Battle of the Atlantic

• The British steamer Royal Sovereign (1527t) sinks on a mine in the North Sea with the loss of 1 crewman.
• U-103 sinks the British steamer Empire Jaguar (5186t) about 300 miles west of Ireland with the loss of the entire crew of 37.

Greek-Albanian Front

Pogradec on Lake Ohrid, more the 40 miles from the Greek frontier, falls to the Greek advance.

Italy, Command

There are command changes and redistribution of ships and squadrons in the Italian navy. Admiral Arturo Riccardi replaces Adm Cavagnari as Undersecretary of State and Head of Supermarina. Adm Angelo Iachino replaces Campioni as Fleet Commander-in-Chief.

Mediterranean

4 special task forces of the British Mediterranean Fleet are formed to bombard Italian positions and communications along the Egypt-Libya coast. Adm Iachino, the former Naval Attaché in London, is appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Italian Fleet.

Cameron Highlanders, a Scottish infantry regiment of the British Army, and Indian troops march past the Great Pyramid in the North African Desert, on December 9, 1940. (AP Photo)

Marching Past the Great Pyramids

North Africa

The British begin an offensive in the western desert called Operation COMPASS. Gen Richard Nugent O'Connor, in command of the 31,000-man strong Western Desert Force, leads two divisions, 7th Armored and 4th Indian, in the attack. They are supported by 7th Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) against whose Matilda tanks the Italians will have no answer. General Archibald Wavell is in Supreme Command in Egypt. The British force has few reserves and therefore the attack has comparatively limited objectives at first. Gen Rodolfo Graziani is the Italian Commander-in-Chief and he has about 80,000 men deployed the seven divisions of General Italo Gariboldi's Tenth Army in forward positions in Egypt. O'Connor's men began their advance from Mersa Matruh, 70 miles from the Italian front, three days previously and achieve complete surprise when they make their attack. The British outflank the Italians to the south and cut them off at Sidi Barrani.

Bren gun carriers advancing across the Desert. The speed of of the British advance caught the Italians off guard throughout December.

The British Advance

Operation COMPASS

The Italians have done little since mid-September when they took Sidi Barrani but build a series of fortified camps in which they now sit. These camps do not give any real support to each other and will be very easily isolated.

The British attack is in the form of a left hook around behind the Italian coastal positions and owes much to the careful training which the troops have received in desert warfare. The Matildas are used to break into the Nibeiwa camp which is taken within 2 hours. The Italian commander here is Gen Pietro Maletti, who is caught by the attackers in his pyjamas and is killed. Then the Tummar West camp also falls during this first day.