Between them, they would throw up a barrage at a predetermined height. Siege of Tobruk; First Battle of El Alamein; Second Battle of El Alamein; Battle of Bardia; Battle of Kasserine Pass; Operation Battleaxe; Operation Compass; Battle of El Guettar; Battle of the Mareth Line; Battle of Wadi Akarit Were there alternatives to Operation Barbarossa ? Short Range Radios are prohibited. Fire instantly moved away from there and stretcher-bearers could safely approach to take away the injured soldier. What were the conditions/environment like? Later, I have learned programming and the development of computer games, and finally with the Internet, also web design. On January 21 1941, the Australian 6th division attacked the Italian garrison of Tobruk. Operation ‘Crusader’ was going to continue for several weeks and the siege of Tobruk wasn’t to terminate until December 10, 1941, when land communications between the garrison and the main body of the British 8th Army had been again solidly arranged. The main weapons involved in World War 2 included: tanks, guns, air crafts, rifles, explosives. The ‘No­-Man’s-Land’ between the forward positions had been heavily carpeted with mines as well as booby­ traps, in addition to covered with the unburied bodies of men of all sides. Since the times of Wavell’s offensive the British military in Cyrenaica had been supported and supplied from the Mediterranean by vessels from the Inshore Squadron, a heterogeneous fleet containing everything from a des­troyer to a monitor, sloop, gunboat, trawler, sponge-fisher, or lighter. Lee-Enfield More information. The capture of Tobruk was essential for an advance on Alexandria and Suez. This was the first time that the British used their A15 Mark VI Cruiser tank, also known as the Crusader. One more mutually established specialty had been the raising of the Red Cross flag whenever a soldier had been wounded. Straight­ sided, and calculating Seven feet deep and Ten feet wide, the ditch was made to prevent any attempted crossing by any tank. There were, however, serious doubts over its continued status as such. The Kukri can slash as well as stab. All information, figures, specifications and statistics used here had been compiled from a variety of sources and the large, over decades collected, library of the author about military history, WW2 and weapons. At the opposite end of the spectrum, a captured Italian fishing schooner Maria Giovanni, commanded by an Aussie, Lieutenant Alfred Palmer, operated on the tour night following night until fooled into misfortune by the Germans. My name is Norman 'Kretaner' and since my childhood I am interested in history and strategy games. Learn how your comment data is processed. The Crusader also broke down easily. These folks were all guys who had, at potential risk on their own, runaway from a Poland occupied by the Germans, who were using strange ways of treatment. All the things needed to be shipped in from Egypt; and Rommel, understanding this, focused practically just as much on neutralizing the port and disturbing the sea life-line as he did on organizing a landward attack. Rats of Tobruk: Gurkhas: Consequently, he instructed his battalion commanders to carry on to ob­serve the armistice and cease-fire arrange­ments of the Aussies and this they did, however with quite a little unwillingness. Before WW2 its inhabitants figures about 4,000 citizens, residing in several 100 white-colored homes standing out starkly about the sun-baked, rugged terrain sloping right down to a small quay. With the exchange of the 9th Australian Divi­sion by the 70th British Division complete, there were at this moment in Tobruk 3 infantry brigades (14th, 16th, and 23rd), a tank brigade (32nd, comprising 1st and 4th Royal Tank Regiments along with a squadron each from 7th Royal Tank Regiment and the King’s Dragoon Guards), 7 artillery regiments, along with an anti-aircraft artillery brigade, a machine-gun battalion of the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, a Czech and still a Australian battalion, along with – at a later time – a pair of New Zealand battalions together with supporting guns. This tank was not as effective as had been hoped. Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription. 64 km) having a radius of approximately Twenty miles. The heavy batteries were armed with British 3.7-inch guns, which produced shrapnel, while light anti-aircraft batteries used Bofors 40mm guns backed up by captured Italian 20mm and 40mm Breda guns, which fired tracer shells that exploded on impact. Battle. But the fighting patrol went out to fight. 