British and Commonwealth forces entered the port city,
capturing it and taking tens of thousands of Italian occupiers taken prisoner.
|
Tobruk's port was more important than the city itself. |
Less than a year earlier, Italy had declared war on Great
Britain in June 1940. At that time, Gen. Rodolfo Graziani had almost 10 times
the number of men in Libya than the British forces in Egypt under Gen.
Archibald Wavell, who was commissioned to protect the North African approaches to
the Suez Canal. A vast western desert stretched between the antagonists, who
sat for months without confrontation. During that time, Italian forces passed
into Egypt-but by that point Britain had reinforced its own numbers and decided
to make a first strike.
|
Tobruk would change hands several times during the war. |
On December 9, Maj. Gen. Richard Nugent O'Connor launched a
westward offensive from Mersa Matruh, in Egypt. Thirty thousand Brits warred
against 80,000 Italians-but the British had the advantage of 275 tanks to the
Italians' 120. Within three days, 40,000 Italian prisoners were taken. The
battle marked the beginning of the end of the Italian occupation of North
Africa.
|
Italian artillery was among the spoils captured by the British. |
General O'Connor then began a sweep of Italian positions in
Libya. Under his direction in early January 1941, the British 7th Royal Tank
Regiment drove westward from Bardia, which it had just taken from the Italians,
with the intention of isolating Tobruk until the 6th Australian Division could
aid in an assault. The attack on the coastal fortress of Tobruk was finally
launched on the 21st and it fell the next day, yielding 30,000 Italian
prisoners, 236 guns, and 87 tanks. The 7th Royal Tank Regiment was a remarkable
unit, winning a quick series of battles in Libya despite a paucity of
resources.
|
Rommel and the Afrika Korps arrived in the nick of time. |
However, the British victory was short-lived as the unrelenting
string of Italian catastrophes led Adolf Hitler to the conclusion that the
Italian would lose all of North Africa if they were no reinforced by German
forces. Rommel and the Afrika Korps soon
arrived.
[January 22, 1941]
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