title: Mira Furlan

text: Furlan became a member of the Actors Studio in 1992 after moving to New York City to flee turmoil in Yugoslavia. Later that year, her theater contacts in the U.S. helped her get the necessary work permits to perform with the Indiana Repertory Theatre as the lead role in "Yerma".


title: Mira Furlan

text: She appeared on the stage in New York City and Los Angeles. She played the central ensemble role of Minbari Ambassador Delenn for all five seasons of "Babylon 5", and some of the associated TV movies. Between 2004 and 2010 she played the recurring role of Danielle Rousseau on "Lost". In 2009, she appeared on an episode of "NCIS", titled "South By Southwest".


title: Mira Furlan

text: In 2002, she returned to Croatia after eleven years to take the lead role in Rade Šerbedžija's Ulysses Theatre Company's production of Euripides' "Medea".


title: Mira Furlan

text: In the 1980s, Furlan briefly appeared as singer for Le Cinema, a spin-off from the rock band Film. In 1998, she released an album, "Songs From Movies That Have Never Been Made".


title: Mira Furlan

text: Furlan wrote the play "Until Death Do Us Part" (), which is set in 1970s Zagreb. A collection of her columns in the now-defunct Croatian magazine "Feral Tribune" was published as the book "Totalna rasprodaja" in 2010.


title: Mira Furlan

text: Furlan's husband was director Goran Gajić, who is an ethnic Serb. He directed her in an episode of "Babylon 5" and in several plays, including a production of Sophocles' "Antigone".


title: Mira Furlan

text: Twice a month during the late 1980s, Furlan made the three-hour commute between Zagreb and Belgrade, where her husband was based, to act in theater productions in both cities. After the Croatian War of Independence began in 1991, she was fired by the Croatian National Theater for refusing to quit acting in a Belgrade theater production. An ensuing public smear campaign turned her colleagues and friends against her as she received threatening messages on her answering machine. Furlan wrote a public letter expressing her deep disappointment over the behaviour of her fellow citizens and colleagues and the threats of the nationalists against her. The couple left in November 1991, in the early days of the breakup of Yugoslavia, emigrating to New York City.


title: Mira Furlan

text: Furlan died at her home in Los Angeles on January 20, 2021. She was 65, and suffered from complications of West Nile virus in the time leading up to her death. Upon her death, theater director Ivica Buljan of the Croatian National Theater issued an apology on behalf of the theater for their treatment of Furlan in the early 1990s. A week later, Croatian weekly "Globus" issued another apology for publishing three "feuilletons" attacking the actress in 1992 that had an essential role in the public smear campaign.


title: The Ocean at the End of the Lane

text: The Ocean at the End of the Lane is a 2013 novel by British author Neil Gaiman. The work was first published on 18 June 2013 through William Morrow and Company and follows an unnamed man who returns to his hometown for a funeral and remembers events that began forty years earlier. The illustrated edition of the work was published on 5 November 2019, featuring the artwork of Australian fine artist Elise Hurst.


title: The Ocean at the End of the Lane

text: Themes in "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" include the search for self-identity and the "disconnect between childhood and adulthood".


title: The Ocean at the End of the Lane

text: The book starts with the unnamed protagonist returning to his childhood hometown for a funeral. There he revisits the area in which he and his sister grew up and remembers a young girl named Lettie Hempstock, who had claimed that the pond behind her house was an ocean. He stops at the house where Lettie had lived with her mother and grandmother and encounters a member of her family and starts to remember forgotten incidents from the past.


title: The Ocean at the End of the Lane

text: The main narrative starts as he recalls a time when an opal miner, who was living at the boy's home, steals the narrator's father's car and commits suicide in the back seat, having gambled away his friends' money; this death allows a supernatural being to gain access to the narrator's world, leaving money for people in unpleasant ways.


title: The Ocean at the End of the Lane

text: After a coin becomes lodged in the narrator's throat overnight, choking him, he seeks his neighbour Lettie's help. She agrees to help, insisting that he accompany her on the travel necessary to find the spirit and bind it. Having been instructed never to let go of her hand, in a moment of surprise he does, and in that instant something lodges in his foot. Once home, he pulls what appears to be a worm out of his foot, but a piece is left inside him.


title: The Ocean at the End of the Lane

text: The next day, his mother tells him she is starting a new job and a woman named Ursula Monkton is to look after him and his sister. The narrator takes an instant dislike to her and soon realises that she is actually the worm he had pulled out of his foot. She had used him as a way to travel out of the place he and Lettie had visited and is now inhabiting his house. Ursula quickly ingratiates herself with his family, winning over his sister and seducing his father, while the narrator is alienated from his family and is almost drowned in the bath by his father as Ursula watches.


title: The Ocean at the End of the Lane

text: Most of the narrator's time is then spent locked up in his bedroom, avoiding Ursula. Frightened, he manages to escape one night. He barely makes it to the Hempstock farm, where the Hempstocks take care of him and remove the wormhole from his foot, which had been left behind by Ursula as an escape path. Lettie and the narrator confront Ursula, who refuses offers from the Hempstocks to leave peacefully for a world that is less dangerous for her. Unwilling to believe that there could be anything in the world that could harm her, Ursula is attacked and eliminated by "hunger birds", entities that serve a purpose similar to scavengers. These insist on eating the narrator's heart, as a piece of Ursula's wormhole still remains there. The Hempstocks bring him back to the safety of their property through the ocean by their house, which Lettie carries to him in a bucket. While in the ocean, the narrator understands the nature of all things, but the memory fades once he gets out.


title: The Ocean at the End of the Lane

text: The Hempstocks promise to keep him safe, but the hunger birds begin to eat his world in order to force him off the property. This proves effective and the narrator attempts to sacrifice himself, only for Lettie to jump in between him and the hunger birds. Lettie's grandmother threatens the hunger birds, which she refers to as "varmints" and who have committed a major transgression by attacking Lettie in their attempt to get to the narrator, with annihilation if they do not leave. They comply, but Lettie is near death as a result of their attack. The Hempstocks place Lettie's body in the ocean behind their house, where they say that she will rest until ready to return to the narrator's world. After these events, the narrator's memory of the incident fades. He has no recollection of Lettie's near-death, instead believing that she had gone to Australia.


title: The Ocean at the End of the Lane

text: The book then returns to the present, where the narrator finishes his remembering and is shocked when the Hempstocks inform him that this is not his first time returning to the house – he had visited the house at least twice during his adult years and it is implied that he visited the farm at least once more before that to return a kitten that he had found during his initial travels with Lettie. It is suggested that the hunger birds did eat his heart after all, but Lettie's sacrifice revived him, and his heart has been slowly growing back ever since. His visits to the farm are the result of Lettie wanting to check up on him while she sleeps and heals. The narrator's concern over the unremembered visits soon fades as he begins to forget the past events once again, telling the Hempstock women to tell Lettie he said "hello" if she contacts them from Australia.


title: The Ocean at the End of the Lane

text: Gaiman has said that members of the Hempstock family have shown up in several of his other works, such as "Stardust" and "The Graveyard Book". He began writing "Ocean" for his ex-wife Amanda Palmer and did not initially intend for it to become a novel, instead intending to write a novella; while writing, he inserted things that he knew Palmer would enjoy, as she "doesn't really like fantasy". Some events in the book were drawn from Gaiman's childhood, such as the theft of a car belonging to the protagonist's father, mirroring a similar event where his father's car was stolen and the thief committed suicide in the vehicle.


title: The Ocean at the End of the Lane

text: Gaiman has confirmed that "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" can be seen as part three of a trilogy, the other two parts being "Violent Cases" and "The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch".


title: The Ocean at the End of the Lane

text: Critical reception for the book has been generally positive. "The New York Times" gave a positive review for "The Ocean at the End of the Lane", commenting that the book would appeal to multiple age groups. "USA Today" stated that the novel was thematically similar to Gaiman's 2002 children's novel "Coraline" and the 2005 film "MirrorMask" in that the enemy is "closer than they might think", which "makes his monsters that much more sinister when a woman like Ursula is just downstairs". An aggregate review site lists it as 81% positive reviews.


title: The Ocean at the End of the Lane

text: The novel was adapted for the stage by writer Joel Horwood and director Katy Rudd in 2019, after first contacting Gaiman in 2016. The play opened in London on 11 December 2019 at the Royal National Theatre's smallest theatre, the Dorfman, after preview performances from 3 December 2019. Music in the play is by Jherek Bischoff, who also works with Gaiman's ex-wife Amanda Palmer.


title: The Ocean at the End of the Lane

text: In February 2013, ahead of the novel's publication, Focus Features acquired the rights to adapt it into a feature film. Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman were announced to be producing through their company Playtone, and Joe Wright was attached to direct. , the film has not had further development updates.


title: The Ocean at the End of the Lane

text: Henry Selick, who called "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" "Neil Gaiman's best book", made an attempt to adapt it into a stop-motion animated feature, and wrote a 50 pages script. He has expressed hope that he will still be able to make it some day.


title: The Ocean at the End of the Lane

text: In Portsmouth, UK, where Gaiman's family had a chain of grocery stores, a short connecting stretch of road is officially named "The Ocean at the End of the Lane".


