1 May 1941
Australia’s defence of the Libyan harbour town of Tobruk against German and Italian forces was key to slowing their advance into Egypt and the Suez Canal. Tobruk’s location made it strategically valuable. While the Allies held Tobruk, Axis powers were forced to carry their supplies overland. The terrain was across 1,500 kilometres of desert from the port of Tripoli, to get to Egypt.
Between April and August 1941, around 14,000 Australian soldiers, along with 4 regiments of British artillery and some Indian troops were commanded by Lieutenant General Leslie Morshead. They were besieged in Tobruk by a German–Italian army commanded by General Erwin Rommel. The Nazi propagandist William Joyce (known as ‘Lord Haw-Haw’) derided the defenders as ‘rats’. However, the Australian soldiers embraced this moniker and became known as ‘the Rats of Tobruk’.
The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and the Royal Navy provided the garrison's vital link to the outside world. They received support from units that came from India and South Africa. The ‘Tobruk Ferry Service’ was run by the Royal Navy’s Inshore Squadron under the command of Captain Albert Poland RN. It operated between Alexandria and Mersa Matruh, in Egypt, and Tobruk. Services provided were:
- gunfire support
- supplies
- troops
- evacuations for the wounded.
Nine Australian ships contributed to the service:
- the 5 destroyers of the Scrap Iron Flotilla,
- the destroyers HMA Ships Napier and Nizam,
- and the sloops HMA Ships Parramatta (II) and Yarra (II).
They were based in Alexandria, some 350nauticalmiles from Tobruk. The run became known as ‘bomb alley’. Australian vessels made a total of 139 trips in and out of Tobruk – HMAS Vendetta held the record, with 39 individual passages.
Two RAN ships were lost during Tobruk Ferry runs, both in 1941. On 20 June, Waterhen was attacked by Axis dive bombers off the coast of Egypt, near Salum. It was sunk early the following morning, though with only minor casualties.
There were only 24 survivors from the crew of 162 in Parramatta when she was sunk off Tobruk. This occurred while escorting an ammunition ship in the early hours of 27 November 1941. Parramatta was struck by a torpedo from the German submarine U559.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet, Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham, reported the results of the Tobruk Ferry to the Admiralty:
'They evacuated 34,115 troops and replaced them with 32,667 fresh troops. 7,516 wounded men were transported to base hospitals and 7,097 captured prisoners were taken to the rear.
'The ships delivered 72 tanks, 92 guns, 33,946 tons of stores, ammunition, food and fresh water and 108 live sheep (food for the Indian troops).
'Twenty-seven naval ships were sunk and another 27 damaged. Seven merchant ships were sunk and six damaged. The casualties were naval personnel killed or missing 469, wounded 186; and Merchant Service killed or missing 70, wounded 55.'