Italian Surrender
The fort, at that time, was under the command of an inexperienced reserve Captain who lacked the will and the determination to fight. Surrender negotiations began on 28 February. On 1 March 1941, the Italians (11 officers, 18 NCO and 273 Libyan soldiers according to Italian sources, 12, 47 and 273, according to French sources) surrendered El Tag and the Kufra oasis to the Free French. During the siege, the Italian garrison suffered only three Libyan soldiers killed and four wounded. The French had four dead and 21 wounded.
The Italian garrison was permitted to withdraw to the northwest. French forces captured in Kufra a goodly amount of vehicles, ammunitions and weapons: eight Sahariana AS37 cars, six lorries, four 20 mm cannons and 53 machine guns. Everything that was captured was immediately used by the French forces.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Kufra (1941)
Famous quotes containing the words italian and/or surrender:
“Until recently the word fascist was considered shameful. Fortunately, that period has passed. In fact, there is now a reassessment of how much grandpa Benito did for Italy.”
—Alessandra Mussolini, Italian actor, politician, and medical student. As quoted in Newsweek magazine, p. 19 (February 17, 1992)
“Frenchmen, we do not accept your surrender. You surrender only to the enemy. If you’re Vichy, fight us. If you’re Frenchmen, join us.”
—Samuel Fuller, U.S. screenwriter. American commander (uncredited)