| Original wartime caption: “On a warning being given the anti-aircraft gunners run to their positions on the gun.” Tobruk was under constant air attack during the siege of April 10 – November 27, 1941. To counter air attacks, the garrison had 24 Quick-Firing 3.7 inch (94 millimeter) anti-aircraft guns, and 64 Bofors 40 millimeter (1.57 inch) automatic cannons. Captured Italian antiaircraft guns may have accounted for some of the defenses. Bren guns and Lewis guns were pressed into service as antiaircraft weapons as well. The ring of anti-aircraft guns coped with ever-present air attacks on Tobruk. As the Royal Air Force (RAF) was whittled down through attrition, the anti-aircraft guns were often the only air raid defense. The Nazi German and Italian aircraft would come in low and rise to a great height just before attacking Tobruk, leaving less than 10 minutes’ warning, and leaving RAF fighters at lower altitudes. The British were further handicapped in North Africa because the 2 pounder (40 millimeter; 1.57 inch) was the only anti-tank gun they systematically used until the introduction in 1942 of the 6 pounder (57 millimeter; 2.24 inch) anti-tank gun. A conservative obstinacy concerning the proper role of the 3.7-inch anti-aircraft gun, a weapon superior to the Nazi German 88 millimeter (3.46 inch) in almost every respect, prevented its use in the AT role. In May 1941, Army had at last persuaded General Headquarters Middle East to release some of the 3.7 inch heavy anti-aircraft guns for use in the anti-tank role, as the Nazi Germans used their 88 millimeter anti-aircraft guns. 1 would have thought that their long-delayed arrival would have been welcomed, but their reception in the “Knightsbridge” Box of the Gazala Line was cool. It was described by Brigadier Lyndon Bolton, then an experienced field regiment commander: “1 evening we were informed that 4 3.7 inch heavy anti-aircraft guns were waiting outside the Box to be added to our defenses and to be used in a ground role against enemy tanks. No doubt this was the result of the success that the Germans were achieving with their 88 millimeter guns. Imagine the consternation that the prospect of the new arrivals aroused! In this congested space there was no chance of concealing such enormous weapons, so only 2 were accepted and with the greatest difficulty 2 sites were discovered where at least they were sheltered from view from the direction in which the enemy chiefly lay. The importance of concealment was impressed on everyone beforehand, but dawn revealed these 2 huge guns perched on the top of the desert and surrounded by piles of ammunition, chairs, tables, rations and so on, for all the world to see. Alas! This was not the time to experiment with such weapons. It was almost impossible to find suitable platforms for them to fire at low elevation, and the only sights that they possessed were small Persian dial sights with figures on them which no 1 could read. Worse than this, every time the guns went off, they blew a pillar of sand a 100 feet into the air, on which the enemy could easily range, with the result that the really splendid men who formed the detachments got a hotting-up every time they fired. This must have been the 1st, or nearly the 1st, effort to use these guns in a ground role, and it must be admitted that it was not a great success. The Bofors, on the other hand, did splendidly in a ground role picking off any enemy who ventured within their range – such as observation posts and vehicles. There can be no doubt that, had the Royal Regiment been trained like the Germans in the use of anti-aircraft guns as dual-purpose weapons, the course that the Desert Campaign had taken up to this time might well have been in our favor. 1 wonders if German gunners made the same sort of complaints, when the 1st 88 millimeter was used as an anti-tank gun. Tobruk was a good testing ground, however, because the Quick-Firing 3.7-inch anti-aircraft gun was 2 tons (1.8 metric tons) heavier than the Axis’ 88 millimeter guns. The Nazi Germans had half track prime movers for the 88 millimeter guns’ mobility off road, while the Royal Army had no such comparable vehicle until later in the war. The siege afforded the 3.7 inch to be set up in static positions facing the incoming Axis tanks. At the end, when Tobruk fell in June 1942, 3.7-inch guns held up the advance of 21.Panzer-Division. It took the personal appeal of Generalleutnant Erwin Rommel (November 15, 1891 – October 14, 1944) to drive the attack through to Tobruk. As a professional photographer, William G. Vanderson (June 13, 1908 – July 25, 1981) had recorded King George the 6th’s coronation on December 11, 1936. When World War II broke out he was commissioned as a Royal Army 2nd Lieutenant and became a war photographer. He made photos of 8th Army in Libya and Egypt. He was assigned to Cairo by the Number 1 Film and Photo Section, Army Film and Photographic Unit (AFPU) in April 1942. On June 22, 1942, he was 1 of 30,000 Allied soldiers taken prisoner at Tobruk. He was sent to Prisoner of War Camp Number 21, Chieti Old Convent. Vanderson became Prisoner of War Number 1396 at Offizierslager 79 (Oflag 79 – “Officers Camp 79”) in Braunschweig, Germany. He was able to make photos of camp life in Germany. He was liberated in April and was discharged on June 6, 1945. After the war, as a professional photographer, Vanderson was selected to photograph Princess Elizabeth’s Royal Wedding in April 1948, constructing a 3-camera rig to accommodate the small space. He worked for TIME-LIFE and Fox photos. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0723.jpg |
| Image Size | 199.98 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 1435 x 1346 |
| Photographer | William George Vanderson |
| Photographer Title | Number One United Kingdom Royal Army Film and Photo Section, Army Film and Photographic Unit |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | June 27, 1941 |
| Location | |
| City | Tobruk |
| State or Province | Cyrenaica |
| Country | Libya |
| Archive | Imperial War Museum |
| Record Number | E 3869 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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