Operation Compass was the first major British offensive of the Western Desert Campaign in the Second World War, launched against Italian forces that had invaded Egypt from Libya in September 1940. A smaller British, Indian and Australian force under General Richard O'Connor attacked with surprise, capturing Sidi Barrani and then pushing across Libya, taking Bardia and Tobruk. The campaign ended at Beda Fomm, where a retreating Italian army was cut off and forced to surrender. In two months, the Allies took well over a hundred thousand prisoners at small cost to themselves and destroyed most of the Italian Tenth Army. The defeat led Hitler to send German troops under Erwin Rommel to North Africa, the Afrika Korps, which changed the course of the campaign.
Before and after
- from 28 October 1940 to 23 April 1941Greco-Italian War
- 13 November 1940Release of Fantasia
- 18 November 1940Birth of Qaboos bin Said Al Said
- 27 November 1940Birth of Bruce Lee
- from 9 December 1940 to 9 February 1941Operation Compass
- from 20 December 1940 to 15 December 19441940–1944 insurgency in Chechnya
- from 29 December 1940 to 30 December 1940Second Great Fire of London
- 1941Discovery of plutonium
- from 1941 to 1945Final Solution
More in Wars, politics & history
- from 25 April 1915 to 9 January 1916Gallipoli Campaign
- 16 May 1916Sykes–Picot Agreement
- from February 1919 to March 1921Polish–Soviet War
- 24 July 1923Treaty of Lausanne
- from 7 December 1941 to 2 September 1945Pacific War
- from 6 June 1944 to 29 August 1944Normandy landings
The era
This moment belongs to the Modern era (1914 CE to 1945 CE), world wars and a changing world. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.