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With the respite, the Italian Supreme Command is soon able to reinforce Italian strongholds in Libya. Among the Italian reinforcements were the 17th Pavia Infantry Division, the 25th Bologna Infantry Division and the 102nd Trento Motorised Division, making available about 150,000 Italian soldiers for the defence of Libya. The scene was set for protracted fighting. Also, on 10 January 1941, the British aircraft-carrier HMS Illustrious was disabled in a dive-bomber attack from German and Italian Stukas (with the former mainly equipped with smaller bombs) and heavy bombs from 96° Gruppo (under captain Ercolano Ercolani) hit the aft-lift, forcing the British carrier to limp back to Malta for repairs and allowing the German Afrika Korps (under General Erwin Rommel) to begin arriving in Tripoli (Operation Sonnenblume) unmolested.  

With the respite, the Italian Supreme Command is soon able to reinforce Italian strongholds in Libya. Among the Italian reinforcements were the 17th Pavia Infantry Division, the 25th Bologna Infantry Division and the 102nd Trento Motorised Division, making available about 150,000 Italian soldiers for the defence of Libya. The scene was set for protracted fighting. Also, on 10 January 1941, the British aircraft-carrier HMS Illustrious was disabled in a dive-bomber attack from German and Italian Stukas (with the former mainly equipped with smaller bombs) and heavy bombs from 96° Gruppo (under captain Ercolano Ercolani) hit the aft-lift, forcing the British carrier to limp back to Malta for repairs and allowing the German Afrika Korps (under General Erwin Rommel) to begin arriving in Tripoli (Operation Sonnenblume) unmolested.  

Rommel is determined to regain the intiative, and with General O'Connor stripped off air support in favour of Greece, the Regia Aeronautica plays a vital role in winning back air superiority, allowing the Afrika Korps to recover Benghazi, Derna, Mechili, Bardia, forcing the Australian 9th Division back to Tobruk where to the world's astonishment the Australians would valiantly resist and earn the nickname "Rats of Tobruk".<ref>"By the end of February 1941, 5th Squadra Aerea had more than 120 serviceable aircraft in Tripolitania, while the Luftwaffe had only 80 (20 Bf 110s and 60 Ju 87s). With this modest air support, Gen Rommel began an offensive on 24 March, and by 13 April had recaptured all of Cyrenaica with the exception of Tobruk. In the Skies of Europe: Air Forces Allied to the Luftwaffe 1939-1945, Hans Werner Neulen, p. 48, Crowood, 2000</ref><ref>"The Royal Air Force had sent the best squadrons in the Middle East to support the operations in Greece, leaving the bombers and fighters of the Regia Aeronautica a free hand to harass the retreating British mercilessly. Field Marshal: The Life and Death of Erwin Rommel, Daniel Allen Butler, p. 210, Casemate, 2015</ref>

General Rommel is determined to regain the intiative, and with General O'Connor stripped off air support in favour of Greece, the surviving Regia Aeronautica fighters along with 20 recently-arrived Messerschmitt Bf 110 twin-engine heavy fighters, win back air superiority, permitting Rommel to recover Benghazi, Derna, Mechili, Bardia, forcing the Australian 9th Division back to Tobruk.<ref>"By the end of February 1941, 5th Squadra Aerea had more than 120 serviceable aircraft in Tripolitania, while the Luftwaffe had only 80 (20 Bf 110s and 60 Ju 87s). With this modest air support, Gen Rommel began an offensive on 24 March, and by 13 April had recaptured all of Cyrenaica with the exception of Tobruk. In the Skies of Europe: Air Forces Allied to the Luftwaffe 1939-1945, Hans Werner Neulen, p. 48, Crowood, 2000</ref><ref>"The Royal Air Force had sent the best squadrons in the Middle East to support the operations in Greece, leaving the bombers and fighters of the Regia Aeronautica a free hand to harass the retreating British mercilessly. Field Marshal: The Life and Death of Erwin Rommel, Daniel Allen Butler, p. 210, Casemate, 2015</ref>

== Notes ==

== Notes ==