 Little return fire was offered, because most of the Italian troops were rear-area personnel or civilians and many Italian drivers tried to escape by heading west off the road into the sand dunes and got bogged down.Lorries carrying petrol caught fire and lit the dusk, illuminating targets for the British gunners and giving the tanks en route a mark to drive at.The British artillery was not needed so the crews rounded up about and recovered undamaged Italian vehicles, particularly those carrying petrol to refuel stranded tanks.