Halfaya Pass

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Coordinates:  31°30′N 25°11′EHalfaya
Pass (Arabic: ‫ممر حلفيا‬, romanized: Mamarr Ḥalfayā Egyptian
Arabic pronunciation: [ma.marr ħal.fæyaː] ( listen)) is in northwest Egypt, 11.5 kilometres east
of the border with Libya and 7.5 kilometres south of the other, more major pass in the
ridge today. A 600 feet (180 m) high, narrow escarpment extends south then
southeastwards for a total of 55 kilometres (34 mi) from a short distance east of the
border. It hems in east-facing small harbour town of as-
Salum (Arabic: ‫السلوم‬, romanized: as-Sallūm various transliterations include el-Salloum,
Saloum, Solum, Sollum), continuing as an east-facing sea cliff further north. Land to the
east is lower than that to the west and the east side has steep slopes.
The pass is centred 1.6 miles (2.6 km) inland from the closest part of the shore. It
makes for a subtle wind gap in the escarpment for the east-west land route. It made for
the southern Mediterranean coastal road useful to Mediterranean civilizations until the
pass at as-Salum was enlarged after World War II.
From 15 June 1941 and among veterans of Allied forces thereafter it was
nicknamed Hellfire Pass.
The escarpment is known as Akabah el-Kebir ‫عقبة الكبير‬ (ʿAqaba al-Kabīr) "great ascent".
To El-Edrisi/Idrisi (died 1165) it was known as ‫عقبة السلوم‬ (ʿAqaba as-Sallūm, sometimes
transliterated as Akabah el Solum) "graded ascent", whence the modern name of the
gulf/bay and the town of Salum. To ancient Rome it was known as Catabathmus
Magnus, in the peak of whose empire it divorced Aegyptus from Marmarica. The range
was seen as a demarcator of Africa and Asia in some Hellenistic geography[citation needed].

Contents

 1World War II
 2In Popular Culture
 3References
 4Bibliography

World War II[edit]

Main articles: Operation Brevity, Operation Battleaxe, and Operation Crusader
The Halfaya Pass during World War II

In World War II, the engineered route up the escarpment had been destroyed and the
pass had great strategic importance. The only ways westwards into Libya were to
assault the pass or to out-flank it to the south.
After the defeat of the Italian Tenth Army on 7 February 1941 during Operation
Compass, the Italians were reinforced by German units (Afrika Korps under Erwin
Rommel) and the British forces were forced out of Libya, leaving besieged garrison at
Tobruk. On 14 April 1941, Rommel's main force reached Sollum and occupied the
Halfaya Pass. Allied attempts to recapture the pass and relieve Tobruk followed.
The first attempt, on 15 May, was Operation Brevity. Rommel counter-attacked; the
British withdrew and by 27 May the Germans had recaptured Halfaya Pass, a passage
of time in which Major Edward Thomas earned his Military Cross. Supply shortages
obliged the Germans to curtail their advance, so they dug in and fortified their positions
at Halfaya with 88 mm guns. This was the anchor for the Axis positions, which opposed
the Allied forces during the next allied attack.
This was Operation Battleaxe on 15 June. German armour was deployed to draw the
British tanks (11th Hussars)[citation needed] onto the concealed 88mm guns and the first wave
was cut down in a few minutes (11 out of 12 tanks were destroyed) [citation needed], earning the
pass the nickname "Hellfire Pass".[1] The German commander, Major Wilhelm Bach, in
his conduct of the Axis defence of Halfaya Pass earned himself the
nickname German: Pastor des Fegefeuers lit. transl. Pastor of Hellfire (an allusion to his
peacetime occupation as a Lutheran minister and the English nickname Hellfire Pass).
[2]
 The commander of the larger Italian contingent, General Fedele de Giorgis, General
Officer Commanding 55th Infantry Division Savona, was awarded the highest German
decoration, the Knight's Cross for the defense he conducted.[3] A British tank
commander was last heard on the radio reporting, "They are tearing my tanks apart."
The third attempt, Operation Crusader opened on 18 November, with an attack on Sidi
Omar to the west of the pass and an attempt to outflank Rommel to the south and
relieve Tobruk. This was achieved on 29 November. Rommel, now under pressure, on 7
December withdrew to El Agheila. Axis garrisons at Sollum, Bardia as well as the Pass
were left behind, a temporary thorn in the Allies side. Isolated after the fall of Bardia on
2 January 1942, besieged by Commonwealth forces, cut off from supplies, and
bombarded from the air and the sea, Bach and de Giorgis finally surrendered the
Halfaya garrison of 4,200 Italians of the 55th Savona and 2,100 Germans, [4] to the South
African 2nd Infantry Division on 17 January 1942.[5]
The pass was scene of the accidental death of Major-General 'Jock' Campbell (VC),
then commander of the British 7th Armoured Division. On 26 February 1942, a month
after assuming command, his staff car overturned on the newly laid clay surface, killing
him outright.[6]

In Popular Culture[edit]
The pass and its according battles play a role in the Sniper Elite III game plot.
The pass inspires a Battlefield V map, Hamada.[7]

References[edit]
0. ^ Kusterer, Hermann (1990-01-01).  "„Hellfire Pass" oder die Lust zu finden" ["Hellfire Pass" or
the Joy of Finding].  Lebende Sprachen (in German). 35 (1): 9–
10.  doi:10.1515/les.1990.35.1.9.  ISSN  1868-0267.
1. ^ "Würdigung für Steinsfurts "Pastor des Fegefeuers"" [Recognition of Steinfurt's "Pastor of
Hellfire"].  Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung  (in German). 7 Nov 2016. Retrieved 18 Nov  2021.
2. ^ "The End of the Halfaya Garrison". 17 June 2011.
3. ^ Playfair, p. 95.
4. ^ "The End of the Halfaya Garrison". 17 June 2011.
5. ^ Mead (2007), p. 90
6. ^ "THE MAPS OF BATTLEFIELD V: HAMADA".  ea.com. Electronic Arts. November 2018.
Retrieved 10 March  2019.

Bibliography[edit]
 Mead, Richard (2007). Churchill's Lions: A biographical guide to the key
British generals of World War II. Stroud (UK): Spellmount. p. 544
pages. ISBN 978-1-86227-431-0.
show

 Egypt topics
Categories: 
 World War II sites in Egypt
 Mountain passes of Egypt
 Egypt–Libya relations
 Escarpments of Africa
 Landforms of Egypt