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: The siege of Tobruk lasted for 241 days in 1941, after Axis forces advanced through Cyrenaica from El Agheila in Operation Sonnenblume against Allied forces in Libya, during the Western Desert Campaign (1940–1943) of the Second World War. In late 1940, the Allies had defeated the Italian 10th Army during Operation Compass and trapped the remnants at Beda Fomm. During early 1941, much of the Western Desert Force (WDF) was sent to the Greek and Syrian campaigns. As German troops and Italian reinforcements reached Libya, only a skeleton Allied force remained, short of equipment and supplies. The defenders quickly became known as the Rats of Tobruk.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: Operation "Sonnenblume" forced the Allies into a retreat to the Egyptian border. A garrison, consisting mostly of the 9th Australian Division (Lieutenant-General Leslie Morshead) remained at Tobruk, to deny the port to the Axis, while the WDF reorganised and prepared a counter-offensive. The Axis siege of Tobruk began on 10 April, when the port was attacked by a force under "Generalleutnant" Erwin Rommel and continued during three relief attempts, Operation Brevity Operation Battleaxe and Operation Crusader The occupation of Tobruk deprived the Axis of a supply port closer to the Egypt–Libya border than Benghazi, west of the Egyptian frontier, which was within the range of RAF bombers; Tripoli was to the west in Tripolitania.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: The siege diverted Axis troops from the frontier and the Tobruk garrison repulsed several Axis attacks. The port was frequently bombarded by artillery, dive-bombers and medium bombers, as the RAF flew defensive sorties from airfields far away in Egypt. Allied naval forces, such as the British Mediterranean Fleet (including the Inshore Squadron) ran the blockade, carrying reinforcements and supplies in and wounded and prisoners out. On 27 November, Tobruk was relieved by the Eighth Army (which controlled British and other Allied ground forces in the Western Desert from September 1941) in Operation Crusader.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: The Western Desert Campaign was fought from Mersa Matruh in Egypt to Gazala in Cyrenaica on the Libyan coast, an area about wide along Via Balbia along the coast, the only paved road. A sand sea inland marked the southern limit of the desert, which was at its widest at Giarabub and Siwa; in British parlance, the Western Desert came to include eastern Cyrenaica in Libya. Extending inland from the coast lies a raised, flat plain of stony desert, about above sea level, for to the sand sea. Scorpions, vipers and flies populated the region, which was inhabited by a small number of nomads. Bedouin tracks linked wells and the more easily traversed ground; navigation was by sun, star, compass and "desert sense", good perception of the environment gained by experience. When Italian troops advanced into Egypt in September 1940, the Maletti Group got lost leaving Sidi Omar and had to be found by aircraft.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: In spring and summer, days are miserably hot and nights very cold; the Sirocco ("Gibleh" or "Ghibli"), a hot desert wind, blows clouds of fine sand, which reduces visibility to a few metres and coats eyes, lungs, machinery, food and equipment; motor vehicles and aircraft need special oil filters and the barren ground means that supplies for military operations have to be transported from outside. German engines tended to overheat and tank engine life fell from to , which was made worse by the lack of standard parts for German and Italian types. The ground is a hard surface which drops to sea level in steps, with the coast cut by ravines. The Italian fortifications at Tobruk included an outer perimeter, comprising a double semi-circle of dug-in strong points with concrete walls, positioned well for forward observation, an inner anti-tank ditch, some parts of which were behind barbed wire and/or included booby traps, as well as several more fortified positions closer to the port, at the Bardia–El Adem road junction and towards Fort Pilastrino.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: In February 1941, the Allies defeated the 10th Army and the "5°" of the "Regia Aeronautica", after which Allied leaders decided to hold the area with minimal forces and send the remainder of the WDF to Greece. The Australian 9th Division and the British 2nd Armoured Division (Major-General Michael Gambier-Parry), minus a brigade group sent to Greece, were left to garrison Cyrenaica under Cyrenaica Command (Cyrcom: Lieutenant-General Henry Maitland Wilson), despite the inadequacy of the force if the Germans sent reinforcements to Libya. Command in Egypt was taken over by Lieutenant-General Richard O'Connor and the XIII Corps HQ was replaced by the HQ of the 1st Australian Corps (Lieutenant-General Thomas Blamey). It was believed by Wavell and the GHQ in Egypt that the Germans could not attack until May, when the 9th Australian Division, two more divisions and support troops, particularly artillery would be ready and the tanks of the 2nd Armoured Division would have been overhauled.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: The 2nd Armoured Division had a reconnaissance regiment and the 3rd Armoured Brigade (Brigadier Reginald Rimington), which had an under-strength light tank regiment and one equipped with captured Fiat M13/40 tanks. The cruiser regiment arrived in late March with worn-out tracks, after many breakdowns en route and brought the division up to an under-strength armoured brigade. Most of the British tanks were worn out and the Italian tanks were slow and unreliable. The British 2nd Support Group (similar to a small infantry brigade) had only a motor battalion, a 25-pounder field gun regiment, an anti-tank battery and a machine-gun company. The division was short of transport and its workshops were understaffed and lacked spare parts. Two brigades of the 9th Australian Division (Major-General Leslie Morshead) were swapped with two from the 7th Australian Division (Major-General John Lavarack), which had insufficient training, equipment and transport.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: Lack of transport made it impossible to supply a garrison west of El Agheila, the most favourable position for a defensive line and restricted the 2nd Armoured Division to movement between supply dumps, reducing its limited mobility further. In February, Lieutenant-General Philip Neame took over Cyrcom and predicted that the armoured division would lose many tanks through breakdowns if it had to move far. Neame asked for a proper armoured division, two infantry divisions and adequate air support to hold the area; he was told that there was little to send and none of that before April. In early March, the 9th Australian Division began to relieve the 6th Australian Division (Major-General Iven Mackay) at Mersa Brega for shipment to Greece, which demonstrated the difficulty of tactical moves with insufficient transport and it was withdrawn to the area east of Benghazi.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: Neame was ordered to conserve the tank units, retire as far as Benghazi if pressed, abandon it if necessary, and hold the high ground nearby for as long as possible, with no prospect of reinforcement before May. Neame was to fight a delaying action up the Via Balbia towards Benghazi and then the defiles near Er Regima and Barce; the tanks would move to Antelat to operate against the flank and rear of an attacker moving up the road or across the desert to Tobruk, falling back on a flank if necessary. On 20 March, the 2nd Armoured Division took over from the Australians, who moved back to Tocra, near Er Regima. The force was to use depots at Msus, Tecnis, Martuba, Mechili and Tmimi, El Magrun and Benghazi as a substitute for lorry-borne supply. The 3rd Indian Motor Brigade (Brigadier E. W. D. Vaughan) arrived in late March, with lorries but no tanks, artillery, anti-tank guns and only half its wireless sets; the brigade was based at Martuba, ready to use its vehicles to move towards Derna, Barce or Mechili.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: On 24 March, Rommel advanced with the new "Deutsches Afrikakorps" ("DAK"). The 3rd Armoured Brigade was south-east of Mersa Brega, where the 2nd Support Group held an front; the Australians were to the north, minus a brigade left at Tobruk, deficient in much equipment and out of contact with the 2nd Armoured Division. Allied air reconnaissance had observed German troops west of El Agheila on 25 February and by 5 March, it was expected that the German commander would consolidate the defence of Tripolitania before trying to recapture Cyrenaica and then invade Egypt, using bases at Sirte and Nofilia but not before April. Rommel was identified on 8 March but local intelligence was hard to find under the restrictions to preserve the few troops and vehicles near the front and avoid the danger of the faster German eight-wheeler armoured cars, which inhibited Allied tactical reconnaissance.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: On 3 April, Gambier-Parry had received a report that a large enemy armoured force was advancing on Msus, site of the main divisional supply dump. The 3rd Armoured Brigade moved there and found that the petrol had been destroyed to prevent capture. The tank brigade was reduced by losses and breakdowns to and Neame received conflicting reports about the positions of the Allied and Axis forces and news on 5 April that a large Axis force was advancing on El Abiar led him to order the 9th Australian Division back to Wadi Cuff and the elements of the 2nd Armoured Division to guard the desert flank and retire to Mechili. Other reports led Neame to countermand these orders, which caused the Australians much confusion. On 6 April, Allied air reconnaissance reported that there were Axis columns in the desert and the 3rd Indian Motor Brigade repulsed an attack at Mechili, which led to O'Connor at the Cyrcom headquarters (Neame had left to visit Gambier-Parry) to order a general withdrawal.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: Rommel had intended to attack Mechili on 7 April but the Axis forces were scattered, short of fuel and tired. Group Fabris moved forward during the morning but the 132nd Armoured Division "Ariete" ("Ariete" Division) and Group Streich took all day to arrive, having been attacked all day by the RAF. A Squadron of the LRDG had appeared from the south, to harass Axis movements. By nightfall on 7 April, the 9th Australian Division (less the 24th Infantry Brigade) and British 2nd Support Group had blocked the "Via Balbia" at Acroma, about west of Tobruk, where the 18th and 24th Infantry Brigades were preparing the defences. (The 18th Australian Infantry Brigade had arrived from Egypt by sea after the dispatch of the 7th Australian Division to Greece had been cancelled.) A small force held El Adem, south of Tobruk to observe the approaches from the south and south-west and at Mechili, Gambier-Parry had the 2nd Armoured Division headquarters soft-skinned vehicles and a cruiser tank, most of the 3rd Indian Motor Brigade, M Battery 1st Royal Horse Artillery, part of the 2/3rd Australian Anti-tank Regiment and elements of other units.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: The Germans tried twice to bluff Gambier-Parry into surrender but he received orders from Cyrcom to break out and retreat to El Adem and decided to attack at dawn, to gain a measure of surprise. On 8 April, A Squadron of the 18th Cavalry broke through and then turned to attack Italian artillery, as some Indian troops of the 11th Prince Albert Victor's Own Cavalry (Frontier Force) got away. Most of the garrison was pinned down and after a second attempt at when small parties of the 2nd Royal Lancers escaped. The garrison had fired most of its small arms ammunition at the vision slits of the German tanks, which had hung back in fear of mines and when Italian infantry attacked, had little left. Gambier-Parry and Indian and Australian troops surrendered to the 17th Infantry Division "Pavia" (General Pietro Zaglio).


