Battle of Point 175 1941
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 29 November 1941 – 1 December 1941 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1941 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | World War II era (1939–1945) | derived from year |
| Location | Libya | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Africa | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Operation Crusader | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 31.8267, 24.1361 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Point 175 was a military engagement of the Western Desert Campaign that took place during Operation Crusader from 29 November to 1 December 1941, during the Second World War. Point 175 is a small rise just south of the Trigh Capuzzo, a desert track east of Sidi Rezegh and south of Zaafran. The point was held by Division z.b.V. Afrika (later the 90th Light Afrika Division). The 2nd New Zealand Division and Infantry tanks of the 1st Army Tank Brigade captured Point 175 on 23 November, early in Operation Crusader.
The New Zealanders then attacked westwards and made contact with the Tobruk garrison, which had broken out to meet them. From 29 November to 1 December, the New Zealanders defended the point and the area to the west against Axis attempts to sever the link with the Tobruk garrison and regain control of the local roads. The new 132nd Armoured Division Ariete re-captured Point 175 late on 29 November.
The defenders mistook Italian tanks and armoured cars for South African reinforcements led by armoured cars; 167 men of the 21st New Zealand Battalion were captured, the Italians apparently being just as surprised. The 6th New Zealand Brigade suffered many casualties around Point 175 and eventually retreated to Zaafran.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Point 175 (revision 1376132053), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Siege of Tobruk 1941 · 32 km
- British capture of Tobruk 1941 · 32 km
- Battle of Tobruk (1911) 1911 · 32 km
- Action at Bir el Gubi (December 1941) 1941 · 34 km
- Action at Bir el Gubi (November 1941) 1941 · 34 km
- Battle of Gazala 1942 · 66 km
Other battles of the Operation Crusader
All 3 battles of the Operation Crusader →
Browse more: battles in Libya · Africa · World War II era battles