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Siege of Tobruk
The Siege of Tobruk was part of the Western Desert Campaign and took place from the 10th of April to 27th of November 1941 being ended by Operation Crusader.
10th Apr 1941 Attacks
11th Apr 1941 In Defence
12th Apr 1941 On the Move
13th Apr 1941 Air Raid
14th Apr 1941 Air Raid
23rd April 1941 On the move
12th June 1941 Operation Battleaxe
Sept 1941 Reliefs
18th November 1941 Attacks Made
18th November 1941 Patrols
18th November 1941 Attack Launched
22nd Nov 1941 Attack Made
26th Nov 1941 Attack Made
2nd December 1941 Attacks
23rd December 1941 Move
20th Jun 1942 Reorganisation
22nd Jun 1942 2nd Camerons Captured The 2nd Camerons were captured at Tobruk on the 22 June 1942, 24 hours after their Brigade command had capitulated. Some men were able to escape but the majority were marched into captivity led by their pipers, an awesome sight to the enemy and fellow prisoners alike.
A Royal Artillery officer was witness to the arrival of 2nd Camerons to the POW cage:
"We heard, although we could scarcely believe it, the skirl of pipes. There, in the brilliant sunshine, marching down the centre of the road from the escarpment, came a long column of men. The Jerry traffic was brought to a standstill or forced on to the verges. A strange awed murmur went up from the cage: "The Camerons!"
In columns of threes they marched with a swing to the tune of their pipers - 'The March of The Cameron Men' - each company led by its company commander, just as though they were on parade. It was a supremely moving sight, although some of us could only see it hazily through our tears.
Even the Jerry sentries sprang to attention as the battalion neared the gates. There, the Camerons halted. Their Colonel reported to the Brigadier, saluted, and dismissed his men, who had held out for twenty-four hours after the surrender order had been issued."
22nd Jun 1942 2nd Camerons Captured
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Those known to have fought in Siege of Tobruk during the Second World War 1939-1945. The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed,
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Want to know more about Siege of Tobruk? There are:18 items tagged Siege of Tobruk available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War. |
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Sergeant Des Dyson 17th Coast Battery Royal Artilliery Dad was captured in Tobruk and ended up in Campo PG78 from 6th June 1942 until he escaped in Sept. or Oct. of 1943. He was Sgt. Des Dyson, 17th Coast Battery, RA. I am hoping to find out more about my fathers'regiments' movements.
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Cpl. William Lundie 5th Battalion Queens Own Cameron Highlanders William Lundie saw heavy fighting with the 5th Battalion, Queens Own Cameron Highlanders in North Africa, El Alamein and Tobruk against Rommel's forces.
Also taking part in campaigns in Sicily before taking part in the Gold Beach landings on D-Day. He made it through the landings and advanced through Caen with the 51st Highland Division and on to Germany. Encountering heavy resistance along the way before the German surrender in May 1945. While guarding POWs, Cpl Lundie was transferred to the regimental police and promoted to Sgt before returning home to his family.
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Abraham Johannes "Hans" Scholtz 2nd Division My father Abraham Scholtz was part of the 2nd Infantry Division during WW2. They were captured by the Germans at Tobruk and taken to the Moosburg Stalag PoW camp. He and some others escaped and were hiding near Valinfreda in the Italian mountains until the end of the war.
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Sgt Charles "Barry" Barrow 2nd Btn. D Coy. Cameron Highlanders My Dad Charles Barrow joined the Liverpool Scottish in early 1939.
He went to Egypt in 1940 and participated in the desert campaigns and in the Battle of Keren.
He escaped from Tobruk after jumping in the bay and being picked up by a yacht, the Carol Dean, which was then sunk by tank fire.
He was later rescued by a naval PT boat.
Later he was in Italy in that campaign with the resurrected 2nd Battalion, Cameron Highlanders.
He got as far as Luca and was on leave when the war ended.
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William Crosbie Black MM, DCM, BEM. Reina Del Pacifico William Black was my grandfather. He was born in Ramelton in Donegal Ireland in 1880.
