On June 14th Fort Capuzzo was captured by a force consisting of the 7th Hussars , less one squadron, a company of the K.R.R.C. and a Troop of the Royal Engineers, all under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel G. Fielden of the 7th Hussars. This operation was completely successful and took only a few hours ; sixteen officers and over 200 other ranks were taken prisoner and the Fort demolished. Quoted from The Desert Rats by Maj-Gen G.L. Verney DSO MVO. Paul has kindly sent me the relevent pages from the KRRC history, Swift & Bold. A couple of photos of the KRRC carriers in Capuzzo on 14th June 1940.
G'day Owen It is a great story, I remember reading about this action in some other books about the early days in the ME. It seems the British really got the jump on the poor Ities so early after the declaration by Musso on the 10th June 1940. It must have demoralised the Italian High Command.
I've found these two 1 KRRC casualties, I wonder if one of them is the Rhodesian mentioned in the history. 001 DONLON TP 6845497 1ST BN 14/06/1940 KING'S ROYAL RIFLE CORPS 002 MARSHALL J6845465 1ST BN 15/06/1940 KING'S ROYAL RIFLE CORPS
Photos of Fort Capuzzo from 1941 from here and here Also some addition photos of the fort you have here and on Kieron's site here.
Also on 14th June 1940. Regarding an attack on a similar Italian fort, Fort Maddalena. From Wavell's Offensive by Bryan Perrett. On 14 June the whole of A Squadron 11th Hussars was detailed to attack they fort* again , supported this time by a squadron of Blenheims. Most of the garrison had already left by the time the bombers arrived overhead, and after the bombs had fallen the remainder surrendered to the Hussars after a token resistance . The fort was found to contain 'a high class barracks , an electric light plant and a refridgerator , a garage , an underground water tank , and an 80-foot observation tower'. * Fort Maddalena
On the 10th of June 1940 news came that we were at war with Italy. A plan was made by General Sir Richard O'connor who was commanding the British forces in the Western Desert and along the Italian held frontier at that time to attack the first line of Italian defences. Fort Capuzzo was to be bombed and then seized by a force consisting of 7th Hussars 'A' company of 1st Battalion the Kings Royal Rifle Corps and one troop of 2nd field Squadron of Royal Engineers. 'A' Squadron 7th Hussars attacked backed up by 'A' company of 1st Battalion Kings Royal Rifle Corps. They came under heavy machine guns but engaged the fort wiht their 2 pounders and machine guns and at the same time circling around the fort. The riflemen dismounted from their Bren gun carriers and advanced on the fort. The enemy did not await their arrival however but put up a white flag and surrendered. In all, about 226officers and men. Some time after that attack the Italian Air Force arrived and attacked everything in sight including the prisoners, no damage was done to the regiment however. In this action, 2 of our men were wounded when their 8 cwt truck was destroyed by a land mine. One man of the Rifle Corps was killed. Story from BBC People's War site here
Video about capture of Fort Maddalena in 1940 [YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e27QJ62D8R4[/YOUTUBE]
I found one Citation that refers to the action at Capuzzo. Lieut DELME CHEDWORTH GWYNNE SEYMOUR EVANS MC 7TH Hussars
Lieut (A/capt) Humphrey Reginald WOODS , 1 KRRC. This citation also mentions Capuzzo, I asume that is for the 14th June action. Though there was fighting there later in the campaign. As he is mentioned in that account above I'll assume it is for June 14th, he was in command of the Carrier platoon. It mentions his carrier was blown up , as it says in the extract from Swift & Bold. http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=29704&d=1276511308 I see HR Woods was killed in Normandy in 1944. As CO of 9 DLI CWGC :: Casualty Details Name:WOODS, HUMPHREY REGINALD Initials:H R Nationality:United Kingdom Rank:Lieutenant Colonel Regiment/Service:King's Royal Rifle Corps Secondary Regiment: Durham Light Infantry Secondary Unit Text:Cdg. 9th Bn. Age:28 Date of Death:14/06/1944 Service No:67184 Awards; D S O, M C and Bar Additional information:Son of Colonel Reginald Herbert Woods, O.B.E., M.C., and Ivy Oswald Woods, of Stevenage, Hertfordshire. Casualty Type:Commonwealth War Dead Grave/Memorial Reference:XV. F. 26.Cemetery:BAYEUX WAR CEMETERY How bizarre, look at date of death.
Whilst the fort itself does not exist anymore - the famous well is still here. Or at least it was still there, when I visited the place a few years back:
