22 January 1941 A.D. Brits and Australians Take Tobruk, Libya--
British 7th Royal Tank Regiment & 6th Australian Division; 30,000 Italian prisoners, 236 guns, & 87
Tanks Taken.
Editors. “Brits and Australians take Tobruk.” History.com. N.d. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/brits-and-australians-take-tobruk.
Accessed 21 Jan 2015.
Brits and Australians take Tobruk
On this day, British and
Commonwealth forces enter the port at Tobruk, in Libya, and tens of thousands
of Italian occupiers are taken prisoner.
Italy 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. 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.
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.
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