Nibeiwa, 12 mi (19 km) south of the port of Sidi Barrani
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Western Desert Campaign
1940
Invasion of Egypt
Compass
Nibeiwa
Sidi Barrani
1941
1st Bardia
Tobruk 1941
Mechili
Beda Fomm
Kufra
Giarabub
Sonnenblume
Tobruk siege
2nd Bardia
Twin Pimples
Brevity
Skorpion
Battleaxe
Crusader
Flipper
1st Bir el Gubi
Point 175
2nd Bir el Gubi
1942
Acrobat
Gazala
Bir Hakeim
Tobruk 1942
Mersa Matruh
1st Alamein
Sidi Haneish
Alam Halfa
Agreement
Bigamy
Caravan
Nicety
2nd Alamein
Bertram
Braganza
Outpost Snipe
El Agheila
Associated articles
Frontier Wire
Devil's gardens
Fort Capuzzo
Maletti Group
Camouflage
Babini Group
Combeforce
3rd Indian Motor Brigade
Baggush Box
Sonderkommando Blaich
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Operation Compass
Nibeiwa
Sidi Barrani
Bardia
Tobruk
Derna
Mechili
Beda Fomm
The Attack on Nibeiwa took place on 9 December 1940 near Nibeiwa, Egypt, when the Italian fortified camp held by the Maletti Group, the armoured force of the 10th Army, was overrun by British and Indian troops. The attack was the opening engagement of Operation Compass, a British raid which, if successful, would be followed up to try to expel the Italians from Egypt. Italy had declared war on France and Britain on 10 June and in the Italian invasion of Egypt (Operazione E) from 9 to 16 September 1940, the Italian 10th Army had reached the port of Sidi Barrani and dug in to await the completion of the Via della Vittoria, an extension of the Via Balbia, being built from the frontier. The Maletti Group garrisoned a camp at Nibeiwa,12 mi (19 km) south of the port of Sidi Barrani.
The British had fought a delaying action during the Italian advance with the 7th Support Group of the 7th Armoured Division and kept their main force at the railhead of Mersa Matruh about 80 mi (130 km) east of Sidi Barrani. The British probed the Italian defences continually and then planned a five-day raid on Italian fortified camps, which had been built in an arc from the coast at Maktila to Sofafi in the south-west on the inland escarpment. The British intended to advance into the Nibeiwa–Rabia gap and attack Nibeiwa from the west. If the attack succeeded, the British would move on to attack the camps at Tummar West and Tummar East. The tanks of the 7th Armoured Division would form a defensive screen to the west, to protect the flank of the 4th Indian Infantry Division as it attacked the camps and be ready to intercept an Italian counter-attack.
The British and Indian infantry rehearsed an attack with the infantry tanks of the 7th Royal Tank Regiment in late November and another rehearsal was announced for early December, which was actually the attack. On the night of 9/10 December the attack began with diversions on the east side as the main force closed up from the west. The real attack took the Italians by surprise, destroyed the 28 tanks before their crews could react and then broke into the camp. The Italian and Libyan garrison resisted the attack with great determination but were systematically overrun by a combination of tanks, artillery firing from point-blank range and infantry. The Italian and Libyan troops suffered 4,157 casualties for a British loss of 56 men killed and 27 tanks disabled or broken down. The success at Nibeiwa began the collapse of the Italian position in Egypt.
The AttackonNibeiwa took place on 9 December 1940 near Nibeiwa, Egypt, when the Italian fortified camp held by the Maletti Group, the armoured force...
in Eastern Cyrenaica, before the war but after being routed at the AttackonNibeiwa, the Battle of Sidi Barrani and the Battle of Bardia the Italian 10th...
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the British Operation Compass, which had begun 9 December with the AttackonNibeiwa. At the beginning of the offensive, the Tenth Army consisted of four...
through the Sofafi–Nibeiwa gap. An Indian brigade and Infantry tanks (I tanks) of 7th Royal Tank Regiment (7th RTR) would attackNibeiwa from the west, as...
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early on 9 December. The 4th Indian Division and the 7th Royal Tank Regiment (7th RTR) attackedNibeiwa at dawn and overran the camp, then moved on Tummar...
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