Germans probe Tobruk defences

1st May 1940: Panzers penetrate the outer line as the besieged troops endure an unrelenting bombardment

Men of the Australian 9th Infantry Division guard Italians and some of the first German prisoners to be taken during the war in North Africa, after Rommel’s first unsuccessful assault on Tobruk.

In North Africa, the besieged British forces, mainly Australian, were becoming accustomed to an unrelenting barrage of shells and bullets, with frequent air raid…