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The North African campaign of World War II took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943, fought between the Allies and the Axis Powers. It included campaigns in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts ( Western Desert campaign , Desert War), in Morocco and Algeria ( Operation Torch ), and in Tunisia ( Tunisia campaign ).
Italian campaign (World War II) begins (1943 to 1945) 23 January: Tripoli captured by British Eighth Army; 30 January: Axis forces capture Faïd pass in central Tunisia; 4 February: Axis forces in Libya retreat to Tunisian border south of the Mareth Line; 14 February: Axis advance from Faïd to launch Battle of Sidi Bou Zid and enter Sbeitla ...
The North African campaign of World War II, sometimes called the "Desert War", includes the campaigns in Egypt and Libya (often referred to as the Western Desert campaign or the "Egypt–Libya Campaign") and those campaigns in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia (usually referred to as the Tunisian campaign.
The size of the British Army peaked in June 1945, at 2.9 million men. By the end of the Second World War some three million people had served. [13] [7] In 1944, the United Kingdom was facing severe manpower shortages. By May 1944, it was estimated that the British Army's strength in December 1944 would be 100,000 less than it was at the end of ...
The Desert Air Force (DAF), also known chronologically as Air Headquarters Western Desert, Air Headquarters Libya, the Western Desert Air Force, and the First Tactical Air Force (1TAF), was an Allied tactical air force created from No. 204 Group RAF under RAF Middle East Command in North Africa in 1941 to provide close air support to the British Eighth Army against Axis forces.
Cyrenaica (Libya) had been an Italian colony since the Italo-Turkish War in 1911–1912. With Tunisia, part of French North Africa, to the west, and Egypt to the east, the Italians prepared to defend both fronts through a North Africa Supreme Headquarters, under the command of the Governor-General of Italian Libya, Marshal of the Air Force, Italo Balbo.
During 1941, the 2nd Armoured Division in North Africa was overrun, and its headquarters captured. By the end of the year, the British Army had 37 active divisions (one airborne, nine armoured and 27 infantry). [24] [25] On 15 February 1942, the 18th Infantry Division was captured by Japanese forces following the Battle of Singapore. [26]
Military formations within the British Empire were generally not static and were composed of a changing mix of units from across Britain, its colonies and the dominions. As a result military formations within the Empire and Commonwealth are not easily attributable to specific Imperial or national entities and naming conventions do not ...