends, planes burst in the sky, crash vertically or in a wake of black smoke flee towards the horizon. Taking advantage of the night, a British convoy crosses the lines and brings ammunition.

On June 5, at 4 a.m., a plenipotentiary from Rommel presented himself in vain in the east. Shortly after the heavy enemy guns of 150 and 210 come into action.

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On June 6, under gray skies and cool weather, Rommel, supported by intense artillery preparation, attacked the front of the Pacific Battalion; he is held in check but his embrace has tightened. June 7, relatively calm, marks the complete investment of Bir Hakeim:enemy batteries are visible at all points of the horizon.

During the night, midshipman Bellec, from the Coloniale, achieved a real feat. Leaving the position by car, he found a supply convoy in the middle of the desert and brought it back to our lines... Water is thus assured for a few days and the ammunition completed.

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With the day of June 8, the enemy attack emerges in front of BM 2. The German pioneers open a passage in the minefields and the German war correspondent, Lutz Koch notes:"Rommel draws his batteries behind him and rolls along of the passage, shouting:“Vorwàrts! for the Germans, and “Avanti” for the Italians”. The battle lasts all day, supported by repeated passages of 70 Junkers bombers. Only our artillery observatory was lost... Its defenders were killed on the spot.

On June 9, the artillery and the air force remained active. Kcenig gives his orders in a measured voice, full of energy and serenity. By a message he specifies:“Let everyone band their energies! The main thing is to destroy the enemy whenever he comes within range. We are on the fourteenth day of the battle. The water reserves will be exhausted in forty-eight hours. The ambulance was destroyed. On June 10, heavy fog hampered enemy action. In response to a request from the Allied command to evacuate Bir Hakeim, whose resistance was no longer essential, Kcenig decided that the operation would take place on the night of June 10 to 11.

And here we are on the tragic evening of the outing. We must break the enemy circle, circle of fire, mines and flesh. Space must be gained; and the space for free Frenchmen is the battle tomorrow, the battle again, until France to be liberated. We go out silently in the night... Everything is fine at first. But can we hope to cross the infernal circle without being signaled?... A rocket rises... Nothing serious! Then a small burst of submachine gun fire. Nothing serious yet! But suddenly, twenty bursts follow it and a hundred rockets rise in the sky; and a thousand tracer bullets tear through the night. The drama opens in a fury of lightning and machine guns, bursts and crackles, screams and gasps. "Go straight ahead," Koenig said. We charge, we scream, we shoot, we die.

Three red lights mark the rallying point in the distance; to discover them is already the hope of salvation. Finally we enter the silences of the desert. But many will not experience the return of their epic. Broche, Savey, Bricogne, the gunner, are among those:and Roux will fall a few days later. “Soldiers of Bir Hakeim! by these memorable actions you have re-opened with brilliance the book of national pride”, proclaims General Catroux.

It will be up to General de Gaulle to announce the epic of Bir Hakeim “Little by little, fighting France invincibly emerges from the ocean which was determined to cover it and the world recognizes France in it. When, at Bir Hakeim, a ray of its resurgent glory came to caress the bloody brows of its soldiers, the world recognized France. General Koenig, know and tell your troops that all of France is watching you and that you are its pride. »