The capture of Tripoli
The operation went ahead, commencing at 0100 GMT on 20th September - about three in the morning local time.
SBS divers cut open torpedo nets and disabled the few torpedo boats guarding the harbour. By 0200 the first Marines were ashore on the north side of Tripoli harbour, quietly overcoming naval ratings and dock staff.
Fortunately for the British, Harbour security had been handed over by the Italian Army to a 'cohort' of Blackshirt militia. These political troops were ill-suited to the challenge of dealing with an intensively-trained crack unit, and when the alarm was finally raised around 0340 Blackshirt officers failed to give orders for several hours. The Italian troops therefore mustered at 'crucial locations', including the telephone exchange, radio station, government offices, major mosques, and theatre. The detachment taksed with defending the harbour found their sandbagged positions mainly already in British hands. By 0600 the north and west sides of the harbour, including much crucial equipment ,were largely secure.
The only immediate trouble came from a battery of 20mm autocannon on anti-aircraft duty, which continued to give harrasing fire.
Operation Spectacle met with more resistance. The Friuli division was more alert than the Blackshirt militia, and while the initial landing was unopposed, men marched on the foothold from both directions. However, 3 Commando Brigade came off the better in early clashes, and as light grew the marines were able to call in supporting fire from the battleships and cruisers behind them - a heaavy barrage by the standards of the African campaign!
By 1200 the Friuli's third brigade had been pushed back to positions on the road to Tripoli and pinned down by naval gunfire, while on the eastern flank Marine units were coming within engagement distance of the half-completed and hasty 'Hannibal Line' emplacments. Signalmen observed the fall of volleys from the main batteries of Queen Elizabeth and Rodney on the trenches and machine-gun nests.
In the afternoon 1st Commando Brigade secured the south side of Tripoli harbour, engineers cutting harbour booms to allow the cruiser HMS Middlesex direct access into the port to direct 8" fire against machine-gun positions hastily erected by the Blackshirts.
By dusk, the Spectacle troops were mounting their first direct assault on the Hannibal Line fortifications, a process they continued the next day. Each thrust was aimed at the suspected location of a battery of lethal 37mm or 47mm AT guns - the only weapons that could penetrate the armour of the British Stuart tanks.
By 22nd September the two Marine divisions linked up, clearing the coast road and allowing the approaching squadrons of the Guards entry to Tripoli. Motorised units quickly secured the perimiter of the city and the airport, but penny-packets of Blackshirts continued holding out in shops and houses in the city for several days until a surrender was concluded.
Tripoli had been captured - with her harbour intact.
The operation went ahead, commencing at 0100 GMT on 20th September - about three in the morning local time.
SBS divers cut open torpedo nets and disabled the few torpedo boats guarding the harbour. By 0200 the first Marines were ashore on the north side of Tripoli harbour, quietly overcoming naval ratings and dock staff.
Fortunately for the British, Harbour security had been handed over by the Italian Army to a 'cohort' of Blackshirt militia. These political troops were ill-suited to the challenge of dealing with an intensively-trained crack unit, and when the alarm was finally raised around 0340 Blackshirt officers failed to give orders for several hours. The Italian troops therefore mustered at 'crucial locations', including the telephone exchange, radio station, government offices, major mosques, and theatre. The detachment taksed with defending the harbour found their sandbagged positions mainly already in British hands. By 0600 the north and west sides of the harbour, including much crucial equipment ,were largely secure.
The only immediate trouble came from a battery of 20mm autocannon on anti-aircraft duty, which continued to give harrasing fire.
Operation Spectacle met with more resistance. The Friuli division was more alert than the Blackshirt militia, and while the initial landing was unopposed, men marched on the foothold from both directions. However, 3 Commando Brigade came off the better in early clashes, and as light grew the marines were able to call in supporting fire from the battleships and cruisers behind them - a heaavy barrage by the standards of the African campaign!
By 1200 the Friuli's third brigade had been pushed back to positions on the road to Tripoli and pinned down by naval gunfire, while on the eastern flank Marine units were coming within engagement distance of the half-completed and hasty 'Hannibal Line' emplacments. Signalmen observed the fall of volleys from the main batteries of Queen Elizabeth and Rodney on the trenches and machine-gun nests.
In the afternoon 1st Commando Brigade secured the south side of Tripoli harbour, engineers cutting harbour booms to allow the cruiser HMS Middlesex direct access into the port to direct 8" fire against machine-gun positions hastily erected by the Blackshirts.
By dusk, the Spectacle troops were mounting their first direct assault on the Hannibal Line fortifications, a process they continued the next day. Each thrust was aimed at the suspected location of a battery of lethal 37mm or 47mm AT guns - the only weapons that could penetrate the armour of the British Stuart tanks.
By 22nd September the two Marine divisions linked up, clearing the coast road and allowing the approaching squadrons of the Guards entry to Tripoli. Motorised units quickly secured the perimiter of the city and the airport, but penny-packets of Blackshirts continued holding out in shops and houses in the city for several days until a surrender was concluded.
Tripoli had been captured - with her harbour intact.
