Cunning and brilliant, the popular and proven O’Connor faced his greatest challenge not in the desert, but in Normandy - and in his own mind. In the second of this two-part feature, John Ash asks: Did incarceration affect the later commands of Britain’s Desert Fox?
PART II: A PERSONAL D-DAY: FIT FOR DUTY?
Responsible for arguably the first great British ground victory of the war, Lieutenant-General Sir Richard O’Connor forced massive Italian surrenders during Operation Compass, culminating at the Battle of Beda Fomm, ending 7 February 1941. From his letters: “I have seldom seen such a scene of wreckage and confusion as existed on the main Benghazi Road… I think this may be termed a complete victory, as none of the enemy escaped.” Adding: “The Italian [10th] Army had completely ceased to exist… The army was not only defeated, but liquidated, nothing remained to fall back on Tripoli.”
Yet, O’Connor refused to accept this stunning outcome as a total success - there was still work to do. Elements of 11th Hussars reached El Agheila and patrols moved 50 miles beyond the lines, meeting little opposition. He stood ready to press on to Sirte, even Tripoli.
O’Connor did not want to halt the pursuit, hoping to pr…
