Tobruk

Tobruk (tōbrk`), Arab. Tubruq, city (1984 pop. 75,282), NE Libya, a port on the Mediterranean Sea. It was a fiercely contested objective in World War II (see North Africa, campaigns in). Tobruk was first taken by the British on Jan. 22, 1941. When the Germans under Erwin Rommel drove the British out of Libya (Mar.–Apr., 1941), the Australian garrison at Tobruk was isolated. However, the Australians were provisioned by sea and withstood repeated German attacks. British Field Marshal Claude Auchinleck's drive late in 1941 relieved the siege (Dec. 10). During Rommel's second offensive (begun May 26, 1942), Tobruk fell (June 21) after a one-day assault. The city was retaken by the British on Nov. 30, 1942. The port facilities were expanded in the 1960s to link the city to nearby oil fields.

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Tobruk

 ancient Antipyrgos

Port city (pop., latest est.: 110,000), northeastern Libya. The site of an ancient Greek agricultural colony, it later had a Roman fortress guarding the frontier of Cyrenaica. For centuries it served as a way station on the coastal caravan route. An Italian military post by 1911, it was the scene of prolonged fighting during World War II (see North Africa campaigns). The British captured it from the Italians in 1941; it fell to a German siege in 1942 but was recaptured by the British the same year. Rebuilt after the war, it was expanded in the 1960s to include a port terminal linked by pipeline to the Sarir oil field.