Author(s): Chester Wilmot

World History

The gripping first-hand account of the battle that made the Rats of Tobruk an Australian legend. March 1941. The Allied forces have suffered one brutal defeat after another. Hitler's forces have already brought the swastika from Poland to the Pyrenees, from Norway North Africa - the conquest of Egypt, and the rich oil fields of the Middle East, lie next on the horizon. All that stands in their way are a few Australian brigades defending a town called Tobruk. For eight months the Australian Imperial Forces were the frontline defenders of the North African coastal fortress, battling almost unbeatable odds in the dust and the heat of the Libyan desert. Under the command of General Morshead, the Australian troops used unorthodox methods and sheer grit to withstand the superior might of General Rommel's elite 'Afrika Korps'.