Atlas of Battles

battle, major, interwar and Second World War

Operation Sonnenblume

Operation Sonnenblume was a battle fought on 6 February 1941 at Cyrenaica, in what is now Libya; it lasted 4 months. It was part of the Mediterranean and Middle East Theater of World War II, which ran from 1940 to 1945. The recorded result: Axis victory.

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Operation Sonnenblume
Valtingojer, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought6 February 1941lasted 4 months
WhereCyrenaica, Libya27.000N, 17.000E
OutcomeAxis victory
Part ofMediterranean and Middle East Theater of World War II1940 to 1945

Where it sits in the Mediterranean and Middle East Theater of World War II

Battle of the Espero Convoy, 1940Battle of Cape Spada, 1940Battle of Cape Passero, 1940Battle of Sidi Barrani, 1940Siege of Giarabub, 1940Battle of Kufra, 1941Operation Sonnenblume, 1941Battle of Cape Matapan, 1941Siege of Tobruk, 1941Battle of the Tarigo Convoy, 1941Battle of the Duisburg Convoy, 1941Battle of Cape Bon, 1941First Battle of Sirte, 1941Raid on Alexandria, 1941Second Battle of Sirte, 1942Battle of Gazala, 1942Battle of Bir Hakeim, 1942Axis capture of Tobruk, 1942Battle of Mersa Matruh, 1942Battle of Alam el Halfa, 1942Battle of Skerki Bank, 1942Battle of the Gulf of Gabes, 1943Battle of the Cigno Convoy, 1943Battle of Enfidaville, 1943Battle of the Campobasso Convoy, 1943Battle of Rhodes, 1943Battle of Leros, 1943Battle of Kos, 1943Action of 1 November 1944, 1944Battle of Ist, 1944Raid on Santorini, 1944Battle of Port Cros, 1944Battle of La Ciotat, 1944Battle of the Ligurian Sea, 194519401945Operation Sonnenblume, 1941
34 placed engagements of the Mediterranean and Middle East Theater of World War II in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date6 February 1941
to 25 May 1941
PlaceCyrenaica, Libya
27.000N, 17.000E
KindBattle, interwar and Second World War
Territorial changeCyrenaica re-captured by Axis, Siege of Tobruk
Operation SonnenblumeOperation SonnenblumeTmassa100 km27.000N, 17.000E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Operation Sonnenblume
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 50 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Operation Sonnenblume today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2023-04-16. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2023.

The recorded site stands at about 0 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from 0 to 771 m, 771 m of relief, steep country and today it is 100% bare ground.

bare ground: 100%bare ground 100%
west to east, 10.0 km0 to 1 mnorth to south, 10.0 km0 to 748 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

In the same war

Elsewhere in 1941

Operation Sonnenblume is one of 2,997 engagements of the 20th century in the atlas and one of 57 in present-day Libya.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q708223, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Operation Sonnenblume, revision 1383779192, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.