View source for North African campaign

{{Short description|Major military campaign of WWII fought in North Africa}}
{{Distinguish|Military operations in North Africa during World War I}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2019}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = North African campaign
| partof            = [[Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II|Mediterranean and Middle East theatre]] during [[World War II]]
| image= 1stAlameinBritDefense.jpg
| image_size        = 300px
| caption           = British troops on the defensive posture during the [[First Battle of El Alamein]], July 1942.
| date              = [[Frontier Wire (Libya)|10 June 1940]]&nbsp;– [[Operation Vulcan|13 May 1943]]<br />({{Age in years, months, weeks and days|month1=06|day1=10|year1=1940|month2=05|day2=13|year2=1943}})
| place             = [[Italian Libya|Libya]], [[Kingdom of Egypt|Egypt]], [[French Chad]], [[Algeria]], [[French Morocco|Morocco]], [[French Tunisia|Tunisia]]
| result            = [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] victory
| territory         = [[Italian Libya]] placed under [[British Military Administration (Libya)|British]] and [[French military administration in Fezzan|French military administration]]
| combatant1        = '''[[Allies of World War II|Allies]]'''<br />{{flag|British Empire}}
* {{flagcountry|United Kingdom}}
* {{flagcountry|British Raj}}
* {{flagcountry|Dominion of New Zealand}}
* {{flag|Transjordan}}
* {{flagcountry|Dominion of Newfoundland}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Royal Artillery |url=https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/politics/royal-artillery.php|website=Newfoundland Heritage Web Site|last=Higgins|first=Jenny|date=2007}}</ref>
*{{flagicon|Cyrenaica}} [[Libyan Arab Force]]
{{nowrap|{{flag|United States|1912}}<ref group="nb" name="1942–43">November 1942 to May 1943.</ref>}}<br />
{{flag|Free France}}
* {{flagdeco|Free France}} [[French Algeria|Algeria]]<ref group="nb" name="1942–43" />
* {{flagdeco|Tunisia}} [[French protectorate of Tunisia|Tunisia]]<ref group="nb" name="1942–43" />
* {{flagdeco|Morocco}} [[French protectorate of Morocco|Morocco]]<ref group="nb" name="1942–43" />
{{flag|Australia}} <ref>[[Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942|Self-governance from 1942]]</ref><br />{{flagcountry|Union of South Africa|1928}} <br />{{flagcountry|Polish government-in-exile}}<br />{{flagcountry|Greek government-in-exile|state}} <br />{{flagcountry|Czechoslovak government-in-exile}}
| combatant2        = '''[[Axis powers|Axis]]'''<br />
{{flagcountry|Fascist Italy (1922–1943)}}
* {{flagcountry|Italian Libya}}
{{flagcountry|Nazi Germany}}
----{{flag|Vichy France}}<ref group="nb" name="1940–42">8–11 November 1942. Vichy officially pursued a policy of [[armed neutrality]] and conducted military actions against armed incursions from Axis and Allied belligerents. The pledging of allegiance of the Vichy troops in French North Africa to the Allies convinced the Axis that Vichy could not be trusted to continue this policy, so they invaded and occupied the French rump state (''[[Case Anton]]'')</ref>
* {{flag|French Algeria|name=Algeria}}<ref group="nb" name="1940–42" />
* {{flagdeco|Tunisia}} [[French protectorate of Tunisia|Tunisia]]<ref group="nb" name="1940–42" />
* {{flagdeco|Morocco}} [[French protectorate of Morocco|Morocco]]<ref group="nb" name="1940–42" />
<!----Commanders of the conquest---->| commander1        = <!---Note:Do NOT add the commanders of the British XIII Corps or the British Troops in Egypt as they were only a small force and considered not a large field army, The British 8th Army was the main field army for the Allies until 1942 , for the Commanders with British troops on Egypt and the XIII Corps, see the Western Desert campaign page.---> {{unbulleted list
  | {{flagicon|UK}} [[Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell|Archibald Wavell]]
  | {{nowrap|{{flagicon|UK}} [[Claude Auchinleck]]}}
  | {{nowrap|{{flagicon|UK}} [[Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis|Harold Alexander]]}}
  | {{nowrap|{{flagicon|UK}} [[Alan Cunningham]]}}
  | {{nowrap|{{flagicon|UK}} [[Neil Ritchie]]}}
  | {{nowrap|{{flagicon|UK}} [[Bernard Montgomery]]}}
  | {{nowrap|{{flagicon|UK}} [[Kenneth Anderson (British Army officer)|Kenneth Anderson]]}}
  | {{nowrap|{{flagicon|USA|1912}} [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]]}}
  | {{nowrap|{{flagicon|Free France}} [[Henri Giraud]]}}}}
