Fort Capuzzo/Ridotta Capuzzo
Part ofWestern Desert Campaign of theSecond World War
Map showing Fort Capuzzo
Date June 1940 – November 1942 Location nearSollum,Libya 31°34′51″N25°03′08″E / 31.58083°N 25.05222°E /31.58083; 25.05222

Fort Capuzzo (Italian:Ridotta Capuzzo) was afort in the colony ofItalian Libya, near theLibya–Egypt border, next to the ItalianFrontier Wire. TheLitoranea Balbo (Via Balbo) ran south fromBardia to Fort Capuzzo, 8 mi (13 km) inland, west ofSollum, then east across the Egyptian frontier to the port over the coastal escarpment. The fort was built during the Italian colonial repression ofSenussi resistance in theSecond Italo-Senussi War (1923–1931), as part of a barrier on the Libya–Egypt andLibya–Sudan borders.

The Frontier Wire and a line of forts including Fort Capuzzo were used to stop the Senussi from moving freely across the border. The fort had four crenellated walls enclosing a yard. Living quarters had been built around the edges and provided the base for border guards and Italian army armoured car patrols. A track ran south from the fort, just west of the frontier wire and the border, toSidi Omar, Fort Maddalena andGiarabub. The fort changed hands several times during theWestern Desert campaign (1940–1943) of theSecond World War.

In 1922,Benito Mussolini continued theRiconquista of Libya in the Second Italo-Sanussi War(1921–1931).^[1][2] The Frontier wire was built by theItalian army, under the command of GeneralRodolfo Graziani, in the winter of 1930–1931, as a means to repressSenussi resistance against theItalian colonisation. The frontier wire and fort system was used to hinder the movement of Senussi fighters and materials from Egypt.^[3] The wire comprised four lines of 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in) high stakes in concrete bases, laced withbarbed wire, 320 km (200 mi) long, just inside the border from El Ramleh on the Gulf of Sollum, past Fort Capuzzo toSidi Omar, then south, slightly to the west of the25th meridian east, to the Libya–Egypt and Libya–Sudan borders.^[4][2] Three large forts were built along the wire at Amseat (Fort Capuzzo), Scegga (Fort Maddalena) andGiarabub and six smaller ones at El Ramleh on the gulf of Sollum, at Sidi Omar, Sceferzen, Vescechet, Garn ul Grein and El Aamara.^[3][a] The wire was patrolled using armoured cars and aircraft from the forts, by the Italian army and border guards, who attacked anyone seen in the frontier zone.^[5]

First Action of Fort Capuzzo
Part ofNorth African Campaign of theSecond World War
Rolls-Royce Armoured Car at theFrontier wire, 1940
Date 14 June – 16 December 1940 Location Fort Capuzzo,Sallum,Libya 31°34′51″N25°03′08″E / 31.58083°N 25.05222°E /31.58083; 25.05222 Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	Italy
Commanders and leaders
	Francesco Argentino
Units involved
7th Hussars 1st Royal Tank Regiment 4th Armoured Brigade No. 33 Squadron RAF No. 211 Squadron RAF	2nd CC.NN. Division "28 Ottobre" Maletti Group
Casualties and losses
150	3,500 casualties 150 killed

On 14 June 1940, four days after the Italian declaration of war on Britain, the7th Hussars and elements of the1st Royal Tank Regiment captured Fort Capuzzo. TheRoyal Air Force (RAF) contributed theGladiator fighters of33 Squadron andBlenheim bombers of211 Squadron to the attack and the11th Hussars took Fort Maddalena about 60 mi (97 km) further south.^[6] The fort was not occupied long for lack of troops and equipment but demolition parties visited each night to destroy Italian ammunition and vehicles.^[7] For the rest of June, the British patrolled to the north, south and west and began theSiege of Giarabub. The Italian10th Army concentrated in the area from Bardia to Tobruk and brought forward theMaletti Group, a combined tank, infantry and artillery force, equipped with a company ofFiat M11/39 medium tanks, which were superior to their olderL3/33 tankettes.^[8]

The Italians reoccupied Fort Capuzzo and held it with part of the2nd CC.NN. Division "28 Ottobre" (Lieutenant-General [Luogotenente Generale] Francesco Argentino). On 29 June, the Maletti Group repulsed British tanks with its artillery and then defeated a night attack.^[8][9] During the frontier skirmishes from 11 June to 9 September, the British claimed to have inflicted3,500 casualties for a loss of150 men.^[10] On 16 December, duringOperation Compass (9 December 1940 – 9 February 1941) the 4th Armoured Brigade of theWestern Desert Force captured Sidi Omar and the Italians withdrew from Sollum, Fort Capuzzo and the other frontier forts; Number9 Field Supply Depot was established at the fort for the7th Armoured Division.^[11]

