History
Within a week of Italy's 10 June 1940 declaration of war upon Britain, the British Army's 11th Hussars (assisted by elements of the 1st Royal Tank Regiment and supported by Gladiators of No. 33 Squadron and Blenheims of No. 211 Squadron) captured Fort Capuzzo. A few days later, the Italian 1st Blackshirt Division recaptured it during an attack which reached Sidi Barrani, Egypt.
In December, the Western Desert Force regained the Fort during Operation Compass. It was then re-captured by General Erwin Rommel during his first offensive, falling on 12 April 1941.
During Operation Brevity, the Fort changed hands briefly on 15-16 May, but ultimately remained in German-Italian possession when the operation failed and the attacking British Brigade group withdrew. The fort was retaken by the New Zealand Division on 22 November 1941, during Operation Crusader.
Axis forces once again took possession following the Battle of Gazala before the Fort was returned to Allied control for the final time following the Second Battle of El Alamein.
Read more about this topic: Fort Capuzzo
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The history is always the same the product is always different and the history interests more than the product. More, that is, more. Yes. But if the product was not different the history which is the same would not be more interesting.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)
“Gossip is charming! History is merely gossip. But scandal is gossip made tedious by morality.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)
“Throughout the history of commercial life nobody has ever quite liked the commission man. His function is too vague, his presence always seems one too many, his profit looks too easy, and even when you admit that he has a necessary function, you feel that this function is, as it were, a personification of something that in an ethical society would not need to exist. If people could deal with one another honestly, they would not need agents.”
—Raymond Chandler (1888–1959)