Anti-invasion measures in North Africa

[Turbulent98]

Did Italian forces mine any of the beaches in Libya ? A British submarine attacked a group of vehicles near Sirte with its 4 inch gun and thought that they had hit the convoy . The Italian forces state that the convoy was not hit and all the shells landed on the beach. Could this have set off any mines in the beach? I cannot think of any other reason to explain the disparity in accounts.

 

[jwsleser]

I have not read any accounts of anti-invasion mining of beaches in A.S. Given the coast was either impassable for invasion forces or like the beaches at Ipanema, the amount of effort needed to mine was impossible for the Axis forces.

Disparity in first-person accounts is what keeps historians employed. . My question would be how detailed was the Italian account(s)? The British? Did the British se a huge explosion or did they just believe the shells were on target. Angle of view can effect how close two objects are when viewed for a distance.

Pista! Jeff

 

[Turbulent98]

I have read the patrol report again and the CO of the submarine thought that he must have hit something but gives no details as to the damage. The Italian account is a short signal mentioning the attack. The patrol report mentions that the vehicles were parked near a cemetery in Sirte so I am off to have a look at Google maps.