page_title: Axis capture of Tobruk
section_title: Impact on the Axis
hierarchical_section_title: Axis capture of Tobruk / Aftermath / Analysis / Impact on the Axis
caption_attribution_description: English: The British Army in North Africa 1942 An RAF Lysander flies over a convoy of lorries during the retreat into Egypt, 26 June 1942.
context_page_description: The Axis capture of Tobruk, also known as the Fall of Tobruk and the Second Battle of Tobruk was part of the Western Desert Campaign in Libya during the Second World War. The battle was fought by Panzer Army Africa a German–Italian military force in north Africa, which included the Afrika Korps, led by Generalleutnant Erwin Rommel and forces from the United Kingdom, India, South Africa and Allied contingents in the British Eighth Army.
  Axis forces had conducted the Siege of Tobruk for eight months in 1941 before its defenders, who had become an emblem of resistance were relieved in December. British commanders had decided not to defend Tobruk for a second time and its minefields had been stripped for use in the Gazala Line to the west. By mid-1942, the garrison included many inexperienced troops and on 15 June 1942, the newly promoted Major-General Hendrik Klopper of the 2nd South African Division took command. An immense stock of supplies of every description had been accumulated around the port for a British offensive but the Axis struck first. Operation Venice
context_section_description: The Nazi hierarchy shared Churchill's view of the symbolic importance of Tobruk and Joseph Goebbels, the Reich Minister of Propaganda, made much of its capture. On 22 June, Hitler promoted Rommel to Generalfeldmarschall, making him the youngest field marshal in the German Army, much to the annoyance of senior Italian officers. Although Rommel undoubtedly considered it a great honour, he later confided to his wife that he would rather have been given another division. Mussolini was also jubilant and is said to have ordered that a suitable white horse be found for his triumphal entry into Cairo.
  Despite efforts to destroy the fuel at Tobruk, the Axis captured some 1,400 tonnes with a further 20 tonnes at Belhamed. Amongst the 2,000 vehicles captured were 30 serviceable tanks and it has been estimated that Rommel was using some 6,000 captured British lorries by the end of that month. Also taken in Tobruk were 7,000 tonnes of water and 3 million rations of food, amounting to some 5,000 t (4,921 long tons). Because of the tenuous supply line that Rommel depended on, his troops had been living on very short rations and the British supplies were enthusiastically received, especially chocolate, canned milk and vegetables. Even stores of shirts and socks were enthusiastically looted. The equally deprived Italian troops tended to be excluded from the plundering.
  In the afternoon of 21 June, the day of the surrender, Kesselring visited Rommel's headquarters and reminded him of the agreement that the invasion of Malta would follow the capture of Tobruk and that his air assets were already being returned to Italy for that purpose. The next day, a senior Italian staff officer arrived with orders from General Bastico to halt. Rommel, now a field marshal, was able to decline this "advice". He had in his possession the latest pessimistic report from U.S. military attaché Bonner Fellers in Cairo to Washington on the British dispositions, which concluded with the phrase; "If Rommel intends to take the Delta, now is the time". Furthermore, the supplies captured at Tobruk now made that possible.
caption: An RAF Westland Lysander flies over a convoy of British lorries during the retreat into Egypt, 26 June 1942.
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