Operation Compass was the first major World War IIAllied military operation in the Western Desert Campaign. It resulted in British Commonwealth forces pushing across a great stretch of Libya and capturing over 100,000 Italian soldiers with very few casualties of their own. It was the first occasion on which Australian troops saw action in World War II.
Prelude
After the Italian declaration of war on France and the United Kingdom on 10 June1940, the Italian forces in Libya and the Commonwealth forces in Egypt began a series of cross-border raids. Among the more notable achievements of these raids were the capture of Fort Capuzzo by the British Army's 11th Hussars on June 17. One early British raid on 12 June resulted in 63 Italians being taken prisoner. Benito Mussolini urged the Libyan Governor-General Marshal Italo Balbo to launch a large scale offensive against the British in Egypt. Mussolini's immediate aim was to capture the Suez Canal, ultimately wanting to link up his forces in Libya with those in Italian East Africa. But, for many reasons, Balbo was reluctant. After Balbo's accidental death on June 28, Mussolini was just as adamant in urging his replacement, General Rodolfo Graziani, to attack. Like Balbo, Graziani too was reluctant.
Graziani was the commander of the Italian Tenth Army in Libya, then an Italian colony, with the Fifth Army located towards the west in Tripolitania and the Tenth Army located towards the east in Cyrenaica. Once the French in Tunisia no longer posed a threat to Tripolitania, the assets of the Fifth Army were used more and more to supplement the needs of the Tenth Army.
Initially the Allies only had 30,000 troops stationed in Egypt to defend against the 150,000 Italian troops stationed in Libya. Airplanes available to both sides in the desert tended to be older biplanes. The Italians had Fiat CR.32s and Fiat CR.42s while the British had Gloster Gladiators.
Graziani expressed doubts about the capabilities of his larger but largely un-mechanized force to defeat the British, who, though smaller in numbers, were largely mechanized. Graziani's one mobile group was the partially motorized and lightly armored "Maletti Group". This group was commanded by General Pietro Maletti. But even this group was short on transport vehicles. Maletti Group's tanks were mostly machine gun-armed Fiat L3stankettes. His heaviest tank type was the Fiat M11/39. This tank featured a relatively weak hull-mounted 37 mm tank gun, and their numbers were small. In comparison, the British were able to field some faster Cruiser tanks (A9s, A10s, and A13s) which were more than match to the M11/39s. The British also had a limited number of heavy MatildaInfantry tanks that, while slow, were strongly armored and well armed. The armor of the Matilda tanks could not be pierced by any of the available Italian tank guns or anti-tank guns available at that time though Italian anti-aircraft guns could be used against them in the same manner as the German 88 mm.
The Tenth Army Advances
Even so, Graziani followed Mussolini's orders and the Tenth Army attacked on 13 September1940. The Italian troops advanced over the Libyan/Egyptian border into Egypt. In addition to several infantry divisions and the Maletti Group, the seven attacking divisions included most of the available Libyan units. The Savari formed part of the Regio Corpo Truppe Coloniali della Libia (Royal Corps of Libyan Colonial Troops), which included desert and camel troops, infantry battalions, artillery and irregular cavalry ("Spahis").
After recapturing Fort Capuzzo, progress was slow. The Italians advanced approximately 95 kilometers in three days. The advance stopped at the town of Sidi Barrani on September 16. The Italians then dug in, fortified their positions, and awaited reinforcements and supplies.
According to Virginio Gayda, Italian newspaper editor and mouthpiece for Mussolini's fascist regime: "Nothing can save Britain now."[4]
However, the British Navy had transferred assets, including the aircraft carrierHMS Illustrious to the Mediterranean, making provisioning of North Africa problematic for the Italians.[5]
Initial British attack
On December 81940, British Army and Indian Army forces under the command of Major-General Richard O'Connor attacked the Italian positions in the rear. O'Connor's forces were able to get to the rear of the Italian positions via a gap in the defenses south of Sidi Barrani. Planning of the operation (and discovery of the gap) is often credited to Brigadier Eric Dorman-Smith.
As a counter-espionage measure, many of the troops involved in Operation Compass were not informed that the operation was not an exercise until they were very nearly engaged in combat. The attack was supported by 25 Pounder artillery, Blenheim bombers, and Matilda Mk.II tanks.
The opening stage of Operation Compass was known by the Italians as the "Battle of the Marmarica"[6]. The British knew it as the "Battle of the Camps". The "Battle of the Marmarica" name was derived from the name of the coastal plain where the battle was fought. The "Battle of the Camps" name was derived from the individual Italian camps set up in a defensive line outside of Sidi Barrani.