He was a sailor in the Mercantile Marine. He was mobilised into the Lancashire Brigade, Royal Garrison Artillery on 25th of May 1915. He received a hand written duplicate letter requiring to report to the Sefton Barracks in Upper Warwick Street together with a detailed list of personal supplies and clothing to which he would receive a gratuity of £5 on reporting for duty.
He served until 12th January 1919.
He was awarded the Pip, Squeak and Wilfred War Medals, but also awarded the DCM and Military Medal. There is a Certificate for the Gallant Act he carried out to receive the Military Medal whilst serving with the Second Army.
He also received a Mercantile Marine Medal from the Board of Trade.
In WW2 he was a Quarter Master on the Reina Del Pacifico, owned by the PSNC, which was converted into troopship. He was 59 when WW2 started. He was in many theatres of the War which included the Second Battle of Tobruk and the Invasion of Sicily.
He was awarded the Africa Star with Clasp, Atlantic Star, Italy Star, Pacific Star and Burma Star.
In the Honours List announced on 9th January 1946 he was awarded the British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service.
He ended his service on SS Orbita when his Sea Service and his War Service Certificate was issued on 29th May 1947 when he was 67.
He was a much loved father and grandfather, and died aged 82 in 1962.
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Sgt. Alfred "Tom" Thomas Coldstream Guards   My father Alfred Thomas served in Palestine before the war. On 13th April 1939 he was back in Egypt, where he stayed until another tour of duty in Palestine starting on 27th of May 1940. With the Second World War now well under way, Tom was posted back to Egypt on 27th of June 1940 to face the Italians and, later, Rommel's Afrika Korps.
The Italians under Marshal Graziano launched a limited invasion of Egypt in September 1940, going as far as Sidi Barrani about 50 miles across the border from Libya, where they stopped and fortified the area. This gave General Wavell time to reorganise his forces before going on the counter-attack in Operation Compass, which began on the 7th/8th December 1940 and lasted until 7th February 1941. At that point, the Italians having lost, Sidi Barrani, the port of Bardia, Tobruk, and Benghazi surrendered south of Beda Fomm. During Operation Compass, 133,298 Italian soldiers were captured along with a large number of guns and tanks. The British now halted their attack, having to send troops to Greece. On 12th of February, Rommel flew to Tripoli ahead of his troops, who arrived on the 14th. Rommel almost immediately went on the offensive and by 24 March had taken El Agheila, which was the leading British position. He then advanced on Mersa el Brega, which fell on 31st of March. The British were by now in chaotic retreat with Benghazi falling on 4th of April. The only place holding out against Rommel’s forces was Tobruk.
My father probably fought in both campaigns, but it was during the retreat from Rommel's forces that on 27th of May 1941 he was reported as missing and only later as having been taken prisoner. It is possible that this was while defending the Halfway Pass from the German advance. My father rarely talked about his wartime experience, but he did believe that he remained alive when taken prisoner due to the fact that Rommel showed up around that time, which ensured that prisoners were treated correctly.
Prisoners of war tend to be written out of history apart from a few sensational cases of escape. These escapes were rarely successful and the reprisals could be life threatening. Many POWs were traumatised by their experiences and treatment, along with feelings of guilt for being captured. The first record of Tom, after he was shipped out of North Africa to Italy, was of being interned in Italian POW camp number 66. This camp was in Capua, a few miles south of Naples. It was situated on a vast plain that offered views of the Vesuvius volcano. When the Allies invaded Sicily on 10 July and Southern Italy on 3rd of September 1943, POWs would have been moved north as the Allies advanced. Apparently, when the Italians stopped their participation in the war, they withdrew their guards from the POW camps. This gave an opportunity for prisoners to escape. However, a secret branch of the Ministry of Defence (known as MI9) ordered that British POWs in Italy should remain in their camps after Italy surrendered. Many senior officers within the camps enforced this. As a result of this, the German army was able to walk into dozens of camps and round up the POWs.
