North African Campaign

The North African Campaign was part of the Second World War. It took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943.  The campaign in North Africa included fighting in the Egyptian and Libyan Deserts (the Desert War), and in Morocco and Algeria (Operation Torch) and Tunisia (Tunisia Campaign).

There was a see-saw series of battles for the control of Libya and parts of Egypt. The Siege of Tobruk in 1941 was one of the turning points. In the Second Battle of El Alamein, British Commonwealth forces under the command of Lieutenant general Bernard Montgomery decisively defeated the German Afrika Korps and Royal Italian Army and pushed them back to Tunisia. 

The late 1942 Allied landings in Operation Torch in North-West Africa were done to mop up the remaining enemy forces. The Allies fought against Vichy French Military forces who soon changed sides.  The Allies suffered a serious defeat at the Battle of the Kasserine Pass.  Later, they defeated the Axis forces in southern Tunisia (battle of MarethYoung Italians in the Battle of Mareth), encircled the remaining German and Italian troops in northern Tunisia, and finally forced them to surrender. 

After the fall of Tunis, the last troops to surrender were the Italians of general Messe on May 13, 1943 in the northern Tunisian peninsula of Cape Bon. This prepared the way for the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943. 

Related pages
Battle of the Kasserine Pass

Notes

Category:North African battles of World War II
Category:20th century in Libya
Category:1940s in Egypt
Category:20th century in Algeria
Category:20th century in Morocco
Category:20th century in Tunisia