| commander2        = <!---Note: Do not place Rommel first. Despite substantial autonomy, Rommel was ultimately under Italian command, as the Afrika Corps was a detachment sent by Germany to assist Italy. (See Jon Latimer, ''Tobruk 1941: Rommel's opening move'', Osprey Publishing: 2001, p. 13.)--->
 {{unbulleted list
  | {{flagicon|Fascist Italy}} [[Ugo Cavallero]]
  | {{flagicon|Fascist Italy}} [[Vittorio Ambrosio]]
  | {{flagicon|Fascist Italy (1922–1943)}} [[Italo Balbo]]{{KIA}}
  | {{flagicon|Fascist Italy (1922–1943)}} [[Rodolfo Graziani]]
  | {{flagicon|Fascist Italy (1922–1943)}} [[Italo Gariboldi]]
  | {{flagicon|Fascist Italy (1922–1943)}} [[Ettore Bastico]]
  | {{flagicon|Fascist Italy}} [[Curio Barbasetti di Prun|Curio Barbasetti]]
  | {{flagicon|Fascist Italy (1922–1943)}} [[Giovanni Messe]]{{surrendered}}
  | {{flagicon|Nazi Germany}} [[Albert Kesselring]]
  | {{flagicon|Nazi Germany}} [[Erwin Rommel]]
  | {{flagicon|Nazi Germany}} [[Georg Stumme]]{{KIA}}
  | {{flagicon|Nazi Germany}} [[Hans-Jürgen von Arnim]]{{surrendered}}
----
  | {{flagicon|Vichy France}} [[François Darlan]]{{surrendered}}<ref>Darlan joined the Allies after the Operation Torch in Nov. 1942 but was later Assassinated due to his former allegiance to Vichy France.</ref>
}}
<!----Casualties---->| casualties1       = {{unbulleted list
  | {{flagicon|UK}} '''British Empire''':{{longitem|style=line-height:1.3em|35,478 killed<ref>Carell, p. 597</ref><br />220,000 total casualties<ref name="Zabecki">Zabecki, North Africa</ref>}}
  | {{raise|0.15em|{{flagicon|Free French Forces}} '''Free French''': {{longitem|style=line-height:1.3em|16,000 killed, wounded or missing<ref>{{cite book |first=Raymond |last=Cartier |title=La Seconde Guerre Mondiale, vol4: 1943-Juin1944 |trans-title=The Second World War, vol4: 1943-June 1944 |publisher=Press Pocket |page=40}}</ref>}}
}}
  | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} '''United States''':{{longitem|style=line-height:1.3em|2,715 killed<br />8,978 wounded<br />6,528 missing<ref>Playfair et al p. 460. United States losses from 12 November 1942.</ref><ref>Atkinson, p. 536</ref>}}
  | {{longitem|style=line-height:1.3em|'''Material losses''':<br />2,000 tanks destroyed<br />1,400 aircraft destroyed}}
}}
| casualties2       = {{unbulleted list |class=nowrap
  | {{flagicon|Fascist Italy (1922–1943)}} '''Italy''':<br />22,341 killed<ref>Roma: Instituto Centrale Statistica' ''Morti E Dispersi Per Cause Belliche Negli Anni 1940–45'' Roma 1957.</ref><br />250,000–350,000 captured<ref>Colin F. Baxter. "The War in North Africa, 1940–1943: A Selected Bibliography". 1996. Page 38. 500,000 prisoners are listed as being taken in North Africa, East Africa, and Sicily; as 150,000 POWs were taken in the [[Allied invasion of Sicily]] and about 100,000 in [[East African Campaign (World War II)|East Africa]], this would leave ~250,000 to be taken in North Africa; 130,000 during [[Operation Compass]], and 120,000 afterwards.</ref><!--
    -->{{refn|group=nb|Historian Giorgio Rochat wrote: {{blockquote|''Sono circa 400.000 i prigionieri fatti dagli inglesi in Etiopia e in Africa settentrionale, 125.000 presi dagli americani in Tunisia e in Sicilia, 40.000 lasciati ai francesi in Tunisia'' ("There were about 400,000 prisoners taken by the British in North Africa and in Ethiopia, 125,000 taken by the Americans in Tunisia and Sicily, 40,000 by the French in Tunisia")<ref>{{cite book|first=Giorgio|last=Rochat|title=Le guerre italiane 1935–1943. Dall'impero d'Etiopia alla disfatta|trans-title=The Italian Wars 1935–1943. From the Ethiopian Empire until defeat|publisher=Einaudi|page=446}}</ref>}} Considering that about 100,000 Italian prisoners were taken in East Africa and that prisoners taken by the Americans were mainly in Sicily, the total is around 340,000–350,000.{{citation needed|date=February 2012}}}}
  | {{flagicon|Nazi Germany}} '''Germany''':<ref name="Carell596">Carell, p. 596</ref><br>18,594 killed<br />3,400 missing<br />180,000 captured
  | {{flagicon|Vichy France}} '''Vichy France''':{{refn|group=nb|name=Torch|During [[Operation Torch]] only (8–16 November 1942).}}<br />{{citation needed|date=February 2012}}<br />1,346 killed<br />1,997 wounded
  | '''Material losses''':<ref name="Barclay">Barclay, Mediterranean Operations</ref><ref>Porch, Douglas: "The Path to Victory: The Mediterranean Theater in World War II", 2004, p. 415.</ref><br />2,550 tanks lost<br />70,000 trucks lost<br />6,200 guns lost<br />8,000 aircraft destroyed<br />2,400,000 gross tons of shipping
}}
| campaignbox       = {{WWIITheatre}}{{Campaignbox North Africa}}
{{Campaignbox Mediterranean and Middle East Theatre}}
}}

