Siege of Giarabub 1940
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 25 December 1940 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1940 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | World War II era (1939–1945) | derived from year |
| Location | Libya | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Africa | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Western Desert campaign | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Australia, Fascist Italy, United Kingdom | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 29.7425, 24.5169 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The siege of Giarabub (now Jaghbub) in Libya, was an engagement between Commonwealth and Italian forces, during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. In the aftermath of Operazione E, the invasion of Egypt by the Italian 10th Army (9–16 September 1940), Operation Compass (9–16 December) by the Western Desert Force (WDF), the Battle of Sidi Barrani and the pursuit of the 10th Army into Cyrenaica (16 December 1940 – 9 February 1941) the fortified Italian position at the Al Jaghbub Oasis was besieged by parts of the 6th Australian Division.
The 6th Australian Divisional Cavalry Regiment (6th ADCR) began the siege in December 1940 and isolated the oasis, leaving the Italian garrison dependent on the Regia Aeronautica. Air transport proved insufficient and hunger prompted many of the locally recruited troops to desert. After being reinforced by the 2/9th Australian Battalion and a battery of the 4th Royal Horse Artillery, the Australians attacked Giarabub on 17 March 1941 and the Italian garrison surrendered on 21 March.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Giarabub (revision 1370741504), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Action at Bir el Gubi (December 1941) 1941 · 205 km
- Action at Bir el Gubi (November 1941) 1941 · 205 km
- Attack on Nibeiwa 1940 · 225 km
- Battle of Bir Hakeim 1942 · 229 km
- Battle of Bardia 1941 · 231 km
- Battle of Point 175 1941 · 235 km
Other battles of the Western Desert campaign
- Battle of Sidi Barrani 1940
- Capture of Kufra 1941
- Operation Sonnenblume 1941
- Battle of Alam el Halfa 1942
- Battle of Gazala 1942
- Battle of Mersa Matruh 1942
- First Battle of El Alamein 1942
- Second Battle of El Alamein 1942
All 9 battles of the Western Desert campaign →
Browse more: battles in Libya · Africa · World War II era battles