Tobruk

by Peter FitzSimons

'What we have, we hold' MOTTO OF AUSTRALIA'S 2/17TH BATTALION In the tradition of his bestselling Kokoda, Peter FitzSimons, Australia's most beloved popular historian, focuses on one of the seminal moments in Australian history: the Battle of Tobruk in 1941, in which more than 15 000 Australian troops - backed by British artillery - fought in excruciating desert heat through eight long months, against Adolf Hitler's formidable Afrika Korps. During the dark heart of World War II, when Hitler turned his attention to conquering North Africa, a distracted and far-fl ung Allied force could not give its all to the defence of Libya. So the job was left to the roughest, toughest bunch that could be mustered: the Australian Imperial Force. The AIF's defence of the harbour city of Tobruk against the Afrika Korps' armoured division is not only the stuff of Australian legend, it is one of the great battles of all time, as against the might of General Rommel and his Panzers, the Australians relied on one factor in particular to give them the necessary strength against the enemy: mateship. Drawing on extensive source material - including diaries and letters, many never published before - this extraordinary book, written in Peter FitzSimons' highly readable style, is the definitive account of this remarkable chapter in Australia's history. Foreword by Manfred Rommel.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, War, Australia, World War II, Audiobook, Military History

885 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Peter FitzSimons is one of Australia’s most prominent and successful media and publishing identities. His busy professional life involves co-hosting the breakfast program on Sydney's Radio 2UE, writing weekly columns for the Sydney Morning Herald and Sun Herald newspapers, appearing on Foxtel's Back Page television show and, when time permits, authoring best-selling books. A correspondent for London's Daily Telegraph as well, he is also in high demand as a guest speaker and presenter

Reviews

[Graeme Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book. Shines a light on Australia's relationship with Britain. (Not a friendly one at times).
Can't say more. This will spark an interest in this theatre of operations and the reader MUST prepare the ground with Osprey Publishing books beforehand. Focus on the British offensives in particular. Rommel and the Germans are treated with sympathy (right word?) and FitzSimons saves his disdain for the Italiens. This is a man who won't drive a Ferrari!

[Kieran · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would have read dozens of books on the topic of the Second World War, mostly popular histories like this one or the biographies of former participants. I rate Peter Fitzsimons’ Tobruk as the worst I have read mostly because it reads like a rugby tour sports memoir where the Aussies are playing away matches against the Italians and Afrika Korps in North Africa and the middle east.

It seemed as though Fitzsimons was aiming for a story telling narrative with Tobruk similar to that of Stephen E. Ambrose’s Band of Brothers following a group of young soldiers from their civilian life in Australia through their army training and to the battles against the Italian and German armies in the North African campaign. The problem is that Tobruk does not match the quality of Ambrose’s compelling writing which gives the reader a much better sense as to what it was like to be involved in these events.

I also found Fitzsimons’ narrative to be far too jingoistic for my liking and subsequently I decided not to read Fitzsimons’ other world war two popular history Kokoda.

The well-respected Manfred Rommel wrote an introduction section for this book and I certainly hope he never actually read this jingoistic nonsense from an Author whose low points include describing a dream of a German officer a few hours before he is killed in battle.

[Paul W · Rating 2 out of 5]

The sweeping nationalistic generalisations and folksy anecdotes, are at best distracting and at worst misleading for anyone interested in anything other than a superficial overview.
If you are a person who would otherwise not have taken an interest in this critical period in Australian military history then Fitzsimon's book may hold some appeal.
For everyone else there are so many better books than FitzSimons' on the Mediterranean campaign and on the battle at Tobruk.

[Stanley Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book on the early years of World War II in the Middle East. I have read several works on the Middle East, but most were dealing with the Middle East after the U.S. became involved with Operation Torch. FitzSimons obviously spent many hours researching his subject and does an excellent job writing the story of the Australia involvement in Tobruk and the overall Middle East campaign. Highly recommended for anyone interested in World War II...

[Nocheevo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having had a grandfather in the Ninth division, on of the "Rats of Tobruk", I was keen to pick this up as soon as I heard ex-rugby bloke and journo Fitzsimmons was working on it.

The book covers the lead into the war in North Africa and predominately the first seige of Tobruk - before the Australian's were withdrawn to the Pacific. Being a siege its a story of stubbornness rather than epic clashes of fire and fury. I found the most interesting parts to be regarding the command of Morsehead, the goal of dominating no man's land.

