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Siege Of Tobruk
The siege of Tobruk () took place between 10 April and 27 November 1941, during the Western Desert campaign (1940–1943) of the World War II, Second World War. An Allies of World War II, Allied force, consisting mostly of the 9th Division (Australia), 9th Australian Division, commanded by Lieutenant-General Leslie Morshead, was besieged in the North African port of Tobruk 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 Eighth Army (United Kingdom), Eighth Army. In late 1940, the Allies had defeated the Italian 10th Army during Operation Compass and trapped the remnants at Beda Fomm. On 22 January 1941, Tobruk's Italian garrison surrendered. But in early 1941, much of the British Western Desert Force was sent to the German invasion of Greece, Greek and Syria–Lebanon campaign, Syria–Lebanon campaigns, leaving only a skeleton force short of equipment and supplies. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Desert Campaign
The Western Desert campaign (Desert War) took place in the Sahara Desert, deserts of Egypt and Libya and was the main Theater (warfare), theatre in the North African campaign of the Second World War. Military operations began in June 1940 with the Italian declaration of war and the Italian invasion of Egypt from Libya in September. Operation Compass, a five-day raid by the British in December 1940, was so successful that it led to the destruction of the Italian Tenth Army (Italy), 10th Army (10ª ) over the following two months. Benito Mussolini sought help from Adolf Hitler, who sent a small Nazi Germany, German force to Tripoli, Libya, Tripoli under List of Adolf Hitler's directives, Directive 22 (11 January). The ( Erwin Rommel) was formally under Italian command, as Italy was the main Axis powers, Axis power in the Mediterranean and North Africa. In the spring of 1941, Rommel led Operation Sonnenblume, which pushed the Allies back to Egypt except for the siege of Tobruk at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eighth Army (United Kingdom)
The Eighth Army was a field army of the British Army during the Second World War. It was formed as the Western Army on 10 September 1941, in Egypt, before being renamed the Army of the Nile and then the Eighth Army on 26 September. It was created to better control the growing Allied force based in Egypt and to direct its efforts to lift the siege of Tobruk via Operation Crusader. It later directed Allied forces through the remaining engagements of the Western Desert campaign, oversaw part of the Allied effort during the Tunisian campaign and finally led troops throughout the Italian campaign. During 1943, it made up part of the 18th Army Group before being assigned to the 15th Army Group (later, the Allied Armies in Italy). Throughout its campaigns, it was a multi-national force and its units came from Australia, British India, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Cyprus, the Free French Forces, Greece, Newfoundland, New Zealand, Poland, Rhodesia, South Africa, Mauritius, as well a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Battleaxe
Operation Battleaxe (15–17 June 1941) was a British Army offensive during the Second World War to raise the Siege of Tobruk and re-capture eastern Cyrenaica from German and Italian forces. It was the first time during the war that a significant German force fought on the defensive. The British lost over half of their tanks on the first day and only one of three attacks succeeded. The British achieved mixed results on the second day, being pushed back on their western flank and repulsing a big German counter-attack in the centre. On the third day, the British narrowly avoided disaster by withdrawing just ahead of a German encircling movement. The failure of Battleaxe led to the replacement of British General Sir Archibald Wavell, Commander-in-Chief Middle East, by Claude Auchinleck; Wavell took Auchinleck's position as Commander-in-Chief, India. Background /Operation Sunflower In late March 1941, soon after the arrival of the in Tripoli, Libya to reinforce the Italians ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Brevity
Operation Brevity was a limited offensive conducted in mid-May 1941, during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo .... Conceived by the commander-in-chief of the British Middle East Command, General Archibald Wavell, Brevity was intended to be a rapid blow against weak Axis powers, Axis front-line forces in the Sallum, Sollum–Fort Capuzzo, Capuzzo–Bardia, Libya, Bardia area of the border between Egypt and Libya. Although the operation got off to a promising start, throwing the Axis high command into confusion, most of its early gains were lost to local counter-attacks, and with German reinforcements being rushed to the front the operation was called off after one day. Egypt had been Italian invasion of Egypt, invade ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siege
A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static, defensive position. Consequently, an opportunity for negotiation between combatants is common, as proximity and fluctuating advantage can encourage diplomacy. A siege occurs when an attacker encounters a city or fortress that cannot be easily taken by a quick assault, and which refuses to surrender. Sieges involve surrounding the target to block provision of supplies and reinforcement or escape of troops (a tactic known as "investment"). This is typically coupled with attempts to reduce the fortifications by means of siege engines, artillery bombardment, mining (also known as sapping), or the use of deception or treachery to bypass defenses. Failing a military outcome, sieges can often be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benghazi
Benghazi () () is the List of cities in Libya, second-most-populous city in Libya as well as the largest city in Cyrenaica, with an estimated population of 859,000 in 2023. Located on the Gulf of Sidra in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, Benghazi is also a major seaport. A Greeks, Greek colony named History of Benghazi, Euesperides had existed in the area from around 525 BC. In the 3rd century BC, it was relocated and refounded as the Ptolemaic Kingdom, Ptolemaic city of Berenice. Berenice prospered under the Romans, and after the 3rd century AD it superseded Cyrene, Libya, Cyrene and Barca (ancient city), Barca as the centre of Cyrenaica. The city went into decline during the Byzantine Empire, Byzantine period and had already been reduced to a small town before Muslim conquest of Egypt, its conquest by the Arabs. After around four centuries of peaceful Ottoman Tripolitania, Ottoman rule, in 1911, Kingdom of Italy, Italy captured Benghazi and the rest of Ottoman Tripolitania, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Egypt In World War II
