In the early dawn of February 24, elements of the 3rd Recon Bn., "Advance Unit Wechmar" had probed towards El Agheila and exchanged fire with a British patrol, destroying three British scout cars in this initial contact between German and British troops in Libya.
On March 19th Hitler awarded Rommel the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross, but gave him no instructions to hold back. Agedabia was to be his first target, and Benghazi the final objective of his spring campaign, but Rommel saw that Benghazi was indefensible and that the whole of Cyrenaica was ripe for picking. On March 24th the 3rd Recon Bn. made a reconnaissance in force on El Agheila, only to find that the British forces there had pulled back to Marsa el Brega. These new positions placed them in a defensive line between the Gulf of Sirte and impassable salt marshes to the west, about 50 miles from Agedabia.
Knowing that if he waited for the final elements of 15th Panzer to arrive he would lose the initiative, Rommel decided that he would strike before the British could react to his probe and reinforce the Marsa el Brega line. The attack by 5th Pz.Regt went in early on March 30, but massed artillery fire halted them in their tracks. However, a more concerted attack the following day, supported with a flanking action by the 2nd Machinegun Bn. succeeded. Assisted by air support from their Stukas the attack continued throughout the day, and by late afternoon they had breached the 2nd Armored's line of defense.
By April 2 the Afrika Korps, followed by the Ariete Armored Division and Brecia Infantry Division had reached Agedabia and taken about 800 prisoners. This was two months ahead of the schedule layed down by O.K.H. In this first raid Rommel showed some of his cunning as a commander by utilizing prefab dummy tanks on Volkswagen chassis to give the appearance of a much larger attack force than he actually had at his disposal.All of this was done on his own initiative, and although his German and Italian superiors tried to make contact with him, he always managed to evade their communiqes. At this point Gariboldi set out after Rommel himself, but upon arrival at Rommel's forward camp he found himself rebuked by his subordinate who in the meantime had made several more major gains over his British opponents. However, Berlin finally signalled its approval and the "Desert Fox" was now on the move. The recon group of 5th Light reached Benghazi on the night of April 3 and proceeded west towards El Mechili.
The tank strength of the British 3rd Armoured Brigade had been reduced to twelve A-13 Cruisers, twenty M13/40 Mediums and eighteen Mark VI Lights, caused mainly by mechanical breakdown and fuel shortages. Later that day an RAF recon plane reported a sizeable tank force moving against their fuel dumps. The following morning when the 3rd Armoured arrived to refuel they were met by huge columns of black smoke. In actuality, the force spotted had been a Long Range Desert Group patrol and a recovery Section of 3rd Armoured Brigade out looking for damaged tanks that they could recover. Such was the confusion on this day. Realizing that the situation was serious and that an organized retreat was fast turning into a rout, Wavell called on O'Connor to take stock of the situation.
However, in a bizarre turn of events, on a night trip to Tmimi made by Generals Neame and Carton de Wiart for a staff meeting, they were captured by a German advance patrol. Also in this same period Gen. Gambier-Parry, commander of 2nd Armoured Div. was captured near Mechili, along with a good portion of his brigade and most of the Inian Motorized Brigade. Among the booty captured here was the British general's command vehicle, and as it was being unloaded an ever vigilant Rommel reached forward and claimed an oversized pair of sand and sun glasses. These he promptly clamped over his peaked cap, where they would remain as the hallmark of the Desert Fox in the numerous photos taken of him in the months to follow.
Rommel's thrust across central Cyrenaica was no cake walk, and the severe terrain took its toll on his meagre motorized forces. Numerous breakdowns were caused by pushing the tanks and support vehicles to the limit, with limited fuel. The advance units, ordered to cut the coast road at Derna, were in such dire straights that they were forced to siphon the remaining fuel from most of their vehicles so that a small force could continue and reach their objective.