The author has had access to a lot of personal communications and has used these extensively to personalise the Tobruk experience by focusing on a couple individuals. A letter from one soldier "The Hun fights with grim determination, the Tommies fight by number, but the Aussies tear about like kids at a picnic, swearing and laughing the whole time"

Essentially this is written as a populist history book. Following the example of the quote, the author writes in a casual style of the "Aussie vernacular" and unfortunately envokes the tone of some of the nationalistic tendencies that has been creeping into ANZAC Day* commemorations and myths in recent times.



* ANZAC Day - 25th April - the veteran’s day equivalent in Australia and New Zealand

[Bill Forgeard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fitzsimons can certainly tell a story, in his over-the-top Aussie Bloke fashion, and his books have opened Australian war history up to a whole new audience, which is great. His research is impressive, particularly the personal stories and letters of individuals soldiers and their families. These stories were my favourite part of the book. However, as work of history, this book is terrible! Fitzsimons' attempts at historical comment were superficial and openly biased. His attempts to guess at the thoughts and emotions of key figures seem to convey his own opinions more than anything. And - the ultimate sin for a blokey war history book - the battle descriptions are cliched, over-dramatic and vague.

[Bruce Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had no idea of Australia's involvement in in WW2 Africa and Europe. The personal stories of the free spirit of the troops and their courage and strength was an inspiration to read. A great listen.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compelling (but not too heavy) read about the Australians in Tobruk. Historical research is amazing with personal stories from both stories as well as home. Fitzsimons describes the horror, mateship and human spirit really well with a sprinkling of humour throughout. I feel really well informed on the events of Tobruk now.

[Andrew Parnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't rate this book high enough and not because I'm Australian. The defense of Tobruk in the second world war, was the first time that the German juggernaut was stopped with their blitzkrieg style of warfare.
Peter FitzSimons narrative is gripping, he managed to create protagonists from every aspect of the conflict.

[Ken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like the author's style on this interesting piece of WWII history

[Jeannie May · Rating 5 out of 5]

A MUST read for all Australians. Fascinating, heartbreaking, uplifting, incredibly informative and well researched. I cannot recommend this book enough!!!

[Pania · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been meaning to read this book for years and am so glad I finally did. My great grandpa was one of the Rats of Tobruk. I have always been proud of that but it's only as I've read this book and combed through his military records and family histories that I've come to appreciate the impact his short time in the AIF had on the rest of his and his family's lives. Grandpa was shot during the early stages of the siege of Tobruk and was eventually discharged due to what they called 'anxiety state' (PTSD wasn't a thing yet). He never spoke about the war (other than a couple of funny anecdotes) but was a different person when he returned and often experienced dark moods. He was a hard working and kind man and I'm proud of him.

Tobruk is a really well researched book that blends military and personal history to give a pretty detailed picture of the political and military machinations of this chapter of the war, while showing the human impact. I guess because I was thinking about grandpa while reading Tobruk, the things that stood out to me most were the descriptions of day to day life for the diggers and their stories. Far from glorifying the war, the book (particularly in the epilogue) shows the aftermath for all parties - the families left fatherless and impoverished, the mental health challenges, the loneliness and grief (especially for the German soldiers who later learned what they had been fighting for). Fitzsimmons' narrative style that makes it easy reading for those of us who aren't historians, although the blokey/ocka language is a little grating after a while. I also really appreciated his empathy for the Germans and inclusion of other nations who participated. It was interesting to learn about the British's treatment of the Australians in both world wars - he had some pretty clear biases though so I took it all with a grain of salt.

[Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story itself is amazing. The writing, not so much. I just can't get into the style of FitzSimons. The slang and colloquialisms become a bit too much after a while. I get that he's trying to make it vivid and accessible, I'm just not sure it works. Still, I knew very little about Tobruk prior to reading this, so I'm grateful to have learned more about this incredible battle and the courage of the soldiers involved.

[Marianne Webb · Rating 3 out of 5]

The sheer size of the book was a challenge with over 500 pages. Even though I love Peter Fitzsimons books I found this one disjointed with Rommel prowess, Hitlers rise to fame, a son in Australia training for war, two guys trying to escape the war in Poland, the evacuation of Dunkirk and how Aborigines were treated in Australia- all within a few pages of each other. I didn’t finish it but it’d be a great book for a desert island!!

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fitzsimons books are always informative and extremely well written. He writes in a way that brings the events alive. I am looking forward to learning more Australian history as I work my way through his library of books.

