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The Rats of Tobruk suffered at least 3,836 casualties, there being a small difference in Australian casualty figures quoted in the Australian and British official histories. Most of the Australian garrison withdrew from Tobruk between August and October but others remained in Tobruk for the duration. [71]
The Tobruk garrison was numerically large at about 33,000 men but this number included around 8,000 support troops and around 2,000 non-combatant labourers. [24] A third of the garrison comprised the 2nd South African Infantry Division (Major General Hendrik Klopper , who was put in charge of the defence of Tobruk on 15 June.
The British capture of Tobruk was a battle fought between 21 and 22 ... The Tobruk garrison suffered 2,048 casualties and 20,000 men were taken prisoner for 400 ...
The garrison, commanded by Lieutenant General Leslie Morshead, included the 9th Australian Division (20th, 24th, and 26th Brigades), the 18th Brigade of the 7th Australian Division, four regiments of British artillery, and the 3rd Indian Motor Brigade. Between August and October, most of the original garrison was replaced by British, Polish and ...
On 23 November, the 5th South African Brigade was destroyed at Sidi Rezegh but caused many German tank losses. On 24 November Rommel ordered the "dash to the wire" and caused chaos in the British rear but allowed the British armoured forces to recover. On 27 November, the New Zealanders reached the Tobruk garrison and ended the siege.
The dismounted portion of the battalion with 3rd Armoured Bde Group formed part of the garrison for the first month of the Siege of Tobruk, and were then evacuated by sea to the Nile Delta to refit. Campbell's mobile column (one of the so-called 'Jock Columns') withdrew slowly through Gambut and Buq Buq, then from 22 April patrolled the ...
Rommel now bypassed Tobruk, leaving it to be besieged while he chased the British back to the Egyptian frontier. 9th Australian Division formed the core of the garrison, but had no artillery of its own. It was supported by HQ Royal Artillery, Tobruk, with five field regiments, including 51st (W&C).
Tobruk was defended by a force of about 25,000 British and Australian troops, well stocked with supplies and linked to Egypt by the Navy. The garrison had armoured cars and captured Italian tanks, which could raid Axis supply convoys as they passed Tobruk for the frontier and made impossible an Axis invasion of Egypt. [44]