Battle of Sidi Barrani

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The Battle of Sidi Barrani was a key early World War II engagement in December 1940 in which British and Commonwealth forces launched a successful offensive against Italian troops in Egypt, marking the opening phase of the North African Campaign.

Aliases (1)

Statements (48)
Predicate Object
instanceOf battle
military engagement
belligerent British Empire
Commonwealth forces
Kingdom of Italy
United Kingdom
campaignRole first major British offensive in the Western Desert Campaign
opening phase of the North African Campaign
conflictIn Second World War
World War II
countryContext took place on Egyptian territory
dateContext early phase of World War II
followedBy Battle of Bardia
Battle of Tobruk (1941)
front Western Desert Front
hasCommander Richard O'Connor
Rodolfo Graziani
hasEndDate 1940-12-11
hasLocation Egypt
Sidi Barrani
Western Desert
hasMonthOfConflict December 1940
hasOperationName Operation Compass
hasStartDate 1940-12-09
hasTheater North African Theater of World War II
historicalSignificance boosted British morale after early war setbacks
demonstrated weakness of Italian forces in North Africa
marked transition from Italian offensive to British initiative in the desert war
involvedUnit 10th Army (Italy)
British 7th Armoured Division
British Western Desert Force
Indian 4th Infantry Division
Royal Tank Regiment units
isPhaseOf Operation Compass
namedAfter the town of Sidi Barrani in northwestern Egypt
opponent British and Commonwealth forces
Italian forces
partOf North African Campaign
Western Desert Campaign
precededBy Italian invasion of Egypt (1940)
result British victory
Commonwealth victory
decisive defeat of Italian forces in Egypt
strategicOutcome beginning of British advance into Cyrenaica
collapse of Italian forward positions in Egypt
tacticsUsed armoured flanking manoeuvres
combined arms attack
infantry assaults on Italian camps


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