Key Facts
- Date of raid
- Night of 17/18 November 1941
- Primary unit
- No. 11 (Scottish) Commando
- Raid outcome
- Failed — Rommel had vacated target weeks earlier
- Survivors
- 2 commandos escaped; 1 Special Boat Section member also escaped
- Timed to coincide with
- Operation Crusader
Strategic Narrative Overview
Men of No. 11 (Scottish) Commando landed covertly on the Libyan coast and moved inland to assault what was believed to be Rommel's headquarters. The raiders struck on the night of 17/18 November 1941, but found no high-value target. Rommel had departed the location weeks before the attack. Heavy resistance was encountered, and most of the commando force was killed or captured during and after the assault.
01 / The Origins
By late 1941, Erwin Rommel's Panzergruppe Afrika posed a serious threat to British forces in North Africa. British planners conceived a bold decapitation strike: a commando raid to kill or capture Rommel at his headquarters, timed to coincide with the opening of Operation Crusader. The removal of Rommel was expected to disrupt Axis command and ease the planned Allied offensive across Libya.
03 / The Outcome
The operation ended in near-total failure. All but two of the landed commandos were killed or captured by Axis forces; a single member of the Special Boat Section team that had secured the beach also escaped. Rommel survived unharmed, continued to command Panzergruppe Afrika, and went on to conduct significant operations against British forces throughout the subsequent North African campaign.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Geoffrey Keyes.
Side B
1 belligerent
Erwin Rommel.
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.