The Western Desert Campaign, or the Desert War, was the major stage of fighting in North Africa during the Second World War. Following the British defeats in Greece and Crete, the Western Desert was a significant avenue for Churchill and the British army to continue the fight against Germany, and therefore was central to the war effort. For Adolf Hitler and a German military committed to waging a war in the vastness of Russia, the war in the desert was a holding action of minor importance. The German command never committed the resources necessary to achieve a victory. Only when the issue was nearly settled did it assume real significance in the mind of the German leader. The Western Desert Campaign was a back-and-forth struggle which began in September 1940 with the Italian invasion of Egypt. Italian forces in Libya advanced upon British and Commonwealth forces, who were stationed in Egypt to protect British interests there. The Italians halted to bring up supplies, and the British counterattacked. What started as a five-day raid in December 1940 turned into a major offensive operation, resulting in the destruction of an Italian army. With his holdings in Africa threatened, Benito Mussolini pled with Hitler to provide a contingent of ground and air forces to prevent a total collapse. This was done when a small unit was dispatched from Italy to Tripoli, the first of a number of units that were transferred to Africa under the command of Erwin Rommel. Though all Axis forces in Africa were nominally under Italian command, Germany was the dominant partner in the pairing. Over the course of the next two years, Axis forces under Rommel launched assaults three times against the Allies. Each time, the Axis forces pushed the Allies back to the Egyptian frontier, but each time the Allies regrouped and counterattacked. On the final Axis push the Allies were driven deep into Egypt. However, at El Alamein the Allies recovered and then drove the Axis forces west. Axis forces never recovered, and were driven completely out of Libya to Tunisia. The final chapter of the Axis in Africa concluded with the Allied victory in Tunisia. active = 12 February 1941 -- 13 May 1943.

• published: 14 Dec 2013
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