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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).
May 1940 — Army of Africa (France) — 14 regiments of zouaves, 42 regiments of Algerian, Tunisian and Moroccan tirailleurs, 12 regiments and demi-brigades of the Foreign Legion and 13 battalions of African Light Infantry were serving on all fronts. [1] 10 June: The Kingdom of Italy declares war upon France and the United Kingdom [2]
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 battle was the first major engagement between U.S. and Axis forces in Africa. The initial handful of American battalions suffered many casualties and were successively pushed back over 50 miles (80 km) from their original positions west of Faïd Pass, until they met an advancing brigade of the U.S. 1st Armored Division. [ 7 ]
In World War II from 1940 to 1943 the area was the setting for the North African Campaign. During the 1950s and 1960s, all of the North African states gained independence. There remains a dispute over Western Sahara between Morocco and the Algerian-backed Polisario Front. Gamal Abdel Nasser
The North African coast has few natural harbors and the British base at Alexandria on the Nile delta was some 2,100 km (1,300 mi) by road from the main Italian port at Tripoli in Libya. Smaller ports at Benghazi and Tobruk were 1,050 km (650 mi) and 640 km (400 mi) west of Alexandria on the Litoranea Balbo (Via Balbia) running along a narrow ...
The Western Desert campaign (Desert War) took place in the deserts of Egypt and Libya and was the main theatre in the North African campaign of the Second World War. Military operations began in June 1940 with the Italian declaration of war and the Italian invasion of Egypt from Libya in September.
Operation Torch (8–16 November 1942) was an Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War.Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa while allowing American armed forces the opportunity to begin their fight against Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy on a limited scale. [6]