Rats...

An Australian garrison in Tobruk during WWII that became infamous during an 8 month siege against an armored German/Italian Afrika corps.

The tactics of the soldiers surprised the Germans in that usually when the lines are pieced by armored forces the enemy retreats. Not so the Tobruk Garrison, who instead advanced and attacked the infantry running behind the tanks while letting the armored division over-extend itself without support.

>" I cannot understand you Australians. In Poland , France and Belgium once the tanks got through the soldiers took it for granted they were beaten. But you are like demons. The tanks break through and your infantry keeps fighting."

Eventually they got a Nazi war propaganda specialist to broadcast radio messages in Radio Berlin in an attempt to lower morale and deride the defenders, calling the soldiers in Tobruk 'cornered rats' because of their tactics in using tunnel networks to flank and steal supplies, and their supply ships 'floating scrap iron'.

But rather than be demoralized the Australian's started calling themselves Rats and their supply ships 'the scrap iron flotilla'. Because in typical Australian dry humor they figured it was more insulting to the Germans to be beaten back by a bunch of rats. They gave themselves unofficial rat medals with metal from a scrapped German bomber shot down with stolen German guns.

"I like to think it was a long 8 months of Australians and their allies holding a giant middle finger to the Axis."

My guess:  now we know how the tv series 'Rat Patrol' got its name. Other feisty moments from history are here.