Bir Hakeim (; sometimes written Bir Hacheim ) is a remote oasis in the Libyan desert, and the former site of a Turkish fort.

In the Battle of Bir Hacheim, Indian gunners played an important role by using guns in the anti tank role and destroying tanks of Rommel's panzer divisions.

* The Second World War: Defence of Escaut, Calais 1940, Cassel, Ypres-Comines Canal, Normandy Landing, Pegasus Bridge, Villers Bocage, Odon, Caen, Esquay, Bourguebus Ridge, Mont Pincon, Le Perier Ridge, Falaise, Antwerp, Hechtel, Nederrijn, Lower Maas, Roer, Ourthe, Rhineland, Reichswald, Kleve, Goch, Hochwald, Rhine, Ibbenbueren, Dreirwalde, Leese, Aller, North-West Europe 1940, 44-45, Egyptian Frontier 1940, Sidi Barrani, Beda Fomm, Mersa el Brega, Agedabia, Derna Aerodrome, Tobruk 1941, Sidi Rezegh 1941, Chor es Sufan, Saunnu, Gazala, Bir Hacheim, Knightsbridge, Defence of Alamein Line, Ruweisat, Fuka Airfield, Alam el Halfa, El Alamein, Capture of Haifaya Pass, Nofilia, Tebaga Gap, Enfidaville, Medjez el Bab, Kasserine, Thala, Fondouk, Fondouk Pass, El Kourzia, Djebel Kournine, Agroub el Megas, Tunis, Hamman Lif, North Africa 1940-43, Sangro, Salerno, Santa Lucia, Salerno Hills, Cardito, Teano, Monte Camino, Garigliano Crossing, Damiano, Anzio, Cassino II, Liri Valley, Melfa Crossing, Monte Rotondo, Capture of Perugia, Monte Malbe, Arezzo, Advance to Florence, Gothic Line, Coriano, Gemmano Ridge, Lamone Crossing, Orsara, Tossignano, Argenta Gap, Fossa Cembalina, Italy 1943-45, Veve, Greece 1941, 44, 45, Crete, Middle East 1941, Arakan Beaches, Tamandu, Burma 1943-44.

Rommel's plan for Operation Venezia was to have his armour execute a flanking manoeuvre south of the fortified " box " at Bir Hacheim.

On the left of his formation the Italian 132 Armoured Division Ariete would neutralise the Bir Hacheim box while on their right 21st Panzer Division and 15th Panzer Division would advance north behind the Eighth Army defences to engage and destroy the British armour and cut off the divisions on the Gazala line.

Meanwhile the other half of the Italian XX Motorized Corps, the Italian 101st Motorized Division Trieste would open a gap in the minefield north of the Bir Hacheim box near the Sidi Muftah box to create a supply route to the armour.

Rommel anticipated that having dealt with the British armour he would have captured El Adem, Ed Duda and Sidi Rezegh by nightfall as well as the Knightsbridge defensive box some northeast of Bir Hacheim.

Rommel's plan started to go wrong at Bir Hacheim.

The Ariete and Trieste divisions of XX Motorized Corps and elements of 21st Panzer Division were held up for three hours by 7th Armoured Division's 3rd Indian Motor Brigade, dug in some four miles south east of Bir Hacheim and suffered heavy losses before overrunning them.

However, early on 29 May supply vehicles, supported by the Italian " Trieste " and " Ariete " Divisions, and under heavy fire, were able to penetrate the minefield north of Bir Hacheim, and move in much needed supplies to the trapped Axis forces thus allowing Rommel to regain his composure.

On the night of 1 June, Rommel sent the 90th Light and Trieste divisions south to renew the attack on Bir Hacheim from which position raiding groups were continually being sent to harass his line of supply.

Once again the assault failed and the struggle for Bir Hacheim was to continue for a further 10 days.

Between 6 and 8 June, he launched further concerted attacks on Bir Hacheim but although the defensive perimeter was shrunk the French defenders continued to hold out and exact a heavy toll with their guns with the support of columns from the 7th Motor Brigade and 29th Indian Infantry Brigade which continued to harass the enemy's communications.

About 2, 700 troops ( including 200 wounded ) of the original garrison of 3, 600 made it out of Bir Hacheim.

** 1st Free French Brigade Group ( Koenig ) ( under 7th Armoured Div command when defending Bir Hacheim )

The first box, held by British 150th Infantry Brigade was roughly from the next position north ( held by 69th Infantry Brigade ) while the gap to the southernmost box at Bir Hakeim ( 1st Free French Brigade ) was further south.

The Free French were to the south at the Bir Hakeim box.

At the Battle of Bir Hakeim in 1942, the Free French 13th Legion Demi-Brigade doggedly defended its positions against a combined Italian-German offensive and seriously delayed Rommel's attacks towards Tobruk.

During Operation Crusader, the division very successfully defended Bir el Gobi against the British 22nd Armoured Brigade, inflicting heavy losses on the inexperienced British forces.

On April 12, 2012, Bir and 30 other officers were taken in custody for their role in the 1997 military memorandum that forced the then Turkish government, led by the Islamist Welfare Party, to step down.

* ** Egypt's southern-most point lies in the Bir Tawil region, an area that is commonly included as part of Egypt but is not claimed by it.

