Key Facts
- Date
- 5–7 February 1941
- Prisoners taken
- 25,000
- Tanks captured
- 107 (of 420 total for Compass)
- Guns captured
- 93 (of 845 total for Compass)
- Total Compass haul
- 133,298 men, 420 tanks, 845 guns
Strategic Narrative Overview
The 7th Armoured Division and Combeforce, a fast column of wheeled vehicles under Lieutenant-Colonel John Combe, raced across the desert chord via Msus and Antelat. Late on 5 February they reached the Via Balbia near Sidi Saleh and set roadblocks just thirty minutes before the Italian vanguard arrived. Over the following two days the encircled Italians launched repeated attacks to break through, while British reinforcements arrived and Australian forces closed from the north.
01 / The Origins
Operation Compass, the British offensive in North Africa launched in December 1940, rapidly overwhelmed Italian forces in Cyrenaica. By late January 1941 the Italian 10th Army was retreating northward along the coastal Via Balbia from Benghazi. British commanders recognized an opportunity to cut off the withdrawal by pushing an armoured force through the desert south of the Jebel Akhdar, while Australian infantry pressed the Italians from the north along the coastal road.
03 / The Outcome
On 7 February 1941 the remnants of the Italian 10th Army surrendered between Benghazi and Agedabia, ending the Cyrenaican campaign. Churchill then halted the advance and diverted troops to Greece. British overextension and vehicle exhaustion precluded further progress, and German forces under Erwin Rommel began arriving in Libya to form the Afrika Korps, setting the stage for a prolonged desert war.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Side B
1 belligerent
Major-General Sir Michael O'Moore Creagh, Lieutenant-Colonel John Combe.
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.