The '''North African campaign''' of [[World War II]] took place in [[North Africa]] from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943, fought between the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] and the [[Axis Powers]]. It included campaigns in the [[Italian Libya|Libya]]n and [[History of Egypt under the British|Egypt]]ian deserts ([[Western Desert campaign]], Desert War), in [[French protectorate in Morocco|Morocco]] and [[French Algeria|Algeria]] ([[Operation Torch]]), and in [[French protectorate of Tunisia|Tunisia]] ([[Tunisian campaign|Tunisia campaign]]). The Allied war effort was dominated by the [[Commonwealth of Nations|British Commonwealth]] and exiles from [[German-occupied Europe]]. The United States officially entered the war in December 1941 and began direct military assistance in North Africa on 11 May 1942.

Fighting in North Africa started with the [[Fascist Italy (1922–1943)|Italian]] declaration of war on 10 June 1940. On 14 June, the British [[11th Hussars]] and part of the [[1st Royal Tank Regiment]], (1st RTR) crossed the border from Egypt into Libya and captured [[Fort Capuzzo]]. This was followed by an Italian [[counter-offensive]] into Egypt and the capture of [[Sidi Barrani]] in September. The British recaptured Sidi Barrani in December during [[Operation Compass]]. The Italian [[Tenth Army (Italy)|10th Army]] was destroyed and the [[Nazi Germany|German]] ''[[Afrika Korps]]'' was dispatched to North Africa in February 1941 in [[Operation Sonnenblume]] to reinforce the Italians and prevent an Axis defeat.

