Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
- Messages
- 8,995
Tobruk falls!
On June 21, 1942, the Allied defenders of the Libyan port city of Tobruk had to capitulate to German and Italian units!
32,000 Allied soldiers are taken prisoner
... the troops of the Axis powers fall into the hands of enormous amounts of supplies as booty - more than 5000 tons, plus more than 10,000 tons of fuel!
From the small town of Tobruk, which only had 2000 inhabitants at the beginning of the war, there is only a smoking heap of rubble ...:
As a reward, Adolf Hitler appoints the commander of the "Deutsches Afrikakorps", Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel ...
... to Generalfeldmarschall.
On January 22nd, 1941 the town was ...
... located in the then Italian colony of Libya ...
... was conquered by British units ...:
... and around 25,000 Italians were taken prisoner.
Hitler came to the aid of his ally Mussolini and sent the "Sperrverband Afrika", from which the "German Africa Corps" became, under the command of Erwin Rommel.
Rommel initially had the now heavily fortified place only enclosed and not conquered in order to be able to advance quickly.
At that time, Tobruk was defended by an Australian unit, which in April fought off two attempts at conquest by the German Africa Corps, and from August 1941 the city was additionally reinforced by Polish units. Deeply staggered defensive positions consisting of anti-tank trenches, bunkers, machine-gun and PAK nests made it almost impossible to advance into the place.
The place was besieged until the end of 1941 ...
... and massively bombed by the German Air Force. As part of "Operation Crusader" in December 1941, the defenders received relief.
In May 1942, during the "Unternehmen Theseus", the city was again the target of German-Italian advances and after two weeks of fierce fighting, the defense was finally broken ...
The Allies surrendered on June 21, 1942.
The Axis powers occupy the city ...
... and Italy's dictator Mussolini came personally to celebrate the "victory" ...:
... for which around 7,000 German and Italian soldiers (and around 15,000 allies) died.
The "victory" only lasted a few months. After the defeat at El Alamein, the Axis Powers had to give up Tobruk again in November 1942 ...
On June 21, 1942, the Allied defenders of the Libyan port city of Tobruk had to capitulate to German and Italian units!
32,000 Allied soldiers are taken prisoner
... the troops of the Axis powers fall into the hands of enormous amounts of supplies as booty - more than 5000 tons, plus more than 10,000 tons of fuel!
From the small town of Tobruk, which only had 2000 inhabitants at the beginning of the war, there is only a smoking heap of rubble ...:
As a reward, Adolf Hitler appoints the commander of the "Deutsches Afrikakorps", Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel ...
... to Generalfeldmarschall.
On January 22nd, 1941 the town was ...
... located in the then Italian colony of Libya ...
... was conquered by British units ...:
... and around 25,000 Italians were taken prisoner.
Hitler came to the aid of his ally Mussolini and sent the "Sperrverband Afrika", from which the "German Africa Corps" became, under the command of Erwin Rommel.
Rommel initially had the now heavily fortified place only enclosed and not conquered in order to be able to advance quickly.
At that time, Tobruk was defended by an Australian unit, which in April fought off two attempts at conquest by the German Africa Corps, and from August 1941 the city was additionally reinforced by Polish units. Deeply staggered defensive positions consisting of anti-tank trenches, bunkers, machine-gun and PAK nests made it almost impossible to advance into the place.
The place was besieged until the end of 1941 ...
... and massively bombed by the German Air Force. As part of "Operation Crusader" in December 1941, the defenders received relief.
In May 1942, during the "Unternehmen Theseus", the city was again the target of German-Italian advances and after two weeks of fierce fighting, the defense was finally broken ...
The Allies surrendered on June 21, 1942.
The Axis powers occupy the city ...
... and Italy's dictator Mussolini came personally to celebrate the "victory" ...:
... for which around 7,000 German and Italian soldiers (and around 15,000 allies) died.
The "victory" only lasted a few months. After the defeat at El Alamein, the Axis Powers had to give up Tobruk again in November 1942 ...
!