From the first rap vinyl recorded in the Turkish language —‘ Bir Yabancının Hayatı ’ ( The Life of the Stranger ) by King Size Terror — to the creation of an entire subgenre — Oriental hip hop — Turkish youth in Germany have embraced and moved beyond pure imitation of African American hip-hop culture.

The first rap vinyl to be recorded in the Turkish language was ' Bir Yabancının Hayatı ' (' The Life of the Stranger '), by the Nuremberg, Germany crew King Size Terror.

54 effectives of ' L ' Detachment, Special Air Service Brigade ( largely drawn from the disbanded Layforce ) mounted a night parachute insertion onto two drop zones in Bir Temrad, North Africa on the night of November 16 / 17 1941 in preparation for a stealthy attack on the forward airfields of Gambut and Tmimi in order to destroy the Axis fighter force on the ground before the start of Operation Crusader, a major offensive by the British Eighth Army.

However, on 8 August 1940, in an aerial duel between comparable rivals, 16 Fiat CR. 42s from 9 ° and 10 ° Gruppi of 4 ° Stormo were " bounced " by 14 Gladiators of 80 Squadron over Gabr Saleh ( about 65 kilometres southeast of El Adem and 35 kilometres east of Bir El Gobi ).

Both countries insist on using the border that lets them claim the Hala ' ib Triangle, which is significantly larger and next to the Red Sea, meaning Bir Tawil is claimed by neither country.

* the current terra nullius cases of Bir Tawil and Marie Byrd Land are not claimed by any of the other 222 entities ;

According to Morris, the villagers of Iqrit were outright expelled by the Israeli Army in November 1948, ( together with the villagers of Kafr Bir ' im, Nabi Rubin and Tarbikha ) " without Cabinet knowledge, debate, or approval-though, almost inevitably, they received post facto Cabinet endorsement.

Tools of this era, starting about 30, 000 BCE, are called Aterian ( after the site Bir el Ater, south of Annaba ) and are marked by a high standard of workmanship, great variety, and specialization.

But constant patrolling and reconnaissance were carried out from Romani to Ogratina, to Bir el Abd and on 16 May to Bir Bayud, south-east of Romani, on 31 May to Bir Salmana east north-east of Romani by the New Zealand Mounted Rifle Brigade, when they covered in 36 hours.

At 10: 30, the general mounted advance began and by midday, was on a line from west of Bir Nagid to south of Katib Gannit ; in the centre the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade were approaching the south-west edge of the Katia oasis ; on their left the 1st, the 2nd Light Horse, the 5th Mounted Yeomanry Brigades and infantry in the 52nd ( Lowland ) Division were attacking Abu Hamra, to the north of the old caravan road, while the 3rd Light Horse Brigade was away to the New Zealander's right, south of the old caravan road, attacking German and Ottoman units at Bir el Hamisah.

The forward troops of the German and Ottoman rearguard, which held a front of about, were driven back to Bir el Abd by the New Zealanders.

Arrangements were made to hold and garrison the country decisively won by this series of indecisive engagements, from Katia eastwards to Bir El Abd.

The Battle of Magdhaba ( officially known by the British as the Affair of Magdhaba ) took place on 23 December 1916 south and east of Bir Lahfan in the Sinai desert, some inland from the Mediterranean coast and the town of El Arish.

Mounted Division, under the command of the Australian Major General Henry G. Chauvel, pushed the Ottoman Army's Desert Force commanded by the German General Friedrich Freiherr Kress von Kressenstein, out of Bir el Abd and across the Sinai to El Arish.

Canon de 75 modèle 1897 used at the Battle of Bir Hakeim by the Free French Forces, modified as an antitank gun on pneumatic wheels.

At Katia and again at Bir el Abd, Chauvel attempted to sweep around the Turkish flank but wound up making frontal attacks on the Turkish rearguard and was beaten off by determined counterattacks and artillery fire against the 3rd Light Horse Brigade.

The plan of 8th Army Commander Neil Ritchie was to have XIII Corps hold the line, while XXX Corps would stop any attempt to outflank the position south of Bir Hachiem, held by the 1st Free French Brigade.

At Bir el Hatmat, Rommel had dispersed the tactical HQs of the two British Divisions as well as the HQs of the 9th and 10th Indian Infantry Brigades and other smaller units and the 22nd Armoured Brigade had been forced from the battlefield by renewed attacks from 15th Panzer.

General Marie Pierre Koenig and his unit — the 1st Free French Brigade — fought well against the Afrika Korps at the Battle of Bir Hakeim in June 1942, although eventually obliged to withdraw.

On the left of the New Zealanders, Royston's Column ; a composite of the depleted 1st and 2nd Light Horse Brigades, had gone to Katia to water and had then march through the night to the Hod Hamada north-west of Bir el Abd, where they arrived at 03: 00 on 9 August.

On 28 December the 1st Light Horse Brigade reconnoitred Bir el Burj along a road, which was found suitable for cars and guns, running from El Arish towards Rafa.

Facing him on the Gazala defences were 1st South African Division nearest the coast, 50th ( Northumbrian ) Infantry Division ( on their left ) and 1st Free French Brigade furthest left at Bir Hakeim.