The Twin Pimples raid
At the height of the siege of tobruk in the summer of 1941, the defending Commonwealth Command maintained high morale & struck small-scale blows Against the investing Axis forces under general erwin rommel
One of the most successful raids occurred on the night of 17-18 July, when elements of No. 8 Guards Commando and the Royal Australian Engineers executed an assault against an
Italian strongpoint outside the Tobruk perimeter, identified as the Twin Pimples.
The Twin Pimples raid serves as an excellent example of timing, execution and cooperation. The terrain feature derived its name from a pair of hills located close together and occupied by the Italians. The 18th King Edward’s Own Cavalry held the Tobruk line directly opposite, and a raid involving three officers and 40 soldiers of No. 8 Commando was organised to cross a supply road in front of the Italian positions and attack the high ground from behind.
The commandos set off at 11pm and crossed in front of the enemy post undetected. Under cover, they waited for two hours before the
18th Cavalry Regiment executed a diversionary attack. When the Italians were alerted to the diversion, their positions erupted in small-arms fire, and flares lit the night sky. The subsequent commando advance was undetected until the attackers were within 27 metres (30 yards) of the Twin Pimples. swiftly, the commandos took the Italian positions, and the engineers moved in to plant explosives at several mortar emplacements while also destroying an ammunition dump. Planners had estimated that supporting Italian positions would require 15 minutes before their artillery came into action, and the commandos were roughly 91 metres (100 yards) away when the enemy guns began firing.
Although some operational issues had emerged, the mission was deemed a success, with just four commandos wounded and one dead.