Attack on Bardia
Bardia was a small harbour and town connected with Tobruk and Benghazi. It had modern defences around it. The Italians had some forty-five thousand men and four hundred guns under the command of General Bergonzoli. The defences around Bardia consisted of eighteen belts of barriers. There were steep anti-tank ditches, strong concentrations of barbed wire, and minefields plus fortified steel and concrete bunkers.
For the attack on Bardia, Wavell gave O'Connor the under-strength 6th Australian division. The Australians were short of all kinds of equipment. their anti-tank company had only eleven instead of twenty-seven two-pounder anti-tank guns. They also had shortage of artillery as they had two artillery regiments instead of the usual three. General O'Connor's genius as a master tactician was again proved when he planned the capture of Bardia.
He planned the break-through round the 'I' tanks of the 7th Royal Tank Regiment. But this time he intended to use his infantry first to clear the anti-tank defences and minefields by forming a strong bridge head so that his tanks would have a safe passage. Note that at Nibeiwa, the tanks went in first, but this time the defences were different and O'Connor adapted to circumstances in forming his tactical plan.
Once the tanks were inside, they along with the infantry would fan out and attack the Italian rear. Before the attack, he told General Mackay, the commander of the 6th Australian division, to keep a brigade ready to attack Tobruk in co-operation with the 7th Armoured Division. O'Connor was always one step-ahead in his planning.
At five-thirty, on the morning of 3rd January, a concentrated artilley bombardment opened the attack. The infantry moved and by half-past six, had cleared two lanes for the 'I' tanks. The tanks and infantry rapidly fanned out and soon eight thousand Italian prisoners were taken. The desert airforce bombed Italian airfields and attacked strong enemy positions. By the middle of next morning, an Australian brigade, led by six tanks, launched a surprise attack towards Bardia town and Tobruk road. This attack, where the enemy least expected it, soon proved to be decisive, as the Italian garrison was split in two and Bardia fell.
By the 5th of January, it was all over. The Italian command had lost over forty thousand men, killed, wounded, and captured, thirteen medium and a hundred and fifteen light tanks, seven hundred and six trucks and four hundred guns. Already the 7th Armoured Division was rapidly moving via El Adem to cut of Tobruk.
O'Connor's string of victories worried Adolf Hitler, who by now had decided to send German forces to Libya. German high command decided to send in its 5th Light Division on the 15th of February. So O'Connor had to finish off the Italians in Libya before the Germans came and time was running out. Also, Churchill had made up his mind to send the 13th Corps, which was O'Connor's command, to Greece after Tobruk fell.
Attack on Tobruk
Meanwhile, O'Connor was planning his assault on Tobruk. Tobruk, the town which was to become so famous in the coming next two years, was actually nothing more then a small harbour, containing a few buildings, a hotel and a few shops. It was defended by the Italian 22nd Corps, under the command of General Petassi Manella. The Corps had some thirty-two thousand men, twenty medium tanks, forty-five light tanks, and two hundred and twenty guns.
Tobruk had defences somewhat similar to Bardia. It had dense barbed-wires, fortified bunkers, minefields and anti-tank ditches, which in fact were incomplete. Again, O'Connor relied on the same tactics he applied at Bardia. The infantry was to go in first, clear a path for the tanks, and then, together with the tanks, fan out. It was planned to attack the south-eastern sector of Tobruk. This was the same sector chosen by Rommel in June, 1942.
At five-forty on 21st January, 1941, the attack on Tobruk began by a concentrated artillery bombardment followed by the Australian infantry charging courageously and clearing way for the 'I' tanks, who immediately moving through the gap, fanned out along with the infantry. The Italians made some determined counter-attacks all day. But by night they just gave up. General Petassi Manella became a prisoner and their artillery also gave up. This time 13th Corps had taken some twenty-five thousand prisoners, twenty-three medium tanks, two hundred and eighty guns and some two hundred trucks. Plus, the port fell with only slight damage and soon the Royal Navy was moving in the much needed supplies.
More General Richard O'Connor: British Western Desert Force
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© Copyright 2001 by Shahram Khan.
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