Ci Arrendiamo (“We Surrender”)

In an attempt to halt the Italian 1oth Army which was retreating south from Benghazi, Combeforce - a motor infantry battalion reinforced with artillery and armored cars - was dispatched ahead of the pursuing British 7th Armoured Division. On 5 …

1941-02-07

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In an attempt to halt the Italian 1oth Army which was retreating south from Benghazi, Combeforce - a motor infantry battalion reinforced with artillery and armored cars - was dispatched ahead of the pursuing British 7th Armoured Division. On 5 February Combeforce cut the coast road 25 miles north of Agedabia less than a hour before the first Italians arrived on the scene. On the morning of the 7th, the reinforced Italians made a last desperate attempt to break through. Italian tanks pressed the attack regardless of losses and broke through the British line, overrunning the infantry and destroying the portees. A number of M13s penetrated as far as the 2nd Rifle Brigade HQ before being knocked out. 25 pdrs situated in the rear prevented a breakthrough however, and with their armor losses mounting and their infantry pinned down, the Italians were forced to fall back. Wholesale surrender soon commenced.

Sidi Saleh, Libya

Combeforce or Combe Force was an ad hoc flying column of the British Army during the Second World War, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel John Combe. It comprised parts of the 7th Armoured Division (Major-General Sir Michael O'Moore Creagh) of the Western Desert Force. The rapid British advance during Operation Compass (9 December 1940 – 9 February 1941) forced the Italian 10th Army (10ª Armata) to evacuate Cyrenaica, the eastern province of Libya. In late January, the British learned that the Italians were retreating from Benghazi, along the coast road (the Litoranea Balbo recently renamed the Via Balbia after the death of Italo Balbo, the Governor General of Libya). The 7th Armoured Division was dispatched to intercept the remnants of the 10th Army by moving through the desert, south of the Jebel Akhdar (Green Mountain) via Msus and Antelat, as the 6th Australian Division pursued the Italians along the coast road, north of the jebel.

Wikipedia: Combeforce

British

Italian