November 10, 2025 • 45 mins
In 1941, amid the blistering sands of North Africa, a band of Australian soldiers earned one of the most enduring nicknames in military history — The Rats of Tobruk. Besieged by German and Italian forces, these men held the Libyan port town of Tobruk for eight gruelling months, defying the odds, the desert, and the propaganda of the Axis powers.
What began as an insult from Nazi radio became a badge of honour. The Australians dug in — literally — carving homes and defenses from the desert rock while withstanding relentless shelling and attacks. Their courage, defiance, and larrikin spirit turned Tobruk into a symbol of Australian resilience under fire.
In this episode, we dig into the siege that defined a generation, the humour that kept the Rats going, and the legacy that cemented their place as one of the fiercest fighting forces of the Second World War.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/weird-crap-in-australia--2968350/support.
What began as an insult from Nazi radio became a badge of honour. The Australians dug in — literally — carving homes and defenses from the desert rock while withstanding relentless shelling and attacks. Their courage, defiance, and larrikin spirit turned Tobruk into a symbol of Australian resilience under fire.
In this episode, we dig into the siege that defined a generation, the humour that kept the Rats going, and the legacy that cemented their place as one of the fiercest fighting forces of the Second World War.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/weird-crap-in-australia--2968350/support.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
A strange, spiraling white light was spotted in the early
morning sky over Sydney, with even skeptical witnesses wondering if
it was a UFO. They were last seen on the
beach with a tall man and that's the best description
Plice have ever had of it.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
More than seventeen years after Harold Holt disappeared into raging
surf at Chevy A Beach, his widow has finally revealed
his last romantic words docky, terrifying, mesmerizing. That's the way
a number of Australians have described the alleged encounter with
the Yowie.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
It's time the Weird Crap In Australia Podcast. Welcome to
the week Crap In Australia Podcast. I'm your host, Matthew
sol joining me his fellow host and of course the
researcher Extralda Nair Holy soul. Hey, and this is episode
(00:55):
three hundred and eighty six. Believe it or not, we
again close to four hundred, Holly, what are you going
to do for the big four hundred?
Speaker 2 (01:02):
I'm going to be the one introducing the podcast. That's
about as far as I've thought ahead. Do you have ideas?
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Is that a thing we do No. One hundred, but.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
After four hundred episodes, I reckon I could basically do
the entire script with the same inflections as what you do,
and I want to.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Prove it so I don't have to be there for
episode four hundred.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Now you do, Oh okay, We're just gonna swap roll,
so I'll do the voices. You can do the research
and write script.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Well what if I kick it to the audience? Okay, Yeah,
We've got episodes four hundred coming up in three months
three months, so plenty of league time for you all.
Shoot just your suggestions. We're crapping Australia at gemail dot com.
What do you think our four hundredth episode should be?
Now on previous one hundred episodes, we have done it?
(01:51):
You an a's So.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
We did Federation, then we did Drop Bears and I
can't remember what three hundred words? Do you remember?
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Nope, not at all. I don't even remember half the
episodes I've done.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
We're up to that point where it's just so much.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Well that what what did I suggest to you as
a children's show? I was like, when are we going
to do that? And You're like, we did it. It's
round the twist. Remember I think I even mentioned it
on the podcast and you're like, we've already done round
this post.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
I remember episode three hundred was the interview with Peter
kind of believe I'm saying that right. Uh, the Wiggles
drummer into the host of it. Didn't go eat my podcast?
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Oh Pete, that was a good episode. Yeah, then we
need a Q and A at the end. Well, ladies
and gentlemen, so two things. Do through your ideas. We're
crapping showdmail dot com, and don't forget to send us
some of your burning questions. If you've asked a question
before and you would still like to ask another one,
please do because asking people to volunteer a question can
(02:57):
sometimes be really fucking hard. We've had that experience before.
So if you've got a question, please shoot it through.
If you would like to send your question in the
form of your voice, which we have had a couple
of those over the years as well, feel free just
to attach MP three to email. You can send that
(03:18):
through as an attachment. It's very very easy. Just yeah,
you know, don't tell your life story, otherwise the file
will be way, way, way too long.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
We will also accept of a Facebook Messenger, you can
send a voice memo. We will accept it that way
because I can always record it then onto the border
and then upload it as a proper clip.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Yeah. If you're someone who's not great with technology and
you would love to have your voice on the week
wrap and show you a podcast, all you have to
do is grab that phone that you're probably listening to
this podcast on, go to voice memo, record your voice
and then just attach that to an email and send
it through. You can do it all on your phone.
It's very very easy, and we would love to hear
(03:58):
from all of you. I like the questions, especially like
pop culture questions, which some of you have indulged me in.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
I believe there was one about Batman last.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Yeah, there was one of our New Zealand fans. Or
he was either he was either a former Australian living
in New Zealand, or in New Zealand or living in
Australia or had Australian parents. He had a Keyway accent.
I think it's been such a long time ago, and
I apologized for forgetting your name.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Every hundred episodes is about two years.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Yeah, but yeah, he asked what I thought of James
gun taking over the DC Studios and you know, making
superhero movies two years into the future. I can say
I quite enjoyed his Superman film. And there you go,
all right, Without further ado, ladies and Gentlemen's harving to
get back into World War II history with part two
(04:49):
of The Rats of Brook. If you remember our last episode,
we left the Rats of Tobrook earning their namesake and
begetting read of ready for their first big battle.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
They've already done moderately big battle, but.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Yeah, this is the big one. This solidifies the legend right.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Well, it's definitely the first time they used the name.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Right there you go, the first canonical use of the
name in a battle. Take it away, Holly.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Throughout April and May nineteen forty one, the battle ranged
around the perimeter of Tabrook. On October thirty, the twenty
six Australian brigade faced another massive assault by Axis forces.
At eight pm. German artillery opened fire on previously identified
strong points and under the cover of smoke and dust,
Rommel's infantry advanced. By nine thirty pm, a small bridge
(05:41):
head had been achieved, but the Australians held firm. When
dawn broke, the Germans found themselves caught in a sandstorm
and pinned down in minefields.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
That sandstorm. No, not that, not the techno version. No, no, it.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Is a little bit early for that. Unfortunately, anti tank
guns opened fire, forcing them to retreat. The fifteenth Panzer
Division was beaten back and the attempted breakthrough failed.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Italians outside to Brook are having a hard time, says
British United Press correspondent inside to Brook. The Australian defenders
inside the town are giving them merry. Holl went out
in sautee. They have snatched the initiative from the Italian
and German besiegers. Two fighting patrols which raided the Italian
lines a week ago captured eighteen officers and four hundred
(06:32):
and thirty seven men of other ranks and killed more
than two hundred Italians. The raiders also destroyed eight breeder
guns for trench mortars and three anti aircraft guns. One
patrol made a bayonet charge against the Italian artillery, while
a second patrol, for four or five hours, fought a
force five times stronger than itself. A youthful Australian form lay.
(06:57):
A salesman at Sales Victoria described the raid. Said, three
of us lay flat in a shell hold to dodge
the Italian barrage. My two companions blazed away with their
brand and guns against the Italian's front line. Our infantry,
advancing over the open ground without a shred of cover,
rushed the enemy's trenches. Two Italians wearing steel helmets of
(07:18):
a French pattern, jumped out of the trench and waved
a white flag, whereupon we got our announced ready. Because
of our previous experience of some of their tricks, we
leapt forward. They came out like rats from a drain pipe.
A ben added one Italian, and saw one of my
mates tear into a breader gun which was still firing,
and leave two of the gun crew kicking on the ground.
(07:39):
Another Australian, although wounded in the stomach, hurled a grenade
at the gun before he fell flat. Our section of
raiders captured two officers and eighty five other ranks. Quote
from the Age, Wednesday, thirtieth of April nineteen forty one,
page one.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Australian raids from the Defenders counter attacked whenever possible. On
May two and three, the eighteenth, a strained brigade launched
a sortie into the Whitei Gaida that it was ultimately
forced to withdraw due to poor coordination and blinding dust storms. Meanwhile,
the Royal Air Force struggled to maintain air superiority. Hurricanes,
(08:16):
which were a type of plane Hurricanes from the seventy
third and two hundred and seventy fourth squadrons intercepted waves
of June eighty seven dive bombers. The losses were heavy.