Battles for control of Libya and Egypt followed, with advances and retreats until the [[Second Battle of El Alamein]] in October 1942 when the Eighth Army (Lieutenant-General [[Bernard Montgomery]]) defeated the German–Italian {{lang|de|Panzerarmee Afrika}} and forced its remnants into Tunisia. After [[Operation Torch]], the Anglo-American [[Operation Torch|landings]] in North-West Africa in November 1942 and fighting against [[Vichy France]] forces (which then changed sides), the Allies trapped about 250,000 German and Italian personnel in northern Tunisia, forcing their surrender in May 1943.

Information gleaned via British [[Ultra (cryptography)|Ultra]] code-breaking was important in the Allied victory in North Africa. The [[Italian campaign (World War II)|Italian campaign]] followed, culminating in the downfall of the Fascist government in Italy and the elimination of Germany's main European ally. German and Italian forces committed atrocities against prisoners of war and [[Jewish]], [[Berbers|Berber]] and [[Arabs|Arab]] populations.

== Western Desert campaign ==
{{Main|Western Desert campaign}}
[[File:The British Army in North Africa 1940 E443.2.jpg|thumb|{{left|British [[Light Tank Mk VI|MK VI light tanks]] during Operation Compass.}}]]
On 10 May 1940, the [[Wehrmacht]] started the [[Battle of France]] (or ''Westfeldzug''). Six weeks later, France surrendered. The [[Second Armistice at Compiègne|Armistice at Compiègne]] took place on 22 June 1940 leaving the [[Vichy France|Vichy government]] in control of French territory not occupied by Germany. This included all of [[French North Africa]].

On 10 June, [[Fascist Italy|Italy]] aligned itself with [[Nazi Germany]] and declared war upon [[French Third Republic|France]] and the [[United Kingdom]].<ref>Playfair, p. 109</ref> British forces (along with Indian and [[Rhodesia (region)|Rhodesian]] troops) based in [[Egypt]] were ordered to take defensive measures, but to avoid  provocation as much as possible.<ref>Playfair, p. 41</ref> However, on 11 June they began a series of raids against Italian positions in Libya.<ref>Churchill, p. 371</ref> Following the defeat of France on 25 June, Italian forces in [[Italian Tripolitania|Tripolitania]] &ndash; facing French troops based in [[Tunisia]] &ndash; redeployed to [[Italian Cyrenaica|Cyrenaica]] to reinforce the [[Tenth Army (Italy)|Italian Tenth Army]].<ref name="Macksey25">Macksey, p. 25</ref> This, coupled with the steadily degrading equipment of the British forces, led General [[Archibald Wavell]] to order an end to the raids and place the defence of the Egyptian border with a small screening force.<ref name="Macksey38"/>

Italian [[dictator]] [[Benito Mussolini]] ordered the Tenth Army to [[Italian invasion of Egypt|invade Egypt]] by 8 August. Two days later, no invasion having been launched, Mussolini ordered Marshal [[Rodolfo Graziani|Graziani]] that, the moment German forces launched [[Operation Sea Lion]] to invade Great Britain, he was to attack.<ref name="Macksey35">Macksey, p. 35</ref> Beaten in the Battle of Britain, the German invasion never took place. On 8 September, the Italians &ndash; hampered by a lack of transport, enfeebled by the low level of training among officers, and weakened by the state of its supporting equipment<ref name="Macksey25" /> &ndash; were ordered to invade Egypt the following day. The battle plan was to advance along the coastal road while limited armoured forces operated on the [[desert]] flank.<ref name="Macksey38">Macksey, p. 38</ref>

To counter the Italian advance, Wavell ordered his screening forces to harass the advancing Italians, falling back towards [[Mersa Matruh]], where the main British infantry force was based. Positioned on the desert flank was the [[7th Armoured Division (United Kingdom)|7th Armoured Division]], which would strike at the flank of the Italian force.<ref name="Macksey40">Macksey, p. 40</ref><ref>Playfair (2004), pp.209–210</ref>

[[File:Italian troops charging North Africa.jpg|thumb|Italian troops charging during the invasion of Egypt.]]

