Battle of Beda Fomm

E272425

The Battle of Beda Fomm was a decisive 1941 engagement in the Western Desert Campaign of World War II, where British forces encircled and destroyed a large part of the Italian Tenth Army during its retreat in Libya.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Battle of Beda Fomm canonical 7

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf battle
military engagement
alsoKnownAs Action at Beda Fomm
belligerent British Commonwealth forces
Kingdom of Italy
United Kingdom
campaign Operation Compass
combatantStrength smaller British blocking force vs larger Italian army
commander Creagh
Giuseppe Tellera
Richard O'Connor
conflict North African campaign
surface form: Western Desert Campaign
conflictType land battle
countryAtTime Italian Libya
date 1941-02-05
1941-02-07
endDate 1941-02-07
followedBy Axis retreat to El Agheila
forceType armoured forces
motorized infantry
front North African campaign
surface form: North African Front
geographicalFeature near Gulf of Sirte
historicalPeriod North African campaign
surface form: World War II in North Africa
location Beda Fomm
Libya
notableFor large-scale Italian surrender
use of fast-moving armoured columns to intercept retreating army
objective cut off Italian Tenth Army retreat
opponent Italian Tenth Army
outcome capture of many Italian prisoners
destruction of large part of Italian Tenth Army
encirclement of Italian Tenth Army
partOf North African campaign
surface form: North African Campaign

World War II
surface form: Second World War
precededBy Battle of Bardia
Siege of Tobruk
surface form: Battle of Tobruk (1941)
primaryOpposingArmy Italian Tenth Army
region Cyrenaica
result decisive British victory
roadControlled Via Balbia
significance decisive engagement of Operation Compass
ended Italian threat to Egypt in early 1941
startDate 1941-02-05
tactics blocking position across coastal road
encirclement
mobile desert warfare
theatre Western Desert
year 1941

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (7)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Ariete Armoured Division participatedIn Battle of Beda Fomm
10th Army (Italy) notableEngagement Battle of Beda Fomm
Compass notableEngagement Battle of Beda Fomm
subject surface form: Operation Compass
M13/40 medium tank usedInBattle Battle of Beda Fomm
Italian Tenth Army notableEngagement Battle of Beda Fomm
British Western Desert Force engagement Battle of Beda Fomm
Libyan campaign hasPart Battle of Beda Fomm