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With the Mediterranean Sea at their back, and surrounded on three sides by Axis forces, Allied soldiers were forced to hold out for eight months during the Battle of Tobruk.
A global fighting force comprised mainly of Australian and British soldiers endured an onslaught of aerial shelling, hard fighting, and the unforgiving elements.
Today, this siege is synonymous with the courageous and resilient ‘Rats of Tobruk’, who stopped the city from falling into enemy hands. Some of the heroic deeds carried out by these defiant fighters – including the famous Australian soldier Tom Derrick – have become etched into the history books, and continue to capture imaginations to this day.
Sergeant Derrick, November 1943
The legend of these troops was forged in a strategic port in the battle for North Africa. The Libyan city of Tobruk, close to British-held Egypt, became an important destination for both sides during World War Two.
Highly contested, it had only recently been seized from the Italians by the British army in 1941, before a surprise German counterattack forced the Allied forces to retreat behind its defences.
The Australian 9th Division and the other Allied soldiers left in Libya fell back to Tobruk, where they were instructed to hold the city fortress for eight weeks. Nearly eight months later, they were still defending the city.
The 9th australian division at gaza airport being praised for their part in the battle
Prior to the war, Italian troops had built a network of below-ground defences in and around Tobruk. As the Allies fell back to defend the port, this network became crucial in repelling German and Italian attacks. The Australian troops dug in, sheltering from both artillery shelling and aerial bombardment, causing Axis frustrations to mount.
In an effort to demoralise the soldiers stationed in Tobruk, Axis propagandist William Joyce, better known as ‘Lord Haw-Haw’, referred to the troops derisively as the “rats of Tobruk”.
It didn’t take long for soldiers on the ground to proudly re-claim the name as their own. Referring to themselves as the Rats of Tobruk, affection for this name grew over the duration of the siege, with an unofficial medal featuring a small rat even created out of scrap metal.
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Did you know?
“Lord Haw-Haw” was an American-born fascist who lived in Ireland and England before moving to Germany, where he broadcast propaganda during the Second World War. Captured at the end of the conflict, he was hanged on 3rd January 1946 – the last person to be executed for treason in the UK.
The roughly 27,000 soldiers at Tobruk came from a handful of countries spread across the globe.
The majority were Australian troops from the 9th Division, comprising approximately 14,000 individual soldiers. Around 10,000 of the Allied soldiers who fought at the siege of Tobruk were British, while the remaining 3,000 or so came from New Zealand, India, Poland, and what was then Czechoslovakia.
It should not be underestimated how impactful the story of Tobruk was to the Australian consciousness. Less than 20 years prior to the siege, soldiers from Australia and New Zealand landed 600 miles north of Tobruk at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli in the First World War. The landing resulted in high casualties on both sides, and was ultimately an Allied loss.
It was at Anzac Cove, however, that a certain Australian and New Zealander national identity has its origins.
This identity of the ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) soldier came to be known as the ‘Anzac spirit’, and remains alive and well today. First recognised by a British war correspondent, the qualities are said to include:
The Anzac spirit also conjures up images of a soldier who is motivated by equality and doing the ‘right thing’, rather than always listening to authority figures. Anzac soldiers were perceived to harbour a sense of harmless fun, using any moment to crack a joke. While the ANZAC company disbanded after the Gallipoli campaign, the concept of this soldier did not.
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A key part of the Anzac spirit was the ‘larrikin’ culture. Larrikin is an Australian term that once suggested a hooligan, or hoodlum, but evolved to encompass the informality and self-reliance of the Australian forces (AIF).
Anzac Day at Manly, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia (1922)
During the fighting in North Africa during World War Two, Australian soldiers arguably found themselves in a similar position to those who fought at Gallipoli.
While almost all in the 9th Division would have been culturally aware of Gallipoli, many of them would have also been sons of the soldiers who fought there. As Dr Robert Lyman puts it: “The children of the men who had joined up in the first AIF, joined up to join the second AIF…and went back to North Africa.”
It would have been easy for Australian soldiers to recognise the similarities between their forebears’ experience and the events they themselves were witnessing. Though they were no longer considered a colonial force, the fighters at Tobruk proved themselves to be what Dr Lyman describes as “men who would back up Britain when the going got tough, and could be relied upon.”
Despite finding themselves besieged, amid the inhospitable conditions of the Libyan heat, the Anzac spirit found a way to shine through.
“The Australians proved themselves to be particularly efficient soldiers and particularly effective at fighting,” says Dr Lyman. Australian commanders, meanwhile, became renowned for their resilience and intelligent instruction.
Upon seeing an article of British Propaganda that stated, “Tobruk can take it!”, commander of the 9th Division Leslie Morshead is said to have responded: “We’re not here to take it, we’re here to give it!”
Morshead’s use of aggression, artillery fire, and snipers helped keep Axis forces at bay. Under his direction, Australian troops became known for fiercely patrolling no-man’s land and harassing enemy troops.
