The Battle of Bir Hakeim - The failure of Rommel

In 1942, during the Gazala offensive in Libya, the Free French First Brigade blocked for sixteen days the German-Italian army of Erwin Rommel, giving critical time for the British 8th Army to fall back to Tobruk and to prepare its defense. They eventually managed to escape him and to join the British. This battle was for the French a great psychological victory, the first French vs German battle since the disaster of June 1940 against the great Rommel himself. It gave glory and fame to the Free French, and above all legitimacy to General De Gaulle in the Allies’ eyes. My other videos in English about France’s participation in WW2 : France in 1944: Occupation, Collaboration, Resistance, Liberation ENGLISH SUBTITLES (full documentary) The French Airforce during the Battle of France – 1940 French army in 1940: What Nolan’s “Dunkirk“ did not show you French Army in WW2 - The rise of Free