By April twenty first, only five fighters remained operational. Despite
the hardship to brook Held, the fortress became a symbol
(08:36):
of Allied resistance, the first major defeat for Rommel's forces
in the Desert War. It showed that his Blitzkrieg tactes
could be stopped given determination and preparation.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
All right, can you just remind the audience, or maybe
inform the audience only about what a blitzkrieg type attack
would look like and why it was named a blitzkrieg attack.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Blitzkrieg has basically let it burn. So you go in,
you decimate it, you level it as hard as you can,
and then you walk through the rubble.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Because that was a famous battle during World War II.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Right, A blitzkreak is a strategy, it's not a battle.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Oh okay, right see, And that's why I needed clarification.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
It's what the blitz is short for. Yes, so blitz
is actually the blitzkrieg. It's just they shortened it to
the blitz.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
That's why they shortened it. Well there you see. I
like this show because I'm informed you're learning. Yes, a
blitzkrieg a surprise attack using a rapid, overwhelming force, concentration
of infantry and air support, intended to break through, dislocate
and unbalance the enemy. Let it burn, and its literal
translation is lightning or flash.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Best to strike hard and run away first.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Hit them hard and run away.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
For the men of the ninth Division, to Brook was
more than a battle. It was a test of endurance,
fought in the dust and peat against overwhelming odds. Remember
this is North Africa on the Mediterranean, in the middle
of June, in the middle of May, which means you're
heading into summer, which means it's only going to get worse.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
When we in the Mediterranean, you're in a summer No, no,
we weren't. We were close to the equator. It's fucking hot.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
No japan is.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
We were all felt like we were a deep and
tropical bullshit.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
The Australians had turned a forgotten port into a fortress,
and in doing so they had written themselves into the
war history. By May nineteen forty one, the siege of
Tbrook had become a daily grind of attrition. Dust Storms
and the oppressive desert heat battered men and machines alike,
and the routine of artillery barrages, robing attacks and Stuka
(10:43):
raids gave the garrison no reprieve. Every day German dive
bombers appeared overhead. They're screaming sirens, terrifying the men on
the ground. Long before the bombs hit. The defenders, however,
had become adept at reading the sky, gauging from the
sound of the engines which way to run, when to drop,
and when to fire back.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
It's really quite sad, but a modern example of this
is children living in the Middle East started to basically
acknowledge weather patterns, whether they'd be more likely to be
drone attacked or not.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
I think it was they started to look forward to
clouds because the drones couldn't aim properly through the cloud.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Yeah, they prayed for rain because the rainy day meant
that they want to get bombed that day. Fucking tragic.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
All things change them more, they stay the same, right.
The Australian British gunners grew so skilled at counterfiring that
the Luftwaffers' pilots had come to dread their runs over
to Brook, calling it one of the most dangerous anti
aircraft zones in North Africa.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
I mean, to be fair when you're I mean, the
weather patterns in Europe versus the weather patterns in Africa
are very very different, and I would imagine that. I mean,
what like a lot of the time you're flying in
the open air against a blue.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Background, especially this time of year.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Yeah, you're going to be seen. Maybe they shouldn't have
been Nazi. My my sympathy is is fucking in the
dirt and if you're a modern day Nazi, go fuck yourself.
I don't like Nazis. I think we've made that perfectly
clear multiple times.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
The same problem is add throughout history of anyone who
has a flying machine during war season.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
War season, I like that term. Holy well, it's like.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
You don't invade in Russia. You don't fight in Russia,
so war season in summer.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Well, I mean that that is true. You know, you
start to see aircraft being utilized during World War One.
Aircraft became an important part of World War Two, especially
when you consider that it was aircraft that delivered the
nuclear bombs to Japan. The age question of like, how
do we fix this problem of our vehicles being seen?
(13:03):
And you know, the answer to that was the Blackbird.
And then from the Blackbird you have the current stealth
bomber technology that's been utilized. I believe they are Mark two,
maybe three, and they're also working on a or have
deployed already. I'm pretty sure they're very deployed a stealth
(13:25):
drone spacecraft that's been used by the American Air Force
in order to take down satellite. So they don't particularly like.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Is that the only real function of space force?
Speaker 1 (13:37):
Well, it does fall under space force. One of the
interesting things about that particular craft it was actually being
designed and built by NASA. Now NASA is part of
the American government, right, so if the Air Force sees
a design, they like, guess what they do, and now
they take it. So something that was meant to be
used for you know, space exploration, you know, sending up
(14:01):
drawing shuttles. It ended up being appropriated by the air Force.
But yeah, since since we could put a pain in
the sky and attach a gun to it, we've been
trying to work out how we can hide that vehicle
from the enemy.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
By late April, after four months of fighting, the Germans
had finally realized that De Brook would not fall easily.
The initial assaults, intended as swift strikes to open the
route to Egypt, had failed to breach the defenses. Rummel's
tanks had been lured into traps minefield's hidden artillery and
determined to strain infantry who would let the panzers roll
(14:39):
through before emerging from their foxholes to ambush the supporting
infantry behind them.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
There's polls keep white, and they kept opening in front
of our mighty tanks. What is going on? That's basically
how you win at war, man, You cripple.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
The other side until they can't be bothered fighting anymore.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Well, I think it's it is fair to say that
the Nazis rolled quite in an advanced military onto.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
The battlefield at the start of the war.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
At the start of the war. I think that any
military that's led by insane despots, surrounded by insane despots,
because you know, Himmler was just as crazy as Hitler.
Goebels was just as crazy as Himmler. You know, they
were all sort of yes, ending themselves ino fucking oblivion
(15:28):
because they're all fucking dickheads. You can't operate a military
that way. I mean, the ultimate fall of the Nazi
war machine came when they were fighting effectively on multiple
fronts and you couldn't you know, you couldn't possibly do that.
(15:50):
They just didn't have the military to be able to
support that much war at that time, because I mean,
if you think about they're fighting in Africa, they're trying
to march through Europe, and they're going after the Russians.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
They got the Western Front, they got the Eastern Front,
they got the African Front, They've got the Atlantic Front.
Because then they started having to deal with the Americans,
and then I don't believe that they were helping in
the Pacific.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Not really. Obviously that was Japan's territory, and you know,
I couldn't imagine an I don't look. People can correct
me if I'm wrong here, but I do not believe
that the Nazis even had the resources to move into
the into the Pacific Front. They probably supported military operations, Holly,
(16:41):
they were definitely in Nanking, because there's a famous story
about a Nazi actually stopping at genocide in Nanking, or
at least trying to. But yeah, I believe if anything,
they were just say in a support capacity, not in
a full capacity. I mean, they couldn't afford them war fronts.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Well, they were fighting on four fronts and then they
had to think about starting a fifth one. But no,
apparently they had very very limited resources in the Pacific
War alongside the it happened.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
I mean, it's kind of funny when you look back on,
you know, World War two, when you look at it
in a vacuum. But the Nazis really didn't expect the
pushback they got.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Right, if the Japanese had just not bombed Pearl Harbor, yeah,
the war would have gone a completely different direction. But
the Japanese jumped too early.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
They did absolutely, No, you're one hundred percent right, Like,
without Japanese involvement, I don't think the Americans go to
World War two quickly, or if at all at.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
All quickly, two and a half years later.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Well quickly for them. You know, the Nazi Party was
shocked at the pushback, considering how Britain pre did Africa
and India, considering how Americans treated Native Americans to a
lesser extent, Australia's history with the indigenous.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
To a lesser extent, how the rest of Europe created
their Jewish populations.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
They were shocked that people were upset with them.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Yes, you can beat them up, but don't kill.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Them, you know, because the rest of the world saw
people of color, they saw Jewish people as less then
as less than human, and they were shocked that the
rest of the world was like, hey, settled down, what
are you doing? And I can understand that like that perspective,
you know, the German people themselves were like, hey, wait
(18:38):
a minute, you all hate these people as much as
we do. Why are you coming after us? And I
suppose the real answer to that is that, as Holly said,
you know, Japan gets involved, which changes the game as
America is attacked directly and you know, moving into Frans
(18:59):
and Britain as probably the only reasons really that you know,
the Germans started to get the ire of a lot
of other countries. You know, there are stories during World
War Two of American service people, African American service people
who would go into bars, you know, Scotland Island in Britain,
(19:20):
and white American soldiers would try and kill those men
for going into those bars, you know, and like there are, Yeah,
there's some pretty fuck stories out there. So yeah, like
a it's kind of like this weird, fucked up comedy
of errors where you have, you know, a population in
(19:42):
Germany going well, this is all we could do, you know,
to eliminate this undesired element from our society. This is
all we could do, Like why are you judging us
so harshly for it? What else were we going to do?
And then you couple that attitude with a despotic mas
man who thinks that he has I mean, there weren't
(20:04):
enough Germans in all of Germany to occupy the world.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
They were barely enough to occupy Europe let alone, the
African Front and the Russian Front.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Like what they think was going to happen that.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
They would just show how mighty they are and that America,
China and all of those people would just back off. Yeah,
although maybe not China at that stage because I don't
think it was quite as powerful until now.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
But it's like it's like China, Japan, Australia, Britain, Canada, America, Africa,
the Middle East, like you had like what did they
think they were going to be able to do?
Speaker 2 (20:42):
So that they were scary so people would leave them alone.
What happened was that people looked at them and when
you guys are fuck with were dealing with you before
you come for us.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
Yeah, the same thing that happens to them, that happens
to every single authoritarian is they get dragged down the
street kicking and screaming while people kick the shit. Album
does create their corpses. Hear that your ballarat Nazi pricks? Uh?
I know why we find Nazis again?
Speaker 2 (21:13):
History loves to repeat and so I.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
Can tell me when do we have to do this
again and again and never goes away? Like I've met
just as many you know, the problem is human.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Now what I think the problem is humanity?
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Fuck those guys I have met and worked with assholes
from every single rucks everyone him producer Cunt anyway, holding
back to the story.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
The result of the Australian counter offensives was Davis the
German and Italian tanks, finding themselves alone and without support,
were torn apart by British twenty five pound guns and
captured Italian guns repurposed by the The recks of Panzas
lay smoldering across the sand all outside to Brook. Rommel,
(22:08):
incense by the resistance, ordered repeated bombardments throughout April and May.
The defenders huddled in trenches and dugouts. Foxholes cut into
the hard limestone of to Brooks escarpments. A shell after
shell pounded the ground. Yet the Australians, who had been
told to expect only an eight weeks stay, dug in
for what would become a grueling eight month ordeal.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
But the again, the sort of warfare you cannot win
it with dropping bombs on top of people, Like it's
just not that sort of it's not that sort of area.
