| Al `Uqaylah | |
|---|---|
  Al `Uqaylah
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| Coordinates: 30°16′N 19°12′E / 30.267°N 19.2°E | |
| Country |  Libya |
| District | Al Wahat, since 2007, Ajdabiya District 2001-2007 |
| Time zone | UTC + 2 |
El Agheila (Arabic: العقيلة) is a coastal city at the bottom of the Gulf of Sidra in far western Cyrenaica, Libya. It is currently known as Al-‘Uqaylah, and was the capital of the former District of the same name, then it was in Ajdabiya District, but as of 2007 El Agheila is within the enlarged Al Wahat District.
El Agheila is best known to history as the site of several Second World War battles during the North African Campaign.
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History
El Agheila is the site of the Roman fortified town of Anabucis[1] and its Greek precursor Automala.[2]
During the Italian occupation El Agheila was the site of a concentration camp for Bedouin. The camp was just south of town and housed over 10,000 inmates. Thousands of Bedouin died there.[3]
WWII
In February 1941, El Agheila was taken by the British Western Desert Force following their destruction of the Italian Tenth Army in Operation Compass. The British halted there while most of the Western Desert Force was moved to deal with the Axis's invasion of Greece. This gave the German Afrika Korps under Erwin Rommel a chance to arrive and launch an offensive which retook El Agheila in March and drove the British all the way back to Tobruk and the Egyptian frontier. Rommel would further fortify the city and use it as a base for his operations (see Siege of Tobruk). After being driven back from Tobruk following Operation Crusader in December 1941, the Afrika Korps fell back to El Agheila, halting their retreat and the British advance there.
In January 1942, Rommel launched a new offensive at El Agheila, which would again drive the British back towards Tobruk. This time he would capture Tobruk (see Battle of Gazala) and advance into Egypt before being halted at El Alamein in July 1942 and decisively defeated there in November. The Afrika Korps was broken, and its retreating remnants gave up El Agheila for the final time to the advancing British Eighth Army in December 1942 (see Battle of El Agheila).
Notes
- ^ Goodchild, R. G. (1951) "Boreum of Cyrenaica" The Journal of Roman Studies 41(1/2): pp. 11-16, p. 11
- ^ The site of Automala was found on a small promontory opposite the island of Bu Sceefa, a few kilometers west of el-Agheila. p. 16 of Goodchild, R. G. (1951) "Boreum of Cyrenaica" The Journal of Roman Studies 41(1/2): pp. 11-16
- ^ Ham, Anthony (2002) "East of Tripoli - Medinat Sultan to Ajdabiyya: Al-'Aghela" Libya Lonely Planet, London, p. 154, ISBN 0864426992
External links
- Satellite map at Maplandia.com
- Search for Al `Uqaylah in the MSN Encarta atlas
- "Al `Uqaylah, Libya", Falling Rain Genomics, Inc.
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