Operation Agreement

Operation Agreement comprised a series of ground and amphibious operations carried out by British, Rhodesian and New Zealand forces on German and Italian-held Tobruk on 13–14 September 1942, during the Second World War. The 3rd Battalion of the 'San Marco' Regiment (Italian marines), which became known as the "Tobruk battalion" after this battle, was the main defender of the harbour. A Special Interrogation Group, fluent in German, also took part in missions behind enemy lines. The attacks extended to Benghazi (Operation Bigamy (Snowdrop)), Jalo oasis (Operation Nicety (Tulip)) and Barce (Operation Caravan (Hyacinth)). The assault on Tobruk ended in disaster; the British lost three warships, seven motor torpedo boats and dozens of small amphibious craft and several hundred soldiers and marines.

Targets
The objective of Operation Agreement was to undermine the Axis war effort in North Africa by destroying airfields, harbour facilities, ships, vehicles and large oil stores. The Allies also intended to capture Jalo oasis, which was to be used as a gathering point for the retreating ground forces involved in the other operations.

Beginning
G1 and T1 patrols of the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) successfully assaulted Barce and its airfield, destroying 16 aircraft and damaging seven more. The main barracks there were also attacked.

The SAS—led by Lieutenant Colonel David Stirling and supported by S1 and S2 patrols of the LRDG—were to attempt a large-scale raid on Benghazi. However, after running behind the planned timetable, their presence was discovered after a clash at a roadblock as dawn broke. With the element of surprise lost and the protection of darkness receding, Stirling decided not to go ahead with the attack and ordered a withdrawal.

The assault to take Jalo oasis was carried out by the Sudan Defence Force along with S1 and S2 patrols of the LRDG. The first attack on the night of 15/16 September, was easily repelled by the defenders who had been alerted to the operation and had been strengthened. The attackers withdrew on 19 September, as an Italian reinforcing column approached the oasis.

Main attack
The main attack on Tobruk suffered from poor planning and coordination. First, British Commandos from the submarine HMS Taku (N38) failed to set up beacons on the shore to guide the main British force due to bad sea conditions. The expected garrison had been strengthened and British destroyers bringing in the seaborne troops landed their troops on a beach far to the west of the intended one. Another seaborne landing—comprising motor launches and boats—partially failed to reach the planned landing point. Only two Motor Torpedo Boats (MTB)s entered a small cove to land members of the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, but one of them was hit and became stranded in the shallow water.

Allied strength for Operation Agreement involved an amphibious seaborne force of about 400 Royal Marines, 180 Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, Army Engineers and about 150 SAS coming from the desert. Losses amounted to about 300 Royal Marines, 160 Army, 280 Royal Navy, one cruiser (HMS Coventry (D43)), two destroyers (HMS Sikh (F82) and HMS Zulu (F18)), two motor launches, four MTBs and several small craft. MTB 314, a boat which was damaged and ran aground during the battle, was captured by the German harbour minesweeper R-10 at dawn with 117 seamen and soldiers on board. Dozens of British seamen and marines were rescued from the sea by the Italian torpedo boat Castore, a flotilla of German harbour minesweepers and several Italian motor barges, which also seized a couple of makeshift amphibious craft attempting to reach Alexandria at very low speed. German and Italian losses were 16 killed and 50 wounded.

In popular culture
Operation Agreement was fictionalized in the 1967 film Tobruk.