Operation Brevity order of battle

This is the

HQ

Lieutenant-General Noel Beresford-Peirse

Operational command - Brigadier William Gott

The British and Commonwealth force were drawn mainly from the 7th Armoured Division's, 7th Armoured Brigade and 7th Support Group and from the independent 22nd Guards Brigade. They were organised into three groups:

Coast Group
- 2nd battalion
  The Rifle Brigade
  (minus one company)
- Mortar support, 3rd battalion Coldstream Guards^[1]
- 5th Australian Anti-tank Battery, 2/2nd Australian Anti-Tank Regiment (
  2 Pounder Anti Tank guns
  )
- 8th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery (
  25 Pounder Field guns
  )
22nd Guards Brigade group
- 1st battalion Durham Light Infantry
- 2nd battalion Scots Guards
- 3rd battalion Coldstream Guards^[2]
- 4th Royal Tank Regiment (24 Matilda Mk II Infantry tanks)
- One troop, 12th Anti-Tank Battery, 2/3rd Australian Anti-tank Regiment (2 Pounder Anti Tank guns)
7th Armoured Brigade group
- A Company, 2nd battalion The Rifle Brigade
- 2nd Royal Tank Regiment (29 Cruiser tanks^[3])
- Light Tank Mk VI
  B)
- 7th Support Group (elements)
- 11th Hussars^[4](Marmon-Herrington Armoured Cars)
- One troop, 12th Anti-Tank Battery, 2/3rd Australian Anti-tank Regiment (2 Pounder Anti Tank guns)

German and Italian forces

Commandante Superiore Generale d'Armata -

General Italo Gariboldi^[5]

Major General Erwin Rommel
- von Herff
  
  Reconnaissance Battalion 3
  
  2nd Battalion, Panzer Regiment 5
  
  Motorcycle Battalion 15
  
  Reconnaissance Battalion 33
  
  One
  102 Motorised Division Trento
  
  One AA Battery (
  88 mm Anti aircraft guns
  )
  
  Two AA Platoons (
  20 mm Anti aircraft guns
  )
  
  Two 105mm leFH Howitzer
Italian Forces
- Defending the border
  - Two Companies, 5th Motorised Infantry Battalion
  - One Mountain Gun Battery (Cannone da 75/27)
  - One AT Battery (
    Cannone da 47/32 M35
    )
  - Group Two, 24th artillery regiment
    - One Field Gun Battery (12 Cannone da 105/28)
- Defending Bardia
  - 2nd Battalion, 62nd Infantry Regiment
  - One AT Battery (Cannone da 47/32 M35)
  - One AA Battery (20 mm Anti aircraft guns)

Following the British attacks General Rommel ordered the following force, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Hans Crammer, to the frontier to defeat the British.

1st Battalion, Panzer Regiment 8
One Flak battery

During the morning of May 16, Rommel ordered further forces to the frontier.

Kampfgrppe von Esebeck
- Schuetzen Regiment 200
  - One battalion
- 1st Battalion, Panzer Regiment 5
  - Medium tank Company (minus one platoon)
- One Panzerjäger Company
- One artillery battalion (minus one battery)

Notes

^ Howard, p. 75
^ The battalion were a follow-up force to take possession of Halfaya Pass once it had been captured and did not take an active part in Operation Brevity other than providing mortar support to the Rifle Brigade
^ 6x Cruiser Mk I, 17x Mk. IIA and 7x Mk. IVA (one of these thirty tanks was in repair in a field depot and didn't see action)
^ The Hussars were on the extreme flank of the advance, according to there regimental history they manoeuvred themselves to the rear of the German-Italian positions from where they conducted reconnaissance but did not engage any targets, they then covered the withdrawal of the forces on the desert flank on the 16th
^ The Commandante Superiore was Rommel's superior during the campaign.