Tobruk Memorial PoolPrint Page

The pool commemorates those who died in service or were killed in action in the Siege of Tobruk during World War Two. The pool was redeveloped and officially opened on the 14th May 2016. 

The Siege of Tobruk was a confrontation that lasted 241 days between Axis and Allied forces in North Africa during the Western Desert Campaign of World War Two. The siege started on 10 April 1941, when Tobruk was attacked by an Italo–German force under Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel and continued for 241 days up to 27 November 1941, when it was relieved by the Allied 8th Army during Operation Crusader.

The “Rats of Tobruk” was the name given to the soldiers of the garrison who held the Libyan port of Tobruk against the Afrika Corps during the Siege. 

The garrison, commanded by Lieutenant General Leslie Morshead, consisted of the 9th Australian Division (20th, 24th, and 26th Brigades), the 18th Brigade of the 7th Australian Division, four regiments of British artillery and some Indian troops.

In 1956, the Rats of Tobruk Association wrote to the Cairns City Council advising that they wanted to assist in the construction of an Olympic size swimming pool to commemorate those who died or were killed in the Siege of Tobruk.

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