IL-2 Desert Wings Tobruk Event

Team Fusion Simulations have announced their first large scale event of the year, and it's going to be set in North Africa, replicating Operation Compass, the first large scale operation in North Africa in World War II by British Empire forces.

The official announcement was made on their facebook page at 0900 on Saturday 15th January 2022. See the announcement HERE

Text in the official announcement ... "Operation Compass - Un Martini a Tobruk - Sat Jan 22 - TFS Serv 3

Our first Event for the year. Will be great to see the community there!

1900 - GMT 20:00 - Roma 14:00 - Toronto 06:00 - Sydney

This mission is set in the morning of the ground assault on the fortress of Tobruk. British ground forces will be attacking the southeast sector of the perimeter and warships have been deployed offshore to provide fire support. Italian and German aircraft are tasked with disrupting ground attacks and attacking enemy warships.

This battle will be a multi-hour dogfight over Tobruk and area. Who will be enjoying a martini in Tobruk at the end of this day?

Be there to find out."

Historical Background

In real life, the operation commenced when in December 1940, the Western Desert Force (WDF) under the control of Lieutenant-General Richard O'Connor, with about 36,000 men, advanced from Mersa Matruh in Egypt on a five-day raid against the Italian positions of the Italian 10th Army, under the control of Marshal Rodolfo Graziani, which had about 150,000 men in fortified posts around Sidi Barrani in Egypt and in Cyrenaica.

The WDF swiftly defeated the Italians in their fortified posts at Sidi Barrani and then exploited the success, forcing the rest of the 10th Army out of Egypt and capturing the ports along the Libyan coast.

For a better understanding of the historical event, click HERE

The air elements in this operation are all of the early war type, with the British having Hawker Hurricanes, Gloster gladiators, Bristol Blenheims, Vickers Wellingtons and Bristol Bombay aircraft at their disposal.

As this operation was before the Germans reinforced the defeated Italians, the Regia Aeronautica were pitted against the RAF with limited types. In North Africa they had the Fiat CR.42 bi-plane fighter, and Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparviero 3 engined bombers and Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 Pipistrello 3 engined bombers.

It will certainly be interesting to see which aircraft the Mission Builder puts into this event as substitute for the Italian bombers which are missing in the sim. I'll update this post when Team Fusion responds to my query.