It's not that sort of conflict. You know, you can
try and bomb them into the ground all you want.
They're dug in. They're not getting out without you sending
in troops. But you know, Rommel just had this like well,
(22:54):
they worked for it.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
Wellever, I can't have it, No one can flatten it.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Well worked, it worked in Britain. That's that's what their opinion.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Was, didn't because they didn't get to Britain, they didn't
even cross the channel one.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
You know, their opinion was, well, you know, we're able
to bomb all of these other countries in Europe and
that has been somewhat successful, so we're going to bomb
the shit out of these people here. But you know,
there were again, you know, they started digging in literally
and it was it's a lot harder to move people
with with you know, air raids, it really is.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
The Australians were supported by a motley collection of British
artillery units, Indian cavalry and base personnel who took up
arms when needed. Within the perimeter were mechanics, engineers, cooks
and clerks, many of whom found themselves fighting beside the
infantry when attacks came close to the wire. Supplies were
to Brooks lifeblood buried in at night across the Mediterranean
(23:53):
in small convoys known as the Tabrook Ferry Service. These
were Royal Navy and Australian Navy destroyers, sloops and converted
merchantmen that risked constant air attack from the Luftwaffer twenty
six ships were lost. Over the course of the siege,
the ferry crews became legends in their own right, sneaking
through enemy air patrols to deliver ammunition, food, and reinforcements,
(24:15):
and to evacuate the wounded. When the hospital ship Capara
was bombed in May, Allied outrage was fierce. Proof. The
men said that the axis would stop nothing.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Well, they mean hospital ships were clearly marked.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Massive plus signs, red plus signs, red cross lines on.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Everywhere you know. And the general idea was that eating
attack hospital.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
Ships because you don't want someone amy for yours.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
Well, I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, I say,
I think I might be speaking out of turn when
I say this. I don't think the Japanese attacked hospital ships.
Did they? I honestly don't know, because I don't think
there would have been much honor in that.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
No, no attacking. Yeah, I mean there were hospital ships
at Pearl Arbor, but but they didn't ditavily attack them.
They were just bystander explosions.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
I'm not sure I'd have to look into that a
little bit more. Yeah, because like there you got to remember,
like the military of World War II from Japan were
sort of indoctrinated through a kind of government sanctioned, militarized
version of the Bashido code. So yeah, i'd have to
look into it. I have to look into it.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Ah. The Japanese did actively attack some hospital ships, including
the Australian hospital ship the Centaur in nineteen forty three.
Well there you go, and the Dutch hospital ship Opta Nort.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
So it doesn't really matter much, does it when you're
in war. Yeah. Same.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
The nickname the Rats of to Brook originated as a
piece of German propaganda, as we talked about last episode.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Yeah, there was a shitcu British preck working in Japan
helping to plug their propaganda because he liked the cut
of the Nazis jib.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Within weeks, soldiers were scrawling rats of Tobrook trucks and helmets,
and artists were painting rat emblems cut clutching rifles onto
the sides of tanks. The insult became a badge of honor.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
They didn't do a busty, sexy rat, bombshell girl rat,
there were bombshells.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
There was no bombshell rat. The insult became a badge
of honor, a symbol of defiance against Rommel's Vaulted Africa Corps.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
Another Australian riding from Tabrok says that the way the
garrison is holding out is apparently getting under Lordhorsekin in
our recent broadcast that referred to the Australians as bushwhackers
and later invited them to come out of your holes,
you rats of Tabrook. The letter ads Lord Haja give
(26:42):
us a thrill. Sometimes when he forecasts coming events in
our vicinity, he proves right sometimes quote from News Friday,
the eleventh of July nineteen forty one, page eight, punishment
enough to form Muso to make him leave in Libya.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
It's really a mark of Australian in hinuity that we
took Mussolini and he became Mussacho.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
Ye bloody Mussaie.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
That is the earliest use of the term rats of
Tobrook that I can find in troves So. Operation Brevity,
which was ironically named, launched on the fifteenth of May
nineteen forty one, was the first British attempt to relieve
to Brook. It was a limited offensive aimed at pushing
Axis forces back from the Egypt Libya border and securing
(27:34):
key positions at Pafeya Pass, Solomn and Fort Capuzo. Initial
successes were short lived. The British captured their first objectives,
but were soon driven back by German counterattacks. With mounting
losses and overstretched supply lines, the offensive was called off
after just a few days, so it was actually aptly
named The Siege of to Brook remained unbroken and the
(27:57):
garrison resumed its grim routine of digging, fighting and holding
the line.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
Operation Brevity was launched on the fifteenth of May nineteen
forty one. The goal was to push Rommel back from
the border between Egypt and Libya, dislardging the German forces
from their positions at solom and Puseau. Once this was achieved,
Wevill aimed ultimately to relieve the siege after Brook. At
the first objective, Haffalal Pass above Solomn, Italian forces were
(28:24):
defeated in short order. German troops holding Fort Capuzo were
also forced to withdraw, but they recaptured the fort when
the tank forces were deployed. As the balance of forces
became more unfavorable to the British, thirteenth Corps withdrew two
halfa pass. The pass was held two weeks before it
fell to a German counterattack. The operation had gained no
(28:45):
territory and the damage inflicted on German tanks and artillery
was more than balanced by the loss of British equipment,
much of which the Germans were able to recover. Following
the British withdrawal. Rommel fortified the frontier with minefield and
Adie millermeter anti tank guns, a weapon superior to any
than deployed by the protest. Operation Brevity was a bit
(29:08):
a lesson for the Allies to deal with an enemy
like Rommel, equally skilled in deploying tanks to outcome infantry
and artillery. To stop tanks, new levels of preparation and
planning would be required. Quote from fact file Operation Brevity BBC.
That was Matthew's pompous British radio modern voice accent.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
Don't worry you'll get a chance to use again.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
A fantastic.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
Just the monotone gets me.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
Well.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
I see now that the world is on fire, so puts.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
I think that Australians perhaps are too exuberant in the
way we speak. You know, there's I mean, you guys
hear it all the time, like there's my professional radio voice,
and then I'll switch to just Matthew complaining about Nazis
when it's the British. I think you sort of have to.
Whenever I'm doing that voice, I just think of like,
(30:05):
stay calm and love the queen or whatever.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
That, keep calm and carry on.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
That was it, Yeah, and just really have absolutely no
a kind of emotional inflection in anything that you're saying
or doing. And that way you can do, in my opinion,
or rather convincing BBC Radio voice, because as you can tell,
I have no soul and I am simply being puppeted
(30:33):
by the British government. In fact, I have been dead
since nineteen fifty five, and through some alchemy and some
rather insidious black magic, I am still here with his
voice for you today.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
Operation Scorpion followed later that month, Rummell's swift counter offensive
designed to reverse British gains from Operation Brevity and secure
the frontier. Beginning on May twenty sixth, nineteen forty one,
German forces under General Perf attacked Helfer Pass, forcing the
British defenders to withdraw. The position fell the next day,
(31:13):
resorin restoring the axis line along the border. Although the
Operation succeeded tactically, it did not bring Rommel closer to
capturing to Brook, which remained a Southern Allied stronghold ozziosi.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
In the evening of the twenty six of May nineteen
forty one, German Colonel Hearf launched Operation Scorpion. Three assault
groups attacked how Faiya Pass. In the following morning, Brigadier
General god authorized the defenders to fall back, allowing the
Germans to regain the pass. The British suffered one hundred
and seventy three casualties and lost four field guns, eight
(31:46):
anti tank guns, and five infantry tanks. This also marked
a complete reversal of the principal gain made during Operation
Brevity nearly ten days prior vote from Operation Brevity, say
Peter Chen World War II database, that's an American one
for you.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
By mid June, both sides had settled into a tense
stalemate across a desolate landscape of pattered vehicles and unburied dead.
June brought Operation battle Axe, a more ambitious Allied push
to lift the siege altogether. The British deployed the newly
arrived seventh Armored Division and hoped to break through to
Brook within days. The operation began on the fifteenth of June,
(32:24):
but faulted pretty much immediately after.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
Operation Brevity failed to lift the siege of Tarbrook. In
May nineteen forty one, a second attempt was launched on
the fifteenth of June. Beresford Peers planned to take Helfa
Parts and Fort Capuso using the fourth Indian Division. The
tanks of the seventh Armoured Division would both support the
infantry an advance to the hay Fed Ridge beyond Fort Capuso,
(32:49):
where they would engage enemy tank of horses while Operation
battle Axe was planned out in detail. The plan was
based on drastic underestimation of enemy capability. Rommel's expanding forces
now included the fifteenth Panzer Division, trained and equipped for
tank and anti tank warfare. His Italian contingent had been
(33:10):
redeployed to maintain the siege of Tubrook. The fourth Indian
Division rapidly took Fort Capuzau and beat off a counter attack,
but elsewhere the news was bad. British tanks entering Halfer
Pass ran into a trap. A battery of eighty eight
millimeters anti tunk guns dug into the sand and effectively
invisible from a distance. The advance into the hell Fire
(33:34):
Pass was a disaster. All but one of the tanks
were lost. Tanks approaching the half Field Ridge fared little better,
meeting anti tank artillery fire rather than the tank sortie
they aimed to provoke. By midday on the sixteenth of June,
three quarters of the two hundred British tanks deployed had
been lost. Rommel now launched a counter offensive. The fifteenth
(33:55):
Panzer Division at tank Fort Capuzo from the north, while
the fifth Light Division drove eastward to the who encircled Bresford.
