North Africa and Italy Campaigns

North Africa and Italy Campaigns

Why Fight in North Africa? The North African military campaigns of World War II were waged between Sept. 1940 and May 1943 were strategically important to both the Western Allies and Axis powers. The Axis powers hoped that success in North Africa would deprive the Allies of access to Middle Eastern oil, to secure and increase Axis to the oil, and cut the British off from the Material and Human resources of its empire in Asia and Africa. Remember that the Suez Canal was considered to be the life blood of the British Empire.

After the disastrous defeat in Western Europe in the Spring of 1940 including the fall of France, the North African Campaign offered the Allies the opportunity to open up a new front against the Axis, and, after Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, to ease German pressure on the Eastern Front. Protecting the Suez Canal was vital to protecting British access to the resources in the middle east and from its colonies.

Mussolini s Gamble In 1940, it appeared that German Successes in Poland, France, and Norway would end the war. Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was concerned that Italy might lose its share of the spoils. On June 10, 1940, he declared war on Britain and France. He was sure that Britain and France would soon surrender and did not believed that Italy would have to do much fighting.

Mussolini wanted to occupy the French and British colonies in Africa and seize control of the Suez Canal from the British. In August 1940 he ordered attacks on British positions in East Africa and Egypt. Troops from the Italian colony of Ethiopia invaded British Somalia and quickly overran its garrison made up of mostly conscripted natives. At the same time, other Italian troops began to move westward from Ethiopia in the Sudan to seize the upper Nile Valley. They quickly captured Kassala and Gallabat, while more Italian troops moved south to capture Moyale, in the Northern part of the British colony of Kenya. Buoyed by their successes, the Italians prepared to march from Libya across northern Egypt to seize the Suez Canal.

The youngest element of the Italian Army were indoctrinated to consider themselves as invincible because they were Italian and Fascist. They were taught that their enemies were inferior and would be easily defeated. Mussolini repeatedly refused offers of assistance from Hitler during this period, convinced that his forces could vanquish the British.

On Sept. 13, 1940, Marshal Rodolfo Graziani, commander of the Italian Army in North Africa, began his advance into Egypt, hoping to make a quick dash to the Suez Canal. He commanded a 236, 000 strong army supported by a powerful air force. The British had about 36,000 men guarding the Suez Canal.

The Italian Army had a number of things against them. 1. Two of the six divisions were poorly trained militia. These were outfitted in black shirts. 2. The infantry had to march across the desert. With the 122 degree heat they managed to only march 12 miles a day. 3. They lacked experience fighting a desert war. Most were trained to fight in the alps against their traditional enemies. 4. The main characteristic of Italian tactic was the lack of flexibility (Main tactic was concentrating the greatest possible mass of troops and frontal attack.) This cost many Italian lives. 5. The equipment they had was outdated including rifles, machineguns, armor, and artillery. 6. They had a problem with their air power. While they had 84 modern bombers and 114 fighters, they were backed up by 113 obsolete aircraft. 7. They were short on antiaircraft guns, ammunition, and radios.

The British had a number of things going for them. 1. The troops they had were well trained mostly career soldiers 2. Their infantry rode in trucks to the battle. So, they could move faster. 3. The British Army had trained for years in the desert and was much better at maintaining its equipment under the extreme climate. 4. The British were flexible in their tactics and were willing to change tactics if need be. 5. The equipment they used was very good and functioned well in the desert. None of the Italian tanks could match the British ones. 6. Their Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft could outmatch any of the Italian aircraft. 7. Their army was well supplied

The result was that the British counterattacked on December 9 th pushed the Italians back more than 500 miles and were able to capture the port of Tobruk in Libya. 40, 000 Italians surrendered. Italy s invasion attempt was a complete failure. This convinced the Italian high command to request German assistance.

The Luftwaffe's (German Airforce) X Fliegerkorps air group was ordered from Norway to Italy. They operated against allied shipping and patrolled the shipping lanes By mid February, having not yet received ground support the Italian forces were overrun and 115,000 men surrendered.

In the wake of the Italian defeat, Hitler decided to send a German Army formation to Libya. Including the 5 th light and 15 th Panzer divisions. The German Afrika Korps was commanded by Erwin Rommel. Who would earn the title the Desert Fox He successful regained control of Libya and pushed the British back to the port of Tobruk. On June 21, 1942 Tobruk fell to Rommel. The British were forced to retreat east to the El Alamein line.

African Campaign One of Rommel s biggest challenges would be supplying his troops in Africa. Between Oct. and Nov. of 1942, the Allies destroyed nearly 80% of Axis supply ships crossing the Mediterranean.

Rommel pushed the British deep into Egypt, but was stopped near the city of El Alamein in July 1942. The allies scored a major victory in the second battle of El Alamein and forced Rommel to retreat.

Operation Torch An American invasion of North Africa had been decided upon at the Arcadia Conference in Just before Christmas in 1941. This was seen as a minor invasion in preparation for larger landings that would happen in Europe later. Americans could gain combat experience while helping their British Allies. The American and allied landings were intended to occupy and liberate the rest of North Africa through a campaign called Operation Torch. The Allied forces landed at Casablanca, Oran, Algiers, and Bougie and advanced by land and sea to attack Tunisia

At first the Vichy French resisted in N. Africa, but eventually they surrendered. Hitler had to rush German troops to Tunis before the Allies could get there to prevent them from having full access to the Mediterranean.

African Campaign Rommel had to deal with Allied armies on both sides and decided to move up from southern Tunisia to try and destroy the Allied supply areas in eastern Algiers. February 14, 1943 Battle of Kasserine Pass German troops attacked through the Kasserine Pass and were very successful against the inexperienced pockets of American soldiers.

However, the Allies would regroup and push Rommel back with the help of additional reinforcements and support from American bombers. Meanwhile, the British General Montgomery swept up from Egypt and defeated Rommel s forces who were low on supplies. The Allies took over control of Tunisia and forced the Axis army out of North Africa by May, 1943.

Results of North Africa The Germans wasted valuable resources on an indecisive front. Mussolini s power was severely weakened back home in Italy. Allied forces could now focus on attacking other areas.

January 1943: FDR and Churchill met in Casablanca, Morocco to plan the next phase of the war. They agreed to win the war in Europe before concentrating on the Pacific with Japan. Also, they agreed to only accept an unconditional surrender from all of the Axis powers.

Since July 19, 1941, Stalin wanted the allies to open up a second front in Europe to relieve the pressure the Soviets were facing from the Germans. With Africa being liberated, the Allies decided that Italy would be the next target.