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The Failed Defense of Bardia, January 3, 1941

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diciassette2000

Member
Jeff
Yes indeed you are right, observing the few excerpts from the historical diary of the 63rd Cyrene division we can draw these conclusions: The positions of the "Doubling" which was nothing more than the GAF reserve, as you rightly pointed out, consisted of 4 company strongpoints. The 63rd machine-gun battalion was distributed in these 4 company strongpoints while the Tut U-Fahm (coastal) strongpoint was garnished by the III/158 "Cirene" infantry and three GAF circumstantial batteries (7 pieces of 149/35) while Quota 146 (north of Doubling) was garrisoned by II/158 Cyrene infantry supported by I/45 Cyrene artillery (on three batteries) and Quota 149 (northwest of Doubling) by I/157 Cyrene infantry, II/157 Cyrene infantry and II/45 Cyrene artillery (on three batteries). Hence the outer belt positions were held by the GAF alone.
All the best
Maurizio
 
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diciassette2000

Member
Jeff your note is very interesting. In fact the position indicated in the Australian map of Bardia as Point 11 is equivalent to the Italian cemetery of Bardia where on 4 January 1941 there was the last extreme resistance of the 135th CCNN battalion of the 23 March division. The description of the facts is very briefly reported in Lucas - De Vecchi - History of the combat units of the MVSN. pages 229 and following.
all the best
Maurizio
 
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diciassette2000

Member
Not in the end if you check the map on page 185 of Long's book you will see that it coincides with the Italian one which identifies "strongpoint 11" in the junction between the areas of Sidi Hasan and Souta attacked by the 2/6th Australian battalion. therefore the defensive situation of the area was the one I have already described in the previous post...
All the best
maurizio
 
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diciassette2000

Member
No, the 149/35 pieces, although obsolete, were on a fixed platform and in charge of the GAF but they were towable and could also fire towards the ground. As regards Point 11, having seen the sketch on page 135 of Gavin Long's book To Bengazi, for me it must be deduced that it was precisely point 11 located on the demarcation line between the areas of Sidi Hasan and Souta (see Italian map) which resulted only defended by GAF elements.
All the best
Maurizio
 
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David Wormell

Member
My information on the infantry battalions of XXX (or is is 30?) G.a.F is poor/incomplete.
Can anyone help.
I have the XXX G.a.F 6x Gruppo Artiglieri.
 
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diciassette2000

Member
GAF oob in the battle for Bardia
-----30.o Settore di Copertura GAF (Bardia) suddiviso in:
------30.o/A Sottosettore di Copertura GAF (Sud)(Costiero o Amseat) con:
-------Presidio di Bardia
-------??? GAF coys
-----30.o/B Sottosettore di Copertura GAF (Centro)(Giarabub) con:
------4 GAF coys
------detachment genio collegamenti
-----30.o/C Sottosettore di Copertura GAF (nord) (Ponticelli)
-----30.o Raggruppamento artiglieria GAF with:
------30.o/1.o gruppo (2 77/28 batteries-8 guns)
------30.o/2.o gruppo (2 75/27 batteries-8 guns)
------30.o/3.o gruppo (2 120/25 batteries-8 guns)
------30.o/4.o gruppo (2 120/25 batteries -8 guns)
------30.o/5.o gruppo (3 149/35 batteries- (7 guns) + 1 105/28 battery -4 guns)
------30.o/6.o gruppo (2 75/27 batteries – 8 guns)
------a 65/17 GAF section at Giarabub
-----30.o reparto misto genio GAF (engineer detachment)
-----30.o deposito settoriale (GAF depot)
all the best
Maurizio
 
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David Wormell

Member
So it appears that the main infantry component was at Giarabub?

I think the ??? GaF coys above might have been 3rd & 6th Compagnia Mitraglieri Da Posizione Libica. If so, was this the unit highly praised by the Australians?
 
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diciassette2000

Member
No the ??? it means that I am not aware of how many GAF infantry companies were available in the square of Bardia while in Giarabub it is clear that there were 3.....also keep in mind that you only asked me about the GAF deployment, not that of the Libyan troops which were something else....
all the best
Maurizio
 
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diciassette2000

Member
yes ... in point 11 there were only GAF troops but I don't know how many ... they certainly belonged to the 30th/A Sottosettore GAF (as you surely know, GAF troops at the moment were not divided into battalions and companies but rather in sectors (Settori) and sub-sectors (sottosettori) of variable composition according to the stretch of front they were to guard)
All the best
Maurizio
 
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David Wormell

Member
Hi.
I did not know that the settori were not divided into Companies or Battalions! I thought (wrongly) that the settori were just areas.
 
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diciassette2000

Member
Yes, in fact it is an all-Italian concept, among other things to complicate things even more, it must be said that during the conflict things became even more tangled because both in the Balkans and in Northern Africa the GAF began to mobilize through the sector commands maneuver battalions of both infantry and machine gunners that these were similar to those of the line army. However, in Bardia and Giarabub overall there were at the time of the Australian attack approximately 2500 men of the GAf divided into the various strongholds which, however, were of variable size and therefore not identifiable individually....
All the best
Maurizio
 
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diciassette2000

Member
However, the organization of the GAF was generally the following at the time of Italy's entry into the war: From each army command of the G.A.F. coverage sectors depended which could be broken down into "sub-sectors", then into "groups of cornerstones" and gradually into smaller and smaller units. Each sector command had two or more sub-sectors which in turn had the dependencies of the fortified works. These works were manned by infantry, artillery and engineering personnel.
All the best
Maurizio
 
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diciassette2000

Member
However I don't know what you want to recreate but keep in mind that recreating the first phase of the fighting in North Africa especially from the Italian point of view is among the most complicated things you can try to do because unfortunately very few official documents survived the war and those few are now dispersed among the Italian, German and British archives..... anyway good luck and if you need any clarifications write to me through the forum.... over the years I have collected some information....
All the best
Maurizio
 
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