7516 wounded men were transported to base hospitals and 7097 captured prisoners were taken to the rear. However, during September the remainder of the Aussies had been exchanged by the 70th British Division of Major-General R M Scobie, who additionally took over command of the besieged troops. He brought forward along the coast road, elements of the 1… Occasionally there was nothing at all except little, impro­vised rock breastworks. Nevertheless, General Kopanski knew that any kind of alteration of the well-known practices would notify the Germans to the fact that an exchange of units procured, and this, needless to say, the defenders wanted to keep secret so long as available. It wasn’t a simple change-over. The entire area within the perimeter was within range of German and Italian artillery, but some shelter was provided by a network of caves that had also been used by the Italians. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. The job of the reconnaissance patrol was to gather information and, if possible, to secure prisoners for identification. This was to be the job of the 14th Infantry Brigade (Black Watch, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regi­ment, York and Lancaster Regiment) under its leader Brigadier B. H. Chappel, using the assistance of the tanks of the 32nd Tank Brigade as well as the machine-gunners of the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers. Rommel’s forces surrounded the port in early April 1941, and so began the siege of Tobruk. I had heard of a weapon called Tiafun, but only ran across it by accident in a book about Allied Strategic Bombing in WW2. By early September, Fadden, the Prime Minister of Australia had become strongly decided that the Aus­tralian soldiers must be taken from Tobruk. In Tobruk’s most dangerous time, these vessels, some­times reinforced by the Mediterranean Fleet, as much as possible protected by fighter aircraft, on a regular basis braved the hazards of mines, shells, bombs, and torpedoes to transport soldiers, equipments, supplies and water, alongside enemy-held coastline to the besieged Tobruk. 1,609 km), anywhere between Sfax in Tunisia to Alexandria in Egypt, aside from the actually smaller port at Benghazi. The power of the Italian Air Force cast its shadow over the island, and it was considered that no longer could Malta provide the main base for Britain’s Mediterranean Fleet. I'm in the fortunate position to combine all my interests with my work and to live on a place of my choice, on Crete. The outer defenses was made up of a number of highly concreted dugouts – numerous skillfully improvised from natural caves – each hold­ing Thirty to forty soldiers. Nevertheless, the defenses – if such they could be labeled – continued to be in the exact simple condition; low and slim ditches in which there wasn’t any space for the soldiers to kneel or sit. Tobruk is a tiny but significant harbor on the coastline of Cyrenaica. The square at the heart of the city featured a couple of messy palm trees; and in days of peace the most busy building in Tobruk was most likely the water distillation plant which, along with a couple of water wells, generated 40 Thousand gallons per day. Your email address will not be published. Seeing as the battle was set on the dessert, the Tobruk soldiers beared through severely cold nights, the … In front of the outer defenses barbed wire had been placed, differing occasionally from just one coil wide to a belt Thirty yards wide in other places. Inside the surrounded fort General Scobie chose that the Tobruk garrison should break through the Axis siege lines on the eastern frontline, in order to meet the approach­ing British 8th Army. He used panzer (‘armour’) tanks to make swift attacks across the flat desert terrain, driving most of the Allied forces out of Libya, into Egypt. The interior defense line was some 2,000 to 3,000 yards (ca. Tobruk was the only deep water port in Eastern Libya and as a consequence it had been heavily fortified by its former Italian garrison. As soon as the sun had risen, the soldiers couldn’t leave, neither could the reserves or sup­plies move to them. When Rommel deployed the Afrika Korps versus the Western Desert Force in April 1941, and the resistance crumbled before him, certainly one of his primary ideas would be to take Tobruk in order to get rid of it as a threat, and also to decrease his lines of communication for his press straight into and further than Egypt. In addition, vehicles can also spawn there. There were many weapons involved in World war II and the Tobruk attacks. Similar to Benghazi, Tobruk had been developed by the Italians among the main defenses of Libya from the east and as a naval base. There was a strong psychological hurdle suppressing the Poles’ agreement of something in the character of a pact with the Germans. However, a great deal tough battling lay in front of them. The siege of Tobruk from April to December 1941. The Capture of Tobruk. here to Part II: Rommel’s attack on Tobruk. Close Range: Gurkhas. To begin with, the control of Tobruk was crucial as an unloading place for reinforcements and supplies, which in any other case needed to be delivered along troublesome and extended lines of communication, either from Alexandria one way or Benghazi in the other. 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