Tobruk: Firecely Stand or Fighting Fall

Tobruk was one of the greatest Allied victories – and one of the worst Allied defeats – of the Second World War. The eight-month long 1941 siege – a defiant stand by the so-called ‘Rats of Tobruk’ – captured the world’s attention. Conversely, the fall of Tobruk in June 1942 came a shock to the Allies in the wake of Japan’s entry into the war and a string of defeats in the Far East. It rocked the foundation of Winston Churchill’s premiership, revived the flagging hopes of the German people a...