Fort Capuzzo
| Fort Capuzzo/Ridotta Capuzzo | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Second World War | |||||
 Map showing Fort Capuzzo | |||||
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Fort Capuzzo (
The Frontier Wire and a line of forts including Fort Capuzzo were used to stop the Senussi from moving freely across the border. The fort had four crenellated walls enclosing a yard. Living quarters had been built around the edges and provided the base for border guards and Italian army armoured car patrols. A track ran south from the fort, just west of the frontier wire and the border, to
Background
In 1922,
Second World War
1940
| First Action of Fort Capuzzo | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Second World War | |||||||
 Rolls-Royce Armoured Car at the Frontier wire, 1940 | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 United Kingdom |
 Italy | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Francesco Argentino | |||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
|
2nd CC.NN. Division "28 Ottobre" Maletti Group | |||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 150 |
3,500 casualties 150 killed | ||||||
On 14 June 1940, four days after the Italian declaration of war on Britain, the
The Italians reoccupied Fort Capuzzo and held it with part of the 2nd CC.NN. Division "28 Ottobre" (Lieutenant-General [Luogotenente Generale] Francesco Argentino). On 29 June, the Maletti Group repulsed British tanks with its artillery and then defeated a night attack.[8][9] During the frontier skirmishes from 11 June to 9 September, the British claimed to have inflicted 3,500 casualties for a loss of 150 men.[10] On 16 December, during Operation Compass (9 December 1940 – 9 February 1941) the 4th Armoured Brigade of the Western Desert Force captured Sidi Omar and the Italians withdrew from Sollum, Fort Capuzzo and the other frontier forts; Number 9 Field Supply Depot was established at the fort for the 7th Armoured Division.[11]
1941
On 10 April, after the Axis advance from El Agheila, small British mobile columns began to harass Afrika Korps units around Fort Capuzzo, which was captured by the Germans on 12 April. Attacks by Kampfgruppe Herf from 25 to 26 April, led the British columns to fall back.[12] During Operation Brevity (15–16 May) an operation to capture the area between Sollum and the fort and inflict casualties, the 22nd Guards Brigade Group and the 4th RTR was to capture the fort and then attack northwards. The operation began on 15 May and the fort was captured by the 1st Durham Light Infantry (1st DLI) and a squadron of Infantry tanks.[13]
A counter-attack by II Battalion, Panzer Regiment 5 (with eight operational tanks) inflicted many losses and forced the 1st DLI back to Musaid. The German force advanced from Fort Capuzzo on the following afternoon.[13] Three Italian battalions with artillery from the 102nd Motorised Division "Trento" took over the area between Sollum, Musaid and Fort Capuzzo. Late on 15 June, the 7th Royal Tank Regiment (7th RTR) attacked Fort Capuzzo during Operation Battleaxe (15–17 June) and scattered the defenders. The British tanks broke through but infantry were slow to follow up and the tanks were not able rapidly to exploit the success.[14]
Next day, the 22nd Guards Brigade consolidated at the fort and Panzer Regiment 8 attacked near Capuzzo, only to be repulsed by the 4th Armoured Brigade. German attempts to work round the British flank failed but reduced the tank regiments in the area to 21 runners. On 17 June, the danger of encirclement increased as German attacks reached Sidi Suleiman and the 22nd Guards Brigade was ordered to retreat at 11:00 a.m. The remnants of the armoured brigades covered the British withdrawal, eventually to the start line, assisted by the RAF.
1942
Axis forces recaptured the fort around 22 June 1942, after the Battle of Gazala (26 May – 21 June 1942) capturing 500 long tons (510 t) of fuel and 930 long tons (940 t) of foodstuffs, despite demolitions since the British withdrawal from Gazala has begun on 14 June.[16] After the Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 11 November 1942) Fort Capuzzo changed hands for the last time. German rearguards retired from Sidi Barrani on 9 November; next day, the 22nd Armoured Brigade advanced on Fort Capuzzo from the south and by 11 November, the last Axis troops had withdrawn from the frontier, despite orders to hold the area from Halfaya to Sollum and Sidi Omar.[17]
Post war
After the Allied conquest in 1943, Tripolitania and Cyrenaica were ruled under the British Military Administration of Libya until Libyan independence in 1951, as a kingdom under Muhammad Idris bin Muhammad al-Mahdi as-Senussi (King Idris of Libya). Fort Capuzzo and the frontier wire disappeared into obscurity.[18]
See also
Notes
- Omar Mukhtar was captured and killed in 1931, after which the resistance petered out, apart from the followers of Sheik Idris, Emir of Cyrenaica, who went into exile in Egypt.[2]
Footnotes
- ^ Wright 1982, p. 42.