Esat Pasha delivering orders to the batteries at Anzac Cove
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Morshead’s tactics and strategy during the siege of Tobruk are still mentioned in officer training colleges today. His actions are demonstrated as examples of how to organise and execute thorough defences against superior armoured enemy forces.
Whether the Australian soldiers at Tobruk felt they had something to prove or not, their efforts ultimately left an enduring mark on Australian consciousness.
After months of holding out, the majority of the 9th Australian Division were relieved and replaced by the British 70th Division. While the siege continued for a few months more, many of these original Rats of Tobruk found themselves redeployed in the Battles of El-Alamein, and following that to the conflict in Asia, before the survivors were finally able to return home as heroes.
Whether the Australian soldiers at Tobruk felt they had something to prove or not, their efforts ultimately left an enduring mark on Australian consciousness.
“And did so successfully against all the odds. Against the odds of the North African desert, against the odds of the Luftwaffe and the Afrika Corps…and they did Australia proud.”
- Dr Robert Lyman
One soldier whose tenacity, good humour and extraordinary bravery summed up the ‘ideal’ Australian soldier was Tom Derrick.
Earning several promotions over the course of the war, and prestigious awards including a Victoria Cross, Tom Derrick was well-known and well-loved by those who fought beside him. Today, Derrick remains a cultural icon in Australian history, and is famous for his deeds during the Second World War.
“He was quite a remarkable man,” says Dr Lyman. “Derrick is an exemplar of the Australian soldier who joined up.
“The Australian army didn't have much of a regular army between the wars. They had what was known as the CMF, the ‘civilian military force’. 99% of them were civilians who were given a few weeks’ training and rifles, put the Anzac narrative into their knapsack and told to go off and fight the Germans as their fathers had done.
“Derrick was an exemplar of a character who was picked up off the streets, given some military training and did remarkably well against the Germans in battle.”
Taken aback by this fierce resistance, Rommel hurried more Panzer divisions from Tripoli to help.
Born in 1914 on the outskirts of Adelaide, Australia, into relative poverty, as Tom Derrick got older, life remained hard. He was said to walk barefoot to school. After leaving education at age 14 to work in a bakery, during the Great Depression he was soon forced to rely on a combination of odd jobs to make ends meet.
Before reaching his 20th birthday, and a decade before the Second World War began, however, Tom Derrick had already shown he embodied the Anzac spirit. Undertaking physical feats, such as cycling up to 140 miles to find work, and entering a boxing ring with a former lightweight champion for money, he proved himself to be adept, strong and up for a challenge.
As war arrived in Europe, Derrick, like many Australians, enlisted. Joining the Second Australian Imperial Force, Private Tom Derrick was posted to the 2/48th battalion. He soon adapted to military life, thriving in his new position, though at times it is said he found it hard to accept authority.
Derrick and the rest of the 2/48th Battalion had only recently completed their training in desert warfare in Palestine, before being called to Tobruk to aid the Allied forces’ retreat. This retreat ultimately led to the infamous siege, in which Tom Derrick was highly active.
It is interesting perhaps, that history tends to remember and celebrate the established commanders of famous battles, rather than the rank and file. But with Derrick, his impact defied rank.
“The interesting thing is that he was a Private soldier,” notes Dr Lyman. “He wasn’t an officer [to begin with], though he does eventually get promoted.”
Indeed, Derrick was initially promoted to Acting Corporal during his time in Tobruk, and was willing (and frequently eager) to fight.
Derrick would regularly lead patrols into the no-man’s land surrounding the city. In April 1941, he helped in a counterattack to recover ground that had been lost to the Axis forces.
It was here, after a night of heavy fighting, that his bravery and leadership earned him that first promotion.
Not to be outdone, the following month Derrick discovered a German spy and handed him to the military authorities. In September he was promoted to Platoon Sergeant, before he and the other Australian troops were evacuated from Tobruk.
“The soldiers loved him,” remarks Dr Lyman. “That’s really unusual actually. It’s not always the case with those guys on the front line who get Victoria Crosses and all the rest of it. But Derrick was unusual because he was [loved].”
Throughout his time fighting in Tobruk, Tom Derrick kept a diary. For all his exploits and clear courage, it is sobering to know that his inner thoughts and feelings paint the picture of a man who – just like so many others – feared death, and found the uncertainty of inaction just as nerve-racking as direct fire.
His writings also reveal someone who wouldn’t shy away from the responsibility of leadership, even during times of relentless stress and hardship.
On the 24th May 1945, Tom Derrick died from machine gun wounds when fighting Japanese soldiers on the Indonesian island, Tarakan.
He – and the other Rats of Tobruk – left behind an enduring legend.
“If you go to Australia,” notes Dr Lyman, “even school kids know who Derrick is.”
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Interview with Dr Robert Lyman
https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/gallipoli
Derrick VC in His Own Words. The Wartime Writings of Australia's Most Famous Fighting Soldier of World War II. Mark Johnston. NewSouth Publishing. 2021
https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/struggle-north-africa-1940-43
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