MemorialsTweed Heads Rats of Tobruk Memorial
About
The Tweed Heads Rats of Tobruk Memorial is a concrete pillar, located in Carlin Family Park. Attached to the pillar are four bronze plaques and two Latin crosses. The pillar is positioned on a concrete platform, consisting of three levels. The first plaque is dedicated to the Australian and allied soldiers who died or served at the Siege of Tobruk, which took place in 1941 during the Second World War. The second gives a brief description of Tobruk's significance during the war. Plaque three is dedicated to the sailors of the Mediterannean Fleet who lost their lives in the siege and the fourth plaque describes the role of the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Navy during the siege. The below is an extract from the Australian War Memorial website: Between April and August 1941 around 14,000 Australian soldiers were besieged in Tobruk by a German–Italian army commanded by General Erwin Rommel. The Nazi propagandist Lord Haw Haw (William Joyce) derided the tenacious defenders as 'rats', a term that the Australian soldiers embraced as an ironic compliment. The Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Navy provided the garrison's link to the outside world, the so-called 'Tobruk ferry'. These ships included the Australian destroyers Napier, Nizam, Stuart, Vendetta and Voyager. Losses comprised two destroyers, including HMAS Waterhen, three sloops, including HMAS Parramatta, and 21 smaller vessels.