On 10 April, after the Axis advance from El Agheila, small British mobile columns began to harassAfrika Korps units around Fort Capuzzo, which was captured by the Germans on 12 April. Attacks byKampfgruppe Herf from 25 to 26 April, led the British columns to fall back.^[12] DuringOperation Brevity (15–16 May) an operation to capture the area between Sollum and the fort and inflict casualties, the22nd Guards Brigade Group and the 4th RTR was to capture the fort and then attack northwards. The operation began on 15 May and the fort was captured by the 1st Durham Light Infantry (1st DLI) and a squadron ofInfantry tanks.^[13]

A counter-attack by II Battalion, Panzer Regiment 5 (with eight operational tanks) inflicted many losses and forced the 1st DLI back toMusaid. The German force advanced from Fort Capuzzo on the following afternoon.^[13] Three Italian battalions with artillery from the102nd Motorised Division "Trento" took over the area between Sollum, Musaid and Fort Capuzzo. Late on 15 June, the 7th Royal Tank Regiment (7th RTR) attacked Fort Capuzzo duringOperation Battleaxe (15–17 June) and scattered the defenders. The British tanks broke through but infantry were slow to follow up and the tanks were not able rapidly to exploit the success.^[14]

Next day, the 22nd Guards Brigade consolidated at the fort and Panzer Regiment 8 attacked near Capuzzo, only to be repulsed by the 4th Armoured Brigade. German attempts to work round the British flank failed but reduced the tank regiments in the area to21 runners. On 17 June, the danger of encirclement increased as German attacks reached Sidi Suleiman and the 22nd Guards Brigade was ordered to retreat at11:00 a.m. The remnants of the armoured brigades covered the British withdrawal, eventually to the start line, assisted by the RAF.^[14] On 22 November, the fort was captured by the2nd New Zealand Division, duringOperation Crusader (18 November – 30 December) which then advanced on Tobruk, apart from the 5th New Zealand Brigade which remained to capture the Sollum barracks.^[15]

Axis forces recaptured the fort around 22 June 1942, after theBattle of Gazala (26 May – 21 June 1942) capturing 500 long tons (510 t) of fuel and 930 long tons (940 t) of foodstuffs, despite demolitions since the British withdrawal from Gazala has begun on 14 June.^[16] After theSecond Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 11 November 1942) Fort Capuzzo changed hands for the last time. German rearguards retired from Sidi Barrani on 9 November; next day, the22nd Armoured Brigade advanced on Fort Capuzzo from the south and by 11 November, the last Axis troops had withdrawn from the frontier, despite orders to hold the area from Halfaya to Sollum and Sidi Omar.^[17]

After the Allied conquest in 1943, Tripolitania and Cyrenaica were ruled under theBritish Military Administration of Libya until Libyan independence in 1951, as a kingdom under Muhammad Idris bin Muhammad al-Mahdi as-Senussi (KingIdris of Libya). Fort Capuzzo and the frontier wire disappeared into obscurity.^[18]

• Frontier Wire (Libya)
• Italian Libya

• Arielli, Nir (2015)."Colonial Soldiers in Italian Counter-Insurgency Operations in Libya, 1922–32".British Journal for Military History.I (2).ISSN 2057-0422. Archived fromthe original on 2018-12-02. Retrieved2015-10-17.
• Latimer, Jon (2001).Tobruk 1941: Rommel's Opening Move. Oxford: Osprey.ISBN 978-0-275-98287-4.
• Paterson, Ian A."History of the British 7th Armoured Division: Operation Brevity". Archived fromthe original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved28 February 2015.
• Rodd, F. (1970) [1948].British Military Administration of Occupied Territories in Africa during the Years 1941–1947 (2nd Greenwood Press, CT ed.). London: HMSO.OCLC 1056143039.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toFort Capuzzo.

• Photo of Fort Capuzzo in November 1942
• 1943 Drawing by Jack Crippen
• Wikimapia
• Fort Capuzzo Desert War.net
• New Zealand soldiers at Fort Capuzzo, circa December 1941

• Forts in Libya
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• World War II sites in Libya
• Cyrenaica
• Western Desert campaign
• Italy–Libya relations
• Land battles of World War II involving the United Kingdom

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