Battle Of Tobruk Essay

The first major contribution by the Australian military was the defense of the strategic port city in Libya which was the very first land battle in WW2. Every single battle in the North African Theatre was based around the siege that took place against the Australian and commonwealth allies from Germany and Italy. Before WW2, Italy had based and colonised Libya and made it their central port in North Africa. The allies in 1941 had launched a brutal and excruciatingly long siege against the Axis power which ultimately led to the Allies winning control of Tobruk in January 1941. Control of the port was ABSOLUTELY necessary and crucial especially in the North African Theatre of war as it allowed for a proper supply link for the British Eighth

Rommel’s forces quickly surrounded Tobruk and laid siege to the allies in April 1941 and so the battle of Tobruk had finally begun. Though they had been severely outnumbered and outgunned by the amazing amount of German and Italian forces that had been properly rallied by Erwin, the Australian soldiers were resourceful and quick thinking and had proper ways to counter attack the Axis at different strategic timings. One of the ways the Australian military has shown massive contribution in the Battle of Tobruk is when they were able to turn Erwin’s tanks and foot soldiers back which was the first time anyone was able to stop the Blitzkrieg tactic that the Germans had so expertly employed and yet ordinary soldiers were able to outsmart a brilliant German tactician clearly showing the immense skill and impressive wit the Australians had shown which shows the major contributions the Australian military had. They were also able to use brilliant ways to take cover and hide from German artillery and fire that they had been using to siege the Australian force defending

This earned them the nickname, “The Rats of Tobruk” which was used to demoralise the Australians but they wore it as a badge of honour for knowing that they clearly had outsmarted and outperformed the skilled German and Italian soldiers and tacticians. As the days went on, the Australians continued to outclass and outperform the opposition and finally after 240 days, the Allies had won the war after British troops had launched a counter attack which stopped the siege and finally regained control of the town. This was a huge moral boost to the Allies as they had held out for nearly an entire year and the battle of Tobruk was one of the most significant battles in WW2 during the North African campaign as it did not allow Germany for a perfect base to launch more offensive attacks and easily stock up on resources and continue their conquest throughout the rest of North