Trabulusna: January 2009

Tobruk is on the Mediterranean Sea in northeastern Libya.

For other uses, see Tobruk (disambiguation).

Tobruk or Tubruq (Arabic: طبرق; also transliterated as Tóbruch, Tobruch, Ţubruq, Tobruck ) is a town, seaport, municipality, and peninsula in northeastern Libya, near the border with Egypt, in North Africa. The town of Tobruk has a population of 110,000 (2006), ^[1] and it is the capital of Tubruq Municipality. Tobruk was the site of a colony of ancient Greeks, and, later, Tobruk held a Roman fortress for guarding the frontier of Cyrenaica.^[1] Over the centuries, Tobruk also served as a way station along the coastal caravan route.^[1] By 1911, Tobruk became an Italian military post, but during World War II, in 1941, Allied forces, mainly the Australian 9th Division, The Rats of Tobruk, took Tobruk and prolonged fighting with Nazi Germany followed.^[1] Rebuilt after World War II, Tobruk was later expanded during the 1960s to have a port terminal linked by an oil pipeline to the Sarir oil field.^[1] Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Mediterranean redirects here. ... Arabic redirects here. ... Ronda, Spain Main street in Bastrop, Texas, United States, a small town A town is a community of people ranging from a few hundred to several thousands, although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan areas. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Port. ... Northern Africa (UN subregion) geographic, including above North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan Africa. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. ... The Roman Empire ca. ... Year 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... For other uses, see 1941 (disambiguation). ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki TÅ�jÅ� Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969. ... An elevated section of the Alaska Pipeline Pipeline transport is a transportation of goods through a tube. ... The Sarir Field was discovered in southern Cyrenaica during 1961 and is considered to be the largest oil field in Libya, with estimated oil reserves of 12 billion bbl. ...

Geography

Tobruk by night

Tobruk has a strong, naturally-protected deep harbor. It is probably the best natural port in northern Africa, although due to the lack of important nearby land sites it is certainly not the most populous: the city is effectively surrounded by a desert lightly populated with nomadic herdsmen who travel from oasis to oasis. There are many escarpments (cliffs) to the south of Tobruk (and indeed in all of Cyrenaica, the eastern half of Libya). These escarpments generally have their high sides to the south and their low sides to the north. This constitutes a substantial physical barrier between the north and south of Libya in the Tobruk area. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (867x649, 332 KB) Summary Night view of the Libyan city of Tobruk in Eastern Libya, near the Egyptian border. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (867x649, 332 KB) Summary Night view of the Libyan city of Tobruk in Eastern Libya, near the Egyptian border. ... For other uses, see Harbor (disambiguation). ... For the 2006 historical epic set in Kazakhstan, see Nomad (2006 film). ... For the English rock band, see Oasis (band). ...

History

An ancient Greek agricultural colony, Antipyrgos (Antipyrgus) was once on the site of modern Tobruk,^[1] and the ancient name is still occasionally in use. The name roughly meant "across from Pyrgos", referring to a location in Crete across the Mediterranean Sea from Antipyrgos. In the Roman era, the town became a Roman fortress guarding the Cyrenaican frontier. Later the site became a way station on the caravan route that ran along the coast. The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history in Classical Antiquity, lasting ca. ... For other places that have the same name, click Pyrgos (disambiguation) Pyrgos is an archaeological site of the Minoan civilization near Myrtos in the municipality of Ierapetra on the south coast of Crete. ... For other uses, see Crete (disambiguation). ... Mediterranean redirects here. ... For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ... Fortifications (Latin fortis, strong, and facere, to make) are military constructions designed for defensive warfare. ... The Roman Empire ca. ... A camel train is a series of camels carrying goods or passengers in a group as part of a regular or semi-regular service between two points. ...

Strategic importance in World War II

Main article: Western Desert Campaign

At the beginning of World War II, Libya was an Italian colony and Tobruk became the site of important battles between the Allies and Axis powers. Tobruk was strategically important to the conquest of Eastern Libya, then the province of Cyrenaica, for several reasons. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki TÅ�jÅ� Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Generally, a battle is an instance of combat in warfare between two or more parties wherein each group will seek to defeat the others. ... This article is about the independent states that comprised the Allies. ... This article is about the independent states that comprised the Axis powers. ...