Eventually, Tom ended up in Poland at Stalag 344 Lamsdorf (formerly Stalag VIIIB) in Silesia. This was a large German POW camp located in the small town of Lamsdorf, now called Lambinowice in Poland, that was initially built during WW1 to house French and British prisoners. His POW number was 30702.
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Gnr. J Marrs 5th Bty, 2nd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment Royal Artillery J Marrs of 10 Gamlin Street, Birkenhead, Cheshire, is one of 3 men whose names are written on the reverse of a photograph, which was in the possession of my father Albert Percival Nichols. Both were captured on 20th of June 1942, probably at Tobruk, and both were in Stalag 4A. The other two men were C Jones, Leyedge, Mayfield Drive, Cuddington, Northwich, Cheshire and J Manson, of Maitland Place, Finnstown [sic], Orkney. As well as my father, two other men (unnamed) appear on the photograph.
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Gnr. C. Jones 5th Bty, 2nd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment Royal Artillery C Jones of Leyedge, Mayfield Drive, Cuddington, Northwich, Cheshire, is one of 3 men whose names are written on the reverse of a photograph, which was in the possession of my father Albert Percival Nichols.
Both were captured on 20th of June 1942, probably at Tobruk, and both were in Stalag 4A. The other two men were J Manson of Maitland Place, Finnstown [sic], Orkney and J Marrs of 10 Gamlin Street, Birkenhead, Cheshire. As well as my father, two other men (unnamed) appear on the photograph.
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Gnr. J. Manson 5th Bty, 2nd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment Royal Artillery J Manson of Maitland Place, Finnstown [sic], Orkney, is one of 3 men whose names are written on the reverse of a photograph, which was in the possession of my father, Albert Percival Nichols.
Both were captured on 20th of June 1942, probably at Tobruk, and both were in Stalag 4A. The other two men were J Marrs of 10 Gamlin Street, Birkenhead, Cheshire and C Jones of Leyedge, Mayfield Drive, Cuddington, Northwich, Cheshire.
As well as my father, two other men (unnamed) appear on the photograph.
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Pte. Maurice Weston Brown 903 Company Royal Army Service Corps My father Maurice Brown served in WW2 with 903rd Company, RASC having joined the Royal West Kents early in 1940.
He was sent out to France in May 1940 as they went to reinforce the attempt to stop German forces invading France through Belgium.
He narrowly evaded capture around Rouen and was then evacuated near Cherbourg having abandoned all their equipment.
After re-equipping back in the UK, mostly around Dorking and Salisbury, they were sent out via Cape Town and Cairo to reinforce 1st Armoured Division. in the Western Desert in November 1941.
They arrived in time to be involved with Operation Crusader. When Rommel counter-attacked in May 1942 my father's company withdrew to Tobruk where he was captured on 20th of June 1942.
After a time in camps behind the lines he was sent to Italy, eventually to CC53 near Macerata above Ancona. Here they were not required to work, but when Italy surrendered they had about 48 hours to escape, but were advised not to attempt this by the Army.
German paratroops then took over the camp and my father was then transported by train over the Brenner Pass into Eastern Germany, firstly to a holding camp and then to a working-party on the Deutsche Reichsbahn based at Klostermansfeld, South of Leipzig near the Harz mountains.
Here between October 1943 and April 1945 he was forced to work maintaining lines, initially light work but later repairing bomb damage as far away as Leipzig. He experienced frequent near-misses from air-raids and saw much suffering.
He was eventually liberated by Patton's forces pushing eastwards over the delineated post-war frontier and flown back via Brussels.
My father maintained a diary through nearly all of his time in the Army, at great risk to himself whilst a POW. This diary although edited later for personal reasons, contains numerous references to events in 903 Coy. and the personnel with whom he served.
He tried to have it published later but not being an officer, and containing mostly routine details about food parcels etc. in camp, they told him it was not eventful enough.
Sadly on his death in September 1991 most of his possessions were disposed of, and I only have one of the draft copies he circulated.
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