Operation Bigamy

Operation

At the beginning of August, L Detachment receives orders to return to Cairo from their desert base, now under threat of discovery by Italian forces that have recently occupied Siwa Oasis. These forces are believed to be actively searching for L Detachment following a devastating raid on Sidi Haneish. Upon arrival in Cairo, Stirling discovers significant changes in the British command structure: Churchill has replaced Claude Auchinleck with General Harold Alexander, and the Eighth Army is now under the command of the straightforward General Bernard Montgomery. Montgomery is preparing for a major offensive set to begin at the end of October from the Alamein front, and he has a specific role in mind for L Detachment, Special Air Service Brigade to support this operation.

Montgomery’s strategy revolves around disrupting Rommel’s Afrika Korps by cutting off their crucial supply lines, heavily supported by convoys arriving at the ports of Tobruk and Benghazi. He envisions L Detachment, alongside elements from the Middle East Commando, the S1 and S2 patrols of the Long Range Desert Group and No. 1 Special Boat Section (SBS), launching a raid on Benghazi, while a combined force of commandos and infantry simultaneously strikes Tobruk. This operation, codenamed Operation Bigamy is part of Operation Agreement. Operation Agreement is a ground and amphibious operation carried out by British, Rhodesian and New Zealand forces on Axis-held Tobruk planned for September 13^th, 1942, and September 14^th, 1942. Diversionary actions are extended to several key locations: Benghazi through Operation Bigamy, Jalo Oasis via Operation Nicety, and Barce with Operation Caravan.

Stirling’s X Force plan is that the unit advances on Benghazi from Kufra oasis, traversing the southern edge of the Great Sand Sea. Their objectives include blocking the inner harbour, sinking all Axis ships in the harbour, and destroying all Axis oil installations, both storage and pumping facilities. Following these actions, they plan to fall back to Jalo oasis, which was expected to be captured by Z Force, a detachment of the Sudan Defence Force, supplemented by one patrol from the Long Range Desert Group. From there, X Force aims to continue harassment operations for an additional three weeks.

However, Stirling is immediately concerned about the scale of the Benghazi raid. This operation departs from L Detachment’s usual method of fast, small-scale guerrilla actions. To enhance the firepower of the Operation Bigamy, two M3 Stuart tanks are included in the force, transported up the Nile to Wadi Halfa and then on heavy trucks to Kufra. Unfortunately, one tank breaks down about twenty kilometres northwest of Kufra, reminiscent of previous unsuccessful large-scale military operations similar to those by Layforce.

Despite his reservations and memories of past failures with such strategies, Stirling feels compelled to move forward with planning under the support of Middle East Headquarters (MEHQ). The operation is set for the evening and night of September 13^th, 1942. Unfortunately, details of the attack aree openly discussed in Cairo well before its execution, leading to widespread rumors and speculation. This breach in operational secrecy diminishes the element of surprise, crucial for the success of the operation.

September 13th, 1942

After traversing the vast expanse of the desert, Force Z rendezvoused near the Jebel mountains just outside Benghazi. Advanced scouting revealed several newly laid minefields, suggesting that the Axis forces might have been anticipating an attack. Despite this, the determined soldiers of the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) and the Special Air Service (SAS) were undeterred, resolute in their decision to proceed with the mission as planned.

September 14th, 1942

In the darkness of the early morning, Royal Air Force Liberator Bombers target Benghazi harbour but achieve only limited success in damaging or incapacitating the harbor’s defenses.

Concurrently, Force X, gets lost en route to Benghazi and only reaches the outskirts around 03:00. This delay significantly cuts down their available hours of cover under darkness.

Once they reorient themselves, the Force quickly drives their vehicles at high speed down the main road leading to the harbour, trying to recover lost time. However, a few kilometres from their target, they are forced to abruptly halt their vehicles on the darkened road as they encounter a barrier blocking their progress. A quick survey of the area reveals minefields on either side of their approach, effectively preventing any detour around the obstacle. One of the soldiers jumps out of his jeep to clear the barrier. Almost the moment he reaches the obstacle to move it aside, automatic fire erupts from hidden Italian positions. The Force finds themselves right in the midst of a well-concealed Italian ambush.

The British soldiers swiftly scramble for cover as the Italians fire at them with their weapons. They respond promptly, finding themselves in a heated engagement with Italian forces amid the early morning gloom of the desert. The British soldiers deploy their Vickers guns, which significantly outgun the Italian armaments, delivering sustained fire towards the Italian positions.

However, the British are firing blindly into concealed Italian positions, and the Italian assault persists. Several British vehicles are struck and burst into flames, their burning hulls illuminating the remaining vehicles and rendering them more vulnerable to the increasingly accurate Italian gunfire.

Facing intense fire and with the surprise element of their attack lost, Stirling makes the decision to turn their remaining vehicles around and retreat towards the open desert.

As they retreat at full speed, the Force nervously watch the skies, anticipating the imminent threat of Axis airpower. Their fears materialise when they spot several German Stuka dive-bombers, notorious from earlier campaigns, diving towards them from the skies. Joining the attack on the British are a group of Italian Fiat CR. 42 Falco’s. This CR. 42’s, along with the Stukas, manage to destroy nine British vehicles. Despite the intense aerial assault, most British vehicles manage to evade their airborne attackers, scattering through the sand. After a 40-kilometre journey to their rendezvous point in the Jebel Mountains.

Here, the group reorganises, tending to the medical needs of their injured and evaluating their situation. Here, Malcolm Pleydell, the unit’s medical officer is tasked with deciding which of the wounded can endure the almost 1,300-kilometre return trip to Cairo and which must be left behind for the Italians to capture. In the end, only four soldiers are left behind, accompanied by a medical orderly who volunteers to stay.

The next morning, one last British jeep rejoins the column at the wadi after spending the night hidden elsewhere in the desert. As the convoy departs, a poignant scene unfolds with someone playing a mouth organ, the music creating a deeply memorable moment that silences the men and stays in their memories.

However, the last jeep did not return alone. An Axis pilot has secretly followed the jeep from a distance, allowing him to track his quarry directly to the rest of the British force. Once the location of Force X is relayed by the pilot back to the Axis airfields, several German and Italian planes launch a relentless attack. It is devastating; eighteen jeeps and twenty-five trucks are destroyed, effectively crippling the British raiders.

Those fortunate enough to escape the CR. 42’s and Stukas flee to their designated fallback position, Gialo, which is intended to be captured from the Italians. However, the Sudan Defence Force and the Patrols from the Long Range Desert Group, tasked with taking Gialo, failed to do so. Consequently, the remnants of Force X are forced to retreat completely back into Allied-held territory in Egypt.

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