Video: Rommel counterattacks (at 0:42)

(Wednesday, January 21, 1942) — In a dramatic and surprising move, German Colonel-General Erwin Rommel turned his Afrika Korps around and began an offensive in Libya today during the Battle of Gazala, an important battle of the Second World War Western Desert Campaign.

Three Axis columns, with powerful air cover, began advancing eastward along the coastal road. The British were ordered to pull back to Agedabia.