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: Axis supplies came from Europe and deliveries were moved by road; after Operation Compass only Tripoli remained, which had a maximum capacity of four troopships or five cargo ships at once, about per month. Tripoli to Benghazi was along the "Via Balbia", which was only half-way to Alexandria. The road could flood, was vulnerable to the DAF and alternative desert tracks increased vehicle wear. The Axis advance of to the Egyptian frontier in early 1941, increased the road transport distance for supplies to . Benghazi was captured in April but coastal shipping could only carry and the port was within range of the DAF. Tobruk could take about per day but lack of shipping made its capture irrelevant.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: A German motorised division needed per day and moving the supplies two-ton lorries. With seven Axis divisions, air and naval units, of supplies per month were needed. Vichy agreed to Bizerta being used for supplies but none passed through until late 1942. From February–May 1941, a surplus of was delivered; attacks from Malta had some effect but in May, the worst month for ship losses, of supplies arrived. Lack of transport in Libya left German supplies in Tripoli and the Italians had only for deliveries to A record amount of supplies arrived in June but at the front, the shortages worsened.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: There were fewer Axis attacks on Malta from June and ships sunk increased from in July, to in September, when Benghazi was bombed and ships diverted to Tripoli; air supply in October made little difference. Deliveries averaged per month from July–October but the consumption of of fuel deliveries by road transport and truck unserviceability of reduced deliveries to the front. In November, a five-ship convoy was sunk during Operation Crusader and ground attacks on road convoys stopped journeys in daylight. Lack of deliveries and the Eighth Army offensive, forced a retreat to El Agheila from 4 December, crowding the Via Balbia where Allied ambushes destroyed about half of the remaining Axis transport.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: Work on the fortifications at Tobruk had begun in March, using the Italian defences, two lines of concrete bunkers away from the port, making a perimeter about long, far enough out to keep artillery out of range of the port. Few intermediate defences had been built by the Italians except at the Bardia–El Adem road junction, the barbed wire was in disrepair and an anti-tank ditch was unfinished. The Allies selected another line about back from the perimeter and worked on this while the original line was refurbished. Two battalions of the Australian 24th Infantry Brigade and the newly arrived Australian 18th Brigade (which had been detached from the 7th Division) took over the perimeter and the Australian 20th and 26th brigades took up a covering position on the outside until 9 April, while more work was done on the defences. Once inside, the three 9th Australian Division brigades took over the defences and the 18th Brigade went into reserve.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: A cadre of the British 3rd Armoured Brigade was refitting at Tobruk, with personnel and equipment sent from Egypt by sea and had a regiment of armoured cars, two composite regiments with 15 light, 26 cruiser and a troop of four infantry tanks. There were four 25-pounder regiments, two anti-tank regiments and an anti-tank company in each infantry brigade, the British 4th Anti-Aircraft Brigade had sixteen heavy and fifty-nine light guns, all but two Bofors guns being sited around the harbour. Rear area units had accumulated at Tobruk and of the were in base units or local refugees and prisoners of war. Morshead planned an active defence and stressed that, with battalions holding frontages, a break-in should be expected anywhere that the attackers made a serious effort and that it should be eliminated, since there would be no withdrawal.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: By 8 April, the most advanced German units had arrived at Derna; but some units which had cut across the chord of the Jebel Akhdar ran out of water and fuel at Tengeder. Heinrich von Prittwitz und Gaffron, the commander of the 15th Panzer Division, was sent ahead with a column of reconnaissance, anti-tank, machine-gun, and artillery units to block the eastern exit from Tobruk as the 5th Light Division moved from the southwest and the 27th Infantry Division "Brescia" advanced from the west. On 10 April, Rommel made the Suez Canal the objective of the and ordered that a breakout from Tobruk be prevented. The next day, the port was invested; but the rush ended with the 5th Light Division on the east side, the Prittwitz group to the south (Prittwitz having been killed), and the 27th Infantry Division "Brescia" to the west. Reconnaissance Unit 3 went on to Bardia, and a composite force was sent on to Sollum to try to reach Mersa Matruh. The British Mobile Force (Brigadier William Gott), on the frontier from Halfaya Pass to Sidi Barrani, conducted a delaying-action around Sollum and Capuzzo.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: From the 5th Panzer Regiment probed the defences of the 20th Australian Brigade near the El Adem road. The tanks were held off by artillery-fire; German infantry who reached the anti-tank ditch were forced back by Australian infantry. The Germans were surprised, having assumed that the shipping at Tobruk was to evacuate the garrison and planned a night attack by the 5th Light Division for Groups of Axis vehicles were attacked by 45 and 55 squadrons RAF, which rearmed at the airfields inside the perimeter. The attack began after dark, with an attempt to get over the anti-tank ditch west of the El Adem road in the 2/17th Australian Battalion sector, which the Australians repulsed. Another attempt was made later and by dawn a small bridgehead had been established, where the 5th Panzer Regiment drove through and turned northwards, ready to divide into one column for the harbour and one to move west to stop the escape of the garrison.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: The German tanks were engaged head on by the 1st RHA and veered away, only to drive into the path of the British cruiser tanks, waiting hull-down and received anti-tank fire from three sides, losing sixteen of and retreated. The Australian infantry had stood their ground and pinned down the German infantry. As the retreat continued, every gun and aircraft at Tobruk fired into the area and the German 8th Machine-Gun Battalion lost about of its men including its commander Gustav Ponath, for a garrison loss of two tanks and a field gun knocked out. Attacks from the south were abandoned and the 5th Light Division dug in, with the Schwerin Group (renamed after Prittwitz had been killed) to the east. In support, the Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica flew 959 sorties over Tobruk; on 14 April 40 Ju 87s bombed the defences and on day 27 they succeeded in destroying a heavy anti-aircraft battery at Tobruk by swamping the defences with 50 aircraft allowing for an entire "staffel" (12) to concentrate on each gun.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: On 16 April, Rommel led an attack from the west, with the 132nd Armoured Division "Ariete" reinforced by the 62nd Infantry Regiment of the 102nd Motorised Division "Trento". The 2/48th Australian Battalion counter-attacked and took In the morning, the 132nd Armoured Division "Ariete" attacked again and some tanks reached the most advanced Australian posts, found that their infantry had not followed and retired after five tanks were knocked out. Morshead ordered the garrison to exploit Axis disorganisation and their inability to quickly dig in on stony ground, through conducting patrols and small sorties. On 22 April, a company of the 2/48th Australian Battalion, three infantry tanks and a troop of 25-pounders, raided a hillock held by the Fabris Detachment south-west of Ras el Medauar; the raiders destroyed two guns and took At the same time a company of the 2/23rd Battalion advanced across the Derna road and in a costly attack, took about from the 27th Infantry Division "Brescia", which led the Germans to hurry on the 15th Panzer Division from Tripoli.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: The defeat of the Axis attacks in April greatly improved the situation in Tobruk but "Fliegerkorps" X had sent to Libya from Sicily in February, which flew frequent dive-bomber sorties by day and medium-bomber raids by day and night on the docks, buildings, anti-aircraft sites, artillery positions and the airfields. Westland Lysander aircraft and all but the most essential ground crew of 6 and 73 Squadron were withdrawn to Egypt. At least ten Hawker Hurricane fighters were based at the port during the day and on 19 April, Hurricanes of 73 and 274 Squadrons, intercepted a Stuka raid escorted by fighters. After another two days, 73 Squadron was down to five operational aircraft with very tired pilots. By 23 April, three more Hurricanes had been shot down, a further 2 were damaged and on 25 April the squadron was withdrawn. The fighters of 274 Squadron stayed at Gerawla and 6 Squadron remained at Tobruk to fly tactical reconnaissance sorties. Fighter cover could only be maintained at intervals by the last in the desert; Axis airfields at Gazala, Derna and Benina, were bombed at dusk and night to limit Axis air attacks on Tobruk. The Desert Air Force [so-named from October 1941] flew long-range missions to attack German armour massing near Tobruk in the early stages of the siege. On 12 April, for example, 45 and 55 Squadron Bristol Blenheim bombers, operating from airfields in Egypt, attacked German tank formations near the port. The attack succeeded in breaking up the German advance.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: Air Commodore Raymond Collishaw, commanding 204 Group RAF (renamed the Desert Air Force), wrote to Air Marshal Arthur Tedder on 24 April. In his view the situation in the air had rapidly deteriorated. The arrival of two German fighter wings (Jagdgeschwader 27 and Zerstörergeschwader 26) near Tobruk allowed the enemy formations to arrive at great height within ten minutes of an air raid warning, leaving British fighters at lower altitude and a great disadvantage. He remarked attrition had caused "a serious reduction in our fighter force." The bombardment and close air support operations in the initial phases were carried out by Lehrgeschwader 1, III./Sturzkampfgeschwader 1 and II./Sturzkampfgeschwader 2. Collishaw noted the aggression shown by Axis aviation and reported to Tedder that 274 Squadron, which had only 13 fighters available as of 23 April, formed the major part of the fighter defence for Egypt and he was "loathe to send them to Tobruk." As Collishaw wrote his letter, the RAF lost a further six aircraft over Tobruk, equating to very heavy losses given the small contingent defending the port. He requested Tedder's advice. Air Marshal Arthur Longmore cabled the Air Ministry in London. He wished to operate in greater strength, and complained reinforcements and fresh pilots were needed to replace the exhausted 73 Squadron. He told London that to maintain patrols, the fighters were forced to refuel at Sidi Barrani granting Axis air units a free hand over Tobruk but arguing that without patrols to defend fighter squadrons refuelling at Tobruk on the ground, they were "hostage to a fortune we cannot afford." On 1 May, for example, 274 Squadron lost all six Hurricanes it sent on a single mission when a flight of Bf 109s from JG 27 led by Gerhard Homuth, and containing the most successful fighter pilot in Africa, Hans-Joachim Marseille, engaged them from a superior altitude over Tobruk.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: From 1–14 May each side paused to stockpile supplies for the next battle. Of stated losses from 10 April—14 May [excluding claims made by either side], 73 Squadron lost 15 fighters and five damaged. Five pilots were killed, one captured and one wounded. 274 lost six fighters, three pilots killed and two captured. 45 Squadron suffered the loss of three aircraft and five killed, while 55 and 6 Squadron lost one and two respectively. 39 Squadron lost three bombers and 14 squadron one for a total of 31 aircraft. Reported German losses, excluding RAF claims, were lower. III/StG 1 and II/StG 2 lost eight between them while III/ZG 26 reported three destroyed and one damaged, two killed, one wounded and three captured. III./LG 1 reported the loss of one aircraft. JG 27 suffered the loss of four fighters, three damaged and three pilots killed. The Regia Aeronautica's 151 "Gruppo" reported two aircraft destroyed and one damaged.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: The intensity of the battle for air superiority was mirrored by the air war over the sea as the Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica attempted to cut off sea traffic supplying the defenders. The air-sea battle, after the failure of Operation Battleaxe, was the main sector of operations for Allied and Axis aviation throughout the summer. Sturzkampfgeschwader 3, another "Stuka" wing arrived in Africa in the summer. The eight-month long siege was costly for the "Stuka gruppen". At the end of April, virtually all Tobruk-based fighters had been removed from the encircled port. The Ju 87s were facing defenders with anti-aircraft artillery numbering 88 guns—28 heavy (90 mm or above). Ships lent their weapons to the defenders. In an example, the gunboat "Ladybird", sunk in shallow waters to her deck by II./StG 2, was able to use her 3-inch deck guns. In April, "Draco", "Bankura", "Urania", and were sunk by Axis aircraft. On 4 May the hospital ship "Kapara" (846t) was damaged evoking fury on the Allied side.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: The arrival of Italian Ju 87s from 97 "Gruppo" resulted in the sinking of the 3,741-ton tanker "Helka" on 25 May before it could reach Tobruk. The squadron involved, the 239 "Squadriglia" was the successful unit, which became among the most successful over Tobruk. The escorting sloop, "Grimsby" was damaged, and sunk by 3./StG 1. Commensurate with the sinking of "Fiona" and "Chakla" in April, the burden fell to the Mediterranean Fleet's destroyers to carry the burden but supply operations in daylight and on moonlit nights proved hazardous. On 24 June the sloop "Auckland" was sunk by 239 "Squadriglia". This unit also sank the destroyer "Waterhen". The vessel had just survived an attack by Junkers Ju 88s of III/LG 1 and II/StG 2. The lack of fighters made for a straight battle between the gunners and German pilots. The gunners changed their tactics from a sustained barrage at a fixed altitude, to a staggered, and thickened belt, at various altitudes covering 1000 metres or more, thereby forcing the Ju 87s to fly through fire for much longer. The gunners spread their fire from side to side, to prevent German pilots from travelling down the side of the barrage and sliding in underneath it. The "Stukas" were active in night operations. On 26/27 October 1941, I/StG 1 attacked a convoy transporting 7,000 British and Polish soldiers with munitions sailed toward Tobruk. An attack by the Ju 87s sank the "Latona" (2,650 t) with a direct hit—though the vessel could reach 40 knots. The destroyer "Hero" was badly damaged in the same attack.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: In March, destroyers were withdrawn from the Inshore Squadron to escort convoys to Greece and in April, four more ships joined the squadron. As the army retreated to Tobruk and the frontier, coastal operations were conducted on the nights of by gunboats, which bombarded transport on the Via Balbia around Bomba and Gambut airfield and on the night of 12 April, six destroyers and two cruisers made a coastal sweep from Ras Tayones to Ras et Tin. Next day, three ships bombarded Sollum and on 15 April, transport was bombarded at Bardia and Capuzzo, as Gazala airfield was shelled again. For the rest of April, naval bombardments continued along the Libyan coast on the Via Balbia, airfields and ports. A Commando raid was carried out on Bardia and supply runs began to Tobruk. From were taken from Tobruk, brought in and of stores delivered; were sunk and


