It is also surrounded by steep escarpments, which make it easy to fortify against attack from the land. Tobruk is the most important port in northern Africa, because its deep water allows large ships to dock there. After the war he was tried for treason and hanged. Because he spoke with an upper-class English accent, he was nicknamed 'Lord Haw-Haw'. One of these was William Joyce, who had been born in America and grew up in Ireland. The Nazis used people from English-speaking backgrounds to broadcast propaganda intended to demoralize and undermine the soldiers and citizens of Allied nations. Saw our tanks on fire We are now surrounded.ĭiary entry for 11 April 1941 by Harold Johnstone, a soldier in Tobruk. Very heavy artillery barrage all afternoon. Rommel’s forces surrounded the port in early April 1941, and so began the siege of Tobruk. He used panzer (‘armour’) tanks to make swift attacks across the flat desert terrain, driving most of the Allied forces out of Libya, into Egypt.Ī number of British and Commonwealth troops remained in Libya, in the fortified port of Tobruk. Rommel was recognised by his enemies as a brilliant tactician and at first, his troops were unstoppable. Some Italian forces were present in this campaign, but it was the German forces under Field Marshall Erwin Rommel that played the greatest part.
Control of oil supplies was often a deciding factor in winning battles.
There were also major oil fields in the Middle East that were vital to fuel their tanks, planes and motorised transport. Controlling north Africa would give the Allied forces a base from which to attack occupied Europe, across the Mediterranean. The deserts of north Africa were an important battleground in World War II.
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