Siege of Tobruk

Part of the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War

Australian troops occupy a front line position at Tobruk

Date	10 April – 27 November 1941
Location	Tobruk, Libya 32°04′34″N 23°57′41″E / 32.07611°N 23.96139°E / 32.07611; 23.96139Coordinates: 32°04′34″N 23°57′41″E / 32.07611°N 23.96139°E / 32.07611; 23.96139
Result	British and Allied victory

Belligerents

Australia
United Kingdom

India

Poland

Czechoslovakia

Germany

Italy

Commanders and leaders

Leslie Morshead (April–September 1941)

Ronald Scobie (September–November 1941)

Erwin Rommel

Gastone Gambara

Strength

27,000

35,000

Casualties and losses

5,989

12,296
74–150 aircraft

Australia
United Kingdom

Erwin Rommel

The Siege of Tobruk lasted for 241 days in 1941, after Axis forces advanced through Cyrenaica from El Agheila in Operation Sonnenblume against the British Western Desert Force (WDF) in Libya, during the Western Desert Campaign (1940–1943) of the Second World War. In late 1940, the British had defeated the Italian 10th Army during Operation Compass (9 December 1940 – 9 February 1941) and trapped the remnants at Beda Fomm. German troops and Italian reinforcements reached Libya, while much of the WDF was sent to Greece and replaced by a skeleton force, short of equipment and supplies.

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