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: The Bardia raid was planned for the night of by 'A' Battalion, Layforce to disrupt Axis lines of communication and damage installations and equipment. The landing force sailed to the area in , escorted by the anti-aircraft cruiser and the destroyers , and . The Commandos of 'A' Battalion and a troop of tanks from the Royal Tank Regiment were to land on four beaches from Landing Craft Assault (LCA). On arrival, one LCA could not be lowered and there were difficulties releasing the others. On the run-in, there were no lights to guide them in, because the advance Folbot section had been delayed, when their submarine had to dive and take evasive action when it was mistakenly attacked by Allied aircraft. As a result of these issues the main force was late and landed on the wrong beaches, albeit unopposed. Once ashore the Commandos found that the port was empty of Axis forces and faulty intelligence led to some objectives being missed and others turning out not to exist. The Commandos destroyed an Italian supply dump and a coastal artillery battery before re-embarking. Seventy men got lost, ended up on the wrong evacuation beach and were captured.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: After the failure to capture Tobruk off the march, "Comando Supremo" and the OKW agreed that Tobruk should be captured and supplies accumulated, before the advance into Egypt was resumed. Rommel thought that Tobruk could only be taken by a deliberate attack, which could not begin until support units had arrived in the area and the Luftwaffe had been reinforced, particularly with transport aircraft to carry ammunition, fuel and water. On 27 April, Major-General Friedrich Paulus, a Deputy Chief of the General Staff, arrived from "Oberkommando des Heeres" ("OKH") in Berlin, to question Rommel on his intentions, impress on him that there was little more help available and to forecast the defensive possibilities of the area, if Sollum was lost. Paulus refused to allow an attack planned for 30 April, until he had studied the situation and on 29 April, allowed the attack to go ahead, as did Gariboldi who had arrived on 28 April. Nothing more ambitious than securing the Axis hold on the Egyptian frontier, from Siwa Oasis north to Sollum was envisaged.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: The Tobruk garrison continued work on the defences and sowed minefields, the first being planted in the south-west, between the outer and inner perimeters. Twelve infantry tanks had been delivered among of supplies landed during the month, despite Axis bombing of the harbour and the sinking of two supply ships. The Axis attack was to be made in the south-west, either side of the hillock of Ras el Medauar, about two weeks after the previous attempt, using the 5th Light Division on the right and the 15th Panzer Division on the left, even though it had only recently arrived in Africa. At on 30 April, the divisions were to break into the Tobruk defences, followed by assault groups from the "Ariete" Division and 27th Infantry Division "Brescia" to roll up the flanks. German infantry would press forward to reconnoitre the vicinity of Fort Pilastrino, to see if the attack could continue to the harbour. If not, the Italian infantry would dig in on the flanks and artillery would be moved forward for an attack the next day.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: The attack came in the area held by the 26th Australian Brigade, which had the 2/23rd and 2/24th battalions in the line and the 2/48th Battalion in reserve at Wadi Giaida. The Australians expected an attack, after withstanding bombing and artillery-fire on the perimeter defences on 29 April; Axis troops seen massing in the evening of 30 April had been dispersed by artillery-fire. The posts either side of Ras el Medauar were shelled and bombed and German troops began to dribble forward, under cover of dust and the gathering darkness. By the Germans made a small bridgehead as planned but several Australian posts held out, the reconnaissance party vanished and the Italian troops were not able to reach their objectives. The night passed in confused fighting as the Germans tried to reorganise and mop up at Ras el Medauar and attack south-westwards along the perimeter. The new attack failed and by morning, some of the Australian posts were still holding out.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: A thick mist rose and German tanks moved eastwards instead of south-east and then ran into the new minefield, where they were engaged by anti-tank guns and repulsed. Tanks of the 15th Panzer Division, tried to drive north but were prevented by anti-tank fire. No German reserves were left and the most advanced troops were south of Wadi Giaida, tired and isolated in a sandstorm. Paulus judged that the attack had failed and Rommel decided to attack on the right to widen the breach. In the afternoon, German tanks attacked south-east towards Bir el Medauar and Morshead sent and five infantry tanks to counter-attack. The German attack was stopped for a loss of five British tanks and in the evening, the Australian 2/48th Battalion counter-attacked Ras el Medauar but met determined resistance and was repulsed. During the day, 73 and 274 Squadrons had maintained standing patrols over the area and on the morning of 2 May, the fighting around Wadi Giaida continued in a dust storm, as German troops tried to trickle forward. On the night of 3 May, the 18th Australian Brigade made a converging counter-attack with two battalions, which lost co-ordination, failed and was ended, to avoid being caught in the open at daybreak.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: The Axis attack had overrun the perimeter defences on a front, to a maximum depth of and captured higher ground useful as a jumping-off position and from which observation points could be established, for a loss of and casualties. The 8th Bersaglieri Regiment of the 132nd Armoured Division "Ariete" had captured most of the Australian positions. Paulus ordered that no more attacks be made, unless the Allies were evacuating the port. The "DAK" was to hold Cyrenaica regardless of who held Sollum, Bardia or Tobruk and a new line was to be built further back at Gazala. In a report on 12 May, Paulus wrote that sea communications between Italy and Libya should be reinforced, that any air and anti-aircraft units sent to Libya should be German and that the army in Libya needed ammunition, fuel and food first, then more vehicles before the dispatch of more men, of whom medium artillery and anti-tank gun crews should have priority. The Tobruk garrison settled into a routine of patrols, air raids and minor attacks, some to regain positions in the Medauar salient and some in connexion with WDF operations.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: The Twin Pimples was a defensive strong point outside Tobruk, on two hills close together which overlooked the Tobruk perimeter. It was held by the Italian Army, and the 18th King Edward's Own Cavalry (normally part of the 3rd Indian Motor Brigade) held the perimeter opposite. No. 8 Commando was selected to carry out an attack on the Twin Pimples, which conducted patrols for several days with the Indians, to reconnoitre the ground. The 18th Cavalry Regiment was to mount a diversion, while of No. 8 Commando and some Australian Engineers crossed the Italian forward positions and a supply road, to attack the Twin Pimples from behind.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: The Commandos advanced at on the night of and crossed the Italian lines undetected. At the supply road they took cover, waited until and edged forward just before the diversion by the 18th Cavalry. The diversion attracted Italian machine-gun fire and very lights, as the Commandos got within of the Twin Pimples before challenge, at which the commandos attacked. The password "Jock" was used when a position had been taken and the Italians were swiftly overcome. The Australian engineers planted explosives on several mortars and an ammunition dump. The plan assumed that it would take for Italian artillery to open fire on the captured trenches, and the raiders were only about away when shelling began to come down onto the position they had just departed.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: Operation Brevity was a limited offensive to inflict attrition on the Axis forces and to secure positions for a general offensive towards Tobruk. The Allies attacked with a small tank-infantry force in three columns and seized the top of the Halfaya Pass, Bir Wair and Musaid, then pressed on and took Fort Capuzzo. The coast group failed to capture the bottom of the Halfaya Pass. The garrison on the east side of the Tobruk defences was strengthened in case of a sortie and a German counter-attack recovered Musaid. The coast group eventually overran the foot of the pass; but, the next day, Allied retirements against German counter-attacks to a line from Sidi Omar to Sidi Suleiman and Sollum, left all but Halfaya Pass in German hands. On 26 May, Operation Skorpion, a German attack on the pass, succeeded and the Allies were ejected. Brevity failed to achieve most of its objectives, only briefly holding the Halfaya Pass. The Allies lost five tanks destroyed and German casualties were three tanks destroyed and several damaged. The Italians had of whom captured. On 12 May, the Tiger convoy lost one ship and arrived in Alexandria with to re-equip the 7th Armoured Division and on 28 May, planning began for Operation Battleaxe.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: Operation Battleaxe, was intended to lift the siege of Tobruk and capture eastern Cyrenaica. The attack was to be conducted by the 7th Armoured Division and a composite infantry force based on the 4th Indian Division headquarters, with two brigades. The infantry were to attack in the area of Bardia, Sollum, Halfaya and Capuzzo, with the tanks guarding the southern flank. The Tobruk garrison was to stand by but not to sortie until XIII Corps drew close. The Halfaya Pass attack failed, Point 206 was captured and only one of three attacks on Hafid Ridge succeeded.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: At the end of 15 June only tanks remained operational and next day, a German counter-attack forced back the Allies on the western flank but was repulsed in the centre; the Allies were reduced to and On 17 June, the Allies evaded encirclement by two Panzer regiments and ended the operation. The Allies had and were knocked out or broke down and lost; the RAF lost German losses were (Italian losses are unknown), twelve tanks and ten aircraft. General Wavell, the XIII Corps commander, Lieutenant-General Noel Beresford-Peirse and Major-General Michael O'Moore Creagh the 7th Armoured Division commander were sacked and Auchinleck took over as Commander-in-Chief of the Middle East.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: In mid-1941, Blamey, as commander of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF), with the support of the Australian government, requested the withdrawal of the 9th Division from Tobruk. Blamey wrote that the health of the Australian division had deteriorated "to the point where it was not longer capable of resisting attack"; he also wanted to unite Australian forces in the Middle East. Auchinleck agreed but noted that a troop movement this big could only be made by fast warships during moonless periods, to evade air attacks. The Mediterranean Fleet was busy elsewhere, the Inshore Squadron was carrying supplies into Tobruk and Operation Crusader was being prepared. The Australian withdrawal began in the August non-moon period and from of the Polish Carpathian Independent Rifle Brigade and Czechoslovak 11th Infantry Battalion and of stores were landed.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: The navy took out of the 18th Australian Infantry Brigade and the Indian 18th King Edward's Own Cavalry, on three destroyers, a minelayer and one destroyer carrying supplies, with cruiser escorts as anti-aircraft ships, a cruiser and a destroyer being damaged. From the British 16th Infantry Brigade, 70th Infantry Division (Major-General Ronald Scobie), the HQ of the 32nd Army Tank Brigade and the 4th Royal Tank Regiment with and more of supplies arrived, while of the 24th Australian Infantry Brigade left, with no loss of ships. From the rest of the 70th Infantry Division was delivered and most of the Australians removed. Ship losses on normal delivery runs, led to the 2/13th Australian Battalion and two companies of the 2/15th Battalion remaining in Tobruk. Command of the garrison passed from Morshead to Scobie.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: Operation Crusader began on 18 November 1941, with an outflanking movement that brought the Eighth Army to within of the Tobruk perimeter. It was planned that the 70th Infantry Division would break out from Tobruk on 21 December, to cut the German line of communication to the troops on the border to the south-east. The 7th Armoured Division would advance from Sidi Rezegh, to rendezvous and roll up the Axis positions around Tobruk. The 2nd New Zealand Division, attached to XIII Corps, would take advantage of the distraction of the 21st Panzer Division and 15th Panzer Division and advance to the Sidi Azeiz area, overlooking the Axis defences at Bardia. The 70th Infantry Division attack surprised Rommel, who had underestimated the size of the garrison and number of tanks in Tobruk. A three pronged attack by the 2nd King's Own on the right flank, the 2nd Battalion, Black Watch in the centre and the 2nd Queen's Own on the left flank, advanced to capture a series of strong points leading to Ed Duda.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: By mid afternoon, the Allies had advanced about towards Ed Duda on the main supply road, where they paused as it became clear that 7th Armoured Division would not arrive. The central attack by the Black Watch, involved a charge under massed machine-gun fire to strongpoint "Tiger", which incurred 201 casualties. On 22 November, Scobie ordered the position to be consolidated and the corridor widened, ready for the Eighth Army. The 2nd York and Lancaster Regiment with tank support, took strong point "Lion" leaving a gap between the corridor and Ed Duda. On 26 November, Scobie ordered an attack on the Ed Duda ridge and in the early hours of 27 November, the Tobruk garrison captured the ridge and later met a small force of New Zealanders advancing from the south. The 7th Armoured Division had planned its attack northwards to Tobruk for on 21 November. At patrols reported the arrival from the south-east of about The 7th Armoured Brigade and a battery of field artillery turned to meet this threat and without the tanks, the northward attack by the Support Group failed; by the end of the day, the 7th Armoured Brigade had only operational.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: On 22 November, the 25th Infantry Division "Bologna" repulsed an attack from Tobruk towards Sidi Rezegh and next day, Rommel sent the "Afrika Korps" towards the Egyptian border (the Dash to the Wire) to exploit the victory and destroy XXX Corps. The blow mostly fell on empty desert and gave the Eighth Army time to regroup and re-arm. The "Afrika Korps" was ordered back to Tobruk, where the 70th Infantry Division and the New Zealand Division had gained the initiative. At noon on 27 November, the 15th Panzer Division reached Bir el Chleta and met the 22nd Armoured Brigade (reduced to a composite regiment of fewer than fifty tanks), which was joined later by the 4th Armoured Brigade. As night fell the British tanks disengaged and the New Zealand Division, fighting at the south-east end of the corridor into Tobruk, was endangered by the "Afrika Korps". On 4 December, Rommel attacked Ed Duda and was repulsed by the 14th Infantry Brigade of the 70th Infantry Division. Rommel ordered a retirement from the eastern perimeter of Tobruk, to concentrate against XXX Corps to the south. On 7 December, the 4th Armoured Brigade engaged 15th Panzer Division and knocked out eleven tanks. Rommel was told on 5 December, by "Comando Supremo" that supply could not improve until the end of the month, when airborne deliveries from Sicily began. Rommel decided to abandon Tobruk and withdraw to Gazala, which led to the relief of Tobruk and the occupation of Cyrenaica.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: For much of the siege, Tobruk was defended by the 9th Australian Division and other troops. General Archibald Wavell, the Commander-in-Chief of Middle East Command, ordered Morshead to defend the port for eight weeks; the Australians held on for over five months, before being gradually withdrawn during September and replaced by the 70th Infantry Division, the Polish Carpathian Brigade and Czechoslovak 11th Infantry Battalion (East). The fresh defenders held Tobruk until they broke out on 21 November and held open an corridor, unsupported for several days, then captured Ed Duda on 27 November, to link with the advancing Eighth Army, during Operation Crusader.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: The Tobruk Ferry Service, made up of Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy warships, played an important role in the defence of Tobruk providing gunfire support, supplies, fresh troops and by ferrying out the wounded. Control of Tobruk was useful to the Allies because it was the only significant port east of Benghazi and west of Alexandria. The supply of Axis troops on the Egyptian frontier could have been eased by sea transport to Tobruk. The siege of Tobruk was the first occasion in the war that German Panzer units had been stopped. The siege of Tobruk was lifted in December 1941 in the course of Operation Crusader. Axis forces re-captured the port on 21 June 1942, after defeating the Eighth Army in the Battle of Gazala. During the course of the siege, two destroyers, three sloops, seven anti-submarine vessels and minesweepers, seven store carriers and schooners, six A lighters and one fast minelayer were sunk, a total of 26 ships. Seven destroyers, a sloop, eleven anti-submarine and minesweeping vessels, three gunboats and a schooner were damaged, a total of 23 vessels. Six Merchant Navy ships and a schooner were sunk and six merchant ships were damaged; a total of 62 ships were sunk or damaged.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: The Rats of Tobruk suffered at least there being a small difference in Australian casualty figures quoted in the Australian and British official histories. Most of the Australian garrison withdrew from Tobruk between August and October but others remained in Tobruk for the duration. In Australia in the War of 1939–1945 (1967) the Australian Official History, Maughan recorded 9th Australian Division casualties from including two days before the siege started, as that were captured between 28 March 1941 and the investment of Tobruk and were taken during the siege.


