North African campaign during WWII
The North African campaign during World War II was a pivotal series of military operations that unfolded from the summer of 1940 to May 1943, primarily involving German and Italian forces against British and Commonwealth armies. Starting with early conflicts in Libya and Egypt, the campaign expanded significantly with American involvement following the Operation Torch invasion in November 1942. This operation aimed to capture Vichy France-held territories in Morocco and Algeria and was designed to complement the British Eighth Army's advances from the east.
The campaign saw significant battles, including the Battle of Kasserine Pass, where American forces faced initial setbacks against Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps. However, the tide shifted in March 1943 as the Allies coordinated a more effective military response, ultimately leading to the capture of key positions in Tunisia. By May 13, 1943, the campaign concluded with the surrender of approximately 250,000 Axis troops, severely diminishing their influence in the Mediterranean region. The campaign not only highlighted challenges in Allied coordination but also set the stage for subsequent operations in Sicily, marking a crucial turning point in the war.
North African campaign during WWII
The Event Allied military campaign against Axis forces operating in North Africa
Dates June 10, 1940, to May 16, 1943
Places Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia
The first joint American-British invasion of Axis-held territory occurred in November, 1942, and resulted in the first significant victory for American troops against German and Italian forces.
Beginning in the summer of 1940, German and Italian forces and opposing British Commonwealth armies had waged a back-and-forth campaign in northern Africa, from Tunisia to Egypt. Soviet pleas to open a second front against German-led forces and British requests for support against Field Marshall Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps persuaded President Franklin D. Roosevelt to send American forces to northern Africa. In Operation Torch, which took place from November 8 through 11, 1942, American and British troops invaded Vichy France-held Morocco and Algeria, overcoming French resistance. The Allied objective was to trap and destroy Axis forces between the invasion forces and Lieutenant-General Bernard Law Montgomery’s Eighth Army advancing from the east. The German-Italian high command responded to the invasion and the subsequent switch of French forces to the Allied side by initiating a large military buildup in Tunisia. By the end of 1942, Allied and Axis forces were roughly equivalent in strength, and their fight stalemated in the mountainous western Tunisian borders. Rommel was fighting, in a holding action, against the British Eighth Army in Libya.
On January 18, 1943, Axis forces in western Tunisia began an offensive against French-held positions and made significant gains. Meanwhile, Rommel was preparing strong defensive positions at the Mareth Line in southeast Tunisia, as the Afrika Korps was withdrawing from Libya. After reaching the Mareth Line, he transferred some units to western Tunisia in order to exploit weaknesses in the Allied defenses. On February 19, Rommel attacked American forces in the western mountains in what become known as the Battle of Kasserine Pass. Inexperienced American forces were routed, and Rommel’s troops and armor advanced toward Algeria. However, stiffening American resistance, a surge in Allied reinforcements in the area, and pressure on the Mareth Line by the Eighth Army forced Rommel to end the offensive and withdraw his forces to strengthen the eastern defenses. By February 25, American troops had regained the pass at Kasserine.
In March, the tide of battle began to favor the Allies. Rommel was relieved of command, and Axis offensives in the west and east failed after initial success. The Axis supply line to Sicily was choked by Allied planes and ships; conversely, reinforcements were strengthening Allied forces. The Mareth Line was abandoned in late March, and Allied pressure in northwest Tunisia in early April forced the German-Italian armies to shrink their defensive perimeter to the northeast corner of Tunisia around the ports of Bizerte and Tunis. The final assault by the Allies came on May 6. The next day, the Americans had captured Bizerte, and the British had conquered Tunis. On May 13, 1943, the North African campaign came to an end, as approximately 250,000 Axis troops surrendered.
Impact
The initial poor performance of American troops and poor communication among the different Allied commanders prompted improvements in tactics and command structure. These changes resulted in a more effective and efficient Allied military in the European theater. Although the Allies suffered greater casualties than the Axis forces, approximately seventy-five thousand to sixty thousand, the Axis losses in captured men and aircraft destroyed or captured, approximately nine hundred, crippled German-Italian ambitions in the Mediterranean. The capture of the Tunisian ports paved the way to the invasion of Sicily two months later.
Bibliography
Atkinson, Rick. An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943. New York: Holt Paperbacks, 2007.
Hart, Basil Henry Liddell. The Rommel Papers. Cambridge, Mass.: Da Capo Press, 1982.
Kitchen, Martin. Rommel’s War: The North African Campaign, 1941-3. Stroud: Tempus, 2008.