Operation Compass - Battle of Marmarica/Battle of The Camps

Battle of Marmarica/Battle of The Camps

The opening stage of Operation Compass was known by the Italians as the "Battle of the Marmarica". The British knew it as the "Battle of the Camps". The "Battle of the Marmarica" name was derived from the name of the coastal plain where the battle was fought. The "Battle of the Camps" name was derived from the individual Italian camps set up in a defensive line outside of Sidi Barrani.

On the nights of 7 December and 8 December 1940 the Western Desert Force under the command of Major-General Richard O'Connor and comprising British 7th Armoured Division and Indian 4th Infantry Division reinforced by British 16th Infantry Brigade advanced a total of 113 kilometres (70 mi) to their start positions for the attack. The RAF made attacks on Italian airfields destroying or damaging 29 aircraft on the ground. Selby Force, a mixed force of 1,800 under Brigadier A. R. Selby, moved up from Matruh and having stationed a brigade of dummy tanks in the desert as a decoy for the Italian airforce, had by dawn on 9 December taken position a few kilometers south east of Maktila. In the meantime Maktila had been bombarded by the monitor HMS Terror and the gunboat HMS Aphis, while Sidi Barrani had been shelled by the gunboat HMS Ladybird. In the afternoon of December 8 an Italian reconnaissance airplane notified the Italian command in Benghazi about the preparations for an imminent attack on Maktila and Nibeiwa, but General Maletti was not informed about (the historian Indro Montanelli later defined this action as "sabotage").

On 9 December, the disposition of the forward Italian fortified positions in Egypt were as follows: The 1st Libyan Colonial Infantry Division was located at Maktila. The 2nd Libyan Colonial Infantry Division was located at Tummar. The "Maletti Group" was located at Nibiewa. The 4th "3 January" Blackshirt Division and the Headquarters for the "Libyan Corps" were at Sidi Barrani. The 63 Infantry Division Cirene and the Headquarters for the XXI Corps were located at Sofafi. The 64 Infantry Division Catanzaro was located at Buq Buq. The Headquarters for the XXIII Corps and the 2nd "28 October" Blackshirt Division were located in Sollum and in the Halfaya Pass area respectively. The 62 Infantry Division Marmarica was located at Sidi Omar to the south of Sollum."

The commander of the Italian Tenth Army, General Mario Berti, was on sick leave when the British launched their attack against his forces in Egypt. In his place was General Italo Gariboldi. Gariboldi, the 1st "23 March" Blackshirt Division, and the Headquarters for the Tenth Army were located far from the front lines in Bardia. By the time Berti arrived back in Libya to resume command, so had the British.