title: Siege of Tobruk

text: In the British Official History (1956), Playfair calculated the losses in the table created by Harrison in 1999. When Harrison calculated other losses, there was no RAF casualty list but he recorded ten aircrew and six ground crew burials at the cemetery and six aircrew shot down in the harbour. Italian casualties from 15 February to 18 November were and Libyan losses were and German casualties for the same period were about about and from aircraft shot down.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB; Jawi: بندر سري بڬاوان; ) is the capital city of Brunei. It is officially a municipal area () with an area of and an estimated population of 100,700 as of 2007. It is part of Brunei-Muara District, the smallest yet most populous district which is home to over 70 per cent of the country's population. It is the country's largest urban centre and nominally the country's only city. The capital is home to Brunei's seat of government, as well as a commercial and cultural centre. It was formerly known as Brunei Town until it was renamed in 1970 in honour of Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III, the 28th Sultan of Brunei and the father of the current Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: The history of Bandar Seri Begawan can be traced back to the establishment of a Malay stilt settlement on the waters of the Brunei River which became the predecessor of Kampong Ayer today. It became the capital of the Bruneian Sultanate from the 16th century onwards, as well as in the 19th century when it became a British protectorate. The establishment of a British Residency in the 20th century saw the establishment of modern-day administration on land, as well as the gradual resettlement of the riverine dwellers to the land. During World War II, the capital was occupied by the Japanese forces from 1941 and bombed in 1945 upon liberation by Allied forces. Brunei's independence from the British was declared on 1 January 1984 on a square in the city centre.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: Bandar Seri Begawan is home to Istana Nurul Iman, the largest residential palace in the world by the Guinness World Records, and Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque, Brunei's iconic landmark. It is also home to Kampong Ayer, the largest 'water village' in the world and nicknamed Venice of the East. It was once the host city of the 20th Southeast Asian Games in 1999 and 8th APEC Summit in 2000.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: The name Bandar Seri Begawan is derived from the official Malay name, which translates to Seri Begawan City. It was named after Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III, the 28th Sultan of Brunei and the late father of the current Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah. Seri Begawan is part of the royal title bestowed on the late sultan upon his abdication from the throne in 1967. The city was renamed on 4 October 1970 to commemorate his contribution to the modernisation of the country during his reign in the 20th century. Prior to this, the city had been known as Brunei Town or in Malay (literally "Brunei City"). It is the only urban centre in the country which has the title ('city') in its official native name.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: The capital is colloquially known by the locals as simply , meaning 'The City'. However, the name may not necessarily refer to the same area as encompassed by the city's official boundary. It may only refer to the city centre of the capital. Its reference may also extend beyond the official boundary, that is referring to the urbanised areas on the outskirts and even the entire Brunei-Muara District, which is more common among residents who live outside of the district.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: Human settlement in Brunei can be traced back to the sixth and seventh century with a Malay trading centre and fishing port near the current site of the city. The first settlement on the banks of the Brunei River can be traced to the eighth century where there had been settlements similar to those in Kampong Ayer, near the present site of the Brunei Museum with the modern city on the opposite shore.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: During the Bruneian Empire period from 15th–17th century, the Sultanate ruled part of Borneo including the southern part of the Philippines and its capital of Manila, with the water settlement near the city area becoming the third centre of the administration, after moving twice from Kota Batu and Kampong Ayer. When the Sultanate rule declined through the 18th century due to the arrival of Western powers such as the Spanish, Dutch, and the British, the settlement population decreased from its peak of 20,000 inhabitants.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: From 1888 until its independence in 1984, Brunei was a British protectorate and land development began in 1906 when the British resident encouraged the Sultanate citizens to move onto reclaimed land on the western bank of the inlet. In 1899, first oil well was drilled at Ayer Bekunchi near Kampung Kasat, Bandar Seri Begawan. Although the well was drilled to a depth of 259 metres (850 feet), no oil was found. Oil exploration in Brunei later shifted to Seria and Belait District in 1924. Sultan Muhammad Jamalul Alam II established a new palace on the west bank in 1909 after being persuaded by the British, along with the arrival of Chinese traders to boost the economy. A mosque and government buildings were built along the western shores in 1920. In the same year, the new settlement was declared the new capital of Brunei and became a municipal area.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: However, the city's prosperity was almost ended when it was captured by the Japanese in 1941, before being recaptured by the Allied forces in 1945. During the war, most infrastructure was destroyed by Japanese and Allied bombing. The British began reconstructing most of their possessions in Borneo at the end of 1945 with the restoration of law and order and the reopening of schools.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: In 1950, Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III, upon his ascension to the throne, negotiated with the British for an increase in corporate taxes, growing from 10% to 30% in 1953. A M$1.2 million (US$0.39 million) allotment to Brunei for war damages during the Japanese occupation increased from M$1 million in 1946 to M$100 million (US$32.6 million) in 1952. A five-year development plan with a budget of M$100 million was also implemented in 1953, with infrastructure receiving the largest percentage (80%) and the rest going toward social programmes. Together with the expansion of the oil and gas industry, commercialisation began to transform Brunei's capital and a large number of public buildings were constructed, along with the development of a central business district in the 1970s and 1980s. On 1 August 2007, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah gave consent for the expansion of the city from to .


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: The city is administered by the Bandar Seri Begawan Municipal Board within Bandar Seri Begawan Municipal Department, a government department within the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Municipal Board was established in 1921, originally as a Sanitary Board (') which was, and is still, responsible for maintaining the cleanliness to the then Brunei Town. It achieved the status of ' (municipality) in 1935 with the conversion of the Sanitary Board into the current Municipal Board (""). Bandar Seri Begawan is de facto a city but it is officially a municipality, thus has the same status as the towns of Tutong, Kuala Belait and Seria.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: The city is located in Brunei-Muara District, the smallest yet the most populous district in the country. As of 1 August 2007, the municipal area has been expanded from to . The area overlaps with several of the district's mukims and villages, which include:


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: The mukims of Burong Pingai Ayer, Peramu, Saba, Sungai Kebun, Sungai Kedayan and Tamoi, as well as their constituent villages, make up Kampong Ayer, the traditional stilted settlement on the Brunei River in the capital.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: Bandar Seri Begawan is the capital city of Brunei and the seat of the Brunei Government. It houses Istana Nurul Iman, whereby aside from the residential palace of Hassanal Bolkiah, the current Sultan of Brunei, it is also a seat of the Prime Minister's Office, in which the Prime Minister is also the Sultan himself. The Prime Minister's Office also has a second seat within the capital, that is located at Jalan Perdana Menteri. Bandar Seri Begawan also houses the headquarters of all government ministries and most departments and agencies.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: Brunei has an equatorial, tropical rainforest climate more subject to the Intertropical Convergence Zone than to the trade winds and rare cyclones. The climate is hot and wet. The city sees heavy precipitation throughout the year, with the northeast monsoon blowing from December to March and the southeast monsoon from around June to October. The wettest day on record is 9 July 2020, when of rainfall was reported at the airport.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: The Bruneian Census 2011 Report estimated the population of Bandar Seri Begawan to be approximately 20,000, while the metropolitan area has around 279,924. The majority of Bruneians are Malays, with Chinese being the most significant minority group. Aboriginal groups such as the Bisaya, Belait, Dusun, Kedayan, Lun Bawang, Murut, and Tutong also exist. They are classified as part of the Malay ethnic groups and have been given the Bumiputera privileges. Large numbers of foreign workers are also found within Brunei and the capital city, with the majority being from Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia (mostly Betawi, Batak, Ambon, Minahasa, and Minangkabau), and the Indian subcontinent.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: Located in Jalan Kianggeh, the Lapau (Royal Ceremonial Hall) is used for royal traditional ceremonies. It was here that the sultan Hassanal Bolkiah was crowned on 1 August 1968. The interior of the Lapau and sultan's throne are decorated in exquisite gold. Within the precincts of the Lapau is the Dewan Majlis where the legislative assembly used to sit. Official permission is required by visitors to enter this building. With the completion of the new legislative council building in Jalan Mabohai, the Lapau will soon become a symbol of the sultanate's constitutional history.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: Located away from the banks of Brunei River, behind the Freshco Shopping Centre at Mile One, Jalan Tutong, the Royal Mausoleum and the graveyard have been used by succeeding generations of sultans. Inside the Mausoleum itself are the remains of the last ten sultans, Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin (1950–1967), who died in 1986, Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin (1924–1950), Sultan Muhammad Jamalul Alam II (1906–1924), Sultan Hashim (1885–1906), Sultan Abdul Momin (1852–1885), Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin II (1828–1852), Sultan Muhammad Kanzul Alam (1807–1826), Sultan Muhammad Jamalul Alam I who ruled less than a year in 1804, Sultan Muhammad Tajuddin (1778-1804,1804-1807), and Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin I (1740–1778). Other members of the royal families from those times are also buried there.