Sidi Barrani, battle of

The Oxford Companion to World War II | 2001 | 700+ words | Copyright

Sidi Barrani, battle of, British counter-attack (COMPASS), mounted on 9 December 1940, during the Western Desert campaigns after the Tenth Italian Army, commanded by General Mario Berti, had invaded Egypt in September 1940. It proved to be that rare event, a battle that goes according to plan, the plan being drawn up with the help of Dorman-Smith. The attack was rehearsed in extreme secrecy and mounted by O'Connor's Western Desert Force. Although heavily outnumbered, it was equipped with the new Matilda tank against which Berti had no defence. When the battle ended on 11 December 38,300 Italians, including four generals, had been made prisoners-of-war. British casualties were 624. COMPASS, which started as a raid, became the prelude to the Italians being chased out of Egypt and then out of eastern Libya as well.

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

I. C. B. DEAR and M. R. D. FOOT. "Sidi Barrani, battle of." The Oxford Companion to World War II. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

I. C. B. DEAR and M. R. D. FOOT. "Sidi Barrani, battle of." The Oxford Companion to World War II. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O129-SidiBarranibattleof.html

I. C. B. DEAR and M. R. D. FOOT. "Sidi Barrani, battle of." The Oxford Companion to World War II. 2001. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O129-SidiBarranibattleof.html

Learn more about citation styles