1941 — The Battle of Bardia

On January 5, 1941, Australia's 6th Division captured the last Italian defenses at Bardia, in Libya, ending a three-day battle in Operation Compass. Some thirty-six thousand Italian troops were taken prisoner, in one of the great mass surrenders of the Second World War.

The scale of the collapse stunned Berlin. A fortress had fallen, an army had marched into captivity, and Italy's grip on North Africa suddenly looked fragile. Germany answered by sending Rommel's Afrika Korps to Africa, a decision that transformed the desert war. Bardia, a name few outside the campaign knew, thus helped summon one of the war's most famous commands onto African soil.