The Italian defenses were better suited to a colonial war. Within five hours of the onset of combat, the Italian positions were over run, General Pietro Maletti was dead, and about 4,000 Italian and Libyan soldiers were dead or captured. Over the next few days the British 4th and 7th Armoured Brigades encountered significant resistance and found it extremely difficult to advance. Italian tanks and anti-tank gunners managed to destroy eighteen British tanks. General Mario Berti, who commanded 3rd 'Blackshirt' Division contested the British advance but eventually, 237 artillery pieces, 73 light and medium tanks, and about 38,300 Italian and Libyan soldiers would be destroyed or captured. But the price of victory had been high. The Rajputana Rifles had lost 41 officers and 394 men killed and wounded and dozens of British tanks had been destroyed or disabled. Due praise went to the 3rd 'Blackshirts' Division, who according to General Rodolfo Graziani "valorously resisted for two days". [1] The British and Indian forces having licked their wounds then moved quickly west along the Via della Vittoria, through Halfaya Pass, and again captured Fort Capuzzo in Libya.
Ian W. Walker describes the destruction of Maletti Group in his 2003 book Iron Hulls, Iron Hearts. The following is quoted from a review of that book:
"The initial British assault would fall on Nibeiwa Camp, where the only available Italian armoured unit was based, and it achieved complete surprise. Raggruppamento Maletti, or Maletti Group, under General Pietro Maletti, was an ad hoc formation consisting of 2,500 Libyan soldiers and 2 Armoured Battalion, with thirty-five M11/39 medium tanks and thirty-five L3/35 light tanks. It was earmarked for early destruction in the assault, which commenced at 05:00hr with what appeared to be no more than another raid on the eastern side of the camp. At 07:00, however, forty-eight Matilda tanks suddenly appeared from the opposite side of the camp. They struck twenty-three unmanned M11/39 tanks of the Maletti Group, which had been deployed to guard the unmined entrance to the camp. The Italians were caught completely off guard and many did not even reach their tanks, including General Maletti, who was killed emerging from his dugout. They were slaughtered and their vehicles destroyed by the British in less than ten minutes. The Italian artillery fought on valiantly, firing on the Matildas and recording many hits, some at point-blank range - but none penetrated their 70mm of armour. The remaining Italian tanks were captured intact, and the Libyan infantry, left practically defenceless, quickly surrendered. The British had captured Nibeiwa and destroyed the only front-line Italian armoured unit in less than five hours." [7]
January 22, 1941. Members of the Australian 2/11th Infantry Battalion regroup on the escarpment at the south side of Tobruk harbour, after penetrating the Italian outer defences and attacking anti-aircraft positions. (Photographer: Frank Hurley.)
The Italians in the rest of Libya were unprepared for the speed of O'Connor's attack. As the Commonwealth forces advanced, several large Italian units were surrounded, cut off from supply, and defeated. After some hard fighting, one position after another surrendered. The Australians captured Bardia on January 5, taking 38,300 prisoners for a loss of 130 dead and 326 wounded of their own. The war booty included 462 guns of various kind, 12 serviceable medium tanks, 115 L3/35 tankettes and 708 motor vehicles. [8][9] Tobruk was captured January 22, yielding over 25,000 prisoners along with 208 field and medium guns, 23 medium tanks and more than 200 other vehicles. The Australian losses were 49 dead and 306 wounded. [10][11] After that, the advance continued towards Derna, and on January 24 the 4th Armoured Brigade engaged a force including 50 M-series tanks on the Derna - Mechili track. While the British managed to destroy nine Italian tanks in the battle, they themselves lost one cruiser and six light ones[12]. Derna itself was captured on February 3.
Italian General Annibale "Electric Whiskers" Bergonzoli, placed in command by Mussolini after the disaster at Sidi Barrani, initially commanded the defenses of Bardia. But 40,000 Italian troops in Bardia quit after one day after the Australian 6th Division attacked. Bergonzolli was able to stay just ahead of the Commonwealth forces as they then advanced to Tobruk.
Ultimately Bergonzoli became a prisoner in Benghazi[13] after the remnants of the Italian Tenth Army was cut off and defeated at Beda Fomm.
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Battle of Beda Fomm
The rapid British advance caused the Italians to make a decision to evacuate Cyrenaica. In late January 1941, the British learned that the Italians were evacuating Cyrenaica by way of Beda Fomm. The British 7th Armoured Division under Major General Sir Michael O'Moore Creagh was dispatched to intercept the remnants of the fleeing Italian Tenth Army.
