Battle of Tobruk (1911)

The First Fleet of the Italian naval forces, commanded by Vice-admiral Augusto Aubry, approached Tobruk on 3 October and invaded the city the next day without encountering any serious opposition. The Ottoman forces were organized by Enver Bey (later Enver Pasha) after trivial clashes on 9 November. The leader of the Tripolitanian Bedouin force was Sheik Muberra (Al Mabri Yaseen), who was backed by his "Meryem" clan and other Senussi volunteers.

In the first week of December 1911 Italian soldiers captured the Nadura Hill in Mureyra Valley and were busy digging trenches and preparing fortifications while they waited for reinforcements.

Captain Mustafa Kemal was in command of Tobruk region and foresaw that the consolidation of Italian forces would jeopardize his position. As such, Kemal ordered Sheik Muberra to attack as soon as possible to prevent the reinforcement of the Italians on Nadura Hill. At the same time, Turkish soldiers and Tripolitanian volunteers under the command of Enver Pasha were ordered to attack the Italians on Nadura Hill. Enver Pasha's force approached Nadura Hill just before dawn and attacked. The Italians were surprised and responded in a disorganized fashion without the benefit of cannon fire. Nadura Hill was captured in two hours and the Italian Bersaglieri retreated to Tobruk while leaving three machine guns along with munitions.

Meanwhile, Sheik Muberra and his force, consisting of a thousand soldiers, attacked the Italian reinforcements who were to support the Italians on Nadura Hill. Sheik Muberra, however, was shot and killed along with ten Tripolitanian volunteers. After five hours of fighting, the Italians were forced to retreat to Tobruk.

This battle was a secondary but important step in hindering the Italian advance into the interior at Tobruk in December 1911. The Italians later reinforced all of their beachhead enclaves in Tripolitania in January 1912 and continued their occupation of Tobruk until the war ended in October 1912.[3]

Balkan Wars