SkipCaptcha
797
edits
Changes
→Bardia
==Bardia==
==Bardia==
The Italians put in a last-ditch regimental-sized counterattack in the southern sector, killing about 40. This was repulsed by 2/6th Battalion, which waited until their attackers were at close range before opening fire. Supported by tanks, the Australians closed in on the town of Bardia. At 1130 hours on 4 January, Major-General Iven Giffard Mackay, who commanded the 6th Infantry Division, accepted the surrender of the 25,000 Italian troops that had defended Bardia. <ref>"The report filed by the British journalist Jan Yindrich for the Australian Associated Press on 5 January was headlined SMASH WAY THROUGH MODERN HINDENBURG LINE: FEW CASUALTIES IN CAPTURING 25,000 PRISONERS." The Longest Siege: Tobruk, The Battle That Saved North Africa, Robert Lyman, p. 59, Pan Australia, 2009</ref>
The Italians put in a last-ditch regimental-sized counterattack in the southern sector, killing about 40. This was repulsed by 2/6th Battalion, which waited until their attackers were at close range before opening fire. Supported by tanks, the Australians closed in on the town of Bardia. At 1130 hours on 4 January, Major-General Iven Giffard Mackay, who commanded the 6th Infantry Division, accepted the surrender of the 25,000 Italian troops that had defended Bardia. <ref>"The report filed by the British journalist Jan Yindrich for the Australian Associated Press on 5 January was headlined SMASH WAY THROUGH MODERN HINDENBURG LINE: FEW CASUALTIES IN CAPTURING 25,000 PRISONERS." The Longest Siege: Tobruk, The Battle That Saved North Africa, Robert Lyman, p. 59, Pan Australia, 2009</ref><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19410106&id=Ju4nAAAAIBAJ&sjid=p2kDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4473,5225826&hl=en Bardia Falls to British, 25,000 Fascists Captured, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 6 January 1941]</ref>
The Italian commander, Bergonzolli, escaped and was able to stay just ahead of the Commonwealth forces as they then advanced to Tobruk. Ultimately Bergonzoli became a prisoner in Benghazi after the remnants of the Italian Tenth Army was cut off and defeated at Beda Fomm.
The Italian commander, Bergonzolli, escaped and was able to stay just ahead of the Commonwealth forces as they then advanced to Tobruk. Ultimately Bergonzoli became a prisoner in Benghazi after the remnants of the Italian Tenth Army was cut off and defeated at Beda Fomm.