 The Axis force raided and quickly defeated the British at El Agheila on 24 March and at Mersa el Brega on 31 March, exploited the success and by 15 April, had pushed the British back to the Libyan–Egyptian border at Sollum and besieged Tobruk.Several Axis attempts to seize Tobruk failed and the front line settled on the Egyptian border into November 1941.From 1 June to 31 October 1941, British forces based at Malta sank about of Axis shipping on the African convoy routes, by the navy and by Royal Air Force (RAF) and Fleet Air Arm (FAA) aircraft from Malta and Egypt.