Pierce's seventh Armored Division. General Wavel, Commander in chief Middle East,
ordered an immediate retreat. Operation battle Axe was an expensive failure.
Quote from factfile Operation battle Axe BBC.
Speaker 2 (34:18):
Inside the fortress, the defenders carried on. They lived in
a semicircle of trenches and bunkers that stretched from the
escarpments east of the port to the ridges in the west,
roughly eight kilometers wide. The perimeter was a deadly maze
of barbed wire, minefields anti tank ditches, all backed by
carefully hidden gun positions. From above, the Brooklook baron a
(34:41):
dusty patch of earths around a small harbor, but beneath
the surface, the Australians had turned the ground into a fortress.
By July, the garrison had perfected their defensive routine. Every
movement was done at night, resupply, evacuation, even the burial
of the dead it was too dangerous. The Looftwaiffer had
(35:02):
total control of the skies. The men learned to sleep
through the sound of bombs and to cook with as
little smoke as possible to avoid detection. Food was monotonous,
hinned bully beef, hard biscuits, and sweet tea.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
Oh way back to the bully beef.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
Are we head back to the bully beef, the grand old.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
Tradition, bully beef and hard tack.
Speaker 2 (35:23):
Really salty corn beef and biscuits so hard you could
use them to nail in well, knock in a nail.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
Yeah, if you wanted to rob a banque hard attack,
you could.
Speaker 2 (35:32):
No one wants skin near this shit.
Speaker 1 (35:34):
I mean the stuff that they were being given was
not hard attack, but it was fucking close to it.
Speaker 2 (35:41):
Water was rationed so strictly that soldiers joked about dry
cleaning themselves with sand.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
I mean, that's one way to have a bath, and
we have it quote confirming this. We just lived in holes,
mate in the ground, and it was filthy sand recalled
Sergeant Mark's throw, second of the twelfth Battalion. We had
seen in our mouths, we had seen in our food,
we had seen in our clothes from the Great Siege.
(36:08):
A strain War memorial.
Speaker 2 (36:10):
What's the go from Anakin's Cooe.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
I don't like sand. It's coarse, rough and gets everywhere.
I hate the way we're hating Christians and pronounces everywhere.
It's just it's no, no, we can't do this.
Speaker 2 (36:30):
We can't all this to say, Sandy ship and has
always been ship. It doesn't matter what galaxy you're in.
Speaker 1 (36:37):
It's like you, Matthew go to a twenty minute rant
about how George Lucas is a shit directive. But we're
not going to do that.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
That same month, a daring raid was carried out on
an Italian stronghold known as the Twin Pimples, a small
British commando unit, because.
Speaker 1 (36:55):
They were pimples on the ass of the battlefield. Sure
it's got to be the There.
Speaker 2 (37:01):
Was two hills that apparently looked like pimples, A small
British commando unit working with Indian cavalry, crept to within
thirty feet of the Italian trenches under cover of darkness.
When challenged, they charged, killing or capturing the defenders and
blowing up the ammunition stores before retreating under a storm
of shells. The raid was a small but vital morale boost,
(37:22):
proof that the defenders could still take the fight to
the enemy, and it was probably fucking hilarious to watch.
Throughout late August and September nineteen forty one, the first
rotation of austrange troops began to withdraw. The Royal Navy
ferried them out under the cover of darkness, while Polish
Carpathian Brigade and check eleventh Infantry Battalian troops landed to
(37:45):
tape their place. It was a perilous operation. Ships could
only unload and reload at night, and German aircraft were
constantly prowling the skies. On several occasions, hospital ships were
bombed despite being clearly marked with red crosses. The Capara
was badly damaged in May, and the gunboat Ladybird was
sunk in shallow water, but continued to serve as an
(38:07):
anti aircraft platform. It's deck gun still operable even as
the hole rested on the harbor floor well. Most Australians
rotated out, a small number stayed behind to maintain continuity
and defend critical positions, most notably the two thirteenth Batain,
who became to be known as the Devil's Own.
Speaker 1 (38:25):
I would not like to meet a bunch of war
torn Australians who have been there consistently from the get
go named the Devil's Own.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
They've been fighting in the dust and sand with no bath,
no water, no relief for nine months. They're basically at
the point of being crazy as rats.
Speaker 1 (38:43):
Well to use it to use another pop culture analogy there, Holly,
it's almost like the the Fremen of the Dune movies.
Speaker 2 (38:53):
Oh yeah, they'd be fucking popping up out of the
dust us.
Speaker 1 (38:56):
Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. Like the it would probably
have been more accurate to call them the dust devils, yep.
Speaker 2 (39:03):
But they're the devil zoned because they've been through Helen
Back would become the only Australian unit to remain for
the entire two hundred and forty one day siege, nearly
a year from April until it's relief in December.
Speaker 1 (39:18):
These all short of a year.
Speaker 2 (39:20):
These men became legends in their own right, holding the
line as desert battles raged to the west. We do
have a little bit more to say on this, including
a couple of stories of very specific soldiers, but we'll
save that for next week.
Speaker 1 (39:33):
Yes, and then the aftermath and the return of the
Rats of Brook and how it became part of Australian culture,
all of the fun stuff and culture in general. Yes,
we'll also be talking about the contributions of course the
First Nations people who were there, something that was not
acknowledged at the time, but we're going to discuss all
(39:54):
that next week as we conclude our series on the
Rats of the Brook. Well before we let you coaches
us keeping don't forget. If you'd like to contact us,
especially about the four hundredth episode coming up, you can
do so by fundingness on your favorite social media of choice,
just hoping we crap in Australia into the search bar.
We are not on Twitter, that's the only one you
won't find us on. And if we're not on the
(40:15):
social media of your choice and you still want to
shoot us an email, were crap in Australia at an
email don't forget send us your ideas for the four
hundredth anniversary, as well as your questions and any voice
memo questions you want to send through as well. We
Crap in Australia at a gmail dot com for all
of those be part of the four hundredth episode. You
(40:36):
can also and there's no age limit as long as
it's appropriate. Questions. We have kids listening to this show.
Speaker 2 (40:43):
Which is fucking nuts. I will who's fourteen down?
Speaker 1 (40:46):
It's tiny. Stop swearing at them.
Speaker 2 (40:50):
They're all in public school, they're all over the age
of nine. They all know what a swear word is.
They just need to know to use it appropriately. No
word is a bad word, it's just used context. Yes,
well there are some bad words. Yeah, there are some
bad words. Holly Yeah, so Weird Crap in Australia gmail
dot com. You can support the shows in a couple
(41:12):
of different ways, first and foremost being our Patreon friendly
five dollars us the month you get access to bonus
minisodes as well as these episodes released you early and
how to completely add free. You can also grab yourself
the Weak Crap in Australia book series. Only one to
six are available from our great mates incomics dot com
dot AU. Don't forget Christmas is coming up. If you
(41:32):
like to surprise your partner or your parent, or you
just want to upset people at Christmas, have one of
our books handy and read it out to people, especially
the sections on murderers and maniacs.
Speaker 1 (41:44):
Read that out at the Christmas table. You will make
Matthew very happy.
Speaker 2 (41:48):
I would love to see someone take a photo of
their copy of one of the weird crap in Australia
books for it to be as highlighted and underlined and
flagged and twisted and torn as a fucking family Bible.
I would love to see that. It will never happen
because our work is not significant, but I would love
to see the esthety.
Speaker 1 (42:07):
What I'm going to translate that Holonese into words. He
wants to see if you've read the book so much
that it's all tied it up and looking a bit rough.
Speaker 2 (42:15):
With like highlights and underlines, so like you're referring.
Speaker 1 (42:19):
Back from study guide, so you're referring.
Speaker 2 (42:21):
Back from one place to another and all that stuff.
Basically what I do with the podcast, you can do
with your book.
Speaker 1 (42:26):
Yeah I can. I can translate Holly usually into about
six words from her rambling paragraphs of insanity.
Speaker 2 (42:31):
If people didn't like my rambling paragraphs of insanity, why
are they even here?
Speaker 1 (42:35):
Or you're writing? When you're writing? Voice and your voice,
voice and your voice thoughts. I'm now confused.
Speaker 2 (42:42):
I speak English? Not good me writing English?
Speaker 1 (42:44):
Okay, there you go, very good. You can also help
us out by buying submerge from our merchan stores. Red
Bubble and Tea Public both have we crap in Australia designs.
They're ready for you to slap it our logo on
anything that you want, from books to mugs, cups, shower curtains,
(43:04):
I've even seen and of course T shirts. All of
that's over at Red Bubble and the Public. Just hoping
we crapping the straight into the search bar, and as
is our custom, we give Holly the final words.
Speaker 2 (43:17):
I now want someone to draw like the Rep Brook
just climbing out of the dust. Pretty cool, it'd be
a really good bit of.
Speaker 1 (43:25):
A what about the dusk? What about my dust Devil's idea?
Speaker 2 (43:28):
That too? So maybe like half of them climbing out
of the dust and the other half of like the
Devil's Coming over the Ridge.
Speaker 1 (43:33):
We have to be careful because the Australian military copyrights
a lot of this stuff.
Speaker 2 (43:38):
They can copyright it all they want, but we're not
making money off it.
Speaker 1 (43:43):
Would be called to do a T shirt though, would Yeah. Well,
ladies and women, that's it for us for another week.
And as I always say in this time in a
lovely British accent, ladies and gentlemen, please be safe, be
kind to one another. We will see you next week.
