St Joseph`s Tobruk Memorial School War MemorialPrint Page

The monument commemorates those who served in the Siege of Tobruk.

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 the Second World War. The siege started on 11 April 1941, when Tobruk was attacked by an Italo–German force under Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel and continued for 240 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 of Tobruk in World War Two.  Australian troops of the Australian 9th Division and the 18th Brigade of the Australian 7th Division under Lieutenant General Leslie Morshead made up more than half of the Allied presence in Tobruk with a total strength of over 14,000 men.

The memorial to the Rats of Tobruk was unveiled by Archbishop Duhig on the 3rd July 1955. The memorial is a miniature, in El Alamein sandstone of the actual obelisk at Tobruk. The memorial was bought from Cairo in 1954 by parish priest Monsignor O. Steel who was the senior Catholic chaplain during the siege. At the unveiling. Archbishop Duhig said "the stories of Tobruk and the great campaigns in World War Two should be taught in schools to give children their Australian tradition ."
The Central Queensland Herald (Rockhampton), 7th July 1955.
 

Location

Details

Dedication