Allied attacking force at Tobruk, January 1941

[Sheldrake]

The purpose is merely... information. I did consider these specific problems; as I see that a figure for the battle of Bardia - 16,000 men - is given, I was looking for the 'equivalent' figure for the capture of Tobruk.

The force which attacked Tobruk was roughly the same one which attacked Bardia, less casualties plus reinforcements . So if the magic number was 16,000 for bardia, the same number is about right for Tobruck.

[MarkN]

The purpose is merely... information. I did consider these specific problems; as I see that a figure for the battle of Bardia - 16,000 men - is given, I was looking for the 'equivalent' figure for the capture of Tobruk.

The force which attacked Tobruk was roughly the same one which attacked Bardia, less casualties plus reinforcements . So if the magic number was 16,000 for bardia, the same number is about right for Tobruck.

Indeed. The magic number for Bardia could be any number between, say, 6,000 and 36,000 depending on what is included in the definition of "involved in the attack". Since it is the same story for Tobruk, then if 16,000 is the magic number for Bardia, it is for Tobruk too, give or take.

Given how simple that was to summarize, I first assumed the original poster had something more educational, informative and insightful on his mind.

Let's just hope another poster doesn't come along who has "seen" 20,000 as the magic number! :roll:

[LColombo]

...just curious: are you nervous for some reason, or is this your standard mood?

I merely asked a question. No 'magic' number - in most cases, source give number for the two sides involved in a battle, without descanting in detail the criteria they followed to determine said number. In case of Bardia, I found a figure of 16,000, for instance: https://books.google.it/books?id=uX7K1d ... 22&f=false ("Bardia: Myth, Reality and the Heirs of Anzac", by Craig Stockings)

Couldn't find anything more in detail, and nothing at all for Tobruk.

Good night.

[Urmel]

Not sure why everybody feels the need to have a go at Lorenzo? It's a perfectly legitimate question, I think it's quite normal for force strengths to be given for these operations, and it's therefore an interesting question to ask.