By 16 September, the Italian force had advanced to [[Maktila]], around {{convert|80|mi|km|order=flip}} west of Mersa Matruh, where they halted due to supply problems.<ref name="Macksey47">Macksey, p. 47</ref> Despite Mussolini urging them to carry on, Graziani ordered his men to dig in around [[Sidi Barrani]], and fortified camps were established in forward locations; additional troops were also positioned behind the main force.<ref>Macksey, p. 68</ref> In response to the dispersed Italian camps, the British planned a limited five-day attack, [[Operation Compass]], to strike at these fortified camps one by one.<ref>Wavell {{London Gazette|issue=37628|date=25 June 1946|page=3261|supp=1}}</ref><ref>Playfair pp. 260–261, 264</ref> The British Commonwealth force, totalling 36,000 men,<ref>Bauer (2000), p.95</ref> attacked the forward elements of the 10-division-strong Italian army on 9 December.<ref>Playfair p. 267</ref> Following their initial success, the forces of Operation Compass<ref>Mead, p. 331</ref> pursued the retreating Italian forces.<ref>Playfair p 271</ref> In January, the small port at [[Bardia]] was taken,<ref>Playfair, pp. 286–287</ref> soon followed by the seizure of the fortified port of [[Tobruk]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/wwii1.htm| title=World War II's Opening Salvoes in North Africa|last=Dunn|first=Jimmy|publisher=Tour Egypt}}</ref>

Some 40,000 Italians were captured in and around the two ports, with the remainder of the Tenth Army retreating along the coast road back to [[El Agheila]]. [[Richard O'Connor]] sent the 7th Armoured Division across the desert with a small reconnaissance group. It reached [[Beda Fomm]] some ninety minutes before the Italians, cutting off their retreat. Although they tried desperately to overcome the British force at the [[Battle of Beda Fomm]], the Italians were unable to break through, and the remnants of the retreating army surrendered. Over ten weeks Allied forces had destroyed the Italian Tenth Army and reached El Agheila, taking 130,000 prisoners of war in the process.<ref>Playfair, p. 358</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|issue=17 February 1941|title=Fall of Bengasi|magazine=Time |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,851005,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100626023859/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,851005,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=26 June 2010|access-date=17 December 2007|date=17 February 1941}}</ref><ref name="Wav3268">Wavell in {{London Gazette|issue=37628|date=25 June 1946|page=3268|supp=1}}</ref>

Mussolini requested help from his German allies, while the Italian ''[[Comando Supremo]]'' ("high command") speedily sent several large motorized and armoured forces to protect their colonies in [[North Africa]].<ref>Bauer, p.121</ref> This greatly expanded reinforcement included the soon-to-be-renowned ''Ariete'' Armoured division under General [[Ettore Baldassarre]].<ref name=Walkerp67>{{Cite book|title=Iron Hulls Iron Hearts|last=Walker|first=Ian W.|publisher=The Crowood Press|year=2003|isbn=978-1-86126-646-0 |location=Trowbridge|page=67}}</ref> Meanwhile, the Germans hastily assembled a motorized force, whose lead elements arrived in [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]] in February. This relatively small expeditionary force, termed the ''[[Afrika Korps]]'' by [[Adolf Hitler]], was placed under the command of [[Erwin Rommel]]. His orders were to reinforce the Italians and block Allied attempts to drive them out of the region.<ref name="Jentz82">Jentz, p. 82</ref><ref name="Rommel, p. 109">Rommel, p. 109</ref> However, the initial commitment of only one panzer division and subsequently, no more than two panzer and one motorized divisions, indicated the limited extent of German involvement and commitment to this theatre of operations.<ref name=Walkerp67/> The bulk of the reinforcements were Italian and therefore it was up to the Italians to do the bulk of the fighting. The forward Allied force &ndash; now named [[XIII Corps (United Kingdom)|XIII Corps]] &ndash; adopted a defensive posture and over the coming months was built up, before most of its veteran forces were [[Operation Lustre|redeployed to Greece]] to counter the German invasion there. In addition, the 7th Armoured Division was withdrawn to the Nile delta.<ref>Playfair (1954), p. 289</ref><ref name="Play2">Playfair (1956), p. 2</ref><ref name="Jentz85">Jentz, p. 85</ref> The veteran forces were replaced by inexperienced newcomers, ill-equipped to face German armour.<ref>Playfair (1956), pp. 2–5</ref>

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-783-0150-28, Nordafrika, Panzer III.jpg|thumb|German Panzer III during [[Operation Sonnenblume]], April 1941.]]

