Remembering the Rats of Tobruk

He served from July 1940 to September 1945 in Australia, North Africa at Tobruk and El Alamein, and New Guinea at Lae, Finschhafen and Madang.

The deserts of North Africa were an important battleground in World War II.

Controlling North Africa would give the Allied forces a base from which to attack occupied Europe, across the Mediterranean.

There were also major oil fields in the Middle East that were vital to fuel their tanks, planes and motorised transport. Control of oil supplies was often a deciding factor in winning battles.

On April 11, 1941, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel of the German Army attacked Tobruk with tanks and foot soldiers, but the defenders, the Commonwealth forces, were able to turn him back.

This was the first time anyone had been able to stop the German forces in the North African campaign.

Nazi propaganda radio broadcasts spoke contemptuously of the Tobruk defenders as “rats”.

In defiance, the soldiers proudly adopted this nickname and have been known by it ever since.

During the siege, they designed their own medals, in the shape of a rat, made from the scrap metal of a downed German aeroplane.

Some Italian forces were present in this campaign, but it was the German forces under Rommel that played the greatest part.

Rommel was recognised by his enemies as a brilliant tactician; and at first, his troops were unstoppable.

He used Panzer tanks to make swift attacks across the flat desert terrain, driving most of the Allied forces out of Libya, into Egypt.

For eight long months, surrounded by German and Italian forces, the men of the Tobruk garrison, mostly Australians, withstood tank attacks, artillery barrages and daily bombings.

They endured the desert’s searing heat, the bitterly cold nights and hellish dust storms. They lived in dug-outs, caves and crevasses.

Rommel kept up the bombardment until November 1941, when a counter-attack by the British re-took the territory, and the siege was ended.

Tobruk was a great boost to the morale of the Allied forces: the seemingly invincible Germans had finally been turned back.

A number of British and Commonwealth troops remained in Libya, in the fortified port of Tobruk.

Rommel’s forces had surrounded the port in early April 1941, so began the siege of Tobruk.

During the siege, the Commonwealth forces fought bravely and with great resilience.

Rommel was even quoted as saying: “If I had to take hell, I would use the Australians to take it and the New Zealanders to hold it.

“If I’d had one division of Māori, I would have taken the canal in a week. If I’d had all three, I’d have taken Baghdad.”

Australian casualties from the 9th Division from April 8 to October 25 numbered 749 killed, 1996 wounded and 604 prisoners.

The total losses in the 9th Division and attached troops from March 1 to December 15 amounted to 832 killed, 2177 wounded and 941 prisoners.

My family has generational connection with Australian defence.

My father’s father, Private Roland George David Hill, was wounded at Gallipoli on May 8, 1915, and returned to Australia with a bullet in his diaphragm, which was removed two years later, for which he eventually received half a Department of Veterans’ Affairs pension.

My brother Gunner Graeme Thomas Hill served in the regular Army during peacetime in Malaya at Fort Butterworth.

I was a 1st Lieutenant Nursing Officer in the Royal Australian Army Nursing Corp, 6th Field Ambulance (Shepparton), in the Australian Army Reserve.

My son Sergeant Brett Thomas Swann 1st Armoured Regiment (Tank Crew Commander) Australian Defence Force is serving and is an Afghanistan and Iraq veteran.

He is located at the Australian Defence Force Academy, Canberra.

Lest we forget.

– Kerry Cursons, Numurkah