Mechili ( ar, المخيلي) is a small village in

Cyrenaica Cyrenaica ( ) or Kyrenaika ( ar, برقة, Barqah, grc-koi, Κυρηναϊκή ��παρχίαKurēnaïkḗ parkhíā}, after the city of Cyrene), is the eastern region of Libya. Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between ...

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

and the site of a former Turkish fort. It is nearly east of

Benghazi Benghazi () , ; it, Bengasi; tr, Bingazi; ber, Bernîk, script=Latn; also: ''Bengasi'', ''Benghasi'', ''Banghāzī'', ''Binghāzī'', ''Bengazi''; grc, Βερενίκη (''Berenice'') and ''Hesperides''., group=note (''lit. Son of he Ghazi ...

and west of

Timimi Timimi, At Timimi ( ar, التميمي) or Tmimi, is a small village in Libya about 75 km east of Derna, Libya, Derna and 100 km west of Tobruk. It is on the eastern shores of the Libyan coastline of the Mediterranean Sea. Geography Beca ...

Geography

Because of its location in the desert, Mechili suffered in the past from isolation. However, its isolation ended after paving the Charruba–Timimi desert road between the years 1975–1985, and this road became the preferred route for travel between

Tobruk Tobruk or Tobruck (; grc, Ἀντίπυργος, ''Antipyrgos''; la, Antipyrgus; it, Tobruch; ar, طبرق, Tubruq ''Ṭubruq''; also transliterated as ''Tobruch'' and ''Tubruk'') is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near th ...

. The village sits at an elevation of 196 meters (643 feet).

World War II

*In January 1941, the British force named “Western Desert Force” under command of General

Richard O’Connor General (United Kingdom), General Sir Richard Nugent O'Connor, (21 August 1889 – 17 June 1981) was a senior British Army Officer (armed forces), officer who fought in both the First World War, First and Second World Wars, and commanded the ...

(after taking Tobruk on 22 January) executed a daring outflanking movement and took Mechili from Italian forces on 27 January. *On 7 April the same year, the Italian armoured division ''Ariete'' captured the British garrison at Mechili as a part of German Lieutenant General

Erwin Rommel Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel () (15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944) was a German field marshal during World War II. Popularly known as the Desert Fox (, ), he served in the ''Wehrmacht'' (armed forces) of Nazi Germany, as well as servi ...

’s first offensive through

with the goal of encircling the British forces, and this helped in capturing O’Connor near Derna the same month. *On 18 December 1941, British forces re-took Mechili as a part of

Operation Crusader Operation Crusader (18 November – 30 December 1941) was a military operation of the Western Desert Campaign during the Second World War by the British Eighth Army (United Kingdom), Eighth Army (with Commonwealth, Indian and Allied contingents) ...

. *In early February 1942, Rommel’s forces again took Mechili as a part of his second offensive through Cyrenaica. *In November 1942, the British forces occupied Mechili for the last time.

Citations

References

*Kenneth Macksey, "Beda Fomm : The Classic Victory",Ballantine Books, New York, 1971. *Peter Young(ed.), "The History of World War II", vols. no.4 & 8, Orbis Publication,1984. *Derek Jewell (ed.), “Alamein and the Desert War”, Times Newspapers, Sphere Books, 1967. {{coord, 32, 10, N, 22, 17, E, display=title, region:LY_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Populated places in Derna District Cyrenaica