World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseIn mid-Feb 1941, German forces began to arrive in North Africa. Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel, untried before the French campaign but by now a proven effective field commander, took command of this force. He immediate set forth an aggressive plan, starting his offensive on 24 Mar 1941, capturing El Agheila on the first day. This offensive surprised the British, who thought the German build up in North Africa was slow, and the Germans would not be ready for an attack until some time between mid-Apr and mid-May. On 2 Apr, Agedabia and Zuetania in Libya were both taken by his troops, followed by Msus (location of major fuel and supply dump; all fuel sabotaged by the British to prevent Axis capture) on 6 Apr and Derna on 7 Apr. On 6 Apr, the British military governor of Cyrenaica Lieutenant General Philip Neame withdrew his headquarters to Tmimi, which was west of Tobruk; his column was intercepted by a German patrol near Martuba during the night of 7 Apr 1941, and both Neame and Lieutenant General Richard O'Connor were captured. On 8 Apr, commanding officer of the Australian 7th Infantry Division Major General John Lavarack assumed Neame's responsibilities. On 8 Apr, the Allied defense at Mechili fell apart. On 9 Apr, Axis troops had arrived in the vicinity of Tobruk in eastern Libya.

ww2dbaseOn 10 Apr, Rommel ordered the 15th Panzer Division under General Heinrich von Prittwitz und Gaffron to attack Tobruk directly from the west. Rommel's original plan was to perform a flanking movement to the east of Tobruk to surround the port city before launching a direct assault, but when he arrived he thought the Allied defenses were so weak that such a move was not necessary. Tobruk was garrisoned by troops of the Australian 9th Division under Lieutenant General Leslie Morshead; the 20th, 24th, and 26th Brigades of Australian 9th Division held their ground, killing Prittwitz on the first day of the attack. Overall, Morshead had about 25,000 fighters, British, Australian, and Indian, available for the defense. Lavarack was withdrawn to Egypt, thus would not play a direct role in the eventual Axis siege of Tobruk.

ww2dbaseLater on 11 Apr, Rommel reverted back to his original plan, and by the morning of 11 Apr he was successful in surrounding Tobruk with a flanking movement. To the east of Tobruk stood troops of the German 5th Light Division; to the south was the German 15th Panzer Division; finally, the Italian Brescia Division was positioned west of Tobruk. Behind these three groups, Rommel still held three Italian infantry divisions and one Italian armored division (Ariete). Just after noon on 11 Apr, the second attack on Tobruk's defenses began with the 5th Panzer Regiment of the German 5th Light Division attacking troops of the Australian 20th Infantry Brigade just west of the El Adem road; this attack was halted with 5 German tanks destroyed. At 1500 hours, 400 German infantry advanced, but this attack was also stopped. At 1600 hours, about 700 German troops attacked the same location once again, supported by German and Italian tanks; the Axis tanks soon became bogged down in the anti-tank traps, and the attack was driven back with great casualties after the arrival of four British tanks. Soon after sun down on 13 Apr, the German 5th Light Division launched a renewed attack; Australian troops held off the attack in the sector held by the 2/17th Battalion, and Corporal John Edmonston would later be awarded the Victoria Cross for his efforts during this defense. In the early hours of 14 Apr, another attack was mounted that saw the German 5th Panzer Regiment securing a small bridgehead on the El Adem road; 16 of the 36 German tanks dispatched for this attack were destroyed by dug-in British Crusader tanks by the time the Germans withdrew.

ww2dbaseOn 15 Apr, Rommel shifted the weight of the attack on the western side of Tobruk. At 1730 hours, 1,000 Italian troops attacked the defensive line held by the 2nd Battalion of the Australian 24th Brigade, overrunning one position quickly; only the arrival of an additional company plus heavy artillery fire by the 51st Field Artillery Regiment drove back the Italians. On 16 Apr, the 1st Battalion of the Italian 62nd "Trento" Regiment attacked from the direction of Acroma, with tanks from the Italian Ariete Division trailing behind for support; 51st Field Artillery Regiment once again halted the Italian attack, while Australian infantry flanked the offensive, forcing the Italians to withdraw.