The More Weird Crap in Australia not endorsed by the BBC.
Speaker 2 (44:09):
Or the ABC or the other ABC or anybody. Technically,
the Australian government endorsed us during lockdown.
Speaker 1 (44:18):
So they did technically speaking, yes, well with that, we
will let you all go. Please stay safe, be kind.
We'll see you all next week. By for now.
Speaker 2 (44:28):
Hey.
Speaker 1 (44:42):
The Weird Crap in Australia podcast is produced by Holly
and Matthew Soul for the Modern Meltdown. If you've enjoyed
this podcast, please rate and review on your favorite podcatching
app
A strange, spiraling white light was spotted in the early
morning sky over Sydney, with even skeptical witnesses wondering if
it was a UFO. They were last seen on the
beach with a tall man and that's the best description
Plice have ever had of it.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
More than seventeen years after Harold Holt disappeared into raging
surf at Chevy A Beach, his widow has finally revealed
his last romantic words docky, terrifying, mesmerizing. That's the way
a number of Australians have described the alleged encounter with
the Yowie.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
It's time the Weird Crap In Australia Podcast. Welcome to
the week Crap In Australia Podcast. I'm your host, Matthew
sol joining me his fellow host and of course the
researcher Extralda Nair Holy soul. Hey, and this is episode
(00:55):
three hundred and eighty six. Believe it or not, we
again close to four hundred, Holly, what are you going
to do for the big four hundred?
Speaker 2 (01:02):
I'm going to be the one introducing the podcast. That's
about as far as I've thought ahead. Do you have ideas?
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Is that a thing we do No. One hundred, but.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
After four hundred episodes, I reckon I could basically do
the entire script with the same inflections as what you do,
and I want to.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Prove it so I don't have to be there for
episode four hundred.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Now you do, Oh okay, We're just gonna swap roll,
so I'll do the voices. You can do the research
and write script.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Well what if I kick it to the audience? Okay, Yeah,
We've got episodes four hundred coming up in three months
three months, so plenty of league time for you all.
Shoot just your suggestions. We're crapping Australia at gemail dot com.
What do you think our four hundredth episode should be?
Now on previous one hundred episodes, we have done it?
(01:51):
You an a's So.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
We did Federation, then we did Drop Bears and I
can't remember what three hundred words? Do you remember?
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Nope, not at all. I don't even remember half the
episodes I've done.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
We're up to that point where it's just so much.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Well that what what did I suggest to you as
a children's show? I was like, when are we going
to do that? And You're like, we did it. It's
round the twist. Remember I think I even mentioned it
on the podcast and you're like, we've already done round
this post.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
I remember episode three hundred was the interview with Peter
kind of believe I'm saying that right. Uh, the Wiggles
drummer into the host of it. Didn't go eat my podcast?
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Oh Pete, that was a good episode. Yeah, then we
need a Q and A at the end. Well, ladies
and gentlemen, so two things. Do through your ideas. We're
crapping showdmail dot com, and don't forget to send us
some of your burning questions. If you've asked a question
before and you would still like to ask another one,
please do because asking people to volunteer a question can
(02:57):
sometimes be really fucking hard. We've had that experience before.
So if you've got a question, please shoot it through.
If you would like to send your question in the
form of your voice, which we have had a couple
of those over the years as well, feel free just
to attach MP three to email. You can send that
(03:18):
through as an attachment. It's very very easy. Just yeah,
you know, don't tell your life story, otherwise the file
will be way, way, way too long.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
We will also accept of a Facebook Messenger, you can
send a voice memo. We will accept it that way
because I can always record it then onto the border
and then upload it as a proper clip.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Yeah. If you're someone who's not great with technology and
you would love to have your voice on the week
wrap and show you a podcast, all you have to
do is grab that phone that you're probably listening to
this podcast on, go to voice memo, record your voice
and then just attach that to an email and send
it through. You can do it all on your phone.
It's very very easy, and we would love to hear
(03:58):
from all of you. I like the questions, especially like
pop culture questions, which some of you have indulged me in.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
I believe there was one about Batman last.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Yeah, there was one of our New Zealand fans. Or
he was either he was either a former Australian living
in New Zealand, or in New Zealand or living in
Australia or had Australian parents. He had a Keyway accent.
I think it's been such a long time ago, and
I apologized for forgetting your name.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Every hundred episodes is about two years.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Yeah, but yeah, he asked what I thought of James
gun taking over the DC Studios and you know, making
superhero movies two years into the future. I can say
I quite enjoyed his Superman film. And there you go,
all right, Without further ado, ladies and Gentlemen's harving to
get back into World War II history with part two
(04:49):
of The Rats of Brook. If you remember our last episode,
we left the Rats of Tobrook earning their namesake and
begetting read of ready for their first big battle.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
They've already done moderately big battle, but.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Yeah, this is the big one. This solidifies the legend right.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Well, it's definitely the first time they used the name.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Right there you go, the first canonical use of the
name in a battle. Take it away, Holly.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Throughout April and May nineteen forty one, the battle ranged
around the perimeter of Tabrook. On October thirty, the twenty
six Australian brigade faced another massive assault by Axis forces.
At eight pm. German artillery opened fire on previously identified
strong points and under the cover of smoke and dust,
Rommel's infantry advanced. By nine thirty pm, a small bridge
(05:41):
head had been achieved, but the Australians held firm. When
dawn broke, the Germans found themselves caught in a sandstorm
and pinned down in minefields.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
That sandstorm. No, not that, not the techno version. No, no, it.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Is a little bit early for that. Unfortunately, anti tank
guns opened fire, forcing them to retreat. The fifteenth Panzer
Division was beaten back and the attempted breakthrough failed.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Italians outside to Brook are having a hard time, says
British United Press correspondent inside to Brook. The Australian defenders
inside the town are giving them merry. Holl went out
in sautee. They have snatched the initiative from the Italian
and German besiegers. Two fighting patrols which raided the Italian
lines a week ago captured eighteen officers and four hundred
(06:32):
and thirty seven men of other ranks and killed more
than two hundred Italians. The raiders also destroyed eight breeder
guns for trench mortars and three anti aircraft guns. One
patrol made a bayonet charge against the Italian artillery, while
a second patrol, for four or five hours, fought a
force five times stronger than itself. A youthful Australian form lay.
(06:57):
A salesman at Sales Victoria described the raid. Said, three
of us lay flat in a shell hold to dodge
the Italian barrage. My two companions blazed away with their
brand and guns against the Italian's front line. Our infantry,
advancing over the open ground without a shred of cover,
rushed the enemy's trenches. Two Italians wearing steel helmets of
(07:18):
a French pattern, jumped out of the trench and waved
a white flag, whereupon we got our announced ready. Because
of our previous experience of some of their tricks, we
leapt forward. They came out like rats from a drain pipe.
A ben added one Italian, and saw one of my
mates tear into a breader gun which was still firing,
and leave two of the gun crew kicking on the ground.
(07:39):
Another Australian, although wounded in the stomach, hurled a grenade
at the gun before he fell flat. Our section of
raiders captured two officers and eighty five other ranks. Quote
from the Age, Wednesday, thirtieth of April nineteen forty one,
page one.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Australian raids from the Defenders counter attacked whenever possible. On
May two and three, the eighteenth, a strained brigade launched
a sortie into the Whitei Gaida that it was ultimately
forced to withdraw due to poor coordination and blinding dust storms. Meanwhile,
the Royal Air Force struggled to maintain air superiority. Hurricanes,
(08:16):
which were a type of plane Hurricanes from the seventy
third and two hundred and seventy fourth squadrons intercepted waves
of June eighty seven dive bombers. The losses were heavy.
By April twenty first, only five fighters remained operational. Despite
the hardship to brook Held, the fortress became a symbol
(08:36):
of Allied resistance, the first major defeat for Rommel's forces
in the Desert War. It showed that his Blitzkrieg tactes
could be stopped given determination and preparation.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
All right, can you just remind the audience, or maybe
inform the audience only about what a blitzkrieg type attack
would look like and why it was named a blitzkrieg attack.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Blitzkrieg has basically let it burn. So you go in,
you decimate it, you level it as hard as you can,
and then you walk through the rubble.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Because that was a famous battle during World War II.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Right, A blitzkreak is a strategy, it's not a battle.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Oh okay, right see, And that's why I needed clarification.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
It's what the blitz is short for. Yes, so blitz
is actually the blitzkrieg. It's just they shortened it to
the blitz.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
That's why they shortened it. Well there you see. I
like this show because I'm informed you're learning. Yes, a
blitzkrieg a surprise attack using a rapid, overwhelming force, concentration
of infantry and air support, intended to break through, dislocate
and unbalance the enemy. Let it burn, and its literal
translation is lightning or flash.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Best to strike hard and run away first.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Hit them hard and run away.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
For the men of the ninth Division, to Brook was
more than a battle. It was a test of endurance,
fought in the dust and peat against overwhelming odds. Remember
this is North Africa on the Mediterranean, in the middle
of June, in the middle of May, which means you're
heading into summer, which means it's only going to get worse.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
When we in the Mediterranean, you're in a summer No, no,
we weren't. We were close to the equator. It's fucking hot.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
No japan is.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
We were all felt like we were a deep and
tropical bullshit.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
The Australians had turned a forgotten port into a fortress,
and in doing so they had written themselves into the
war history. By May nineteen forty one, the siege of
Tbrook had become a daily grind of attrition. Dust Storms
and the oppressive desert heat battered men and machines alike,
and the routine of artillery barrages, robing attacks and Stuka
(10:43):
raids gave the garrison no reprieve. Every day German dive
bombers appeared overhead. They're screaming sirens, terrifying the men on
the ground. Long before the bombs hit. The defenders, however,
had become adept at reading the sky, gauging from the
sound of the engines which way to run, when to drop,
and when to fire back.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
It's really quite sad, but a modern example of this
is children living in the Middle East started to basically
acknowledge weather patterns, whether they'd be more likely to be
drone attacked or not.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
I think it was they started to look forward to
clouds because the drones couldn't aim properly through the cloud.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Yeah, they prayed for rain because the rainy day meant
that they want to get bombed that day. Fucking tragic.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
All things change them more, they stay the same, right.
