Prelude G1 and T1 patrols of the
Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) with 50 men, 12 light trucks and five
jeeps assaulted
Barce airfield and the main barracks, destroying 16 aircraft and damaging seven more. In the attack on the barracks, the LRDG lost four men and two vehicles. Near
Zaptié the LRDG force was intercepted by an Italian motorised company with all but two lorries damaged or destroyed. The lorries were loaded with the most seriously injured, while the others went on foot for . The Italians took seven
New Zealanders and three
Rhodesians prisoner, all injured. After a year, four of the New Zealanders were able to escape. Lieutenant Colonel
David Stirling and a party of the
Special Air Service, supported by S1 and S2 patrols of the LRDG, were to attempt a big raid on Benghazi but after running late, their presence was discovered after a clash at a roadblock as dawn broke. With the element of surprise lost and the protection of darkness receding, Stirling ordered a withdrawal. The attack on Jalo Oasis was carried out by the
Sudan Defence Force and S1 and S2 patrols of the LRDG. The first attack on the night of 15/16 September, was easily repelled by the defenders, who were on the alert and had been reinforced. The attackers withdrew on 19 September as an Italian relief column approached the oasis.
Main attack Operation Agreement involved an amphibious force of about 400
Royal Marines, 180 infantry from the
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Captain Norman MacFie), 14 Platoon, Z Company, 1 Battalion, Royal Northumberland Fusiliers (Lieutenant Ernest Raymond) and around 150 SAS including several members of the
Special Interrogation Group (Lt. Col. John Edward Haselden) approaching from the desert, infiltrating via deception with the Special Interrogation Group operatives posing as German guards and while rest of the force acted as Allied prisoners. The amphibious force was split into Force A, supported by destroyers and intended to land the marines on the peninsula north of Tobruk, while Force C, composed of coastal units, was directed towards an inlet east of Tobruk harbour. Force B captured several positions including an Italian 152 mm coastal battery but it was retaken by Italian marines from the
San Marco Battalion. After initially holding off Italian counterattacks the commandos were forced to retreat. Haselden was killed in action while covering the retreat. Most of the shore batteries and positions remained in Axis hands.
Force A Force E, a group of
commandos from the submarine failed to set up beacons on the shore to guide the main British force, due to the bad sea conditions. The garrison had been reinforced and the destroyers and bringing in the seaborne troops landed them on the wrong beach, far to the west of the intended landing place. The British destroyer
Sikh, which led the landing attempt, was hit by Italian 152 mm (6-inch) shore batteries and German
88 mm anti-tank guns, while taking on troops.
Zulu had gone to the rescue but was unable to pull
Sikh clear and it eventually sank; 122 members of the crew were reported killed and the survivors, most of them rescued from the water by the retreating amphibious boats, were eventually taken prisoner. On the afternoon of 14 September, while returning to Alexandria, was badly damaged by German
Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka" dive-bombers from
Crete and 63 crew were killed.
Coventry was scuttled by
Zulu which was hit by German Ju 87 and
Junkers Ju 88 dive-bombers a little later. While under tow and from Alexandria,
Zulu sank, with the loss of 39 crew.
Force C during Operation Agreement Another landing by
motor launches and boats, carrying the Highlanders and Fusiliers (part of Hammer Force, whose Vickers MMGs were to defend the perimeter) failed to reach the landing point. Because of the massed fire from Tobruk harbour, only MTB 261 and MTB 314, made it into Marsa Umm el Sciausc, the target cove. MTB 314 was stranded in the shallow water but MTB 261 managed to land Sergeant 'Dusty' Miller and a group of Fusiliers and sail out. The
motor launches ML 353, ML 352 and ML 349 and 17 MTBs were beaten back by boom defences and an Italian flotilla of torpedo boats and (armed motor barges). Three MTBs launched torpedoes at the naval vessels in harbour, to no avail. ML 353 was set on fire and scuttled, either hit by the Italian warships or strafed by Italian
Macchi C.200 fighters, while ML 352, MTB 308, MTB 310 and MTB 312 were lost to Axis aircraft. MTB 314, the motor torpedo boat that was damaged and run aground during the battle, was captured by the German harbour
minesweeper R-10 at dawn, with 117 seamen and soldiers on board. Although they were dive-bombed and strafed during their return journey, most of the infantry-carrying MTBs reached Alexandria. ==Aftermath==