| Original caption: “While the fuel dumps burned, captured Italian transport formed vast parks of abandoned vehicles.” Tobruk is a port city on a flat desert floor that slopes down to the coast through a series of steppes, with deeply indented ravines at the coast that can offer adequate defensive positions. The Regio Esercito (“Royal Italian Army”) held trenches in a rough semi-circle around Tobruk that extended 9 miles (14 and a half kilometers) deep from the town and formed a perimeter of 30 miles (48 kilometers). Concrete pillboxes with barbed wire with overlapping fields of fire were protected by an anti-tank ditch that was still under construction. The wire was booby-trapped with anti-personnel mines that would cause many Allied casualties in the siege. Forts Pilastrino and Solaro formed the inner defenses at Tobruk. The Allied 8th Army under Field Marshal Archibald Percival Wavell (May 5, 1883 – May 24, 1950) General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Middle East extended its supply lines all the way back to the port of Sollum, A 90-mile (150-kilometer) 3-hour drive from the front lines. The Italians had half the men in Tobruk they needed to man their defensive lines. By December 19, 1940, it seemed certain that the enemy intended neither to fight his way out of Tobruk nor to surrender out of hand. Well found now way to avoid a frontal attack and chose the United Kingdom Royal Army 7th Armored Division to lead the assault. But after months of fighting the 7th Armored had 69 cruiser tanks and 126 light tanks, creating anxiety about the Division’s combat capability. The Division was reduced from 6 to 4 regiments to bring them up to strength. The Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy bombarded Tobruk for hours overnight on January 21, 1941; it was hoped the noise would drown out the rumble of truck and tank engines.The infantry and armored crossed the line of departure at 0540 Hours and within an hour were a mile (2.2 kilometers) wide and mile deep into the Italian defenses. Some Italian units gave stiff resistance while others gave negligible opposition to the Allied advance. Bardia-El Adem Road was heavily defended by dug-n tanks and machine guns. But the Allies steadily drove on the town of Tobruk. The Australians drove off an Italian tank attack with anti-tank guns and infantry tanks. Forts Pilastrino and Solaro fell by 2130 Hours. Tobruk Garrison Generale Di Corpo D’armata Errico Pitassi-Mannella (May 31, 1882 – 1948) surrendered at Fort Solaro. At Midnight, half of Tobruk was in Allied hands. The battle was over; the surviving Italians set fire to their fuel dump and detonated ammunition stores. The Allies attacked in the morning and Italian defenses collapsed. The 61st Sirte Division surrendered several 1,000 officers and men; the last Italian strongpoint surrendered at 1545 Hours on January 22, 1941. The captured Italian forces included 25,000 prisoners (including 2,000 sailors), 208 field and medium guns, and 87 tanks. The total casualties in XIII Corps were just over 400, of which 355 were Australians. Arrangements had been made to take over the installations as rapidly as possible, and it was a great relief to find that the demolitions had been confined chiefly to guns and ammunition. In the harbor the Regia Marina (“Royal Italian Navy”) cruiser San Giorgio was beached and burning, and there were many other wrecks. A naval fuel plant had been destroyed and the floating crane sunk. The jetties were damaged but usable; the power station was in working order, with 4,000 tons of coal; there was a complete bulk petrol storage installation; a refrigeration plant and a distillation plant were undamaged; and 10,000 tons of stored water were found. The Inshore Squadron began at once its task of sweeping for mines and on the morning of January 24 the harbor was ready to receive shipping. The siege of Tobruk took place between April 10 – November 27, 1941. An Allied force, consisting mostly of the 9th Australian Division, commanded by Lieutenant-General Leslie Morshead September 18, 1889 – September 26, 1959), was besieged in the North African port by German and Italian forces. The tenacious defenders quickly became known as the Rats of Tobruk. After 231 days, they were finally relieved by the British 8th Army. Tobruk fell in June 1942 to the Afrika Corps. The surrender was the 2nd largest capitulation by the British Army in the war, after the fall of Singapore in February 1942. The loss of Tobruk came as a severe blow to the British leadership and precipitated a political crisis in Britain. The United States expedited the dispatch of supplies and equipment to the Middle East. Rommel persuaded the Axis commanders that the supplies captured at Tobruk and the disorganised state of the British forces would enable the Axis easily to occupy Egypt and the Suez Canal. Operation Herkules, the Axis invasion of the island of Malta, was postponed and the Axis air forces instead supported the pursuit into Egypt, which suffered severe supply constraints as the Panzerarmee Afrika receded from its bases. The Axis advance was halted at the 1st Battle of Alamein in July 1942. | |
| Image Filename | wwii2082.jpg |
| Image Size | 525.14 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 3103 x 1531 |
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| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | January 22, 1941 |
| Location | |
| City | Tobruk |
| State or Province | Cyrenaica |
| Country | Libya |
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| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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