[Homer_J_Simpson]

Flight to Libya On – 2-3
1st Armored Division Sets Army Records – 3
Text of Churchill’s Report on Victory – 3
The International Situation – 4
Adriatic Base Hit – 4-5
Greeks Take Steps to Safeguard Art – 5
British on the March – 6
The Texts of the Day’s War Communiques – 8-9
Berlin Seems Easy over Italy’s Setback – 9

[Homer_J_Simpson]

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1940/dec40/f13dec40.htm

British forces enter Libya

Friday, December 13, 1940 www.onwar.com

In North Africa... A small British force has entered Libya and now cuts the road leading west from the important Italian position at Bardia.

In Germany... Hitler issues Directive 20 giving orders for the further preparation of the invasion of Greece, Operation Marita. The German forces in Romania are accordingly increased.

In Vichy France... Petain dismisses and arrests Laval and appoints Flandin as foreign minister in his place.

[agere_contra]

A very useful victory in the Desert war. The OOB was:

British

* General Richard O’Connor
* General Archibald Wavell
* 31,000 men
* 275 tanks, 60 armored cars, 120 artillery pieces

Italians

* General Rodolfo Graziani
* General Annibale Bergonzoli
* 150,000 men
* 600 tanks, 1,200 artillery pieces

That’s something like five to one odds. The British victory during Operation Compass was an extraordinary display of the power of armor deployed with surprise and daring - and also of course of the incredible unreadiness of Italian forces.