Tobruk

Tobruk, city and port in northeastern Libya. Tobruk has one of the finest ports on the Mediterranean Sea, making it an important trade and transportation center. A pipeline carries oil from a major oil field to the port, which ships it on to other parts of the world. The city’s industries include flour milling, liquor distilling, and soap manufacturing.

Tobruk was seized by the Italians in 1911 and became part of their African colonial empire. During World War II (1939-1945) the city changed hands several times and was the scene of some of the most prolonged fighting in North Africa. Tobruk was captured by Australian forces in January 1941. The city was then besieged and bombed by the Germans and Italians under German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel until relieved by the British in December. Tobruk fell to the Germans in June 1942, but was recaptured in November by the British under General Bernard Law Montgomery, in an offensive launched from Al ‘Alamayn (El ‘Alamein), Egypt. Today, gravestones for both Allied and Axis troops line Tobruk’s war cemetery. Population 94,006 (1984).