Although Rommel had been ordered to simply hold the line, an [[armoured reconnaissance]] soon became a full-fledged offensive from El Agheila in March.<ref name="Jentz82"/><ref name="Rommel, p. 109"/> In March–April, Allied forces were forced back<ref>Playfair (1956), pp. 19–40</ref> and leading general officers captured. The [[9th Division (Australia)|Australian 9th Infantry Division]] fell back to the fortress port of Tobruk,<ref>Latimer, pp. 43–45</ref> and the remaining British and [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] forces withdrew a further {{convert|100|mi|km|order=flip}} east to the Libyan–Egyptian border.<ref name="playfair3335">Playfair (1956), pp. 33–35</ref> With [[Siege of Tobruk|Tobruk under siege]] by the main Italian-German force, a small battlegroup continued to press eastwards. Capturing Fort Capuzzo and Bardia in passing, it then advanced into Egypt, and by the end of April it had taken Sollum and the tactically important [[Halfaya Pass]]. Rommel garrisoned these positions, reinforcing the battle-group and ordering it onto the defensive.<ref name="P160">Playfair (1956), p. 160</ref><ref>Jentz, pp. 128–129, 131</ref>

Though isolated on land, Tobruk's garrison continued to receive supplies and replacements, delivered by the [[Royal Navy]] at night. Rommel's forces did not have the strength or training to take the fortress. This created a supply problem for his forward units. His front-line positions at Sollum were at the end of an extended supply chain that stretched back to Tripoli and had to bypass the coast road at Tobruk. Further, he was constantly threatened with a breakout of the British forces at Tobruk.<ref>Latimer, pp. 48–64</ref> Without Tobruk in Axis hands, further advances into Egypt were impractical.<ref>Playfair (1956), p. 41</ref><ref name="Jentz128">Jentz, p. 128</ref>

The Allies launched a small-scale counter-attack called [[Operation Brevity]] in an attempt to push Axis forces off the key passes at the border, with some initial success. However they could not hold the advance positions and followed ''Brevity'' up with a much larger-scale offensive, [[Operation Battleaxe]] intended to relieve the siege at Tobruk, but this operation also failed.

Following the failure of Operation Battleaxe, Archibald Wavell was relieved of command and replaced by [[Claude Auchinleck]]. The [[Western Desert Force]] was reinforced with a second corps, [[XXX Corps (United Kingdom)|XXX Corps]], with the two corps forming the [[British Eighth Army|Eighth Army]]. Eighth Army was made up of army forces from the Commonwealth nations, including the [[British Army]], the [[Australian Army]], the [[British Indian Army|Indian Army]], the [[New Zealand Army]], the [[South African Army]], and the [[Sudan Defence Force]]. There was also a brigade of [[Free French]] under [[Marie-Pierre Koenig]].

[[File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-783-0104-38,_Nordafrika,_italienische_Panzer_M13-40.jpg|thumb|Italian M13/40 tanks on the attack during [[Operation  Crusader]]]]

The new formation launched a new offensive, [[Operation Crusader]], in November. After a see-saw battle, the [[70th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|70th Division]] garrisoning Tobruk was relieved and the Axis forces were forced to fall back. By January 1942, the [[front line]] was again at El Agheila.

After receiving supplies and reinforcements from Tripoli, the Axis attacked again, defeating the Allies in the  [[Battle of Gazala]] in June and [[Axis capture of Tobruk|capturing Tobruk]]. The Axis forces drove the Eighth Army back over the Egyptian border, but their advance was stopped in July only {{convert|90|mi|km|-1}} from [[Alexandria]] in the [[First Battle of El Alamein]].

Of great significance, on 29 June reports of British military operations in North Africa sent to Washington by the US military attaché in Cairo, [[Bonner Fellers]], no longer used the compromised [[Black (code)|"Black Code"]] which the Axis forces had been reading, so the Axis could no longer learn of British "strengths, positions, losses, reinforcements, supply, situation, plans, morale etc" as they had since 1940.

