THE NORTH AFRICAN CAMPAIGN
The North African Campaign of World War II took place in North Africa from June 10th, 1940 to May 13th, 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts (Western Desert Campaign or Desert War), in Morocco and Algeria (Operation Torch), and Tunisia (Tunisia Campaign).
The campaign was fought between the Allies and Axis powers, many of whom had colonial interests in Africa dating from the late 19th century (Scramble of Africa). The Allied war effort was dominated by the British Commonwealth and exiles from German-occupied Europe. The United States entered the war in 1941 and began direct military assistance in North Africa on May 11, 1942.
WESTERN DESERT CAMPAIGN
The Western Desert Campaign, also known as the Desert War, was the initial stage of the North African Campaign. It took place in the Western Desert of Egypt and Libya beginning in September 1940 with the Italian invasion of Egypt. The Italians halted to bring up supplies, and Operation Compass, a British five-day raid in December 1940, led to the destruction of the Italian 10th Army. Benito Mussolini sought help from Hitler and a small German blocking detachment (Sperrverband) was sent to Tripoli under Directive 22 (January 11), being the first units of the Afrika Korps (Generalleutnant Erwin Rommel), under nominal Italian command but Italian dependency on Nazi Germany made it the dominant partner.
In the Spring of 1941 Axis forces under Rommel pushed the British-led allied forces back and reached Tobruk which was besieged. The allied force there held out and were relieved during Operation Crusader. They then pushed the Axis forces back to where they had started by the end of the year. In 1942, Axis forces drove the Allies back capturing Tobruk but failed to gain a decisive victory. On the final Axis push to Egypt the Allies retreated to El Alamein, where at the Second Battle of El Alamein the Eighth Army defeated the Axis forces, which never recovered and were driven out of Libya to Tunisia, where they were defeated in the Tunisia Campaign. After the British defeats in the Balkan Campaign, the Western Desert Campaign had become more important to British strategy. For Adolf Hitler, the Eastern Front dwarfed the desert war, which was a holding action of secondary importance. The Axis never had sufficient resources or the means to deliver them to defeat the British, who in their turn missed several opportunities to finish the campaign, by diverting resources to Greece and the Levant in 1941 and the Far East in 1942.
OPERATION TORCH
The Soviet Union had pressed the United States and United Kingdom to start operations in Europe and open a second front to reduce the pressure of German forces on the Soviet troops. While the American commanders favored Operation Sledgehammer, landing in Occupied Europe as soon as possible, the British commanders believed that such a course would end in disaster. An attack on French North Africa was proposed instead, which would clear the Axis powers from North Africa, improve naval control of the Mediterranean Sea, and prepare for an invasion of Southern Europe in 1943. President Franklin D. Roosevelt suspected the African operation would rule out an invasion of Europe in 1943 but agreed to support British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
Operation Torch started on November 8, 1942, and finished on November 11. In an attempt to pincer German and Italian forces, Allied forces, landed in Vichy-held French North Africa under the assumption that there would be little to no resistance. Nevertheless, Vichy French forces put up a strong and bloody resistance to the Allies in Oran and Morocco, but not in Algiers, where a coup d'état by the French resistance on November 8 succeeded in neutralizing the French XIX Corps before the landing and arresting the Vichy commanders. Consequently, the landings met no practical opposition in Algiers, and the city was captured on the first day along with the entire Vichy African command. After three days of talks and threats, Generals Mark Clark and Dwight Eisenhower compelled the Vichy Admiral François Darlan (and General Alphonse Juin) to order the cessation of armed resistance in Oran and Morocco by French forces on November 10-11 with the provision that Darlan would be head of a Free French administration. During Operation Torch, American, Vichy French and German navy vessels fought the Naval Battle of Casablanca, ending in a decisive American victory.
The Allied landings prompted the Axis occupation of Vichy France. In addition, the French fleet was captured at Toulon by the Italians, something which did them little good as the main portion of the fleet had been scuttled to prevent their use by the Axis. The Vichy army in North Africa joined the Allies.
TUNISIA CAMPAIGN
Following the Operation Torch landings, the Germans and Italians initiated a buildup of troops in Tunisia to fill the vacuum left by Vichy troops which had withdrawn. During this period of weakness, the Allies decided against a rapid advance into Tunisia while they wrestled with the Vichy authorities. Many of the Allied soldiers were tied up in garrison duties because of the uncertain status and intentions of the Vichy forces.
War in North Africa: The Tunisian Campaign
German Tiger I of the 501st heavy tank battalion in Tunisia.
By mid-November, the Allies were able to advance into Tunisia but only in single division strength. By early December, German and Italian divisions had been shipped from Europe and the remoteness of Allied airfields from the front line gave the Axis clear air superiority over the battlefield. The Allies were halted and pushed back having advanced eastwards to within 19 miles of Tunis.
During the winter, there followed a period of stalemate, during which both sides continued to build up their forces. By the beginning of March 1943, the British Eighth Army—advancing westward along the North African coast—had reached the Tunisian border. Rommel and von Arnim found themselves in an Allied "two army" pincer. They were outflanked, outmanned and outgunned. The Axis forces surrendered on 13 May 1943 yielding over 275,000 prisoners of war. The last Axis force to surrender in North Africa was the 1st Italian Army. This huge loss of experienced troops greatly reduced the military capacity of the Axis powers, although the largest percentage of Axis troops escaped Tunisia. This defeat in Africa led to all Italian colonies in Africa being captured.