Sunday, April 24, 2005

The 6th Australian Division at Bardia

In front of Bardia, the 6th Australian Division was short of much of its strength. The date was December 1940. The divisional cavalry regiment, except for one squadron, was at Giarabub. This was 140 miles from Bardia. The division only had two artillery regiments. The 2/1st was equipped with 25pdrs, but the 2/2nd had only the 12-18pdr and 12-4.5in howitzers of WWI vintage. These had been brought with the division from Australia. The division was augmented by the 1/Northumberland Fusiliers, which was a MG battalion. The divisional organization didn't have an organic MG battalion. The 6th Australian Division's Anti-Tank Regiment ended up in England, but the infantry brigades each assembled a company of 9-2pdr ATG's. The one divisional cavalry squadron had 20 carriers, each with many miles on it. Their armament was cobbled together from anti-tank rifles and Vickers MG's. This is from Gavin Long's book To Benghazi.

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