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Period: to
The Battle of Milne Bay
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Siege of Tobruk Started
In January 1941, the Allied forces in North Africa swept the Italians all the way from the Western Desert to Cyrenaica, the eastern provice of Libya, during Operation Compass. -
General Rommel arrived in Tripoli
General Rommel arrived in Tripoli to prepare an attack on the British army. -
Major attack aimed at the British enemy
General Rommel sent out a major attack on the enemy. -
Rommel's tactics
The planned withdrawal of the British and her allies degenerated into a rout, and Rommel initiated an ambitious encirclement tactic. Advancing along the coast, the Germans took Benghazi. -
German Column
A German column crossed the desert to reach the sea at Derna 95km east. -
Garrisoned
On the 13th of April, Tubruk was reinforced by the arrival of the 9th Australian Division. This gave the British more enthusiasm, but the garrison was attacked by German and Italian forces. -
Rommel's attack on the British and her allies
Rommel followed the tried-and-tested method of sending his tanks in first to create a gap through which the infantry would follow. The tanks met little resistance, but as soon as the infantry advanced, they came under fierce attack. The Allies had made a strategic decision to let the tanks through easily, and would launch a heavy attack only once the tanks were trapped inside the city cut off from the rest of the Allied forces. It proved a success-beaten back, Rommel laid siege to the port. -
Failing to break Rommel's siege
Two British offensives (Operations Brevity and Battleaxe) failed to break General Rommel's siege, and by August the Australian Government was insisting that its men should be withdrawn. The Australians were partially replaced by British and Polish troops, although not all Australians were relieved from this battle ground. -
Australian garrison
Between the months of September and October more members of the Australian garrison were evacuated. -
Operation Crusader
A member of the allied forces, General Claude Auchinleck launched Operation Crusader, which succeeded in lifting the siege by the end of November 1941. -
The siege was lifted
On this day the siege was lifted. Some Australians remained as they couldn't be evacuated. Australia was the only country whose troops were present for the whole siege. Australia's casualties were 559 killed, 2450 wounded and 941 taken prisoner. The defeat of the German and Italian forces at Tobruk ensured that North Africa remained protected by the allied forces.
