9 Dec 1940 | World War II Database

9 Dec 1940

Beginning at 0500 hours, Allied artillery and aircraft bombarded the Italian camp at Nibeiwa, Egypt for two hours. At 0715 hours, ground troops began moving toward the rear of the fort for attack; they were spotted by Italian aircraft, but it was too late for the Italians to reorganize the defenses. Troops of the Indian 4th Infantry Division, supported by tanks of the British 7th Royal Tank Regiment, captured the camp at 0830 hours. Italian positions at Tummar West and Tummar East were also captured by dusk. Along the coast, tanks of the British 4th Armoured Brigade cut off the main road to prevent an Italian withdrawal. Meanwhile, British monitor HMS Terror and gunboats HMS Ladybird and HMS Aphis bombarded Italian positions at Sidi Barrani and Maktila. ww2dbase [Operation Compass | CPC]
German submarine U-103 sank British ship Empire Jaguar 250 miles west of Ireland at 0132 hours, killing the entire crew of 37. ww2dbase [CPC]
The Special Landing Operation No. 2 exercise, conducted by US Navy and US Marine Corps in the Caribbean Sea, was completed. ww2dbase [CPC]
HMS Cumberland deployed with HM Cruiser Enterprise in search for German commerce raider Thor. ww2dbase [Cumberland | Thor | DS]

Atlantic Ocean

Capitano Tarantini departed waters northwest of Ireland. ww2dbase [Capitano Tarantini | CPC]

French Indochina

The French Groupe Occasionnel squadron was formed in French Indochina, consisted of a light cruiser and four avisos. ww2dbase [Franco-Thai War | CPC]

Germany

Battleship Bismarck arrived at Hamburg, Germany. ww2dbase [Bismarck | Hamburg | CPC]

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis

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