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: A legendary figure who was chased away from Kampong Ayer for committing adultery. Adultery was a taboo in Bruneian society. She died in what we know today as Pusat Bandar (Central City). However some sources say that she was a Queen of Brunei.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: The Pulau Chermin Royal Cemetery () is a Royal burial ground located at Pulau Chermin, one of the islands on the Brunei River. The cemetery served as the resting place of Sultan Abdul Hakkul Mubin, the 13th Sultan of Brunei who ruled from 1660 to 1673. He was buried there along with members of his family who also perished during the outbreak of Brunei Civil War in 1660. They were killed there on the island during the final days of the civil war in 1673.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: The Royal Cemetery is gazetted as one of Brunei National Heritage Site under the Antiquities and Treasure Trove Act, 1967 revised 1984, 1990 and 2002, preserved by the Brunei Museums Department and protected by the government of Brunei Darussalam.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: The Luba Royal Mausoleum () is a former Royal burial ground located at Pulau Luba, Kampung Bunut, Brunei. The Mausoleum served as the resting place of Sultan Hussin Kamaluddin, the 16th Sultan of Brunei who was buried here in 1780. Before his death, Sultan Hussin Kamaluddin used to reside in Pulau Luba especially after his abdication from the Throne in 1740. He was well known in the history of Brunei as the only Sultan who abdicated twice from the Throne. Beside the Sultan, members of the Royal family were also buried in the compound. The Mausoleum is gazetted as one of Brunei National Heritage Site under the Antiquities and Treasure Trove Act, 1967 revised 1984, 1990 and 2002, preserved by the Brunei Museums Department and Brunei History Department and protected by the government of Brunei Darussalam.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: Istana Darussalam is a former royal residence of Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III, as well as the birthplace of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah. It was built in the 1940s and located at Sumbiling Lama, an area on the banks of Kedayan River near the city centre. The building is made of wood and styled in traditional Malay stilt house. It has been designated as a protected monument under the Antiquities and Treasure Trove Act. The palace has also been designated as a tourist attraction, although the compound within the gate and the building is not open to public. The road that leads to the place has been named after it.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: The Istana Nurul Iman palace is the residence of the sultan of Brunei. It is located 3 km southwest of the city centre. Its name is taken from Arabic, meaning "Palace of the Light of Faith." The palace was designed by Leandro V. Locsin and built by the Filipino firm Ayala Corporation, mixing Malay and Islamic elements in the building architecture. It contains 1,788 rooms, with 257 bathrooms, and a banquet hall that can accommodate up to 5,000 guests. The palace only opens to the public during the yearly three-day Hari Raya Adilfitri celebration.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: The city's suburb incorporates nearby Kampong Ayer (water village), in which houses were built on stilts. It stretches about along the Brunei River. Founded 1,000 years ago, the village is considered the largest stilt settlement in the world, with approximately 30,000 residents and 2,000 houses. The term "Venice of the East" was coined by Antonio Pigafetta in honour of the water village that he encountered at Kota Batu (just east of city's central business district). Pigafetta was on Ferdinand Magellan's last voyages when he visited Brunei in 1521.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: This latest addition to Bandar Seri Begawan strategically overlooks the historical Kampong Ayer. The approximately site took almost three years to be completed and was officially opened to the public on 28 May 2011. The Waterfront is accessible 24 hours a day for the public to enjoy sightseeing and visit outdoor cafes.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: This narrow strip of landscaped park between Jalan Tutong and the Sungei Brunei was created in 1986 as a "Square". It has a permanent display of the work of a sculptor from each of the original ASEAN countries. The -long park has pleasant walkways bordered by shrubs and the mangrove-fringed Pulau Ranggu, where two species of monkeys live, including the notable proboscis monkey only found in Borneo. The park also offers some of the best views of the Istana Nurul Iman.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: Located just a few minutes' walk from the city centre, this is a popular trekking trail for the city's residents. There are well-made walkaways through the small park, which has benches and picnic spots as well as a waterfall and ponds with water lilies.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: The park offers a great view of the Kampong Ayer and downtown Bandar Seri Begawan. There is a well-maintained wooden walkaway with viewing huts along the way. These huts provide good vantage points for Kampong Ayer and its surroundings.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: is the youth centre in the capital. It is a dedicated complex — the foundation stone was laid on 27 August 1967 by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah (then the or Crown Prince). It was completed on 15 March 1969 and opened on 20 December in the same year. The reported cost is B$2 million. Among the facilities include a hall which can accommodate 1,000 people, a gymnastics hall, an olympic-sized swimming pool, and a gender-separated hostel. The centre celebrated the golden jubilee of its opening in 2020.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: The capital is connected by Bus from Bandar Seri Begawan to the western part of the country by road. Road access to/from the exclave of Temburong is via the Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien Bridge — until the bridge opened in 2020, it was necessary to travel through Sarawak in Malaysia, via the town of Limbang.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: The main bus station in the capital is located in Jalan Cator underneath a multi-story car park. There are six bus routes servicing Bandar Seri Begawan area; the Central Line, Circle Line, Eastern Line, Southern Line, Western Line and Northern Line. The buses operate from 6.30 am until 6.00pm except for bus No. 1 and 20 which have extended to the night. All bus routes begin and terminate their journey at the main bus terminal. Buses heading to other towns in Brunei such as Tutong, Seria and Kuala Belait also depart from the main bus terminal and Taxicab.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: Brunei International Airport serves the whole country. It is located from the town centre and can be reached in 10 minutes via the Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Highway. Royal Brunei Airlines, the national airline, has its head office in the RBA Plaza in the city.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: A water taxi service known as 'penambang' is used for transportation between downtown Bandar Seri Begawan and Kampong Ayer. Water taxis are the most common means of negotiating the waterways of Kampong Ayer. They can be hailed from the numerous "docking parts" along the banks of the Brunei River. Fares are negotiable. Regular water taxi and boat services depart for Temburong between 7:45 am and 4 pm daily, and also serve the Malaysian towns of Limbang, Lawas, Sundar and Labuan. A speedboat is used for passengers travelling to Penambang Ferry Service and from Bangar and Limbang.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: The open market brings together numerous small entrepreneurs selling local vegetables, fruits, live chickens and fish, potted plants, assorted food and beverages.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: Located a few metres away from the Mall Gadong, the market brings together numerous small entrepreneurs just like in Tamu Kianggeh. However, it focuses more on selling foods such as sate, soto, national dishes like nasi katok and ambuyat, fruits and beverages, and wooden handicrafts. During the day, it is where local botanists sell their potted plants.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: All levels of education are available in Bandar Seri Begawan from kindergarten to the tertiary level.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: There are several primary and secondary schools in Bandar Seri Begawan which may be government or private. Nevertheless, the curriculum in all of the schools, except Seri Mulia Sarjana International School, is standardised and set by the Ministry of Education, as with the schools elsewhere in the country.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: There are also several religious schools which provide Islamic education for the Muslim pupils. The schools that can be found in the capital include primary religious schools as well as Arabic preparatory schools, which provide preparatory education in Arabic medium for entry into the secondary level of the Arabic religious stream. There is also a specialised secondary religious school, "Institut Tahfiz Al-Qur'an Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah", which aims to produce local "hafiz". The curriculum in these schools is set by the Ministry of Religious Affairs.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: There are two sixth form centres in the capital and they are government schools. Duli Pengiran Muda Al-Muhtadee Billah College provides sixth form in the general stream where as Hassanal Bolkiah Boys' Arabic Secondary School is for leavers of Arabic secondary religious schools.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: Technical and vocational education are available in the two campuses of the Institute of Brunei Technical Education () as well as the main campus of Brunei Polytechnic. The Business Campus and Sultan Saiful Rijal Campus, which are part of IBTE, were once separate schools, known as Business School ("Sekolah Perdagangan") and Sultan Saiful Rijal Technical College ("Maktab Teknik Sultan Saiful Rijal") respectively.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: Vocational education is also available in a few private institutions, which provide diploma- and certificate-level courses.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: Two of the four national universities of the country can be found in the capital. Sultan Sharif Ali Islamic University, located in Gadong area, offers degree programmes in Islamic studies, where as Seri Begawan Religious Teachers University College is a teacher training college which produces teachers in Islamic religious education mainly for the religious schools in the country. The other two universities, University of Brunei Darussalam and University of Technology Brunei, are located in Tungku, which is not part of Bandar Seri Begawan but located on its outskirts.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: There are also two private colleges which offer bachelor programmes, namely International Graduate Studies College and Laksamana College of Business.