The Australian British gunners grew so skilled at counterfiring that
the Luftwaffers' pilots had come to dread their runs over
to Brook, calling it one of the most dangerous anti
aircraft zones in North Africa.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
I mean, to be fair when you're I mean, the
weather patterns in Europe versus the weather patterns in Africa
are very very different, and I would imagine that. I mean,
what like a lot of the time you're flying in
the open air against a blue.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Background, especially this time of year.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Yeah, you're going to be seen. Maybe they shouldn't have
been Nazi. My my sympathy is is fucking in the
dirt and if you're a modern day Nazi, go fuck yourself.
I don't like Nazis. I think we've made that perfectly
clear multiple times.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
The same problem is add throughout history of anyone who
has a flying machine during war season.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
War season, I like that term. Holy well, it's like.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
You don't invade in Russia. You don't fight in Russia,
so war season in summer.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Well, I mean that that is true. You know, you
start to see aircraft being utilized during World War One.
Aircraft became an important part of World War Two, especially
when you consider that it was aircraft that delivered the
nuclear bombs to Japan. The age question of like, how
do we fix this problem of our vehicles being seen?
(13:03):
And you know, the answer to that was the Blackbird.
And then from the Blackbird you have the current stealth
bomber technology that's been utilized. I believe they are Mark two,
maybe three, and they're also working on a or have
deployed already. I'm pretty sure they're very deployed a stealth
(13:25):
drone spacecraft that's been used by the American Air Force
in order to take down satellite. So they don't particularly like.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Is that the only real function of space force?
Speaker 1 (13:37):
Well, it does fall under space force. One of the
interesting things about that particular craft it was actually being
designed and built by NASA. Now NASA is part of
the American government, right, so if the Air Force sees
a design, they like, guess what they do, and now
they take it. So something that was meant to be
used for you know, space exploration, you know, sending up
(14:01):
drawing shuttles. It ended up being appropriated by the air Force.
But yeah, since since we could put a pain in
the sky and attach a gun to it, we've been
trying to work out how we can hide that vehicle
from the enemy.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
By late April, after four months of fighting, the Germans
had finally realized that De Brook would not fall easily.
The initial assaults, intended as swift strikes to open the
route to Egypt, had failed to breach the defenses. Rummel's
tanks had been lured into traps minefield's hidden artillery and
determined to strain infantry who would let the panzers roll
(14:39):
through before emerging from their foxholes to ambush the supporting
infantry behind them.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
There's polls keep white, and they kept opening in front
of our mighty tanks. What is going on? That's basically
how you win at war, man, You cripple.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
The other side until they can't be bothered fighting anymore.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Well, I think it's it is fair to say that
the Nazis rolled quite in an advanced military onto.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
The battlefield at the start of the war.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
At the start of the war. I think that any
military that's led by insane despots, surrounded by insane despots,
because you know, Himmler was just as crazy as Hitler.
Goebels was just as crazy as Himmler. You know, they
were all sort of yes, ending themselves ino fucking oblivion
(15:28):
because they're all fucking dickheads. You can't operate a military
that way. I mean, the ultimate fall of the Nazi
war machine came when they were fighting effectively on multiple
fronts and you couldn't you know, you couldn't possibly do that.
(15:50):
They just didn't have the military to be able to
support that much war at that time, because I mean,
if you think about they're fighting in Africa, they're trying
to march through Europe, and they're going after the Russians.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
They got the Western Front, they got the Eastern Front,
they got the African Front, They've got the Atlantic Front.
Because then they started having to deal with the Americans,
and then I don't believe that they were helping in
the Pacific.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Not really. Obviously that was Japan's territory, and you know,
I couldn't imagine an I don't look. People can correct
me if I'm wrong here, but I do not believe
that the Nazis even had the resources to move into
the into the Pacific Front. They probably supported military operations, Holly,
(16:41):
they were definitely in Nanking, because there's a famous story
about a Nazi actually stopping at genocide in Nanking, or
at least trying to. But yeah, I believe if anything,
they were just say in a support capacity, not in
a full capacity. I mean, they couldn't afford them war fronts.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Well, they were fighting on four fronts and then they
had to think about starting a fifth one. But no,
apparently they had very very limited resources in the Pacific
War alongside the it happened.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
I mean, it's kind of funny when you look back on,
you know, World War two, when you look at it
in a vacuum. But the Nazis really didn't expect the
pushback they got.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Right, if the Japanese had just not bombed Pearl Harbor, yeah,
the war would have gone a completely different direction. But
the Japanese jumped too early.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
They did absolutely, No, you're one hundred percent right, Like,
without Japanese involvement, I don't think the Americans go to
World War two quickly, or if at all at.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
All quickly, two and a half years later.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Well quickly for them. You know, the Nazi Party was
shocked at the pushback, considering how Britain pre did Africa
and India, considering how Americans treated Native Americans to a
lesser extent, Australia's history with the indigenous.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
To a lesser extent, how the rest of Europe created
their Jewish populations.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
They were shocked that people were upset with them.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Yes, you can beat them up, but don't kill.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Them, you know, because the rest of the world saw
people of color, they saw Jewish people as less then
as less than human, and they were shocked that the
rest of the world was like, hey, settled down, what
are you doing? And I can understand that like that perspective,
you know, the German people themselves were like, hey, wait
(18:38):
a minute, you all hate these people as much as
we do. Why are you coming after us? And I
suppose the real answer to that is that, as Holly said,
you know, Japan gets involved, which changes the game as
America is attacked directly and you know, moving into Frans
(18:59):
and Britain as probably the only reasons really that you know,
the Germans started to get the ire of a lot
of other countries. You know, there are stories during World
War Two of American service people, African American service people
who would go into bars, you know, Scotland Island in Britain,
(19:20):
and white American soldiers would try and kill those men
for going into those bars, you know, and like there are, Yeah,
there's some pretty fuck stories out there. So yeah, like
a it's kind of like this weird, fucked up comedy
of errors where you have, you know, a population in
(19:42):
Germany going well, this is all we could do, you know,
to eliminate this undesired element from our society. This is
all we could do, Like why are you judging us
so harshly for it? What else were we going to do?
And then you couple that attitude with a despotic mas
man who thinks that he has I mean, there weren't
(20:04):
enough Germans in all of Germany to occupy the world.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
They were barely enough to occupy Europe let alone, the
African Front and the Russian Front.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Like what they think was going to happen that.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
They would just show how mighty they are and that America,
China and all of those people would just back off. Yeah,
although maybe not China at that stage because I don't
think it was quite as powerful until now.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
But it's like it's like China, Japan, Australia, Britain, Canada, America, Africa,
the Middle East, like you had like what did they
think they were going to be able to do?
Speaker 2 (20:42):
So that they were scary so people would leave them alone.
What happened was that people looked at them and when
you guys are fuck with were dealing with you before
you come for us.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
Yeah, the same thing that happens to them, that happens
to every single authoritarian is they get dragged down the
street kicking and screaming while people kick the shit. Album
does create their corpses. Hear that your ballarat Nazi pricks? Uh?
I know why we find Nazis again?
Speaker 2 (21:13):
History loves to repeat and so I.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
Can tell me when do we have to do this
again and again and never goes away? Like I've met
just as many you know, the problem is human.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Now what I think the problem is humanity?
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Fuck those guys I have met and worked with assholes
from every single rucks everyone him producer Cunt anyway, holding
back to the story.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
The result of the Australian counter offensives was Davis the
German and Italian tanks, finding themselves alone and without support,
were torn apart by British twenty five pound guns and
captured Italian guns repurposed by the The recks of Panzas
lay smoldering across the sand all outside to Brook. Rommel,
(22:08):
incense by the resistance, ordered repeated bombardments throughout April and May.
The defenders huddled in trenches and dugouts. Foxholes cut into
the hard limestone of to Brooks escarpments. A shell after
shell pounded the ground. Yet the Australians, who had been
told to expect only an eight weeks stay, dug in
for what would become a grueling eight month ordeal.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
But the again, the sort of warfare you cannot win
it with dropping bombs on top of people, Like it's
just not that sort of it's not that sort of area.
It's not that sort of conflict. You know, you can
try and bomb them into the ground all you want.
