page_title: Battle of Bir Hakeim
section_title: 28–30 May
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Bir Hakeim / Siege / 28–30 May
caption_attribution_description: English: Cropped from the image in the link. Title: Three members of the Free French foreign legion who distinguished themselves in the battle at Bir Hacheim in the Western desert. They are from Senegal, Equatorial Africa, and Madagascar, respectively Date Created/Published: 1942? Medium: 1 negative&#160;; 4 x 5 inches or smaller. Reproduction Number: LC-USW33-055038-ZC (b&amp;w film neg.) Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. For information, see U.S. Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black &amp; White Photographs(https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/071_fsab.html) Call Number: LC-USW33- 055038-ZC [P&amp;P] Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print Notes: Image source: Free French press. Title and other information from caption card. Transfer; United States. Office of War Information. Overseas Picture Division. Washington Division; 1944. More information about the FSA/OWI Collection is available at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.fsaowi Subjects: Africa--North Africa. Format: Film negatives. Collections: Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-and-White Negatives Part of: Farm Security Administration - Office of War Information Photograph Collection (Library of Congress) Bookmark This Record: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/owi2001046306/PP/
context_page_description: The Battle of Bir Hakeim took place at Bir Hakeim, an oasis in the Libyan desert south and west of Tobruk, during the Battle of Gazala. The 1st Free French Brigade defended the position from 26 May – 11 June against much larger Axis forces of Panzerarmee Afrika. The Panzerarmee captured Tobruk ten days later but the delay imposed on the Axis offensive by the defence of the fortress influenced the cancellation of Operation Herkules, the plan for an Axis invasion of Malta. Rommel continued to advance and invaded Egypt, slowed by British delaying actions until the First Battle of El Alamein in July, where the Axis advance was stopped. Both sides used the battle for propaganda, Winston Churchill renamed the Free French as the Fighting French and Hitler called the French the second best fighters after the Germans.
context_section_description: On 28 May, the Desert Air Force (DAF) made a maximum effort to attack Axis columns around El Adem and Bir Hakeim but in the poor visibility, bombed Bir Hakeim and its surroundings, misled by the Italian tank wrecks around the position and Kœnig sent a detachment to destroy the wrecks to avoid any more mistakes. A French column was sent to make contact with the 150th Infantry Brigade, stationed further to the north. After a few hours, Italian artillery forced them to retire but the French column destroyed seven half-tracks. On 29 May, the detachment of Capitaine Gabriel de Sairigné destroyed three German tanks, British air attacks intercepted two Stuka raids and fighter-bombers attacked Axis supply lines south and east of Bir Hakeim. On 30 May, 620 soldiers from the 3rd Indian Motor Brigade, captured by the Axis and then released in the desert, reached the fort and added to the 243 prisoners already there, making the water shortage worse. The detachment of Capitaine Lamaze, at the request of the 7th British Armoured Division, sealed off the breach opened the day before by the Axis tanks in the minefields. Led by Colonel Dimitri Amilakhvari, the legionnaires were ambushed but managed to retreat with the help of the Bren carriers of the 9th Company Messmer.
caption: Three soldiers of the French Colonial Artillery who distinguished themselves in the battle at Bir Hakeim, from Senegal, Equatorial Africa and Madagascar, respectively
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