Rats of Tobruk were the Allied soldiers of World War II (1939-1945) who withstood a siege of eight months during the 1941 North Africa campaign. The Allied forces were besieged in Tobruk , on the Libyan coast, by the troops and tanks of the German Afrikakorps after the rest of the British Army retreated. They held out from April 11 until December 10, when the Germans abandoned the siege. The Allied forces numbered about 30,000. At first, they included mainly Australian and British troops. Most of the Australian troops were part of the Ninth Australian Division led by Major General L. J. Morshead. The Australians defended the perimeter against numerous attacks. British, Polish , and other Allied troops relieved most of the Australian units between mid-August and late October. The Ninth Division suffered some 3,000 killed and wounded, and 941 Australians were taken prisoner. The German propagandist William Joyce , also known as Lord Haw Haw, used the name “rats of Tobruk” sarcastically. But the Australian troops adopted it proudly.
