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Bardia: Myth, Reality and the Heirs of ANZAC
On 3 January 1941, Australian soldiers led an assault against the Italian colonial fortress town of Bardia. Two days later, after 55 hours of heavy fighting, the position fell to the Australians in a resounding victory. At a cost of 130 killed and 326 wounded, the Australians captured around 40,000 Italian prisoners and large quantities of arms and equipment. The success at Bardia was considered to be one of the greatest military feats in Australian history, however, this battle has been largely neglected by historians and the Battle of Bardia is not well known to Australians.
Craig Stockings, a leading military historian, writes the first in-depth study of this important battle. Providing a rare balanced account of the war in North Africa from British, Italian and Australian perspectives, he deals not only with what happened at Bardia but why the Australians were so successful, and reveals the real factors behind the Australian victory and Italian defeat.
Challenging in its perspective and controversial in its conclusions, Bardia is a riveting account of the first large-scale battle planned and fought by an Australian formation in World War II.
Craig Stockings, a leading military historian, writes the first in-depth study of this important battle. Providing a rare balanced account of the war in North Africa from British, Italian and Australian perspectives, he deals not only with what happened at Bardia but why the Australians were so successful, and reveals the real factors behind the Australian victory and Italian defeat.
Challenging in its perspective and controversial in its conclusions, Bardia is a riveting account of the first large-scale battle planned and fought by an Australian formation in World War II.
481 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 14, 2017
Bardia is a small port in Libya just over the Egyptian border and was the site of the Australian Army's first battle (in this instance, the honors go to the 6th Australian Division) in the Second World War in January 1941, part of the British offensive against the Italians known as Operation Compass. Back then, Bardia was a fortress and the Australians stormed it with their usual good-natured ferocity, with plenty of help from British tank, artillery and machine-gun units, plus support from the RAF and the Royal Navy. The result was a decisive Australian victory - at a cost of 130 killed and 326 wounded, the Aussies inflicted around 40,000 Italian casualties, mostly prisoners. Craig Stockings crisply describes the strategic and operational background, the raising of the 6th division and the battle itself, followed by a long analysis comparing the two armies and showing why the battle was so one-sided. He is especially anxious to demonstrate that were concrete reasons for the superiority of the attacking force over its Italian foes, and that the battle didn't hinge upon the legendary "superiority" of the Australian infantry ("The Heirs Of ANZAC"). In short, the 6th Division was exceptionally well-trained, well-lead, well-equipped, and had plenty of help, all of which was not true for the Italian garrison of Bardia. This fine book is not only an excellent portrait of a little-known battle, but it is also a lesson in how armies prepare (or don't) for war.
March 14, 2016
Often overlooked compared to the better known Tobruk, Bardia was the site of the first major battle in WW2 in which Australian forces were involved. This well researched book - 33 pages of footnotes and a 16 page bibliography - includes both the Italian and the Australian perspective on the battle. A rewarding read for those interested in the Western Desert campaign - particularly interesting after having travelled to Bardia in 2007.
May 22, 2014
Very good, almost top to bottom account of a small battle early in the Desert campaigns. The strategic context for the battle is thoroughly considered.
Unusual in that the author saved comparisons of weapons, training, leaders, and so on until the end of the book; most histories put those up front.
Unusual in that the author saved comparisons of weapons, training, leaders, and so on until the end of the book; most histories put those up front.
November 6, 2022
A 2 day set piece attack captured the besieged fortified Italian position at Bardia on 3 January 1941. It was the second battle of the British offensive that routed the Italians in North Africa. 16,000 Australians defeated around 40,000 Italians in prepared defences.
The book’s purpose is to take issue with the view of the battle in Australian popular history. It is represented as a triumph of Australian infantrymen embodying the innate military aptitude of their nation against superior numbers of Italian troops who lacked such natural aptitude. It is an explanation essentially based on racial stereotypes. Popular military history is too often the last historiography where such explanations are promulgated – especially so of campaigns identified for the inculcation of national military traditions.