[Daniel Long · Rating 3 out of 5]

Requires a lot of focus and a chance to read big blocks at a time to get the real flow of the story.
Whilst the story truly is an amazing “record” of the battle for Tobruk I found it hard to remain engaged until well into the book.

[Jason Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Raw. Intense. Moving. Amazing.

I wish every Australian would read this book. The history is fascinating. But it's more than that. WWII was so profoundly defining for modern Australia. Gallipoli was defining in the early days, but to understand our current place in the world, WWII is crucial, and Tobruk is a definitively proud and instructive aspect of that story. And this pride is not the pride of mere nationalism, but of something deeper, stronger, more human, more worthy. The Rats of Tobruk were, without a doubt, pretty decent blokes.

Reading this book in public gave me the privelege to meet several of these soldiers' families to whom we owe gratitude and respect.

[Helen Ahern · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book. Its read by Humphrey Bower on audible. It has been extensively researched by the author from letters and memoirs of the soldiers mostly Australian who participated in holding of Tobruk during the Second World War. If you like a book that has the real life realities of war and the lives of the people left behind then you will like this account. I learned a lot and especially interesting was what happened to Rommel at the end. I’m sure serious world war 2 readers would know all the history of this campaign and find lots of the well documented facts superfluous but I knew very little. I’ve heard of the desert fox and the desert rats but that’s as far as it went.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter Fitzsimons keeps the darkness and the light in all of his war histories. There's such a true Australian spirit in the story of the Rats of Tobruk, and I am grateful I was able to read these stories and know these great Australians and those they fought against and alongside.
If you don't know these stories, I recommend picking it up and giving it a go.

[Steve Markham · Rating 4 out of 5]

An honest, open and well researched and heartfelt account of the Australians part in one of the most important battles in the North African theatre of the second world war.

Am planning to read another of his books as it was engaging and enjoyable to read.

[Allan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read! He writes historical fact filled in with a bit of poetic licence better than anyone else I've read.

[Christopher Owen · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars, mainly because the source material is so phenomenal, rather than FitzSimons' writing

[Riverina Regional Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

Members of Riverina Regional Library reserve your copy now

[Davina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely wonderfully done! Love the language of the book, I think it helps to tell the soldiers stories so well.

[Nick Bradshaw · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit unfair perhaps on the author, as it was probably his intention to make the book more of a story than a history. However, I just found it too blokey and parochial.

[Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible story of stoicism, toughness and grit, and an important chapter to remember and reflect on in Australia's history. Lest we forget.

[James Warfe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent as always Peter, a fantastically digestible recount of one of Australia’s most important campaigns.

[Jennifer (JC-S) · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘It was one of those things I suppose …’

In his introduction to this book, Peter FitzSimons writes of how seeing ‘… a framed certificate of some kind, featuring the title Rats of Tobruk Association’ on the wall of the spare room in his aunt and uncle’s home in Tamworth led him to write this book. I’d heard of the Rats of Tobruk: a family friend was one of the Polish Rats of Tobruk. But when I picked up this book, I knew very little about Tobruk itself, or its significance. By the time I finished the book, I had a much better understanding.

Mr FitzSimons approaches Tobruk through the experiences of a handful of individuals. Before reading this book, I knew that Jack Edmondson had received a posthumous Victoria Cross, but I knew little about the man or his family. By including Elizabeth Edmondson, Jack’s mother, in the book, Mr FitzSimons broadens the story of the soldier into an account of an only son, close to his mother, a good mate to those who knew him. Through Mrs Edmondson’s eyes, I get a different view of the cost of war. There are others whose stories were not known to me, such as John Johnson. There’s detail as well, about Leslie Morsehead. And on the other side, Mr FitzSimons includes details about Adolf Hitler and about Erwin Rommel.

This book is written in a series of short sharp bursts: most chapters are short; the focus moves between the key characters. We might move from Elizabeth Edmondson on her farm outside Sydney, then to Leslie Morsehead (perhaps via letter to his wife Myrtle). Then we might be with Jack Edmondson in Tobruk, or with John Johnson’s family. I found this distracting at times, but it kept me reading. I wanted to know what would happen next.

