Global InformationSiege of Tobruk information
 | This article's lead section may be too long. (August 2023) |
| Siege of Tobruk (2nd Siege of Tobruk) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Western Desert Campaign of the Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II | |||||||
 Soldiers of the victorious Allied Armies (Polish, British, Indian, Australian and Czech). | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
|
 New Zealand Poland Czechoslovakia |
| ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 Leslie Morshead (Apr.–Sep. 1941) Ronald Scobie (Sep.–Nov. 1941) |
 Erwin Rommel Gastone Gambara | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 27,000 | 35,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
5,989
|
12,296
| ||||||
100miles
The Siege of Tobruk (/təˈbrʊk, toʊ-/) took place between 10 April and 27 November 1941, when elements of the Allied Army were trapped and besieged in the North African port of Tobruk by German and Italian forces. The defenders quickly became known as The Rats of Tobruk.
The siege lasted for 231 days in 1941, after Axis forces advanced through Cyrenaica from el Agheila in Operation Sonnenblume against Allied forces in Libya, during the Western Desert campaign (1940–1943) of the Second World War. In late 1940, the Allies had defeated the Italian 10th Army during Operation Compass (9 December 1940 – 9 February 1941) and trapped the remnants at Beda Fomm.
But the balance between the armies shifted in early 1941. Much of the British Western Desert Force (WDF) was sent to the Greek and Syria–Lebanon campaigns. As German troops and Italian reinforcements reached Libya, only a skeleton of an Allied force remained, short of equipment and supplies. Operation Sonnenblume (6 February – 25 May 1941), forced the Allies into a retreat to the Egyptian border.
A garrison, consisting mostly of the 9th Australian Division (led by Lieutenant-General Leslie Morshead) remained at Tobruk, to defend the port from the Axis, while the WDF reorganized and prepared a counter-offensive.
The Axis siege of Tobruk began on 10 April, when the port was attacked by a force under Generalleutnant Erwin Rommel and continued during three relief attempts, Operation Brevity (15–16 May), Operation Battleaxe (15–17 June) and Operation Crusader (18 November – 30 December). The occupation of Tobruk deprived the Axis of a supply port closer to the Egyptian–Libyan border than Benghazi, 560 mi (900 km) west of the Egyptian frontier, which was within the range of RAF bombers; Tripoli was 930 mi (1,500 km) to the west in Tripolitania.
The siege diverted Axis troops from the frontier and the Tobruk garrison repulsed several Axis attacks. The port was frequently bombarded by artillery, dive-bombers and medium bombers, as the RAF flew defensive sorties from airfields far away in Egypt. Allied naval forces, such as the British Mediterranean Fleet (including the Inshore Squadron) ran the blockade, carrying reinforcements and supplies in and the wounded and prisoners out.
On 27 November, Tobruk was reinforced by the Eighth Army (which controlled British and other Allied ground forces in the Western Desert from September 1941) as part of Operation Crusader.