history · 09 December 1940 · 84 years ago
Beginning at 0500 hours, Allied artillery and aircraft bombarded the Italian camp at Nibeiwa, Egypt for two hours. At 0715 hours, ground troops began moving toward the rear of the fort for attack; they were spotted by Italian aircraft, but it was too late for the Italians to reorganize the defenses. Troops of the Indian 4th Infantry Division, supported by tanks of the British 7th Royal Tank Regiment, captured the camp at 0830 hours. Italian positions at Tummar West and Tummar East were also captured by dusk. Along the coast, tanks of the British 4th Armoured Brigade cut off the main road to prevent an Italian withdrawal. Meanwhile, British monitor HMS Terror and gunboats HMS Ladybird and HMS Aphis bombarded Italian positions at Sidi Barrani and Maktila.
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