It took me a while to warm to Mr FitzSimons’s style of writing. Did the Australian soldiers always refer to British artillery as ‘Pommy guns’? I suppose that they probably did. What Mr FitzSimons achieves so successfully in this book is giving the soldiers (on both sides) voices and human faces. He also puts the defence of Tobruk in its World War II context. I finished the book wanting to know more (especially about the Polish Rats of Tobruk) but feeling that I had a good starting point for any further reading. I also appreciated the information about the families at home, especially Elizabeth Edmondson and John Johnson’s wife Josie and their children. Mr FitzSimons used diaries and letters to provide us with glimpses into the lives of both the soldiers and their families. As one soldier wrote to his mother:

‘I’m proud to be an Aussie. The Hun fights with grim determination, the Tommies fight by number, but the Aussies tear about like kids at a picnic, swearing and laughing the whole time.’

I found this book both interesting and informative.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

[John Bennetto · Rating 5 out of 5]

The third of FitzSimmons books that I have read, after “Kokoda” and “Monash's Masterpiece”, “Tobruk” is a much bigger read and all the better for it. Beginning with a short history of the rise of Nazism in Germany, dating from the Versailles Treaty in WWI, the author also outlines actions by both Hitler and Rommel in that war. It is a good overview for those not familiar with the origins of WWII and the roles of Italy, Britain, and Germany in North Africa and Libya.

When we finally arrive at the defence of Tobruk, almost over halfway through the book, the reader is once more, as with “Kokoda” given both broad strokes strategy pictures of the war and battles. Then, drops the reader down into the boots of the soldiers, Australian or German, as the attacks take place. If you play computer games, the “Total War” series is a great comparison. This is where you play grand strategy, but when it comes to the fighting, you are taken from the world, or country map to the battlefield in a tactical battle where you control troops. The difference here being you zoom from strategy to tactical to third and first-person shooter as you get to almost 'see' and 'feel' the fear, the pain, and the courage.

Included is a much-needed view from the commander of the Australian 9th Division that held the harbour town, along with British (2nd Armoured Division plus Royal Horse artillery and triple A), Indian, and Polish brigades. The letters from Major General Morsehead to his wife were found by the author at a relative's home when interviewing her. As he left no detailed journal, such as Rommel or Montgomery (intending to write books after the war), this was the first and only insight into the man the troops called “Merciless Ming”, after the villain in “Flash Gordon”. This was with reverence, though. Also included are the trials and tribulations of the Australian destroyers, called The Scrap Iron Flotilla, the subject, and title, of a book by journalist Mike Carlton. Along with other transports, daily braved the thirty miles, called 'Bomb Alley' to keep the garrison supplied and evacuate the seriously wounded under heavy air attack.

I have read several books on the war in North Africa in WWII, and was my favourite theatre, in which I painted all of my WWII plastic models as a youth. The closest I came to Tobruk now, though, was the film “The Rats of Tobruk”, a B&W film with Chips Rafferty, for those who recall.

The author, admitting in the introduction yet again, that he is no historian, shows he is a master storyteller. Almost effortlessly, though it would have been far from that, weaving all the interviews with soldiers still living, letters to home and other vast resources. “Tobruk” describes in harrowing detail the triumphs, tragedies and every day life of the men on both sides of the siege. The closest comparison as far as authors who capture the blood and smoke of battle go, for me would be Cornelius Ryan. He has never been bested in my experience, with “The Longest Day” the first book I bought with my own pocket money as a young boy.

Buy it, enjoy it, re-enact the battle in a computer strategy game, and you will come back to read the book gain at some stage.

[Hugh Griffiths]

I was interested to hear a different perspective on WW2, and we don't hear much about the war in Africa in the UK, so this was pretty interesting. It gives a good immersive view of what these experiences were like for the guys involved, and how it felt to be there.
It does get pretty jingoistic, there's a lot of celebrating feats of derring-do and Aussie "mateship", lots of stories about how all the other nationalities involves had so much respect for them and their attitude, and I suspect there was a lot of bias there.
My big take-aways were:
Rommel was a bit of a douche, that he had one useful insight and was totally unable to see beyond that. He was incredibly self-important, he was a self-publicist who lived on spectacular victories and probably crippled the German war effort in the process, and he absolutely could not handle not being the centre of attention.
The soldiers' experience involve a lot of surviving desert conditions - lying in shallow trenches for days just enduring the heat, with minimal water, just waiting out entire days to be in position for combat at night.
At the height of the war, Australia felt like Britain saw them and the Commonwealth as disposable resources. At one point they tried to replace Churchill as the head of the war effort with a Commonwealth-wide war council.
And tanks. It sounds like a lot of the military story in WW2 comes down to how tanks changed combat.