The Rats of Tobruk The experiences of Australians during WW2

Where is Tobruk?

Tobruk before 1938Before WW2, this part of Libya was controlled by

the Italians.

Tobruk was of strategic importance to the power that controlled it because of its deep water harbour.

It became a well fortified naval base.

SOURCE A – An aerial photograph of Tobruk, 1941

The battle for Tobruk, WWII

Britain and Commonwealth forces advanced out of Egypt into Libya in January 1941.

The Australian Troops of the 6th Division (AIF) gained control of Tobruk from the Italian infantry on the morning of the 22nd of January.

27, 000 Italian soldiers were taken as prisoners of war (POWs) and 200 artillery pieces became Australian possessions.

49 Australians were killed in the fight for Tobruk

The siege of Tobruk The soldiers of the 6th Division were withdrawn from Tobruk to

serve in Greece and were replaced by soldiers of the 9th Division who garrisoned Tobruk.

German troops lead by General Erwin Rommel had arrived in Libya to reinforce their Italian allies.

Rommels men landed at El Agheilar, a Libyan town to the West of Tobruk

The soldiers of the 9th Division were commanded to hold Tobruk from the advancing Germans so that could not gain control of its port facilities.

The soldiers of the 9th Division were ‘encircled’ or surrounded by the Germans at Tobruk from April until September 1941.

Garrisoned = stationed/occupied

A map of North Africa

What was the fighting at Tobruk like?

SOURCE BDust storms, heat, fleas, flies, sleepless nights, when the earth shook with the roar of the enemy’s fury, daring raids into no man’s land through mine fields and barbed wire, scorching day after day in the front line, where no man dared stand upright, but crouched behind a knee-high protection of rocks – all these things had been the lot of the defenders of Tobruk.

The Age, 24, November 1941SOURCE C –(Left) Australian Soldiers ‘digging in’SOURCE D – (Right)

Casualties in the 9th Division

749 killed

1996 Wounded

604 Prisoners

Activities1. Using the information on this presentation create

a detailed fact file of the Australian troops experiences at Tobruk. Your fact file must include the answers to the following questions.

1. Where is Tobruk?

2. Who controlled Tobruk before the Australians?

3. What happened in Tobruk between April and September 1941?

4. When did General Erwin Rommel lay siege to Tobruk?

5. Why did our troops call themselves the ‘Rats of Tobruk’?

2. Paragraph Response: Describe the experiences of Australian Troops at Tobruk: Refer to Source B, C and D in your response.