They're dug in. They're not getting out without you sending
in troops. But you know, Rommel just had this like well,
(22:54):
they worked for it.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
Wellever, I can't have it, No one can flatten it.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Well worked, it worked in Britain. That's that's what their opinion.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Was, didn't because they didn't get to Britain, they didn't
even cross the channel one.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
You know, their opinion was, well, you know, we're able
to bomb all of these other countries in Europe and
that has been somewhat successful, so we're going to bomb
the shit out of these people here. But you know,
there were again, you know, they started digging in literally
and it was it's a lot harder to move people
with with you know, air raids, it really is.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
The Australians were supported by a motley collection of British
artillery units, Indian cavalry and base personnel who took up
arms when needed. Within the perimeter were mechanics, engineers, cooks
and clerks, many of whom found themselves fighting beside the
infantry when attacks came close to the wire. Supplies were
to Brooks lifeblood buried in at night across the Mediterranean
(23:53):
in small convoys known as the Tabrook Ferry Service. These
were Royal Navy and Australian Navy destroyers, sloops and converted
merchantmen that risked constant air attack from the Luftwaffer twenty
six ships were lost. Over the course of the siege,
the ferry crews became legends in their own right, sneaking
through enemy air patrols to deliver ammunition, food, and reinforcements,
(24:15):
and to evacuate the wounded. When the hospital ship Capara
was bombed in May, Allied outrage was fierce. Proof. The
men said that the axis would stop nothing.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Well, they mean hospital ships were clearly marked.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Massive plus signs, red plus signs, red cross lines on.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Everywhere you know. And the general idea was that eating
attack hospital.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
Ships because you don't want someone amy for yours.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
Well, I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, I say,
I think I might be speaking out of turn when
I say this. I don't think the Japanese attacked hospital ships.
Did they? I honestly don't know, because I don't think
there would have been much honor in that.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
No, no attacking. Yeah, I mean there were hospital ships
at Pearl Arbor, but but they didn't ditavily attack them.
They were just bystander explosions.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
I'm not sure I'd have to look into that a
little bit more. Yeah, because like there you got to remember,
like the military of World War II from Japan were
sort of indoctrinated through a kind of government sanctioned, militarized
version of the Bashido code. So yeah, i'd have to
look into it. I have to look into it.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Ah. The Japanese did actively attack some hospital ships, including
the Australian hospital ship the Centaur in nineteen forty three.
Well there you go, and the Dutch hospital ship Opta Nort.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
So it doesn't really matter much, does it when you're
in war. Yeah. Same.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
The nickname the Rats of to Brook originated as a
piece of German propaganda, as we talked about last episode.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Yeah, there was a shitcu British preck working in Japan
helping to plug their propaganda because he liked the cut
of the Nazis jib.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Within weeks, soldiers were scrawling rats of Tobrook trucks and helmets,
and artists were painting rat emblems cut clutching rifles onto
the sides of tanks. The insult became a badge of honor.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
They didn't do a busty, sexy rat, bombshell girl rat,
there were bombshells.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
There was no bombshell rat. The insult became a badge
of honor, a symbol of defiance against Rommel's Vaulted Africa Corps.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
Another Australian riding from Tabrok says that the way the
garrison is holding out is apparently getting under Lordhorsekin in
our recent broadcast that referred to the Australians as bushwhackers
and later invited them to come out of your holes,
you rats of Tabrook. The letter ads Lord Haja give
(26:42):
us a thrill. Sometimes when he forecasts coming events in
our vicinity, he proves right sometimes quote from News Friday,
the eleventh of July nineteen forty one, page eight, punishment
enough to form Muso to make him leave in Libya.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
It's really a mark of Australian in hinuity that we
took Mussolini and he became Mussacho.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
Ye bloody Mussaie.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
That is the earliest use of the term rats of
Tobrook that I can find in troves So. Operation Brevity,
which was ironically named, launched on the fifteenth of May
nineteen forty one, was the first British attempt to relieve
to Brook. It was a limited offensive aimed at pushing
Axis forces back from the Egypt Libya border and securing
(27:34):
key positions at Pafeya Pass, Solomn and Fort Capuzo. Initial
successes were short lived. The British captured their first objectives,
but were soon driven back by German counterattacks. With mounting
losses and overstretched supply lines, the offensive was called off
after just a few days, so it was actually aptly
named The Siege of to Brook remained unbroken and the
(27:57):
garrison resumed its grim routine of digging, fighting and holding
the line.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
Operation Brevity was launched on the fifteenth of May nineteen
forty one. The goal was to push Rommel back from
the border between Egypt and Libya, dislardging the German forces
from their positions at solom and Puseau. Once this was achieved,
Wevill aimed ultimately to relieve the siege after Brook. At
the first objective, Haffalal Pass above Solomn, Italian forces were
(28:24):
defeated in short order. German troops holding Fort Capuzo were
also forced to withdraw, but they recaptured the fort when
the tank forces were deployed. As the balance of forces
became more unfavorable to the British, thirteenth Corps withdrew two
halfa pass. The pass was held two weeks before it
fell to a German counterattack. The operation had gained no
(28:45):
territory and the damage inflicted on German tanks and artillery
was more than balanced by the loss of British equipment,
much of which the Germans were able to recover. Following
the British withdrawal. Rommel fortified the frontier with minefield and
Adie millermeter anti tank guns, a weapon superior to any
than deployed by the protest. Operation Brevity was a bit
(29:08):
a lesson for the Allies to deal with an enemy
like Rommel, equally skilled in deploying tanks to outcome infantry
and artillery. To stop tanks, new levels of preparation and
planning would be required. Quote from fact file Operation Brevity BBC.
That was Matthew's pompous British radio modern voice accent.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
Don't worry you'll get a chance to use again.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
A fantastic.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
Just the monotone gets me.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
Well.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
I see now that the world is on fire, so puts.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
I think that Australians perhaps are too exuberant in the
way we speak. You know, there's I mean, you guys
hear it all the time, like there's my professional radio voice,
and then I'll switch to just Matthew complaining about Nazis
when it's the British. I think you sort of have to.
Whenever I'm doing that voice, I just think of like,
(30:05):
stay calm and love the queen or whatever.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
That, keep calm and carry on.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
That was it, Yeah, and just really have absolutely no
a kind of emotional inflection in anything that you're saying
or doing. And that way you can do, in my opinion,
or rather convincing BBC Radio voice, because as you can tell,
I have no soul and I am simply being puppeted
(30:33):
by the British government. In fact, I have been dead
since nineteen fifty five, and through some alchemy and some
rather insidious black magic, I am still here with his
voice for you today.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
Operation Scorpion followed later that month, Rummell's swift counter offensive
designed to reverse British gains from Operation Brevity and secure
the frontier. Beginning on May twenty sixth, nineteen forty one,
German forces under General Perf attacked Helfer Pass, forcing the
British defenders to withdraw. The position fell the next day,
(31:13):
resorin restoring the axis line along the border. Although the
Operation succeeded tactically, it did not bring Rommel closer to
capturing to Brook, which remained a Southern Allied stronghold ozziosi.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
In the evening of the twenty six of May nineteen
forty one, German Colonel Hearf launched Operation Scorpion. Three assault
groups attacked how Faiya Pass. In the following morning, Brigadier
General god authorized the defenders to fall back, allowing the
Germans to regain the pass. The British suffered one hundred
and seventy three casualties and lost four field guns, eight
(31:46):
anti tank guns, and five infantry tanks. This also marked
a complete reversal of the principal gain made during Operation
Brevity nearly ten days prior vote from Operation Brevity, say
Peter Chen World War II database, that's an American one
for you.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
By mid June, both sides had settled into a tense
stalemate across a desolate landscape of pattered vehicles and unburied dead.
June brought Operation battle Axe, a more ambitious Allied push
to lift the siege altogether. The British deployed the newly
arrived seventh Armored Division and hoped to break through to
Brook within days. The operation began on the fifteenth of June,
(32:24):
but faulted pretty much immediately after.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
Operation Brevity failed to lift the siege of Tarbrook. In
May nineteen forty one, a second attempt was launched on
the fifteenth of June. Beresford Peers planned to take Helfa
Parts and Fort Capuso using the fourth Indian Division. The
tanks of the seventh Armoured Division would both support the
infantry an advance to the hay Fed Ridge beyond Fort Capuso,
(32:49):
where they would engage enemy tank of horses while Operation
battle Axe was planned out in detail. The plan was
based on drastic underestimation of enemy capability. Rommel's expanding forces
now included the fifteenth Panzer Division, trained and equipped for
tank and anti tank warfare. His Italian contingent had been
(33:10):
redeployed to maintain the siege of Tubrook. The fourth Indian
Division rapidly took Fort Capuzau and beat off a counter attack,
but elsewhere the news was bad. British tanks entering Halfer
Pass ran into a trap. A battery of eighty eight
millimeters anti tunk guns dug into the sand and effectively
invisible from a distance. The advance into the hell Fire
(33:34):
Pass was a disaster. All but one of the tanks
were lost. Tanks approaching the half Field Ridge fared little better,
meeting anti tank artillery fire rather than the tank sortie
they aimed to provoke. By midday on the sixteenth of June,
three quarters of the two hundred British tanks deployed had
been lost. Rommel now launched a counter offensive. The fifteenth
(33:55):
Panzer Division at tank Fort Capuzo from the north, while
the fifth Light Division drove eastward to the who encircled Bresford.
Pierce's seventh Armored Division. General Wavel, Commander in chief Middle East,
ordered an immediate retreat. Operation battle Axe was an expensive failure.
Quote from factfile Operation battle Axe BBC.
Speaker 2 (34:18):
Inside the fortress, the defenders carried on. They lived in
a semicircle of trenches and bunkers that stretched from the
escarpments east of the port to the ridges in the west,
roughly eight kilometers wide. The perimeter was a deadly maze
of barbed wire, minefields anti tank ditches, all backed by
carefully hidden gun positions. From above, the Brooklook baron a
(34:41):
dusty patch of earths around a small harbor, but beneath
the surface, the Australians had turned the ground into a fortress.
