Conceived Creating by the commander-in-chief of the British Middle East Command , General Archibald Wavell , Brevity was intended to be a rapid blow against weak Axis front-line forces in the Sollum–Capuzzo–Bardia area of the border between Egypt and Libya .

Fricourt formed Creating a salient in the German front-line and was the principal German fortified village between the River Somme and the Ancre .

German fortification of the area around Mametz and Fricourt had created Creating a web of trenches deep behind the front-line trench , which was irregular making many angles from which an attacker could be engaged .

Hawthorn Ridge Redoubt was a German front-line fortification Defending , west of the village of Beaumont Hamel on the Somme .