The Fall of Tobruk 1942 | BATTLESTORM Documentary

Erwin Rommel and his Afrika Korps struck against the Fortress of Tobruk in summer 1942, smashing through the South African, British, and Indian defences in just one day as the defeated British 8th Army looked on helplessly. This is the detailed story of that battle.

This video is discussing events or concepts that are academic, educational and historical in nature. This video is for informational purposes and was created so we may better understand the past and learn from the mistakes others have made.

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📚 BIBLIOGRAPHY / SOURCES 📚

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ABOUT TIK 📝

History isn’t as boring as some people think, and my goal is to get people talking about it. I also want to dispel the myths and distortions that ruin our perception of the past by asking a simple question - “But is this really the case?”. I have a 2:1 Degree in History and a passion for early 20th Century conflicts (mainly WW2). I’m therefore approaching this like I would an academic essay. Lots of sources, quotes, references and so on. Only the truth will do.

[NietzschesMoustache]

At 11:22, you have the metric equivalent of the 2 pounder and 6 pounder guns round the wrong way?
The 2 pounder is 40mm and the 6 pounder is 57mm

[DianeBarnard]

My father was captured at Tobruk without firing a shot. He was taken to Italy then worked in the coal mines in Germany. When he was released he weighed 90 lbs and had to spend a year recuperating in the UK before returning to South Africa. He would never speak of his experience.

[darthcalanil]

It's crazy that a year later the germans came back to their same old artillery positions and found them still stocked with their shells :'D

[icojb]

Wow cool. My grandfather was an Saffa who signed up to fight for the British and was captured at Tobruk. Sent to prison camp in the Po Valley, escaped via a "run and cut the fence" move and then across Lake Garda into Switzerland to wait for the end of the war. First time i've seen a video on it. Thanks!

[haroldwalker]

Thank you TIK. I have looked for accounts of this battle many times. Yours seems the most detailed.
My late father was there. He was in 2nd Battalion Royal Durban Light Infantry.
I recall him telling us that he bent the barrel of his 303 Lee Enfield rifle in the crevice of a rock and smashed a captured Beretta pistol he had picked up as a souvenier when the order was given.
He said that the scariest time of the war was:
1)
that one day of battle.
2)The trip to Italy as a POW in
the hold of an Italian vessel while the Royal Navy submarines were active and
3) The flight back home in Dakotas with all those freshly trained pilots. There were a lot of plane crashes at that time.

[lonjohnson]

I'm frequently astonished by how much the fog of war and general chaos rules a battlefield. It isn't bad enough that you don't know where the enemy is or when they will arrive, but that uncertainty causes you to do things, such as destroy your radios, which makes the situation so much worse.

[AlphaAurora]

The differences between paper strength and combat troops is a really interesting one. The Far East would also suffer even more spectacularly from this too.

Also, I love that you give realistic timelines to reorganize, reform and move troops. This showed well during the Stalingrad Battlestorm battle, and continues here too.

[whiskey_tango_foxtrot__]

Rommel: We need to take out those guns.
Rommel's Driver: I got this

[exharkhun]

Wasn't really expecting a new Battlestorm yet. That's a nice surprise to get out of the blue. ❤

[andresdominguez]

Always a good sign to get a vídeo from you, Tik!

[MrBumbo]

The Italians in this battle where like the film "The Room". They constructed defenses that were so bad, they were actually good.

[krispypriest]

A TIK video is never late, nor is it early, his video arrives precisely when he wants it to.
Thanks TIKhistory!

[RodneyRumsey]

One of the better battlestorm documentaries yet!!!!

[colinmartin]

In all the books that I have read about the Desert War, I have never read a detailed account of the fall of Tobruk, and always assumed that the port fell after a short siege, so this account was an eye-opener.

[kernowpolski]

Excellent work TIK - your analysis is so proficient. I had not realised that Tobruk was second only to the Singapore failure.

[josephahner]

The sheer indiscipline and unprofessionalism in the British communications is mind blowing. They often report nothing. When they do report they without exception fail to include vital information. If the wireless sets go down they don't send runners. That is unthinkable to me as a military veteran. We are trained to report anything and everything.

[matthiuskoenig]

My great grandfather was part of the South African 25pdr artillery in this battle.

He claimed to have been responsible for spiking his guns when it became apparent they were going to be over run.

[alpinestar]

My grandfather was an Italian combat engineer at Tobruk. He fought at El Alamein as well, then he joined the Partisans after 1943 and was involved with SOE in north-east Italy. He migrated to Australia and lived a long, peaceful life.

[davidrobinson]

Thank's TIK I'm really enjoying this series, as a young man I worked with 2 guys that were at the first siege of Tobruk and my wife's uncle was also out there, these video's are putting flesh on the bones of what they used to tell me. I found that the 2 that served together never really spokve much about themselves but more of what others did around them. More Please 🇬🇧

[dillanspec]

clicked on this pretty fast, love your content and your effort bro, thank you - from New Zealand