Tobruk - the siege begins

5th April 1941: The fearsome prospect of being attacked by German panzers - with little to defend themselves with - must be faced by the men of an AA gun battery

Australian anti-aircraft gun in action at Tobruk during an air raid at night. Gun flashes provide the only lighting for this photograph.

Late on the 4th April, the British forces in the former Italian fortified port of Tobruk learnt that German tanks had been spotted a mere fifty miles away. The heavy AA battery commanded by Kenneth Rankin was put on imm…