ww2dbaseDuring the night of 19 to 20 Apr, the British launched a raid on Bardia behind German lines. Although poor intelligence and poor execution marred the operation, it was successful in that it forced Rommel to garrison troops at Bardia to guard against further raids when they could had been used on the front lines in an offensive role.

ww2dbaseThroughout the day on 30 Apr, Axis artillery shells fell on the defensive positions near Ras el Madauar to the west of Tobruk. At 2000 hours, Axis tanks equipped with grappling hooks destroyed a section of barbed wire, allowing German troops, supported by German tanks, to rush in. Post S1, one of many posts manned by men of A Company of 2nd Battalion of Australian 24th Brigade, fell quickly as its defenders could not contest with the fire from two German tanks. The same two tanks then proceeded to overwhelm post S2, which contained the A Company headquarters, in the same manner. Shortly after, posts R0 and R1 also fell, but the posts' 2-pounder guns were able to knock out a number of German tanks before being silenced. In the early hours of 1 May, posts S5 fell, followed by S4, S6, S7, and R2 through R7 after daybreak. Posts S8, S9, and S10 resisted the initial attacks by Italian infantry, but eventually fell as well despite the presence of 12 British tanks in the sector. After a penetration of about 3 kilometers, it was a minefield that finally stopped the Italian-German advance; by this time, the Axis forces had lost its momentum but now possessed many defensive posts as well as the area's highest fort. By this time, the 2nd Battalion of the Australian 24th Brigade had about half of its strength lost to combat casualties or to captivity. On 3 May, the Australians launched a counterattack with men of the Australian 18th Brigade, thus far held in reserve; the counterattack was only able to capture one post, while the Italian defenders fought of attacks on all other posts. On 4 May, the lack of progress led to Rommel calling off the offensive. This action was later named the Battle of the Salient.

ww2dbaseThe successive failures by the Italian and German troops to break through caused Rommel to shift strategy. While he gathered strength for the next attack, he placed Tobruk in a state of siege by 5 divisions of Italian troops (Ariete, Trieste, Pavia, Bologna, and Brescia). The Italian troops launched frequent small offensives against the Australians during the siege. One of the more successful attacks took place during the night of 16 May, where two platoons of the Italian 32nd Combat Sappers Battalion breached barbed wires and minefields, allowing troops and tanks to come through and gain several bunkers, although Colonel Emilio Caizzo, commanding officer of the 32nd Combat Sappers Battalion, was killed in that action.

ww2dbaseThe Australians were not silent. On 2 Aug, two Australian companies attacked Italian positions with the support of over 60 field guns. Italian troops fought back with ferocity, halting the attack after inflicting heavy casualties. This particular attack, however, represented the last Australian attempt to regain positions lost in early May.

ww2dbaseAlthough this lengthy campaign was called a siege, the Axis forces actually were unable to completely surround Tobruk. Because the British Royal Navy controlled the Mediterranean Sea, warships were able to bring in fresh supplies and evacuate the wounded; occasionally, they even provided gunfire support.

ww2dbaseDuring Aug 1941, the Australian and Indian troops were gradually being replaced by the Polish Carpathian Brigade and the Czechoslovakian 11th Infantry Battalion (East). In Sep and Oct, the British 70th Infantry Division and the British 32nd Army Tank Brigade arrived. By this time, only one Australian battalion and two Australian companies remained in Tobruk; all other Australian units were withdrawn. Around the same time, Morshead was replaced by Major General Ronald Scobie.

ww2dbaseThe siege on Tobruk was lifted in late Nov due to the success of the Allied Operation Crusader offensive which began on 18 Nov 1941. Between Apr and Nov 1941, the Allies suffered over 3,000 casualties and 941 captured, most of whom were Australian. The Axis suffered about 8,000 casualties.

Siege of Tobruk Interactive Map

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Siege of Tobruk Timeline

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14.  C. Peter Chen says:
5 Apr 2020 11:34:29 AM

Thank you, anonymous of 5 Apr 2020, the HMS/HMAS errors have been corrected.

19.  C. Peter Chen says:
12 Jul 2021 08:56:52 AM

Thank you Ray, we have made the correction in the text.