Keywords: ANZAC, Tobruk, Mechili, 9th Division, Australian, 8th Army, Rommel, Morsehead, Knightsbridge Cemetery, Wavell, Montgomery, Middle East, Afrika Corp
Credits
Horner, David (1995). The Gunners: A History of Australian Artillery. Sydney, New South Wales: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86373-917-3.
Sabretache
Capture in the desert: 3 Anti-Tank Regiment at Mechili 1941 and Alamein 1942 Katrina Kittel
Thanks to “The Australian War Memorial”
National Library of Australia
NSW State Archives
Personal Inscription
HIS DUTY NOBLY DONE TREASURED MEMORIES BY ALL AT HOME
Knightsbridge War Cemetery is located 750 metres south of the main road from Benghazi to Tobruk, about 25 kilometres west of Tobruk. Standing in open country, with the Cross of Sacrifice set high above the level of the cemetery, it is easily visible from the road and is reached via an unmade track branching off the main road.
EDWARD HOWE
Gunner
Service Number: NX40662 A.I.F. 3 A/Tk. Regt.
Royal Australian Artillery
Australian Died 08 April 1941
20 years old KNIGHTSBRIDGE WAR CEMETERY, ACROMA
15. D. 24.
oceancitytoday.com
Between these two columns, was a column that included the rest of Gen. Johannes Streich’s 5th Light Panzerdivision, and the rest of Gen. Ettore Baldassare’s Ariete Armored Division, headed east toward El Mechili, by way of Msus and Ben Gania.
Another column, under Lt. Col.Gustav Ponath, diverted from Gen. Streich’s column, made for the Via Balbia, near Derna, arriving on April 6. Initially, this column only consisted of 10 trucks, carrying a machine-gun battalion. The next day, it arrived at Derna and its airfield, resulting in the capture of British Generals Sir Philip Neame, commander of Commonwealth forces, Richard O’Conner, and John F.B. Comb, together with 900 other prisoners. Gen. Neame is the only man to be awarded the Victoria Cross, the British equivalent of the American Medal of Honor, and an Olympic Gold Medal (for shooting).
Another column also headed to Mechili included the Pavia Infantry Division, commanded by Major-Gen. Pietro Zaglio.
While these columns were crossing the desert (for the first time!), Rommel was in his Fiesler-Storch, a light airplane, which he often piloted. He was monitoring the troops’ progress, and if they weren’t moving quickly enough, he would hustle them along, threatening to “come down!”
Recovered Prisoners of War Roll of Honour AWM Mechili
Bartley, Ronald
Gill, William George
Gibbons, John Hayton
Graham, Alexander Smith
Jones, Eric David Rees
Galvin, Cecil John
Holloway, Leslie
Johnson, William Charles
Gros, Allan Francis
Luck, Frederick Arthur
Milgate, Eric Lovell
Moule, Lloyd Haig
Levings, Edward Winchester
Lane, Eric Lawrence
Ledingham, Lloyd George
Limn, John Thomas Reginald
Moore, Ronald Robert
Munro, Eoin Elphinstone
Matthews, Leslie Thomas
Leonard, Edward
Pool, Harold Arthur Henry
Pope, Raymond
Pretyman, Alan Charles
Pretyman, Geoffrey Tyrell
Montgomery, Hugh
McCelland, Robert Wilson
Phillipson, Sydney Hamilton
Phipps, Walter James
Pert, James Andrew
Rayner, Vincent Arthur
Reddan, John Watson
Spooner, Alfred David
Ridgeway, Albert James
Robertson, Harold
Reynolds, Herbert George
Riley, Walter
Tanner, Timothy Horace
Tasker, Henry James
Turner, Alfred George
Wright, Arthur Robert
Threlfo, Neville Livingstone
Staines, Leo Charles
Tolley, Herbert Harold
Map of Libya - Mechili By Maher27777 - Own work based on:this original.Libyan Planning Ministry, “Al Atlas al Watani lil Jamahiriya…”, Tripoli, 1978.Kenneth Macksey, "Beda Fomm : The Classic Victory", Ballantine Books, New York, 1971.Reworked using File:WesternDesertBattle Area1941 en.svg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
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