What was the ultimate outcome of the North African Campaign?

Answer 1

The North Africa Campaigntook place from 10 June 1940 to 16 May 1943, following the Italian declaration of war on Britain and France. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts (known as the Desert War) as well as Morocco and Algeria (Operation Torch) and Tunisia (Tunisia Campaign).

Following the declaration the British began a series of hit-and-run raids against the Italians in Libya, the most notable being the capture of Fort Capuzzo on 14 June 1940.

On 13 September 1940, four divisions of the Italian Tenth Army along with the Gruppo Maletti (consisting of most of the M11/39 medium tanks available in North Africa and numerous L3 light tanks) advanced into Egypt, marching one hundred kilometers in four days, stopping when they reached the town of Sidi Barrani, where they built several fortified camps.

In December 1940, the British launched Operation Compass (8 December 1940 - 9 February 1941), a counter-attack that was initially planned for 5 days against the Italian camps in Egypt but due to British successes, they were able to push the Italians all the way back to Tobruk. On 9 January 1941 the town was surrounded and, after building up troop numbers, was attacked on 21 January. After 10 hours the Italian General in charge surrendered but refused to order his units to do likewise, so that mop-up operations continued in the days and weeks after the fall of Tobruk, with the British advancing a total of 800 miles and pushing the Italians back to the town of El Aleigha. The Allies, with 36,000 soldiers, 120 artillery pieces and 275 tanks, faced an Axis force of 150, 000 soldiers, 1,600 artillery pieces, and 600 tanks. As a result of Operation Compass the British lost 500 killed, 55 missing, 1,373 wounded, compared to Italian losses of 3,000 killed, 115,000 captured, 400 tanks, 1,292 artillery pieces, destroyed or captured. The result was the almost complete annihilation of the Tenth Army.

Hitler hurriedly sent the Afrika Korps under Rommel to reinforce the Italian position in western Libya, while the British sent the 7th Armoured Division back to Egypt for a refit and an Australian infantry division being sent to Greece to support the Allied defence of Greece. Their replacements were inexperienced, allowing Rommel to begin his own offensive in March 1941 and push the Allies back to Tobruk and into Egypt. A stalemate ensued with neither side gaining the upper hand and included the siege of Tobruk. The siege lasted for 240 days before the town was relieved by the British during Operation Crusader, which was launched by the Allies on 18 November 1941 and continued until 30 December 1941. The operation succeeded in pushing the Germans and Italians back to El Aleigha once more.

With new reinforcements, the Germans launched another offensive in June 1942, this time capturing Tobruk and again pushing the British back into Egypt, resulting in the first battle of El Alamein.

Following the battle Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery assumed command of the Eighth Army and, after a period of training, launched a new offensive, winning a decisive victory over the Germen-Italian forces at the second battle of El Alamein in October 1942 and driving them into a head-long retreat, leading to the capture, in January 1943, of Tripoli.

On 8 November 1943 American and British Commonwealth troops landed in Vichy-French held North Africa in an attempt to catch the Germans and Italians in a pincer movement but encountered fierce resistance from the French troops there (except in Algiers where a coup d'état had neutralised the French XIX Corps. After 3 days of talks and threats the Vichy commander, Admiral Darlan, ordered the cessation of hostilities. The French forces subsequently joined the Allies.

The Tunisian campaign, 17 November 1942-13 May 1943, was the final stage of the North Africa campaign. Once again the Allied campaign stalled due to Axis air superiority and the use of inexperienced American and French troops, most notably the routing of the US II Corps at the Battle of Kasserine Pass. But by the beginning of March 1943 the Germans and Italians were facing a two-army pincer movement in which they were outflanked, outmanned and outgunned. The British Eighth Army shattered the Axis defense on the Mareth Line in late March and First Army in central Tunisia launched their main offensive in mid April to squeeze the Axis forces until their resistance in Africa collapsed. The Axis forces surrendered on 13 May 1943 yielding over 275,000 prisoners of war. This huge loss of experienced troops greatly reduced the military capacity of the Axis powers, although the largest percentage of Axis troops escaped Tunisia. This defeat in Africa led to all Italian colonies in Africa being captured.