XXX British Corps -11th Indian Brigade around 3,000 men[1] -7th Armoured Division 14,964 men[2] 1941 1942 Associated articles The Action at Bir el Gubi (December 1941) was fought near Bir el Gubi, Libya, between 3 and 7 December 1941, between Italian (later reinforced by German troops) and Commonwealth forces.

Bir el Gubi was a position whose fall would have allowed the Allies to outflank the German–Italian forces in Cyrenaica.

On 18 November, north of Bir el Gubi, Commonwealth forces started a new offensive, Operation Crusader.

The Battalion Group "Giovani Fascisti" and some Bersaglieri units took position in Bir el Gubi.

Tasked to defend the small hill known as Bir el Gobi, they fought off repeated attacks by the 11th Indian Brigade and British 7th Armoured Division during the first week of December, 1941.

Despite overwhelming odds, they inflicted massive casualties on the Allies and held their ground despite severe hunger and thirst.

Hundreds of men from the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders (part of the 11th Indian Infantry Brigade), supported by tanks and by an artillery barrage, attacked the positions of the I Battalion, while the rest of the 11th Indian Brigade, supported by Valentine tanks of the 7th Armoured Division, attacked the lines of the II Battalion, further north.

General Willoughby Norrie had an overwhelming superiority in the area, but he failed to concentrate and co-ordinate the action of his forces.