The author, a graduate of the Australian Defence Force Academy, comprehensively dismantles the conventional view. The 6th Australian Division was highly successful in its first battle. It was deployed with the optimal conditions for success. Its attacks were spearheaded by British tanks that were invulnerable to Italian fire. It fought under air superiority established by the RAF. The Italians were cut off from resupply or relief by the Royal Navy and were subject to the overwhelming fire power of bombarding British battleships. The Australian formation was the product of a years effective training and well supplied and rested.
The Italians were comprehensively defeated. This had nothing to do with the lack of innate military aptitude. The Italian infantry units and the officer corps were effectively untrained. Key Italian weaponry such as machine guns, grenades, anti-tank guns, field guns and ammunition, and tanks were grossly inferior. They lacked motor transport to the degree that not only were their formations immobile, they could not effectively assure the supply of artillery shells or water and food to their combat units or evacuate their wounded. There was no effective R&R or leave arrangements so that Italian troops were left in the front line until they were exhausted. For most a posting to North Africa was a one way ticket and they knew it. The seemingly formidable defences were poorly designed with too few firing points with no overhead cover and readily outflanked. Rear area troops had never been trained or equipped to fight. It is notable that there were examples where Italian artillerymen, who were presumably better trained and led, with weapons that could be effective, fought to the last. See Italian soldier in North Africa 1941-43 (Warrior) for a similar analysis.
A year after Bardia Australian troops placed in similarly doomed engagements against the Japanese fared as poorly as the Italians at Bardia. The idea of innate national military aptitude (or the lack of it) is both ubiquitous and dangerously false. The book is a necessary counter weight to the uncritical promulgation of the ANZAC tradition in Australia. This is first rate history – well written, based on a comprehensive bibliography, with a fine balance between descriptive narrative and analysis. It deserves to be widely read and celebrated.
The book’s purpose is to take issue with the view of the battle in Australian popular history. It is represented as a triumph of Australian infantrymen embodying the innate military aptitude of their nation against superior numbers of Italian troops who lacked such natural aptitude. It is an explanation essentially based on racial stereotypes. Popular military history is too often the last historiography where such explanations are promulgated – especially so of campaigns identified for the inculcation of national military traditions.
The author, a graduate of the Australian Defence Force Academy, comprehensively dismantles the conventional view. The 6th Australian Division was highly successful in its first battle. It was deployed with the optimal conditions for success. Its attacks were spearheaded by British tanks that were invulnerable to Italian fire. It fought under air superiority established by the RAF. The Italians were cut off from resupply or relief by the Royal Navy and were subject to the overwhelming fire power of bombarding British battleships. The Australian formation was the product of a years effective training and well supplied and rested.
The Italians were comprehensively defeated. This had nothing to do with the lack of innate military aptitude. The Italian infantry units and the officer corps were effectively untrained. Key Italian weaponry such as machine guns, grenades, anti-tank guns, field guns and ammunition, and tanks were grossly inferior. They lacked motor transport to the degree that not only were their formations immobile, they could not effectively assure the supply of artillery shells or water and food to their combat units or evacuate their wounded. There was no effective R&R or leave arrangements so that Italian troops were left in the front line until they were exhausted. For most a posting to North Africa was a one way ticket and they knew it. The seemingly formidable defences were poorly designed with too few firing points with no overhead cover and readily outflanked. Rear area troops had never been trained or equipped to fight. It is notable that there were examples where Italian artillerymen, who were presumably better trained and led, with weapons that could be effective, fought to the last. See Italian soldier in North Africa 1941-43 (Warrior) for a similar analysis.
A year after Bardia Australian troops placed in similarly doomed engagements against the Japanese fared as poorly as the Italians at Bardia. The idea of innate national military aptitude (or the lack of it) is both ubiquitous and dangerously false. The book is a necessary counter weight to the uncritical promulgation of the ANZAC tradition in Australia. This is first rate history – well written, based on a comprehensive bibliography, with a fine balance between descriptive narrative and analysis. It deserves to be widely read and celebrated.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews