Rommel despairs of the Italians

23rd April 1941: As the Afrika Korps encircle Tobruk in North Africa, the German commander is frustrated by his allies

Australian infantry at Tobruk, where the perimeter extended for 30 miles.

In Britain, there was growing alarm at the situation in North Africa. There was resignation that the expedition to Greece had been a disaster, but hope that most troops would be evacuated, if not their equipment. It was another Norway, another Dunkirk. But the rapid advance of the …