Beda Fomm is a small coastal town in southwestern
Cyrenaica
Cyrenaica ( ) or Kyrenaika (, , after the city of Cyrene), is the eastern region of Libya. Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between the 16th and 25th meridians east, including the Kufra District. The coastal region, als ...
,
Libya
Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...
. It is located between the much larger port city
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, Ben ...
to its north-west and the larger town of
El Agheila further to the south-west. Beda Fomm is known mainly for being the site of the final engagement of
Operation Compass
Operation Compass (also ) was the first large British military operation of the Western Desert Campaign (1940–1943) during the Second World War. British metropolitan, Imperial and Commonwealth forces attacked the Italian and Libyan forces of ...
(December 1940 to February 1941) in 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 ...
.
World War II
In late January 1941, during Operation Compass, the British learned that the Italians were evacuating
Cyrenaica
Cyrenaica ( ) or Kyrenaika (, , after the city of Cyrene), is the eastern region of Libya. Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between the 16th and 25th meridians east, including the Kufra District. The coastal region, als ...
by way of Beda Fomm. The
7th Armoured Division was dispatched to intercept the
10th Army. Halfway to their destination, it was evident that the division together was too slow and Combeforce, a flying column was sent on the direct route across the desert. On 5 February 1941, Combeforce arrived to cut off the retreating remnants of the 10th Army. The following day, the Italians arrived and attacked but failed to break through the blockade. The fighting was close and often hand-to-hand; at one point, a regimental sergeant major captured an Italian tank by hitting the commander over the head with the butt of his rifle. The final effort came 7 February, when 20 Italian
Fiat M13/40 tanks broke through the thin cordon of riflemen and anti-tank guns, only to be stopped by field guns, yards from regimental HQ. The officer commanding Italian forces was General
Giuseppe Tellera, who was mortally wounded and Lieutenant-General
Ferdinando Cona assumed command, only to be captured by the British. After that failure, with the rest of the 7th Armoured arriving and the
6th Australian Division bearing down on them from Benghazi, the Italians surrendered. A fictional version of the battle may be found in
C.S. Forester's short story "An Egg for the Major", in the collection ''Gold from Crete'' (1941).
Footnotes
References
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See also
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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 ...
Port cities and towns in Libya
World War II sites in Libya