Operation Compass
At the end of 1940 the British route Italian forces
arrayed along the Libyan border with Egypt.
British Desert Generals
Thinking the Italian threat in Libya is extinguished
Churchill guts his army in North Africa by sending
its best troops off to the Balkans in a futile attempt
to save Greece from a Nazi invasion.
Rommel in North Africa
The legendary Desert Fox arrives in February 1941.
The British, Italians and Germans, even Hitler,
expect the Afrika Korps will launch their first attack
on British forces sometime in May, giving Rommel
the needed time to acclimate himself to the realities
of desert warfare.
Italian POWs
What's there to acclimate to?
Rommel begins planning his offensive the day
he arrives, catching a plane to scout the terrain.
His men haven't even begun to show up. No problem.
He'll use the Italian forces still under Axis control.
They got shellacked by the British but Rommel
is confident they will perform for him.
There are no bad men, just bad leaders.
Charge of Italian M13 tanks
The tanks don't arrive for weeks.
We don't need German tanks when we've got Italian
ones. There are no excuses for delaying this attack.
The British are in disarray. Their new generals
are inexperienced and uncertain.
Surprise them with a swift, hard kick.
In the desert it is all about speed.
Tobruk becomes a famous last stand.
This fortified harbor is manned by a division
of Aussies. They're not much for spit-shined
salutes but they behave with a nasty disposition
good enough to stop the Afrika Korps
in its tracks.
* * * * *
OVER EASY
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