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"Rats of Tobruk gather in Canberra to mark 75th anniversary of WWII siege

There are only a few of the original Rats of Tobruk still alive, but many of those gathered in Canberra on Sunday to mark 75 years since the famous World War II siege. Australians proved their mettle as a fearsome fighting force during the eight-month-long battle against the Germans in 1941. Many decades on, some veterans remember details of the combat with clarity.

"I was never frightened," said veteran Ernest Brough, now 96 years old.

"That's the thing that saved me — I was never nervous."

It was Australia's first major battle of the war and the first time the Germans were defeated on land. Australian soldiers were instructed by the British to hold the critical port of Tobruk in Libya, in a bid to stop the Germans advancing into Egypt. The Germans attacked from land with artillery and tanks, as well as from the air in what was then the longest siege in modern military history.

"It was a case of keeping 'em out. Don't let 'em in, that's it. Fight for your life," Mr Brough said..." - FULL ARTICLE LINK 10 Apr 2016 ABC Online (www.abc.net.au)