IT is only fitting that the Gawler RSL has unveiled its mural honouring a Rat of Tobruk (The Bunyip, March 29) in the lead up to ANZAC Day.
The Rats of Tobruk were part of the “magnificent 9th” Division, a collection of Allied forces including Australian, British and Indians who fought in the deserts of Libya and Egypt.
Between May to August 1941, around 15,000 Australian members of the Division identified themselves as ‘Rats of Tobruk’.
‘Rats’ was a name given to the Allied forc- es by the German propagandist William Joyce, known as Lord Haw-Haw, intended to insult, but was adopted by the troops with pride.
Sir Winston Churchill said of them: “When the war is over it will be enough for a man to say, I marched and fought with the Desert Army.”
Unfortunately, today the history of the bat- tles and Australia’s role is disappearing. Among the 9thDivision AIF Battalions, the 2/48th was the most highly decorated Australian battalion of WWII War and its troops were primarily from Adelaide, South Australia.
The Battalion fought with distinction in two crucial North African battles, the Siege of Tobruk and the Battle of El Alamein, before moving on to fight in the Pacific.
Queensland has nine memorials to the ‘Rats’, Canberra has a memorial included in the memorial walk up to the War Museum, Victoria has a park named after them.
Adelaide has a static museum exhibition with limited access and a bridge.
More needs to be done in Adelaide to honour them and for future generations to remember them.
These soldiers were pivotal to the Allied success in North Africa.
Congratulations Gawler RSL for bringing this history alive.
Debra Good, Gawler East
