Attack on Nibeiwa 1940
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 9 December 1940 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1940 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | World War II era (1939–1945) | derived from year |
| Location | Egypt | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Africa | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Operation Compass | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 31.3833, 25.8833 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Attack on Nibeiwa took place on 9 December 1940 near Nibeiwa, Egypt, when the Italian fortified camp held by the Maletti Group, the armoured force of the 10th Army, was overrun by British and Indian troops. The attack was the opening engagement of Operation Compass, a British raid which, if successful, would be followed up to try to expel the Italians from Egypt. Italy had declared war on France and Britain on 10 June and in the Italian invasion of Egypt (Operazione E) from 9 to 16 September 1940, the Italian 10th Army had reached the port of Sidi Barrani and dug in to await the completion of the Via della Vittoria, an extension of the Via Balbia, being built from the frontier. The Maletti Group garrisoned a camp at Nibeiwa,12 mi (19 km) south of the port of Sidi Barrani.
The British had fought a delaying action during the Italian advance with the 7th Support Group of the 7th Armoured Division and kept their main force at the railhead of Mersa Matruh about 80 mi (130 km) east of Sidi Barrani. The British probed the Italian defences continually and then planned a five-day raid on Italian fortified camps, which had been built in an arc from the coast at Maktila to Sofafi in the south-west on the inland escarpment.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Attack on Nibeiwa (revision 1370105403), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Action of Agagia 1916 · 19 km
- Battle of Sidi Barrani 1940 · 26 km
- Battle of Bardia 1941 · 86 km
- Battle of Mersa Matruh 1942 · 128 km
- Battle of Point 175 1941 · 173 km
- Action at Bir el Gubi (November 1941) 1941 · 177 km
Other battles of the Operation Compass
All 4 battles of the Operation Compass →
Browse more: battles in Egypt · Africa · World War II era battles