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N0KFQ > TODAY 22.01.12 21:41l 41 Lines 1787 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Today in History - Jan 22
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KB0WSA
Sent: 120122/1929Z 16705@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.47
Jan 22, 1941:
Brits and Australians take Tobruk
On this day, British and Commonwealth forces enter the port at
Tobruk, in Libya, and tens of thousands of Italian occupiers are
taken prisoner.
Italy declared war on Great Britain in June 1940. At that time,
Gen. Rodolfo Graziani had almost 10 times the number of men in
Libya than the British forces in Egypt under Gen. Archibald
Wavell, who was commissioned to protect the North African
approaches to the Suez Canal. A vast western desert stretched
between the antagonists, who sat for months without
confrontation. During that time, Italian forces passed into
Egypt-but by that point Britain had reinforced its own numbers
and decided to make a first strike. On December 9, Maj. Gen.
Richard Nugent O'Connor launched a westward offensive from Mersa
Matruh, in Egypt. Thirty thousand Brits warred against 80,000
Italians-but the British had the advantage of 275 tanks to the
Italians' 120. Within three days, 40,000 Italian prisoners were
taken. The battle marked the beginning of the end of the Italian
occupation of North Africa.
General O'Connor then began a sweep of Italian positions in
Libya. Under his direction in early January 1941, the British 7th
Royal Tank Regiment drove westward from Bardia, which it had just
taken from the Italians, with the intention of isolating Tobruk
until the 6th Australian Division could aid in an assault. The
attack on the coastal fortress of Tobruk was finally launched on
the 21st and it fell the next day, yielding 30,000 Italian
prisoners, 236 guns, and 87 tanks. The 7th Royal Tank Regiment
was a remarkable unit, winning a quick series of battles in Libya
despite a paucity of resources.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: n0kfq@winlink.org
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