Part 2: SA's defeat at Tobruk

Jackie Loos tackles South Africa's military defeat at Tobruk in a three part article from her "The Way We Were" column in the Cape Argus. Picture: Gary Van Wyk/INL

Jackie Loos tackles South Africa's military defeat at Tobruk in a three part article from her "The Way We Were" column in the Cape Argus. Picture: Gary Van Wyk/INL

Published Aug 17, 2017

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Libya, June 20, 1942. The small dusty port of Tobruk was about to become a military football in the war for supremacy in the North African desert.

Snatched from the Italians in January 1941 and stoutly defended for five months by Australian “Desert Rats”, it had since been re-garrisoned by 35 000 Allied troops under the command of an untested South African career soldier, Major-General Hendrik Klopper (1902-1978).

He had been promoted to his first combat command in May 1942 by General William Gott, the British commander of XIII Corps.

Britain and her allies suffered numerous set-backs during the first three years of WWII, and Winston Churchill regarded the fortress town of Tobruk as a symbol of fortitude and gallant resistance.

Press reports echoed his optimism, lulling the public into a false sense of security.

The stakes had been raised the previous year when an experienced and imaginative panzer commander, General Erwin Rommel (1891-1944), arrived to beef up the lacklustre Italian forces. He went on a second offensive in 1942, expelling Allied troops from their positions along the North African coast and driving them helter-skelter back towards Egypt.

Tobruk was an irritant that had to be eliminated. The hard-pressed Allied commanders knew the port would be at risk if it were cut off, but there were no concrete plans for evacuation because they expected Klopper to be able to hold out for two months.

Rommel looked ahead in days, not months. Having isolated the garrison two days previously, he attacked unexpectedly from the east, demoralising the defenders with dive-bombers, artillery bombardments and panzer attacks. Once the perimeter defences had been breached and the mines lifted, the attackers captured the airfield and headed for the port.

 

Klopper, out of his depth, retreated westwards when his HQ was bombed. He didn’t order a general breakout, choosing instead to rely on vague promises of outside support. Some stockpiled stores were destroyed, but not nearly enough.

Communications had broken down, and in the chaos that followed some troops escaped and headed east, others continued to fight, and those in the western sector watched the plumes of smoke in the distance without understanding what they meant.

Dawn revealed that the attackers were in full control of the ruined port and had captured huge quantities of vital stores, leaving Klopper with no option but to surrender. The white flag went up at about 10am, but some troops (including many South Africans) were not informed and held out for the rest of the day.

Rommel transferred about 33 000 Allied prisoners to the Italians, from whom the town had been captured in 1941, with fateful consequences.

Part 3

: The aftermath of defeat, will be published.

* Jackie Loos writes her "The Way We Were" column in the Cape Argus every week.

** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.

Cape Argus

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