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Aerial photograph of the port of Tobruk during the 1941 siege. The small port of Tobruk in Italian Cyrenaica had been fortified by the Italians from 1935. Behind two old outlying forts, they constructed a novel fortification, consisting of a double line of concrete-lined trenches 54 km (34 mi) long, connecting 128 weapons pits protected by concealed anti-tank ditches but the fortifications ...
Operation Battleaxe (15–17 June 1941) was a British Army offensive during the Second World War to raise the Siege of Tobruk and re-capture eastern Cyrenaica from German and Italian forces. [ h ] It was the first time during the war that a significant German force fought on the defensive.
Tobruk surrendered the following day, and around 33,000 Allied troops were captured, including 4 AA Bde. [ 50 ] [ 51 ] After the fall of Tobruk , the Eighth Army retreated in confusion beyond the Egyptian frontier until the Axis advance was finally halted at El Alamein .
23 January: Tripoli captured by British Eighth Army; 30 January: Axis forces capture Faïd pass in central Tunisia; 4 February: Axis forces in Libya retreat to Tunisian border south of the Mareth Line; 14 February: Axis advance from Faïd to launch Battle of Sidi Bou Zid and enter Sbeitla two days later
Operation Agreement was a ground and amphibious operation carried out by British, Rhodesian and New Zealand forces on Axis-held Tobruk from 13 to 14 September 1942, during the Second World War. A Special Interrogation Group party, fluent in German, took part in missions behind enemy lines.
This included the Axis capture of Tobruk and 32,000 men (following a last-minute change in plans and the establishment of a garrison that included the 2nd South African Infantry Division) and the Eighth Army was forced to retreat. [31]
By late May, the Axis forces comprised 90,000 men, 560 tanks and 542 aircraft. [13] [14] On 26 May, Comando Supremo ordered Bastico and Rommel to launch the offensive, defeat the British armoured forces and capture Tobruk. [21] [page needed]
By 7 January the bulk of the British forces had arrived and cut off Tobruk. [4] The 19th Australian Brigade group placed itself opposite the eastern defences of Tobruk and the 16th Australian Brigade group took over on the western side. The 4th Armoured Brigade moved to the west of the city, the 7th Support Group blocked the western exits and ...