General Auchinleck, although he had checked Rommel's advance at the First Battle of El Alamein, was replaced by General [[Harold Alexander]]. Lieutenant-General [[William Gott]] was promoted from XIII Corps commander to command of the entire Eighth Army, but he was killed when his aircraft was intercepted and shot down over Egypt. He was replaced by Lieutenant-General [[Bernard Montgomery]].

At the end of June, Axis forces made a second attempt to break through the Allied defences at El Alamein at [[Battle of Alam Halfa|Alam Halfa]], but were unsuccessful. After a lengthy period of build-up and training, the Eighth Army launched a major offensive, decisively defeating the Italian-German army in the [[Second Battle of El Alamein]] in late October, driving Axis forces west and capturing Tripoli in mid-January 1943. By February, the Eighth Army was facing the Italian-German ''Panzer'' Army near the [[Mareth Line]] and came under command of Alexander's [[18th Army Group]] for the concluding phase of the war in North Africa{{Snd}}the [[Tunisian campaign|Tunisia campaign]].

==Operation Torch==
{{Main|Operation Torch}}
[[File:American troops on board a landing craft heading for the beaches at Oran in Algeria during Operation 'Torch', November 1942. A12661.jpg|upright|thumb|American troops on board a [[Landing Craft Assault]] heading into [[Oran]], November 1942]]
Operation Torch in November 1942 was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa while allowing [[United States Armed Forces|American armed forces]] the opportunity to engage in the fight against Nazi Germany on a limited scale.<ref>Wilmott, H.P. p.</ref> In addition, as [[Joseph Stalin]], the leader of the [[Soviet Union]], had long been pleading for a second front to be opened to engage the Wehrmacht and relieve pressure on the [[Red Army]], it provided some degree of relief for the Red Army on the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]] by diverting Axis forces to the North African theatre. Over half the German [[Junkers Ju 52|Ju 52]] transport planes that were needed to supply the [[Battle of Stalingrad#Sixth Army surrounded|encircled Axis forces at Stalingrad]] were tied up supplying Axis forces in North Africa.<ref>{{cite book |first=Joel S.A. |last=Hayward |author-link=Joel Hayward |title=[[Stopped at Stalingrad|Stopped at Stalingrad: The Luftwaffe and Hitler's Defeat in the East, 1942–1943]] |publisher=[[University Press of Kansas]] |location=[[Lawrence, Kansas|Lawrence]] |year=1998 |isbn=0-7006-1146-0 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/stoppedatstaling0000hayw/page/219/mode/2up 219], [https://archive.org/details/stoppedatstaling0000hayw/page/248/mode/2up 248] |via=[[Internet Archive#Text collection|Internet Archive Book Reader]]}}</ref>

Senior U.S. commanders were strongly opposed to proposed landings in North-West Africa. After the western Allied [[Combined Chiefs of Staff]] (CCS) met in London on 30 July 1942 General [[George Marshall]] and Admiral [[Ernest King]] declined to approve the plan. Marshall and other U.S. generals advocated the [[Operation Sledgehammer|invasion of northern Europe]] later that year, which the British rejected.<ref>{{cite book |editor-first=David T. |editor-last=Zabecki |title=World War II in Europe : an encyclopedia |date=1999 |publisher=[[Garland Science|Garland Publishing]] |location=New York |isbn=9780824070298 |page=1270 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gYDN-UfehEEC&pg=PA1270 |access-date=2020-05-10 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Mackenzie |first=S.P. |author-link=Simon MacKenzie |title=The Second World War in Europe |date=1999 |publisher=[[Longman]] |location=London |isbn=978-1317864714 |pages=54–55 |url= https://archive.org/details/secondworldwarin0000mack/page/54/mode/2up |access-date=2020-05-10 |via=[[Internet Archive#Text collection|Internet Archive Book Reader]]}}</ref> After Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]] pressed for a landing in [[French North Africa]] in 1942, Marshall suggested instead to President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] that the U.S. abandon the [[Germany first]] strategy and take the offensive in the Pacific. Roosevelt said it would do nothing to help Russia.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ward |first1=Geoffrey C. |title=The Roosevelts: An Intimate History |last2=Burns |first2=Ken |date=2014 |publisher=[[Alfred A. Knopf]] |location=New York |isbn=978-0385353069 |page=402 |chapter=The Common Cause: 1939-1944 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V73CAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA402 |access-date=2020-05-10 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> With Marshall unable to persuade the British to change their minds,<ref>{{cite book |title=Routledge Handbook of US Military and Diplomatic History |date=2013 |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |isbn=9781135071028 |location=[[Hoboken, New Jersey|Hoboken]] |page=135 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VRiYAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA135 |access-date=2020-05-10 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> President Roosevelt gave a direct order that [[Operation Torch]] was to have precedence over other operations and was to take place at the earliest possible date, one of only two direct orders he gave to military commanders during the war.