- ^ a b c Metz 1989.
- ^ a b Christie 1999, p. 14.
- ^ Cody 1956, p. 142.
- ^ Wright 1982, p. 35.
- ^ Playfair et al. 2004a, pp. 113, 118.
- ^ Moorehead 2009, p. 13.
- ^ a b Christie 1999, p. 49.
- ^ Moorehead 2009, pp. 15–16.
- ^ Playfair et al. 2004a, pp. 119, 187, 206.
- ^ Playfair et al. 2004a, p. 278.
- ^ Playfair et al. 2004b, pp. 36, 168, 204–205.
- ^ a b Playfair et al. 2004b, pp. 159, 160–162.
- ^ a b Playfair et al. 2004b, pp. 164, 168–170.
- ^ Playfair et al. 2004c, p. 48.
- ^ Playfair et al. 2004c, pp. 48, 281.
- ^ Playfair et al. 2004d, pp. 93–95.
- ^ B61 1966, p. 3.
Bibliography
- Christie, Howard R. (1999). Fallen Eagles: The Italian 10th Army in the Opening Campaign in the Western Desert, June 1940 – December 1940 (MA). Fort Leavenworth, KS: US Army Command and General Staff College. OCLC 465212715. A116763. Archived from the originalon 16 February 2015. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
- Cody, J. F. (1956). "6 Sollum and Gazala". 28 Maori Battalion. The Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–1945. Wellington, NZ: War History Branch, Dept. of Internal Affairs. pp. 133–178. OCLC 4392594. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
- Libya–Egypt (United Arab Republic) Boundary (PDF). International Boundary Study. Washington, DC: United States Department of State Office of the Geographer. 15 January 1966. OCLC 42941644. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
- Metz, H. C. (1989). Libya: A Country Study. Area Handbook Series (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Library of Congress, Federal Research Division. OCLC 473404917.
- ISBN 978-1-84513-391-7.
- ISBN 978-1-84574-065-8.
- Playfair, I. S. O.; et al. (2004b) [1956]. Butler, J. R. M. (ed.). The Mediterranean and Middle East: The Germans come to the help of their Ally (1941). History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series. Vol. II (pbk. facs. repr. Naval & Military Press ed.). HMSO. ISBN 978-1-84574-066-5.
- Playfair, I. S. O.; et al. (2004c) [HMSO 1960]. Butler, J. R. M. (ed.). The Mediterranean and Middle East: British Fortunes reach their Lowest Ebb (September 1941 to September 1942). History of the Second World War United Kingdom Military Series. Vol. III. Naval & Military Press. ISBN 978-1-84574-067-2.
- Playfair, I. S. O.; et al. (2004d) [1966]. Butler, J. R. M. (ed.). The Mediterranean and Middle East: The Destruction of the Axis Forces in Africa. History of the Second World War United Kingdom Military Series. Vol. IV (repr. facs. pbk. Naval & Military Press ed.). Uckfield: HMSO. ISBN 978-1-84574-068-9.
- Wright, J. L. (1982). Libya, A Modern History. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-2767-9.
Further reading
- Arielli, Nir (2015). "Colonial Soldiers in Italian Counter-Insurgency Operations in Libya, 1922–32". British Journal for Military History. I (2). ISSN 2057-0422. Archived from the originalon 2018-12-02. Retrieved 2015-10-17.
- Latimer, Jon (2001). Tobruk 1941: Rommel's Opening Move. Oxford: Osprey. ISBN 978-0-275-98287-4.
- Paterson, Ian A. "History of the British 7th Armoured Division: Operation Brevity". Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
- OCLC 1056143039.
External links
