Title: Tobruk Commando: The Raid to Destroy Rommel’s Base
Author: Gordon Landsborough
Publisher: Greenhill Books
Pages:
216
Content:
Op Agreement was an audacious commando raid on the Afrika Corps main port of Tobruk intended to deny Rommel of the
three commodities critical to his operations: shipping, a supply port and oil.
Planned in the fall of 1942 it was an effort to curb German advancement towards
Cairo during a
period when Allied fortunes throughout the world were at their lowest.
Originally conceived as a low level strike involving only the Long Range Desert
Group, it quickly manifested itself (due to mission creep from GHQ staff) into
a massive operation involving multiple platforms of the Royal Navy, over 400
Royal marines, elements of LRDG, a 100 man commando unit, large bomber
formations of the RAF and multiple targets outside of Tobruk (Benghazi and
Derna). The concept involved a transit through the desert of close to 2000 km’s
by the LRDG and commando’s where they would appear at Tobruk disguised as
POW’s. Once they had neutralized some of the critical defences the rest of the
attack group would come in by sea and complete the destruction of Tobruk. The
audacity of the operation was breathtaking but its success rested on certain
critical factors falling into place. As the scope of the operation grew, so did
the potential for error and discovery. Ultimately, the calculated risks being
undertaken were over balanced by the failure of the Allies to ensure that
security was maintained. The end result was a failure of the mission, a loss of
numerous naval assets and hundreds of men. The mission serves as a testament to
the courage of those involved but also to the dangers of mission creep, lax
security, under estimation of the enemy, lack of preparation and the difficulty
of combined ops. A sobering yet thrilling read.
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