Operation Acrobat was a proposed British attack on

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis (from , meaning "three cities") may refer to: Places Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in the Pelasgiotis district, Thessaly, near Larissa ...

in 1942. It was discussed on 9 and 13 January 1942 by the Chiefs of Staff and representatives of

Middle East Command Middle East Command, later Middle East Land Forces, was a British Army Command established prior to the Second World War in Egypt. Its primary role was to command British land forces and co-ordinate with the relevant naval and air commands to ...

(General Sir

Claude Auchinleck Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck ( ) (21 June 1884 – 23 March 1981), was a British Indian Army commander who saw active service during the world wars. A career soldier who spent much of his militar ...

). The Chief of the Imperial General Staff, General

Alan Brooke Field Marshal Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke (23 July 1883 – 17 June 1963), was a senior officer of the British Army. He was Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS), the professional head of the British Army, during the Secon ...

, wondered if the operation "was on" because of the delays in the capture of

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 ...

(following Allied victory in

Operation Crusader Operation Crusader (18 November – 30 December 1941) was a military operation of the Western Desert campaign during World War II by the British Eighth Army (with Commonwealth, Indian and Allied contingents) against the Axis forces (German and ...

) because it could not be carried out for six weeks, during which Axis reinforcements could flow into Africa from Italy. Brooke had a low opinion of Auchinleck's staff, though not of Auchinleck; the situation in the Far East was already serious (Japan had been at war with Britain and the US since December 1941, quickly bringing about the

Fall of Singapore The fall of Singapore, also known as the Battle of Singapore, took place in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War. The Empire of Japan captured the British stronghold of Singapore, with fighting lasting from 8 to 15 February 1942. S ...

, the

Japanese invasion of Burma The Japanese invasion of Burma was a series of battles fought in the British colony of Burma (present-day Myanmar) as part of the Pacific Theater of World War II. The initial invasion in 1942 resulted in the capture of Rangoon and the retre ...

and Indian Ocean raid). The planning of Operation Acrobat is depicted by a propaganda film '' Tunisian Victory'' (1944). Acrobat was intended as an accompanying operation to Operation Gymnast, an Allied invasion of

Vichy French Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the defeat against G ...

North Africa (Morocco and Algeria), which Churchill was trying to persuade the American leaders to agree. Acrobat ceased to be feasible after the British defeat at the

Battle of Gazala The Battle of Gazala, also the Gazala Offensive (Italian language, Italian: ''Battaglia di Ain el-Gazala'') was fought near the village of Gazala during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War, west of the port of Tobruk in Libya, f ...

, the retreat to El Alamein in Egypt and the First Battle of Alamein but Gymnast, renamed

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8–16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa whil ...

, began in November 1942.

References

Cancelled military operations involving the United Kingdom Cancelled military operations of World War II North African campaign Military history of Tripoli, Libya 20th century in Tripoli, Libya {{WWII-battle-stub