title: Bandar Seri Begawan

text: Several countries have set up their embassies, commissions or consulates in Bandar Seri Begawan, including Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States and Vietnam.


title: Irving, Texas

text: Irving is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. Located in Dallas County, it is also an inner ring suburb of Dallas. The city of Irving is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. According to a 2019 estimate from the United States Census Bureau, the city population was 239,798, making it the thirteenth-most populous city in Texas, and 93rd most populous city in the U.S. Irving is noted for its racial and ethnic diversity, and has been ranked as one of the most diverse cities in the United States. Irving includes the Las Colinas mixed-use master-planned community and part of the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.


title: Irving, Texas

text: Irving was founded in 1903 by J.O. "Otto" Schulze and Otis Brown. It is believed literary author Washington Irving was a favorite of Netta Barcus Brown, and consequently the name of the town site, Irving, was chosen. Irving began in 1889 as an area called Gorbit, and in 1894 the name changed to Kit. Irving was incorporated April 14, 1914, with Otis Brown as the first mayor.


title: Irving, Texas

text: By the late nineteenth century the Irving area was the site of churches, two cotton gins, a blacksmith shop and a general store. The Irving district public school system dates to the 1909 establishment of Kit and Lively schools. Population growth was slow and sometimes halting, with only 357 residents in 1925, but a significant increase began in the 1930s.


title: Irving, Texas

text: By the early 1960s the city had a population of approximately 45,000. A number of manufacturing plants operated in Irving, along with transportation, retail and financial businesses. The University of Dallas in Irving opened in 1956, and Texas Stadium was completed in 1971 as the home field of the Dallas Cowboys. The Chateau Theater opened in 1964 as part of a chain of premium, dollar, and drive-in theaters that stretched across North Texas and Oklahoma.


title: Irving, Texas

text: Irving's population reached 155,037 in 1990 and the United States Census Bureau estimated 236,607 residents in 2016, a 3.5 percent population increase over 2013 census estimates.


title: Irving, Texas

text: In 2000, an Oshman's Sporting Goods store was robbed by the "Texas Seven". In 2011, the Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas opened. Four years later high-school student Ahmed Mohamed was the subject of a hoax bomb incident which ignited allegations of racial profiling and Islamophobia from many media and commentators.


title: Irving, Texas

text: In 2019, Irving completed its construction of an entertainment district in Las Colinas with the opening of the Westin Irving Convention Center Hotel. The entertainment district also includes the Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas and the Toyota Music Factory, an entertainment complex with numerous restaurants, an Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, the Texas Lottery Plaza open-air performance stage and the Pavilion at the Toyota Music Factory concert venue.


title: Irving, Texas

text: On May 8, 2020, the city's local poultry plant run by Westfield, Wisconsin-based Brakebush Bros. Inc reported 40 cases of COVID-19 among its workers during the 2019–2020 coronavirus pandemic.


title: Irving, Texas

text: According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which of it is land and of it (0.65%) is water.


title: Irving, Texas

text: Irving includes the Las Colinas planned community, a mixed-use development with a land area of more than that is home to many Fortune 500 companies and the Las Colinas Entertainment District. It also includes part of the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.


title: Irving, Texas

text: The warmest month on average is July, and the highest recorded temperature was in 1980. The average coolest month is January, and the lowest recorded temperature was in 1899. Irving is considered to be part of the humid subtropical region. May is the average wettest month.


title: Irving, Texas

text: At the census of 2010, there were 216,290 people, 82,538 households, and 51,594 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,218.6 people per square mile (1,242.1/km). There were 91,128 housing units at an average density of 1,356 per square mile (523.3/km). According to the 2020 United States census, there were 256,684 people, 86,023 households, and 57,330 families residing in the city.


title: Irving, Texas

text: Irving has been noted for its racial and ethnic diversity. A 2012 study by the real estate website Trulia found that Irving's 75038 zip code was the most diverse zip code in the United States, while Irving was ranked as the ninth-most diverse city in the United States with over 200,000 residents according to a Diversity Index developed by Brown University's American Communities Project. The same survey said Irving was the eighth-most diverse city at a neighborhood level (again among cities with over 200,000 residents); Irving was the highest-ranked city in Texas at the city level and behind only Garland, TX at the neighborhood level.


title: Irving, Texas

text: According to the 2010 census, the racial makeup of the city was 53.1% White (30.8% non-Hispanic white), 12.3% African American, 0.9% Native American, 14.0% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 16.2% from other races, and 3.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latinos of any race were 41.1% of the population. The largest group of Hispanic or Latinos were of Mexican origin, while those of Salvadoran heritage form the second largest group; in 2009 they formed 11.8% of those born outside of the United States. The Hispanic and Latino residents have moved into eastern Irving, which contains older neighborhoods than other areas of Irving. By 2020, the composition of Irving was 21.03% non-Hispanic white, 12.36% Black or African American, 0.29% Native American, 22.32% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.48% some other race, 2.34% multiracial, and 41.09% Hispanic or Latino of any race.


title: Irving, Texas

text: The largest Asian American ethnic group in Irving is the Asian Indians. As of 2009 the Indians have mainly settled in proximity to high technology companies, into an area in western Irving along Texas State Highway 114, To absorb the Indian population, dense condominium and rental properties have opened in western Irving.