The Battle of Ghazala in May 1942, in vicinity of Tobruk

Tobruk had a deep, natural, and protected harbor, which meant that even if the port was bombed, ships would still be able to anchor there and be safe from squalls, so the port could never be rendered wholly useless regardless of military bombardment. This was of critical importance, as it made Tobruk an excellent place to supply a desert warfare campaign. It was also heavily fortified by the Italians prior to their invasion of Egypt in November 1940. In addition to these prepared fortifications there were a number of escarpments and cliffs to the south of Tobruk providing substantial physical barriers to any advance on the port. Tobruk was also on a peninsula, allowing it to be defended by a minimal number of troops, which the Allies used to their advantage when the port was under siege. An attacker could not simply bypass the defenders for if they did the besieged would sally forth and cut off the nearby supply lines of the attacker, spoiling their advance. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 788 Ã— 600 pixelsFull resolution (1256 Ã— 956 pixel, file size: 180 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Origianl from: http://www. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 788 Ã— 600 pixelsFull resolution (1256 Ã— 956 pixel, file size: 180 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Origianl from: http://www. ... For other uses, see Bomb (disambiguation). ... A squall is a sudden, sharp increase in wind speed which usually is associated with active weather, such as rain showers, thunderstorms, or heavy snow. ... Desert warfare is combat in deserts. ...

But Tobruk was also strategically significant due to its location with regards to the remainder of Cyrenaica. Attackers from the east who had secured Tobruk could then advance through the desert to Benghazi, cutting off all enemy troops along the coast, such as those at Derna. This advance would be protected from counterattack due to escarpments that were quite difficult for a military force to climb, running generally from Tobruk to Soluch. Due to the importance of maintaining supply in the desert, getting cut off in this area was disastrous, therefore whoever held both Soluch and Tobruk controlled the majority of Cyrenaica. Colourful buildings in the city centre. ... The city of Derna, also spelled Derne, was the historic capitol of the Libyan province of Cyrenaica. ... Closing the Falais-Argentan Pocket and the Mortain counterattack 6-17 August 1944 A counterattack is a military tactic used by defending forces when under attack by an enemy force. ... Look up Logistics in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Finally, fifteen miles south of the port was the largest airfield in eastern Libya. This was significant due to the importance of air power in desert warfare.

Although not as much a reason for its strategic significance, the British built a rail line from El Alamein to Tobruk during the course of the war. This rail line is significant both for purposes of supply but also as a sense of pride to the Allied troops, as the rail line was built through a little-populated, inhospitable desert. El Alamein is a town in northern Egypt on the Mediterranean Sea coast. ...

Italian forces (and their native Libyan allies — about two divisions of the latter) invaded Egypt in November 1940 and sat just across the border, along the Mediterranean. British Commonwealth forces — an armoured division and two infantry divisions — launched a counterstrike codenamed Operation Compass in early December. The Italians had previously invaded Greece and France, and had now made a military incursion into a British protectorate. The counterstrike involved the British pocketing two of the Italian camps against the Mediterranean, forcing their surrender. This led to a general Italian withdrawal and a British Commonwealth advance. Tobruk was captured by British, Australian and Indian forces on 22 January 1941. Symbol of the Polish 1st Legions Infantry Division in NATO code A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of around ten to twenty thousand soldiers. ... The Commonwealth of Nations as of 2006 Headquarters Marlborough House, London, UK Official languages English Membership 53 sovereign states Leaders - Queen Elizabeth II - Secretary-General Don McKinnon (since 1 April 2000) Establishment - Balfour Declaration 18 November 1926 - Statute of Westminster 11 December 1931 - London Declaration 28 April 1949 Area - Total... Combatants Western Desert Force Italian Tenth Army Commanders Richard OConnor Rodolfo Graziani Pietro Maletti â€ Strength 50,000 soldiers 120 guns 275 tanks 100,000 soldiers 1,600 guns 600 light tanks Casualties 494 dead 1,225 wounded 3,000 dead 115,000 captured 400 tanks 1,292 guns Operation... is the 22nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see 1941 (disambiguation). ...

