Operation Compass
Opération Compass is the code name of a military campaign of the Second world war carried out by the troops of the the United Kingdom primarily in the desert of Libya against the troops of the Italy. Since the Egypt the December 8th 1940 the British forces (including those of its empire of which the India) under the Major-General command Richard O' Connor attacked on the level of a weakness of Italian defense in the south of Sidi Barrani. The organization of the operation (and the discovery of the passage) are put at the credit of the Sergeant-General Eric Dorman-Smith.
Like measures against-espionage, the majority of the implied troops were not informed that this attack was not a exercise, until the ultimate moment of engagement to the combat. The attack was supported by artillery and the bombers Blenheim with the tanks Matilda Mark II. As of the first hour the Maletti general would have died and 4 000 Italian soldiers would have capitulated. In three days, 237 parts of Artillery, 73 tanks light S, and 38 300 soldiers would be captured. The assailing forces moved towards the west on the Via della Vittoria, through the Passe Halfaya, and captured Fort Capuzzo, Libya.
O' Connor wanted to continue to attack, as far as Benghazi; however, General Wavell had ordered with the 4th Indian Division to take part in an offensive against the Italian forces in Abyssinia. O' Connor would have said, “This came like a surprise supplements and very unpleasant… It would have been very effective to exploit the situation immediately…” an Australian division replaced the Indian. The attack will continue until being completed with the 7th British division cutting the Italian retirement. After 10 weeks the British would have advanced approximately 800 km, destroying 400 tank ette S, 1 300 pieces of artillery and capturing 130 000 prisoners. However the advance did not push the Italians out of North Africa. As the advance reached Al Argheila, Churchill gave the order to arrest, and the troops sent to defend the Greece. A few weeks later the first elements of the Afrika Korps German would start to arrive at Tripoli for (the Opération Sonneblume), and the war of the desert would take a completely different turn.
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