The Italian invasion of Egypt in September 1940 failed. A British Army counter-attack, Operation Compass, drove the Italian African Army back into Libya. Erwin Rommel and the German Africa Corps were dispatched to prevent an Axis collapse in North Africa. The 60 Ju 87s of I./StG 1 and II./StG 2 were dispatched to Tripoli. The two "gruppen" were the only offensive assets the Germans had in North Africa in February 1941. The German airmen were mostly from northern Germany and were unused to the harsh desert conditions. The first "Stuka" actions took place around the 14 February and resulted in the first losses. Operation Sonnenblume developed into a full-scale offensive which recovered Libya, with the exception of Tobruk. Enneccerus led his group on a carpet bombing attack in an attempt to support the capture of the besieged port. On 3 April Enneccerus lost three to six Ju 87s to the Desert Air Force in the Benghazi area. on 14 April, II./StG 2 and III./StG 1 lost four men between them over Tobruk; the port's defending fighter, from No. 73 Squadron RAF, claimed three Ju 87s.