Italy called on her German ally, which sent an army corps, under the name Deutsches Afrika Korps (DAK). Italy also sent several more divisions to Libya. These forces, under Lieutenant-General Erwin Rommel, drove the Allies back across Cyrenaica to Tobruk, laying siege. The defenders of the fortress consisted of the Australian 9th Division, the Australian 18th Brigade and some British tanks and artillery. They were later reinforced and replaced by the British 70th Infantry Division, Polish Independent Carpathian Rifle Brigade, a Czechoslovak battalion and a British tank brigade. The siege lasted until December, when Operation Crusader pushed the DAK and Italians back out of Cyrenaica. A corps (plural same as singular; a word that migrated from the French language, pronounced IPA: (cor), but originating in the Latin corpus, corporis meaning body) is either a large military unit or formation, an administrative grouping of troops within an army with a common function (such as artillery or... The Deutsches Afrikakorps (often just Afrika Korps or DAK) was the corps-level headquarters controlling the German Panzer divisions in Libya and Egypts Western Desert during the North African Campaign of World War II. Since there was little turnover in the units attached to the corps the term is... Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. ... Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel ( ) (15 November 1891 â€“ 14 October 1944) was one of the most famous German field marshals of World War II. He was the commander of the Deutsches Afrika Korps and also became known by the nickname â€œThe Desert Foxâ€� (WÃ¼stenfuchs, ) for the skillful military campaigns he... Combatants Australia United Kingdom South Africa Poland Czechoslovakia Germany Italy Commanders Leslie Morshead Erwin Rommel Strength 14,000 35,000? Casualties Britain: 9009 killed 941 captured estimated 12,000 total 8,000 The Siege of Tobruk was a lengthy confrontation between Axis and Allied forces, mostly Australian, in the North... My God, I wish we had [the] 9th Australian Division with us this morning. ... December 27, 1943. ... // History This formation had a brief history during the Second World War. ... The Carpathian Brigade started on offensive activity towards Derna (December 12, 1941) Polish Independent Carpathian Brigade (Polish Samodzielna Brygada StrzelcÃ³w Karpackich, SBSK) was a Polish military unit formed in 1940 in French Syria of the Polish soldiers exiled after the Invasion of Poland in 1939. ... Combatants United Kingdom Australia New Zealand Poland Germany Italy Commanders Claude Auchinleck Alan Gordon Cunningham Neil Ritchie Erwin Rommel Ludwig CrÃ¼well Strength 8th Army comprising XIII Corps, XXX Corps and 70th Division. ...

Rommel's second offensive took place in May and June 1942. Tobruk was taken in a surprise attack on 21 June 1942 along with most of the South African 2nd Division. It remained in Axis hands until 11 November 1942, when the Allies captured it after the victorious Second Battle of El Alamein. It remained in Allied hands thereafter. is the 172nd day of the year (173rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The South African 2nd Infantry Division was an infantry division of the South African Army during World War II. // The division was formed on 23 October 1940 with its divisional HQ at Voortrekkerhoogte, South Africa. ... is the 315th day of the year (316th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Battle of Alam Halfa, which is also often termed the Second Battle of El Alamein, see Battle of Alam Halfa Combatants British Eighth Army: United Kingdom Australia New Zealand South Africa India Panzer Army Africa: Nazi Germany Fascist Italy Commanders Bernard Montgomery Erwin Rommel Strength 220,000 men...

Notes

On 1 January 1934, Tripolitania, Cyrenaica, and Fezzan were united as the Italian colony of Libya. However, during World War II these names continued to be used.

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Tobruk" (history), Encyclopædia Britannica, 2006, Britannica Concise Encyclopedia, Concise.Britannica.com webpage: BC-Tobruk.

Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki TÅ�jÅ� Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

External links

Tobruk: Australian toughness beats Rommel

Maps and aerial photos for 32°04′34″N 23°57′41″E / 32.0762, 23.9615Coordinates: 32°04′34″N 23°57′41″E / 32.0762, 23.9615
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Categories: Cities in Libya | Ancient Greek cities Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...

Results from FactBites:

Tobruk - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (1053 words)
	Tobruk was strategically important to the conquest of Eastern Libya, then the province of Cyrenecia for several reasons.
	Tobruk was also strategically important due to the fact that it was heavily fortified by the Italians prior to their invasion of Egypt in November of 1940.
	Tobruk was captured by British and Australian forces on January 12, 1941.

Siege of Tobruk - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (308 words)
	The Siege of Tobruk was a lengthy confrontation between Axis and Allied forces, mostly Australian, in the North African Campaign of World War II.
	Tobruk was the longest siege in British Empire military history, and was the first notable land defeat for a German army in World War II.
	Rommel nonetheless captured Tobruk in a new offensive in 1942 in the Battle of Gazala.