title: Irving, Texas

text: There were 82,538 households, out of which 33.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.1% were married couples living together, 13.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.5% were non-families. 30.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.31.


title: Irving, Texas

text: In the city, 29% of the population was under the age of 19, 8% was between ages 20 to 24, 35.8% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, and 6.9% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.6 males.


title: Irving, Texas

text: The 2012 median income for a household in the city was $49,303, and the median income for a family was $54,755. Males had an estimated median income of $40,986 versus $36,518 for females. The per capita income for the city was $26,970. About 13.2% of families and 16.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.5% of those under age 18 and 9.4% of those age 65 or over.


title: Irving, Texas

text: According to the city's 2017–2018 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the city's top employers are:


title: Irving, Texas

text: Several large businesses have headquarters in Irving, including Nexstar Media Group, Aeroxchange, Caliber Home Loans, Nautilus Hyosung America, Inc., Chuck E. Cheese, Cicis, Commercial Metals, Envoy Air (formerly American Eagle), ExxonMobil, Gruma, H.D. Vest, Kimberly-Clark, La Quinta Inns and Suites, Michaels Stores, 7-Eleven, Southern Star Concrete, Inc., Stellar, a global contact center provider, Zale Corporation, Fluor Corporation, Flowserve, NCH Corporation, ITW Polymers Sealants North America, Celanese Corporation, a leading producer of specialty chemicals, Vistra Energy and its subsidiary TXU Energy, and LXI Enterprise Storage. In 2022 ExxonMobil announced it would move its headquarters to Harris County, Texas.


title: Irving, Texas

text: The headquarters of Nokia America and NEC Corporation of America are in Irving. The American headquarters of BlackBerry was in Irving.


title: Irving, Texas

text: Perhaps as a result of the Nokia-Irving connection, Irving is twinned with Nokia's headquarters city, Espoo in Finland.


title: Irving, Texas

text: Irving is also the Headquarters of OSG USA INC., which is the North American Subsidiary of OSG Corporation in Japan. OSG is a leading provider of high end cutting tools used in industries such as automotive and aerospace.


title: Irving, Texas

text: The Irving Arts Center, owned by the city, is a home for the arts, housing 10 resident arts organizations. Resident Organizations provide cultural programs for the community, and opportunities to participate in the creative process. Community members can play a role in front of the curtain as musicians, actors, and artists, or behind the scenes as planners, technicians, directors and more. The Irving Arts Center is a Smithsonian Affiliate.


title: Irving, Texas

text: The city owns and operates four historical museums: The Jackie Townsell Bear Creek Heritage Center, The Ruth Paine House Museum, and The Mustangs of Las Colinas Museum. A fourth historical museum, the Irving Archives and Museum, opened in February, 2020.


title: Irving, Texas

text: Irving serves as the headquarters city for two college athletics conferences: the Big 12 Conference and American Athletic Conference.


title: Irving, Texas

text: Irving Independent School District (IISD) high schools play football and other sports at the Joy and Ralph Ellis Stadium (formerly Irving Schools Stadium). The stadium is located between Lee Britain Elementary School and Bowie Middle School at 600 E 6th St.


title: Irving, Texas

text: Irving was the home of Texas Stadium, the former home stadium of the Dallas Cowboys. The stadium was demolished on April 11, 2010. The city was also formerly the site of the Cowboys training facility for over 30 years. The National Football League's Dallas Cowboys played in Irving at Texas Stadium from 1971 to 2008, and the team maintained its headquarters in Irving's Valley Ranch neighborhood from 1985 to 2016.


title: Irving, Texas

text: Prior to the November 2008 elections, Irving banned the sale of alcoholic beverages in stores, making it the largest in population dry suburb in North Texas. In 2004 the pro-alcohol measure failed with 63% of voters opposing the measure. In 2006, 52% voted against the measure. On the third attempt, with heavy monetary backing by retailers, voters narrowly voted in favor of the measure in 2008. People in favor of changing Irving's liquor laws saw the interest in the 2008 United States Presidential Election as a catalyst for changing the laws in their favor.


title: Irving, Texas

text: In 2009 Irving had a city council that was entirely at-large. While Irving has a large population of racial minorities, the entire city council and the mayor's office, was entirely non-Hispanic White. Manny Benavidez, a resident of Irving, filed a lawsuit against the city in federal court in November 2007, saying that the voting system was not in compliance with the 1965 Voting Rights Act. On July 15, 2009, a federal judge ruled that Irving is required to create a new electoral system so that racial minority representatives may be voted into office. In 2010 elections, which included one at-large seat and two district-seats, three new council members were elected, replacing two incumbents and adding a newly created seat. Among the three new council members were two minority council members.


title: Irving, Texas

text: The city of Irving is a voluntary member of the North Central Texas Council of Governments association, the purpose of which is to coordinate individual and collective local governments and facilitate regional solutions, eliminate unnecessary duplication, and enable joint decisions.


title: Irving, Texas

text: The Parkland Health & Hospital System (Dallas County Hospital District) operates the Irving Health Center.


title: Irving, Texas

text: The United States Postal Service operates post offices in Irving. The Irving Main Post Office is at 2701 West Irving Boulevard. Other post offices in the city include Central Irving, Las Colinas, and Valley Ranch.


title: Irving, Texas

text: The Irving Independent School District (IISD) serves most of Irving. Other areas are served by the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District (CFBISD), Coppell Independent School District (CISD), and Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District.


title: Irving, Texas

text: In 2019 the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) opened North Lake Early College High School, which has a campus for students in grades 9–10 at North Lake South. The school is not within DISD's boundaries but DISD is allowed to operate it as such under Texas law.


title: Irving, Texas

text: Uplift Education, a charter school operator, has its administrative offices in Irving. Uplift has two charter school campuses in Irving: Infinity Preparatory (K–12) and North Hills Preparatory (K–12).


title: Irving, Texas

text: Irving is home to Cistercian Preparatory School, a university-preparatory school for boys, grades 5 through 12. Irving is also home to The Highlands School, a university-preparatory school for pre-kindergarten through 12th grade.


title: Irving, Texas

text: One Catholic Pre-K–8th grade school, Holy Family Catholic Academy, is in Irving. Irving is also home to the Islamic School of Irving (Pre-K–12). The Sloan School (Pre-K–5) and StoneGate Christian Academy (K4–12) are Christian private schools in Irving.


title: Irving, Texas

text: The city is the site of the University of Dallas and North Lake College, a campus of Dallas College. In addition, DeVry University has a campus in Irving.


title: Irving, Texas

text: Several highways transverse Irving. The Airport Freeway, SH 183, runs east-west in the city center, while LBJ Freeway or I-635 crosses the city's northern edge in the same direction. John Carpenter Freeway, SH 114, and the President George Bush Turnpike create an X running northwest-to-southeast and southwest-to-northeast respectively. The Las Colinas area is centered near the intersection of 114 and the Bush turnpike.


title: Irving, Texas

text: Irving is one of 13 member-cities of the Dallas region's transit agency, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART). Currently, Irving is served by numerous bus routes and has two stops along the Trinity Railway Express commuter rail route. In addition, DART's through runs through Irving and Las Colinas to DFW Airport. This connects northern Irving with Dallas through rail in addition to bus routes.


title: Irving, Texas

text: In 2015, 4.5 percent of Irving households lacked a car, which increased to 4.9 percent in 2016. The national average was 8.7 percent in 2016. Irving averaged 1.75 cars per household in 2016, compared to a national average of 1.8 per household.


title: Irving, Texas

text: The Las Colinas Urban Center is served by the Las Colinas APT System, a people-mover that connects businesses and entertainment areas.


title: Sticky Fingaz

text: Kirk Jones (born November 3, 1973), better known by his stage name Sticky Fingaz, is an American hardcore rapper, record producer, and actor best known as a member of multi-platinum hardcore rap group Onyx.


title: Sticky Fingaz

text: Sticky Fingaz was discovered by Jam Master Jay of Run-D.M.C., who signed Onyx on his label JMJ Records provided that Sticky would be in the group. His signature lazy eye, raspy voice, and boundless energy brought attention to the group, and he became the frontman.


title: Sticky Fingaz

text: Sticky Fingaz starred in more than 80 films and television shows. In 1993, he made his acting debut in Forest Whitaker's award-winning HBO drama "Strapped". His feature film credits include Spike Lee's "Clockers", "In Too Deep", "Lockdown", "Doing Hard Time" and "Breaking Point", but is best known for his role as "Tyrone" in "Next Friday". He made his television debut in "New York Undercover" and "Nash Bridges", but is best known for his role as Blade in the television series "Blade".


title: Sticky Fingaz

text: Sticky Fingaz wrote, produced, directed, and starred in two feature films done entirely in the genre of "hip hopera" through his production company Major Independents: "A Day in the Life" and "Caught On Tape". Both films were released by Lionsgate Home Entertainment. In 2019, Fingaz released a movie "It's About T.I.M.E.", which features the format in which it was released – "Digital Album Movie", created by the rapper.


title: Sticky Fingaz

text: On August 12, 2020, Sticky Fingaz was unanimously voted to be President of the newly formed Hunger Aid Foundation. In July 2021, Sticky Fingaz opened K. Jones & Company, a holding company specializing in branding K. Jones & Company .


title: Sticky Fingaz

text: Jones was born in Kings County Hospital Center on November 3, 1973. He grew up in the Flatbush, Brooklyn neighborhood. When he was a child, he wanted to be a DJ.


title: Sticky Fingaz

text: In an interview with DJ Vlad, Jones revealed that he had been a member of the "Lo-Lifes," a local Brooklyn street gang that mainly engaged in petty retail theft of Polo clothing (rather than in drug dealing or violent turf wars). This was the reason for his nickname "Sticky Fingaz" ("sticky fingers" is an idiomatic term meaning an inclination to steal).


title: Sticky Fingaz

text: When his mother moved the family to Bloomfield, New Jersey, she enrolled Jones in Manhattan's High School of Art and Design, hoping he would focus on his talents, in particular his gift for drawing. In 1990, at age 16, Jones moved out of his mother's house to South Jamaica, Queens to live with his cousin Fredro Starr, who worked in Queens as a barber.