Battle of Misrata (1912)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Battle of Misrata was fought between Italian and Turkish forces on 9 July 1912 during the
Italo-Turkish War The Italo-Turkish or Turco-Italian War ( tr, Trablusgarp Savaşı, "Tripolitanian War", it, Guerra di Libia, "War of Libya") was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire from 29 September 1911, to 18 October 1912. As a result o ...
. The battle was fought for control of the Tripolitanian town of Misrata, a major supply base for Ottoman forces.


Background

During the Italo-Turkish War, the town of Misrata (known to the Italians as ''Misurata''), located on the Tripolitanian coast halfway between Tripoli and Sirte, became an important base for the smuggling of war materials used to bolster Turkish-Arab resistance. The Italian command had planned the attack of the town as early as December 1911, but the execution of the plan was delayed. In June 1912, the Italian command finally moved to carry out the operation. For the amphibious landing and attack the 1st Special Division was formed consisting of seven infantry battalions from the 40th, 50th, and 63rd Infantry Regiments; the Alpini Battalions "Verona" and "Mondovì"; an
Askari An askari (from Somali, Swahili and Arabic , , meaning "soldier" or "military", which also means "police" in the Somali language) was a local soldier serving in the armies of the European colonial powers in Africa, particularly in the African G ...
company from the 5th Eritrean Battalion; a Squadron of the 16th Light Cavalry Regiment "Lucca"; four artillery batteries (one of field artillery and three of
mountain artillery Mountain guns are artillery pieces designed for use in mountain warfare and areas where usual wheeled transport is not possible. They are generally capable of being taken apart to make smaller loads for transport by horses, humans, mules, tractor ...
); and other units.


Battle

On 16 June 1912 the troopships carrying the Special Division, escorted by the battleships ''Re Umberto'', ''Sicilia'' and ''Sardegna'' and by the
torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...
s ''Airone'' and ''Clio'', arrived near the coast of Misrata and landed a battalion of seamen, as well as other units, near the village of Bu Sceifa. The landing troops, supported by gunfire from ''Re Umberto'', overcame the resistance of the Turkish-Arab troops entrenched behind the dunes on the beach, captured Bu Sceifa and advanced inland until they reached the edge of the Misrata oasis. No attempt was made to immediately advance into Misrata and attack the Turkish-Arab garrison. Italian General Camerana chose instead to remain on the defensive and consolidate his position. As such, the Italians spent the next week creating a base of operations by bringing supplies on-shore and fortifying their position. Reconnaissance of the general vicinity was conducted and it was reported that there were no signs of large Turkish-Arabs forces in the area. On 23 June, however, Turkish-Arab activities were observed at the Misrata oasis. On 5 July, a Turkish-Arab force estimated to be as large as 5,000 men attacked the Italian encampment and was repulsed. Four days later on 9 July at 4:00 am, General Camerana formed his force into three columns and advanced upon Misrata. Two columns advanced directly on the oasis while the third column attempted to sweep around and attack Misrata from the south. The Italian column on the right met resistance from Turkish-Arab forces entrenched on the eastern edge of the oasis but continued to advance. The Italian column in the center also came upon Turkish-Arab resistance as they entered the oasis and village of Az Zarrug. In succession, however, the Italians captured the oasis at Misrata; the oasis and village of Az Zarrug; and the city of Misrata. By 6:00 pm, the Turkish-Arab forces were withdrawing and the fighting was over.


Aftermath

After capturing Misrata, the Italian forces fortified the area with units from the 50th and 63rd Infantry Regiment; the Alpini Battalions "Verona" and "Mondovì"; a company of Eritrean Askari; some artillery batteries as well as engineers and service personnel. Az Zarrug was garrisoned by troops from the 35th Infantry Regiment. Misrata remained in Italian hands until August 1915, when all Italian troops were withdrawn from the town due to Italy's participation in World War I and widespread rebellion in Libya. Misrata would be eventually recaptured by Italian forces in 1922, during the
Pacification of Libya The Second Italo-Senussi War, also referred to as the Pacification of Libya, was a conflict that occurred during the Italian colonization of Libya between Italian military forces (composed mainly of colonial troops from Libya, Eritrea, and ...
.


See also

*
Italo-Turkish War The Italo-Turkish or Turco-Italian War ( tr, Trablusgarp Savaşı, "Tripolitanian War", it, Guerra di Libia, "War of Libya") was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire from 29 September 1911, to 18 October 1912. As a result o ...


Citations


References

* * * * *


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Misrata, Battle of, 1912 1912 in the Ottoman Empire 1912 in Libya Misrata July 1912 events Misrata