Talk:Rats of Tobruk

message: Hi. I've edited this entry into subheadings that detail the sort of "life-cycle" if you will of the "Rats of Tobruk". I understand the criticisms seen lower down on the page that the Rats of Tobruk should be melded with the Siege of Tobruk page, but I really must counter it with a suggestion that they are as separate as say, Queen Elizabeth II is from the English Monarchy - the Rats are a (important) subcomponent of the Seige, but a story, association and legend in their own rights. There tends to be a tradition of units who fight in particularly difficult circumstances to come together and be defined by their shared struggles rather than by their prior (national army) allocations, and I think that the Rats of Tobruk define this more clearly than some other non-unitary definitions. I do not believe this page will be merged, since it's such a rich page, but I should encourage others who may not have the sufficient understanding to recognise that a group of people who have since created their own international war memorial organisation deserve to stand in their own right in an encyclopaedia article. Lest we forget. Bilious 15:39, 21 January 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Division into subheadings

message: I don't think the term ANZAC should be used, as it specifically refers to World War I -3mta3 07:56, 12 August 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: ANZAC continues to be used beyond WW1 whenever Australian & New Zealand forces operate either in coordination or as a joint force: WW2, Korea, Malaya, Vietnam, East-Timor, Afghanistan, etc. - LamontCranston 10:34, 16 November 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: As there were no New Zealand units at Tobruk during the seige, ANZAC is inappropriate and I've just removed all references to 'ANZAC' from the article. --Nick Dowling 10:59, 23 December 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  ANZAC usage 

message: This article is pretty POV, and most of its information would probably be better placed in Siege of Tobruk, I propose a redirect. — 3mta3 11:26, 8 November 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: That would make a lot of sense. Alternetly, this article could be stripped back to a definition of what a 'rat of Tobruk' is, with the coverage of the fighting being moved to the Seige Article. Either way, the article needs a fair bit of work. --Nick Dowling 10:59, 23 December 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Contributors might like to consider the following information before I make any attempt to insert it. I produced this as a leaflet for an address in Perth (by an Australian 'Rat of Tobruk'). My father was a gunner and signaller in the 3rd RHA in the early 1930s, and also later served at Tobruk, where he was captured when Rommel finally took the port. 
Desert Rats and Tobruk Rats
One source: http://www.btinternet.com/~ian.a.paterson/history.htm 
On 16th February 1940, the prewar British Mobile Division in Egypt became the 7th Armoured Division [1], at about which time the famous Jerboa Divisional Sign appeared. Following a visit to Cairo Zoo the wife of General Creagh (the Divisional commander) produced a design of desert rat (pictured at right) which was approved by the officers and men of the Division, and this was then drawn up by Trooper Ken Hill of the Royal Tank Regiment. http://www.btinternet.com/~ian.a.paterson/images/Artefacts/Firstwoodcut01.jpg
The men took to the Jerboa and adopted the nickname of The Desert Rats. The term was later used to describe any soldier of the Desert Army or men that fought in Tobruk, and there is an Australian Rats of Tobruk Association, but only men of the 7th Armoured Division actually wore the Jerboa emblem on their uniforms and vehicles. 
During the Siege of Tobruk (March to November, 1941) soldiers became familiar with the local wildlife including jerboas which one described as “desert rats, like miniature kangaroos with long tails with a brush on the end, and capable of terrific speeds. German propaganda referred to us as desert rats and it was from this little animal we took our title, Tobruk Rats'” 
Footnote: [1] Formed originally from the Cairo Cavalry Brigade, made up of three armoured regiments, the 7th, 8th and 11th Hussars and the 1st Royal Tank Regiment (RTR). They were supported by 3rd Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) and as Divisional troops, a company of Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) and a Field Ambulance unit. Bjenks 05:55, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Merge?