In turn this would lead to German intervention in the fighting in North Africa, changing the nature of the war in that theatre. In the background is the township of Bardia and its small harbour. The older guns often had worn barrels, which caused problems with accuracy. This battle was part of Operation Compass and was the first battle of war in which an Australian Army formation took part: The allies had taken Sidi el Barrani 9th – 10th December 1940, which was the first battle of Operation Compass and continued to push westward into Italian held territory. [98] Even while the battle was raging, Wavell had received a cable from General Sir John Dill stressing the political importance of such victories in the United States, where President Franklin D. Roosevelt was attempting to get the Lend-Lease Act passed. A whistle was blown as a signal to detonate the torpedoes but could not be heard over the din of the barrage. There was also the prospect that an attack here could split the fortress in two. [15] Bergonzoli also had the remnants of the disbanded 64th "Catanzaro" Infantry Division, some 6,000 Frontier Guard (GaF) troops, three companies of Bersaglieri, part of the dismounted Vittorio Emanuele cavalry regiment, and a machine gun company of the 60th "Sabratha" Infantry Division. A wounded British tank troop commander also reported that one of his tanks had been knocked out and the other three were out of fuel or ammunition. Posts 56 and 61 surrendered without a fight and white flags were raised over Posts 58, 60, 63 and 65, and the gun positions near Post 58. Position at dusk on 3 January 1941. The survivors got the gun back into action and knocked out a fifth tank. The two companies succeeded in taking 400 prisoners. The only post still holding out was now Post 11. The 6th Australian Division Assistant Adjutant General and Quartermaster General (AA&QMG), Colonel George Alan Vasey said "This is a Q war". Once it became clear that the Italians intended to stand and fight, bombing priorities shifted to the Italian airbases around Tobruk, Derna and Benina. Ferdinando Pancisi was captured on this day, he remembers: “I was a male nurse for the Red Cross, I had to care for and help the sick, injured and look after the people. Halliday repeated this tactic against Post 14, which was taken at 0400 with 64 prisoners. Fortunately, these World War I-era small arms, the Lee–Enfield rifle and the Vickers machine gun, were solid and reliable weapons that would remain in service throughout the war; they were augmented by the more recent Bren light machine gun. [14], After the disaster at Sidi Barrani and the withdrawal from Egypt, XXIII Corps (Generale di Corpo d'Armata (Lieutenant General) Annibale Bergonzoli) faced the British from within the strong defences of Bardia. [23] The result was that the firepower of the Italian defenders was neither as great nor as effective as it should have been. The incident was witnessed by the Italians at Post 25 some 450 yards (410 m) away, who promptly surrendered. The gloves were distributed, but the tape did not reach the 16th Infantry Brigade in time, so rifle cleaning flannelette was torn into strips and used instead. The advance resumed, only to come under machine gun and artillery fire from Wadi el Gerfan. [41], At a meeting with Mackay on Christmas Eve, 1940, O'Connor visited Mackay at 6th Division headquarters and directed him to prepare an attack on Bardia. [43] Air raids on Bardia resumed in the lead-up to the ground assault, with 100 bombing sorties flown against Bardia between 31 December 1940 and 2 January 1941, climaxing with a particularly heavy raid by Vickers Wellington bombers of No. [13], Unlike the Great Sand Sea, the coastal portion of the Libyan Desert is stony rather than sandy, but it is no less arid, and supports little vegetation. A consignment of 11,500 sleeveless leather jerkins for protection against the cold and barbed wire were distributed, as were 350 sets of captured Italian wire cutters. The bitter cold required the Australian troops to don greatcoats, balaclavas and leather jerkins. Perhaps most important of all, it raised confidence in the possibility of an ultimate Allied victory around the world, which would lead to the Lend-Lease Act being passed in the United States. Inside the fort were two 6 inch guns, two field guns and five other guns of the fort. Australia’s first group of Italian POWs arrived in May 1941, four months after the Battle of Bardia and five months after the Battle of Sidi el Barrani. Combined with an assault by the 2/11th Battalion and ending with the charge of the Bren Gun Carrier Platoon, Post 11 surrendered at midday on 5 January. It was the first battle of the war in which an Australian Army formation took part, the first to be commanded by an Australian general and the first to be planned by an Australian staff. Five minutes later, the 23 Matildas of the 7th Royal Tank Regiment advanced, accompanied by the 2/2nd Infantry Battalion. The Australian troops made good progress, six tank crossings were readied and mines between them and the wire had been detected. I came to in that trench where Brian Latham and his section had died. [49], Supplies were stocked at 8 Field Supply Depot at Sallum, where a jetty was constructed by the Royal Engineers. Rome: Esercito. [91] "On a battlefield where Italian troops won little honour", Gavin Long later wrote, "the last to give in belonged to a garrison whose resolute fight would have done credit to any army."[92]. The sun had now risen, and Captain C. H. Smith's D Company came under effective fire from machine guns and field artillery 700 yards (640 m) to the north east. [36] Harding later considered the 6th Division staff "as good as any that I came across in that war, and highly efficient. Date from: 03 January 1941: Date to: 05 January 1941: Category: Battle honours: Conflict: Second World War, 1939-1945 [40] Only A Squadron of the 2/6th Cavalry Regiment was on hand, as the rest of the regiment was deployed in the defence of the frontier posts at Al-Jaghbub and Siwa Oasis. For the Australian troops, this would be their first major action of the Second World War. A third attempt against Post 17 failed: the previous attacks had alerted the post and D Company came under heavy mortar and machine gun fire. [32] These policies favoured the Royal Australian Navy, which received the majority of defence spending in the interwar period. These shortages were gradually remedied by deliveries from British sources. The British were unfamiliar with diesel engines and a lack of spare parts, indifferent maintenance and hard use under desert conditions soon took their toll, leading to many breakdowns. [40], To make up for this, O'Connor augmented Brigadier Edmund Herring's 6th Australian Division Artillery with part of the XIII Corps artillery: the 104th (Essex Yeomanry) Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery, equipped with sixteen 25 pounders; F Battery, Royal Horse Artillery, with twelve; the 51st Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, with twenty four and the 7th Medium Regiment, Royal Artillery, which was equipped with two 60-pounders, eight 6-inch howitzers and eight 6-inch guns. Gullett regarded this quality as an extension of the spirit which their fathers, as members of the First AIF, engendered: It did not strike us as extraordinary or unfair that our generation should be called upon to fight. The artillery opened fire at 0530. [2] Australian losses totalled 130 dead and 326 wounded. [46] Mackay insisted that the attack required 125 rounds per gun.

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