Egypt was a major battlefield in the North African campaign during the Second World War, being the location of the First and Second Battles of El Alamein. Legally an independent kingdom since 1922, and an equal sovereign power in the condominium of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, in reality Egypt was heavily under the coercive influence of the United Kingdom, a state of affairs that had persisted since the United Kingdom intervened militarily in the Orabi Revolt in favour of Egypt's Khedive, Tawfik Pasha, in 1882, subsequently occupying the country. The continuing British dominance of Egyptian affairs, including British efforts to exclude Egypt from the governance of Sudan, provoked fierce Egyptian nationalist opposition to the United Kingdom. Consequently, despite playing host to thousands of British troops following the outbreak of the conflict, as it was treaty-bound to do, Egypt remained formally neutral during the war, only declaring war on the Axis powers in the spring of 1945. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Sonnenblume
Operation Sonnenblume (, "Operation Sunflower") was the name given to the dispatch of German and Italian troops to North African campaign, North Africa in February 1941, during the Second World War. The Italian Tenth Army (Italy), 10th Army () had been destroyed by the British, Commonwealth, Empire and Allied Western Desert Force attacks during Operation Compass The first units of the new (DAK), commanded by Erwin Rommel, departed Naples for Africa and arrived on 11 February 1941. (In the English-speaking world, the term became a generic term for German forces in North Africa.) On 14 February, advanced units of the 21st Panzer Division (Wehrmacht), 5th Light ''Afrika'' Division (later renamed the 21st Panzer Division), (Reconnaissance Battalion 3) and (Anti-tank Detachment 39) arrived at the Libyan port of Tripoli, Libya, Tripoli and were sent immediately to the front line east of Sirte. Rommel arrived in Libya on 12 February, with orders to defend Tripoli and Tripolitania, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming Chancellor of Germany#Nazi Germany (1933–1945), the chancellor in 1933 and then taking the title of in 1934. His invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 marked the start of the Second World War. He was closely involved in military operations throughout the war and was central to the perpetration of the Holocaust: the genocide of Holocaust victims, about six million Jews and millions of other victims. Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn in Austria-Hungary and moved to German Empire, Germany in 1913. He was decorated during his service in the German Army in the First World War, receiving the Iron Cross. In 1919 he joined the German Workers' Party (DAP), the precursor of the Nazi Party, and in 1921 was app ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Syria–Lebanon Campaign
The Syria–Lebanon campaign, also known as Operation Exporter, was the invasion of Syria and Lebanon (then controlled by Vichy France, a vassal state of Nazi Germany) in June and July 1941 by British Empire forces, during the Second World War. On 1 April 1941, after the Iraqi coup d'état, Iraq was controlled by Iraqi nationalists led by Rashid Ali al-Gaylani, who appealed for Italian and German support. The Anglo-Iraqi War (2–31 May 1941) led to the overthrow of the Ali regime and the installation of a pro-British government. During this conflict, Admiral François Darlan allowed German aircraft to use Vichy airfields in Syria for attacks against the British in Iraq. The British invaded Syria and Lebanon in June to prevent the Axis powers from using the Syrian Republic and French Lebanon as bases for attacks on Egypt, during an invasion scare in the aftermath of the Axis victories in the Battle of Greece (6–30 April 1941) and the Battle of Crete (20 May – 1 June) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
German Invasion Of Greece
The German invasion of Greece or Operation Marita (), were the attacks on Kingdom of Greece, Greece by Kingdom of Italy, Italy and Nazi Germany, Germany during World War II. The Italian invasion in October 1940, which is usually known as the Greco-Italian War, was followed by the German invasion in April 1941. Battle of Crete, German landings on the island of Crete (May 1941) came after Allied forces had been defeated in mainland Greece. These battles were part of the greater Balkans campaign (World War II), Balkans Campaign of the Axis powers and their associates. Following the Italian invasion on 28 October 1940, Greece, with British air and material support, repelled the initial Italian attack and a counter-attack in March 1941. When the German invasion, known as Operation Marita, began on 6 April, the bulk of the Greek Army was on the Greek border with Albania under Italy, Albania, then a vassal of Italy, from which the Italian troops had attacked. Wehrmacht, German troops i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Desert Force
The Western Desert Force (WDF) was a British Army formation active in Egypt during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. On 17 June 1940, the headquarters of the British 6th Infantry Division was designated as the Western Desert Force. The formation consisted of the British 7th Armoured Division and the 4th Indian Infantry Division. The force was commanded by Major-General Richard Nugent O'Connor. In September 1940, at the time of the Italian invasion of Egypt, the Western Desert Force consisted of roughly 36,000 soldiers and about 65 tanks. From early December 1940 to February 1941, during Operation Compass, the exploits of the Western Desert Force earned a parody of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's famous quote, "Never has so much been owed by so many, to so few." So many Italians were captured by the Western Desert Force that Anthony Eden said, "Never has so much been surrendered by so many, to so few." From 14 December, the 6th Australian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