By July, the garrison had perfected their defensive routine. Every
movement was done at night, resupply, evacuation, even the burial
of the dead it was too dangerous. The Looftwaiffer had
(35:02):
total control of the skies. The men learned to sleep
through the sound of bombs and to cook with as
little smoke as possible to avoid detection. Food was monotonous,
hinned bully beef, hard biscuits, and sweet tea.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
Oh way back to the bully beef.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
Are we head back to the bully beef, the grand old.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
Tradition, bully beef and hard tack.
Speaker 2 (35:23):
Really salty corn beef and biscuits so hard you could
use them to nail in well, knock in a nail.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
Yeah, if you wanted to rob a banque hard attack,
you could.
Speaker 2 (35:32):
No one wants skin near this shit.
Speaker 1 (35:34):
I mean the stuff that they were being given was
not hard attack, but it was fucking close to it.
Speaker 2 (35:41):
Water was rationed so strictly that soldiers joked about dry
cleaning themselves with sand.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
I mean, that's one way to have a bath, and
we have it quote confirming this. We just lived in holes,
mate in the ground, and it was filthy sand recalled
Sergeant Mark's throw, second of the twelfth Battalion. We had
seen in our mouths, we had seen in our food,
we had seen in our clothes from the Great Siege.
(36:08):
A strain War memorial.
Speaker 2 (36:10):
What's the go from Anakin's Cooe.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
I don't like sand. It's coarse, rough and gets everywhere.
I hate the way we're hating Christians and pronounces everywhere.
It's just it's no, no, we can't do this.
Speaker 2 (36:30):
We can't all this to say, Sandy ship and has
always been ship. It doesn't matter what galaxy you're in.
Speaker 1 (36:37):
It's like you, Matthew go to a twenty minute rant
about how George Lucas is a shit directive. But we're
not going to do that.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
That same month, a daring raid was carried out on
an Italian stronghold known as the Twin Pimples, a small
British commando unit, because.
Speaker 1 (36:55):
They were pimples on the ass of the battlefield. Sure
it's got to be the There.
Speaker 2 (37:01):
Was two hills that apparently looked like pimples, A small
British commando unit working with Indian cavalry, crept to within
thirty feet of the Italian trenches under cover of darkness.
When challenged, they charged, killing or capturing the defenders and
blowing up the ammunition stores before retreating under a storm
of shells. The raid was a small but vital morale boost,
(37:22):
proof that the defenders could still take the fight to
the enemy, and it was probably fucking hilarious to watch.
Throughout late August and September nineteen forty one, the first
rotation of austrange troops began to withdraw. The Royal Navy
ferried them out under the cover of darkness, while Polish
Carpathian Brigade and check eleventh Infantry Battalian troops landed to
(37:45):
tape their place. It was a perilous operation. Ships could
only unload and reload at night, and German aircraft were
constantly prowling the skies. On several occasions, hospital ships were
bombed despite being clearly marked with red crosses. The Capara
was badly damaged in May, and the gunboat Ladybird was
sunk in shallow water, but continued to serve as an
(38:07):
anti aircraft platform. It's deck gun still operable even as
the hole rested on the harbor floor well. Most Australians
rotated out, a small number stayed behind to maintain continuity
and defend critical positions, most notably the two thirteenth Batain,
who became to be known as the Devil's Own.
Speaker 1 (38:25):
I would not like to meet a bunch of war
torn Australians who have been there consistently from the get
go named the Devil's Own.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
They've been fighting in the dust and sand with no bath,
no water, no relief for nine months. They're basically at
the point of being crazy as rats.
Speaker 1 (38:43):
Well to use it to use another pop culture analogy there, Holly,
it's almost like the the Fremen of the Dune movies.
Speaker 2 (38:53):
Oh yeah, they'd be fucking popping up out of the
dust us.
Speaker 1 (38:56):
Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. Like the it would probably
have been more accurate to call them the dust devils, yep.
Speaker 2 (39:03):
But they're the devil zoned because they've been through Helen
Back would become the only Australian unit to remain for
the entire two hundred and forty one day siege, nearly
a year from April until it's relief in December.
Speaker 1 (39:18):
These all short of a year.
Speaker 2 (39:20):
These men became legends in their own right, holding the
line as desert battles raged to the west. We do
have a little bit more to say on this, including
a couple of stories of very specific soldiers, but we'll
save that for next week.
Speaker 1 (39:33):
Yes, and then the aftermath and the return of the
Rats of Brook and how it became part of Australian culture,
all of the fun stuff and culture in general. Yes,
we'll also be talking about the contributions of course the
First Nations people who were there, something that was not
acknowledged at the time, but we're going to discuss all
(39:54):
that next week as we conclude our series on the
Rats of the Brook. Well before we let you coaches
us keeping don't forget. If you'd like to contact us,
especially about the four hundredth episode coming up, you can
do so by fundingness on your favorite social media of choice,
just hoping we crap in Australia into the search bar.
We are not on Twitter, that's the only one you
won't find us on. And if we're not on the
(40:15):
social media of your choice and you still want to
shoot us an email, were crap in Australia at an
email don't forget send us your ideas for the four
hundredth anniversary, as well as your questions and any voice
memo questions you want to send through as well. We
Crap in Australia at a gmail dot com for all
of those be part of the four hundredth episode. You
(40:36):
can also and there's no age limit as long as
it's appropriate. Questions. We have kids listening to this show.
Speaker 2 (40:43):
Which is fucking nuts. I will who's fourteen down?
Speaker 1 (40:46):
It's tiny. Stop swearing at them.
Speaker 2 (40:50):
They're all in public school, they're all over the age
of nine. They all know what a swear word is.
They just need to know to use it appropriately. No
word is a bad word, it's just used context. Yes,
well there are some bad words. Yeah, there are some
bad words. Holly Yeah, so Weird Crap in Australia gmail
dot com. You can support the shows in a couple
(41:12):
of different ways, first and foremost being our Patreon friendly
five dollars us the month you get access to bonus
minisodes as well as these episodes released you early and
how to completely add free. You can also grab yourself
the Weak Crap in Australia book series. Only one to
six are available from our great mates incomics dot com
dot AU. Don't forget Christmas is coming up. If you
(41:32):
like to surprise your partner or your parent, or you
just want to upset people at Christmas, have one of
our books handy and read it out to people, especially
the sections on murderers and maniacs.
Speaker 1 (41:44):
Read that out at the Christmas table. You will make
Matthew very happy.
Speaker 2 (41:48):
I would love to see someone take a photo of
their copy of one of the weird crap in Australia
books for it to be as highlighted and underlined and
flagged and twisted and torn as a fucking family Bible.
I would love to see that. It will never happen
because our work is not significant, but I would love
to see the esthety.
Speaker 1 (42:07):
What I'm going to translate that Holonese into words. He
wants to see if you've read the book so much
that it's all tied it up and looking a bit rough.
Speaker 2 (42:15):
With like highlights and underlines, so like you're referring.
Speaker 1 (42:19):
Back from study guide, so you're referring.
Speaker 2 (42:21):
Back from one place to another and all that stuff.
Basically what I do with the podcast, you can do
with your book.
Speaker 1 (42:26):
Yeah I can. I can translate Holly usually into about
six words from her rambling paragraphs of insanity.
Speaker 2 (42:31):
If people didn't like my rambling paragraphs of insanity, why
are they even here?
Speaker 1 (42:35):
Or you're writing? When you're writing? Voice and your voice,
voice and your voice thoughts. I'm now confused.
Speaker 2 (42:42):
I speak English? Not good me writing English?
Speaker 1 (42:44):
Okay, there you go, very good. You can also help
us out by buying submerge from our merchan stores. Red
Bubble and Tea Public both have we crap in Australia designs.
They're ready for you to slap it our logo on
anything that you want, from books to mugs, cups, shower curtains,
(43:04):
I've even seen and of course T shirts. All of
that's over at Red Bubble and the Public. Just hoping
we crapping the straight into the search bar, and as
is our custom, we give Holly the final words.
Speaker 2 (43:17):
I now want someone to draw like the Rep Brook
just climbing out of the dust. Pretty cool, it'd be
a really good bit of.
Speaker 1 (43:25):
A what about the dusk? What about my dust Devil's idea?
Speaker 2 (43:28):
That too? So maybe like half of them climbing out
of the dust and the other half of like the
Devil's Coming over the Ridge.
Speaker 1 (43:33):
We have to be careful because the Australian military copyrights
a lot of this stuff.
Speaker 2 (43:38):
They can copyright it all they want, but we're not
making money off it.
Speaker 1 (43:43):
Would be called to do a T shirt though, would Yeah. Well,
ladies and women, that's it for us for another week.
And as I always say in this time in a
lovely British accent, ladies and gentlemen, please be safe, be
kind to one another. We will see you next week.
The More Weird Crap in Australia not endorsed by the BBC.
Speaker 2 (44:09):
Or the ABC or the other ABC or anybody. Technically,
the Australian government endorsed us during lockdown.
Speaker 1 (44:18):
So they did technically speaking, yes, well with that, we
will let you all go. Please stay safe, be kind.
We'll see you all next week. By for now.
Speaker 2 (44:28):
Hey.
Speaker 1 (44:42):
The Weird Crap in Australia podcast is produced by Holly
and Matthew Soul for the Modern Meltdown. If you've enjoyed
this podcast, please rate and review on your favorite podcatching
app
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