NORTH AFRICA CAMPAIGNWORLD WAR II – TAKING THE WAR TO AFRICA

WHY AFRICA?• Both the Allied and Axis powers had colonial interests in

Africa from pre and post WWI • Colonies in Africa were held by England, Italy, Germany,

Belgium, France, Portugal, Spain• The Suez Canal was the most important transport route

for supplies from the Middle East and India• Under Mussolini, Italy was set on creating a new Roman

Empire that included connecting Ethiopia and Libya• Mussolini’s army was not up to the task.

GERMANY STEPS IN• Again, the Italian army is not up to the task of

implementing Mussolini’s dreams. Fighting in North Africa started with the Italian declaration of war on 10 June 1940.

• The British Commonwealth army battles the Italians, gaining and losing ground between Libya and Egypt.

• In December 1940, the British crush the Italians in the counter offensive know as Operation Compass

• Hitler sends reinforcements to Africa to support Mussolini. The Germans were known as the Afrika Corps

DESERT FOX

ROMMEL: DESERT FOX• Hitler sent Erwin Rommel to lead the Afrika Corps• Rommel was very successful in leading the Panzer tanks

to victory several times against the Allies, pushing them back to Egypt

• He had initiative – successfully trying new tactics, as well as compassion. He refused orders to kill Jewish civilians and his prisoners of war were well treated.

• Defeat for Rommel came from lack of supplies and his exhausted troops. When he won counterattacks against the Allies it meant he was at the farthest reaches of his supply line.

23 OCTOBER – 11 NOV 1942• Hitler orders Rommel and his troops to attack Cairo and

the Suez Canal• Rommel pushes his troops to El Alamein, where the Allies

finally hold the line.• Vastly outnumbered, Rommel continues to fight under

orders from Hitler: “Your enemy, despite his superiority, must also be at the end of his strength. It would not be the first time in history that a strong will has triumphed over the bigger battalions. As to your troops, you can show them no other road than that to victory or death.”

• Allies:  1,029 tanks              Axis:  547 tanks

A NEW ZEALAND MACHINE GUN POST IN A ROCKY PART OF THE ALLIED POSITIONS IN THE ALAMEIN AREA.

AFRICA: ON THE GROUND

FIRST ALLIED VICTORY• Rommel is defeated at the Second Battle of El

Alamein• Allied tanks – including the American M3

Medium tanks which were used to employ the same trick Rommel had used many times. They outflanked the Germans and came in behind enemy lines, destroying the rear guard.

• The American tanks were a surprise to the Germans, who were unprepared for the M3s 75 mm gun.

WHAT’S LEFT?• By the end of the Second Battle of El Alamein,

the Axis suffered 37,000 casualties, which was over 30% of Axis forces engaged.

• Allies suffered 13,500, which was smaller by number as well as smaller by percentage of total forces engaged.

• Axis forces on the Egyptian-Libyan border was by this time down to little over 5,000 men, 20 tanks, and 50 guns

CHURCHILL IN AFRICA

AND CHURCHILL SAYS…"Now this is not the end; it is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

After the war, he wrote: "Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein, we never had a defeat."

V FOR VICTORY?A British soldier gives a V-for-Victory sign to German prisoners captured at El Alamein, 26 October 1942.