The Sooner The Better

Rommel launched his first attempt to take Tobruk by storm on the night of Easter Sunday. After Afrika Korps engineers succeeded in breeching the formidable anti-tank ditch, wire and mine fortifications of the outer perimeter, infantry riding on tanks and guns in tow headed for an assembly point about …

1941-04-14

J091

Rommel launched his first attempt to take Tobruk by storm on the night of Easter Sunday. After Afrika Korps engineers succeeded in breeching the formidable anti-tank ditch, wire and mine fortifications of the outer perimeter, infantry riding on tanks and guns in tow headed for an assembly point about 200 yards inside the perimeter. Once the tanks dropped off their cargo and headed north towards the port, Australian 2/17 Battalion opened fire on the unsuspecting German infantry. Meanwhile the tanks ran into a series of anti-tank batteries and Matilda cruisers that quickly turned the tide. The Germans decided to extricate themselves from the fiasco – the sooner, the better.

Tobruk, Libya SEIGE

The Siege of Tobruk lasted for 241 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. During early 1941, much of the Western Desert Force (WDF) was sent to the Greek and Syrian campaigns. As German troops and Italian reinforcements reached Libya, only a skeleton Allied force remained, short of equipment and supplies.

German

Commonwealth

Scenario Type = Standard