Battle of Gazala

The Battle of Gazala was fought during the Western Desert Campaign, west of the port of Tobruk in Libya, from 26 May to 21 June 1942. As both sides neared exhaustion, the Eighth Army checked the Axis advance at the First Battle of El Alamein. To support the Axis advance into Egypt, the planned attack on Malta (Operation Herkules) was postponed. The British were able to revive Malta as a base for attacks on Axis convoys to Libya, greatly complicating Axis supply difficulties at El Alamein.