Operation Compass: O'Connors Desert Offensive
Italy declared war on France and Great Britain on 10 June 1940. The Italian forces in the Mediterranean vastly outnumbered those of the British. On 11 June, Hitler had learned that the Italians had bombed Malta. By 12 June the armoured cars of the 11th Hussars had conducted a series of raids over the Egyptian Frontier. Mussolini ordered Marshal Italo Balbo, to launch a full scale offensive with the goal of capturing the Suez Canal. After Balbo's accidental death on June 28, Mussolini replaced him with General Rodolfo Graziani.
Graziani had at his disposal were the Tenth and Fifth Armies which consisted of around 150,000 men, 600 tanks, 1,200 artillery pieces. Opposing the Italians Lt. General Richard O'Connor's West Desert Force had 31,000 men, 275 tanks, 60 armored cars, 120 artillery pieces. The British troops were highly mechanized and mobile, and possessed more advanced tanks than the Italians. Among these was the heavy Matilda I which no available Italian tank/anti-tank gun could penetrate. Only one Italian unit was mechanized, the Maletti Group, which possessed trucks and a variety of light armor.
On September 13, 1940, Graziani attacked Egypt with seven divisions and the Maletti Group. After recapturing Fort Capuzzo, the Italians pressed on, advancing 60 miles in three days. Halting at Sidi Barrani, the Italians dug in to await supplies and reinforcements.
O'Connor planned Operation Compass which was designed to push the Italians out of Egypt and back into Libya as far as Benghazi. On December 8, 1940, British and Indian Army units struck at Sidi Barrani. British forces attacked south of Sidi Barrani and achieved complete surprise. Supported by artillery, aircraft, and armor, the assault overran the Italian position within five hours and resulted in the destruction of the Maletti Group. Over the next three days, O'Connor's men destroyed 237 Italian artillery pieces, 73 tanks, and capturing 38,300 men. Moving through Halfaya Pass, they crossed the border and captured Fort Capuzzo.
O'Connor wished to move on Tobruk; however he was forced to halt when the 4th Indian Division was withdrawn for operations in East Africa. It was replaced on December 18 by the Australian 6th Division, marking the first time Australian troops saw combat in World War II. Pushing into Libya, the Australians captured Bardia (January 5, 1941), Tobruk (January 22), and Derna (February 3).
Unable to stop O'Connor's Offensive, Graziani made the decision to abandon Cyrenaica and ordered the Tenth Army to fall back through Beda Fomm. O'Connor improvised a new plan to destroy the Tenth Army. While the Australians pushed the Italians back along the coast, the 7th Armoured Division turned inland, and crossed the desert, traveling via Mechili, Msus and Antelat.
Creagh's tanks found the rough terrain of the desert difficult to cross. Falling behind schedule, Creagh made the decision to send a "flying column" forward to take Beda Fomm. Combe Force consisted of around 2,000 men, with limited armor support of light and Cruiser tanks. It occupied Beda Fomm on February 4. Establishing defensive positions facing north up the coast, they came under heavy attack the next day. Desperately attacking the Italians repeatedly failed to break through. For two days, Combe's 2,000 men held off 20,000 Italians supported by over 100 tanks. On February 7, 20 Italian tanks managed to break into the British lines but were defeated by Combe's field guns. Later that day, with the arrival of 7th Armoured Division and the Australians pressing from the north, the Tenth Army began surrendering en masse.
In two months, the XIII Corps/Western Desert Force had advanced over 800 miles (1,300 km), destroyed an entire Italian army of ten divisions, taken over 130,000 prisoners, 400 tanks and 1,292 guns at the cost of 494 dead and 1,225 wounded. The British failed to exploit the success of Operation Compass. Churchill ordered the advance stopped at El Agheila and began withdrawaling troops to aid in the defense of Greece. Later that month, the German Afrika Korps began deploying to the area radically changing the course of the war in North Africa. On 6 April O'Connor was captured by a German patrol near Martuba.
Campaign Map:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/AfricaMap1.jpg (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/AfricaMap1.jpg)
Detailed account:
http://militaryhistory.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=militaryhistory&cdn=education&tm=446&f=00&tt=11&bt=1&bts=1&zu=http%3A//www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_compass1.html (http://militaryhistory.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=militaryhistory&cdn=education&tm=446&f=00&tt=11&bt=1&bts=1&zu=http%3A//www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_compass1.html)