Siege of Tobruk

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Western Desert Campaign
Compass – Sonnenblume – Tobruk – Brevity – Battleaxe – Crusader – Gazala – Bir Hakeim – 1st Alamein – Alam Halfa – Agreement – 2nd Alamein
The Siege of Tobruk was a lengthy confrontation between Axis and Allied forces, mostly Australian, in the North African Campaign of World War II. It started on 10 April 1941 as Generalleutnant Erwin Rommel invested the fort, besieging it for months, and launched attacks against the fort that were unsuccessful. Three attempts were made before the siege was successfully lifted by allied troops; these were known as:

Western Desert Campaign
Compass – Sonnenblume – Tobruk – Brevity – Battleaxe – Crusader – Gazala – Bir Hakeim – 1st Alamein – Alam Halfa – Agreement – 2nd Alamein

Operation Brevity (May 15 - 27, 1941)
Operation Battleaxe (June 15 - 17, 1941)
Operation Crusader (November 18 - December 10, 1941)

For most of the siege, Tobruk was defended by the Australian 9th Division under General Sir Leslie Morshead. General Archibald Wavell instructed Morshead to hold the fortress for eight weeks, but instead they held it for over 8 months, before being gradually withdrawn and replaced by the British 70th Infantry Division and the Polish Carpathian Brigade just prior to the start of Operation Crusader. The Royal Navy also played an important role in Tobruk's defense. It provided gunfire support, ferried in supplies and fresh troops and ferried out the wounded. Tobruk was the longest siege in British Empire military history, and was the first notable land defeat for a German army in World War II. Rommel nonetheless captured Tobruk in a new offensive in 1942 in the Battle of Gazala.

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Siege of Tobruk

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