Creagh's division was to travel via Mechili, Msus and Antelat (the bottom of the semi-circle), while the Australian 6th Division chased the Italians along the coast road round the Jebel Akhdar mountains to the north (the curve of the semi-circle). The poor terrain was hard going for the tanks, and Creagh took the bold decision to send a flying column (christened Combe Force) south-west across the virtually unmapped Libyan Desert. Combe Force, under Lieutenant Colonel John Combe of the 11th Hussars, consisted of 11th Hussars, a squadron of King's Dragoon Guards, 2nd Battalion of the Rifle Brigade, a Royal Air Force armoured car squadron, anti-tank guns from 3 Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) and 'C' battery 4 RHA. The force totalled about 2,000 men. For the sake of speed, only light and Cruiser tanks were part of the Combe Force flying column.
On 4 February1941, Combe Force arrived at the town of Beda Fomm and set up defensive positions to block the retreating Italian Tenth Army. The following day, advanced units of the Italian army arrived and attacked. The Italians attacked furiously and in desperation. But they failed to break through the blockade.
For two days, the riflemen, tanks, and guns of Combe Force managed to hold off about 20,000 Italian soldiers supported by over one hundred tanks and two hundred guns. In this engagement most of the Italian tanks were the newly arrived Fiat M13/40 medium tanks. The M13s were a vast improvement to the M11s. They had a better turret-mounted 47 mm tank gun which was more than able to pierce the armor of the British light and cruiser tanks.
The fighting was close and often hand-to-hand. At one point, a regimental sergeant major captured an Italian light tank by hitting the commander over the head with a rifle-butt.
The final Italian effort came on 7 February when the last 20 Italian medium tanks broke through the thin cordon of riflemen and anti-tank guns. But even this breakthrough was ultimately stopped by the fire of British field guns located just a few yards from regimental HQ. After this final failure, with the rest of the British 7th Armoured Division arriving, and the Australian 6th Division bearing down on them from the Benghazi, the Italians surrendered in droves.
General Wavell's advance had cut off a garrison of approximately 1000 Italians at Giarabub, an oasis 160 miles to the south of Bardia and twenty-five from the border. Giararub was shelled for weeks and the number of supply aircraft able to land was severely restricted. After the fighting developed the Italian supply aircraft escorted by fighters would fly in replacement units to Giararub and evacuate the sick and wounded. There was great deal of patrolling, skirmishing and some air combat. The final attack on Giararub on 21 March lasted for about two days and once again the Australians and Italians took heavy casualties but the 2/9th Battalion won the battle losing 17 killed and and 77 wounded. It was estimated that 250 casualties had been caused to the Italian battalion under the weight of artillery softening up fire, hand to hand combat and the British airstrikes.
Conclusion
After 10 weeks the Italian Tenth Army was no more. The British and Commonwealth forces had advanced 800 km, destroyed about 400 tanks and 1292 artillery pieces, and captured 130,000 Libyan and Italian POWs. In contrast, the British and Commonwealth forces suffered 494 dead and 1,225 wounded. One in twenty-five of the Commeanwealth troops were either killed or wounded in the attacks. However the advance stopped short of driving the Italians out of North Africa. As the advance reached El Agheila, Churchill ordered that it be stopped, and troops dispatched to defend Greece attacked by the Italians. Also, on January 11, 1941, HMS Illustrious suffered a crippling dive-bomber attack, allowing the first troops of the German Afrika Korps to begin arriving in Tripolitania (Operation Sonnenblume), and the desert war would take a completely different turn. [14]
Given other setbacks suffered during the early war years, the Allied troops of Operation Compass were highly publicized and became renown as "Wavell's Thirty Thousand," which was used as the title of a 1942 British documentary chronicling the campaign.[15]
Quotes
Bonner Fellers: "General Wavell told me they were going to do manoeuvres, so I went up as an observer, and God dammit — it was the works."
Anonymous Coldstream Guardsofficer: "We have [taken prisoner] about 5 acres [20,000 m²] of officers and 200 acres [800,000 m²] of other ranks."
Anthony Eden: (after the battle of Bardia) "Never has so much been surrendered by so many to so few."
Rodolfo Graziani: (writing to Mussolini after the defeat) "In this theatre of operations a single armoured division is more important than an entire [infantry] army."[16]
^The Italian 10th Army in the opening campaign in the western desert, June 1940 – December 1940, pg. 86
^Jon Latimer, Operation Compass 1940: Wavell's whirlwind offensive, Westport, CT: Praeger, 2004, ISBN 0 275 98286 6, page 87; the British losses were 15 aircraft for all causes.
^Latimer, page 87; Only the aircraft losses of the Italians are from the Latimer's book. The number comprises of 58 aircraft lost in combat, 91 captured intact on airfields and 1,100 damaged and captured.
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Italian Tenth Army
Richard O'Connor