The landings started on 8 November, and finished on 16 November. In an attempt to pincer German and Italian forces, Allied forces (American and British Commonwealth) landed in Vichy-held French North Africa under the assumption that there would be little to no resistance. Nevertheless, Vichy French forces put up a strong and bloody resistance to the Allies in [[Oran]] and [[Morocco]], but not in [[Algiers]], where a ''[[coup d'état]]'' by the French resistance on 8 November succeeded in neutralizing the [[19th Army Corps (France)|French XIX Corps]] before the landing and arresting the Vichy commanders. Consequently, the landings met no practical opposition in Algiers, and the city was captured on the first day along with the entire Vichy African command. After three days of talks and threats, Generals [[Mark W. Clark|Mark Clark]] and [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Dwight Eisenhower]] compelled Vichy Admiral [[François Darlan]] and General [[Alphonse Juin]] to order the cessation on 10–11 November of armed resistance from Vichy forces in Oran and Morocco, promising to make Darlan the head of a Free French administration. During Operation Torch, Americans fought Vichy French and German navy vessels in the [[Naval Battle of Casablanca]], which ended in an American victory.

The Allied landings prompted the Axis occupation of Vichy France ([[Case Anton]]) including an attempt to capture the French fleet at Toulon, which did them little good, as the [[Scuttling of the French fleet at Toulon|main portion of the fleet was scuttled]] to prevent their use by the Axis.

The [[Vichy Army]] in North Africa joined the Allies.

== Tunisian campaign ==
{{Main|Tunisian campaign}}
Following the Operation Torch landings &ndash; from early November 1942 &ndash; the Germans and Italians initiated a buildup of troops in Tunisia to fill the vacuum left by Vichy troops which had withdrawn. During this period of weakness, the Allies decided against a rapid advance into Tunisia while they wrestled with the Vichy authorities. Many of the Allied soldiers were tied up in garrison duties because of the uncertain status and intentions of the Vichy forces.

[[File:TigerITankTunis.jpg|thumb|left|Captured [[Tiger I]] tank #712 of the [[501st Heavy Panzer Battalion]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://armorfortheages.com/MilitaryVehicles/TigerI/TigerI.html |title=AFTA Tiger I Page |work=armorfortheages.com |access-date=28 September 2016}}</ref>]]
By mid-November, the Allies were able to advance into Tunisia, but only in single division strength. By early December, the Eastern Task Force &ndash; which had been redesignated as the [[First Army (United Kingdom)|British First Army]] under Lieutenant-General [[Kenneth Anderson (British Army officer)|Kenneth Anderson]] &ndash; was composed of the [[78th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|British 78th Infantry Division]], [[6th Armoured Division (United Kingdom)|British 6th Armoured Division]], [[1st Parachute Brigade (United Kingdom)|1st Parachute Brigade]], [[No. 6 Commando]] and elements of [[1st Armored Division (United States)|US 1st Armored Division]]. But by this time, one German and five Italian divisions had been shipped from Europe and the remoteness of Allied airfields from the front line gave the Axis clear air superiority over the battlefield. The Allies were halted and pushed back having advanced eastwards to within {{convert|30|km|mi}} of Tunis.

In early December, the Allies were met with the reality that they would not be successful in capturing the key cities of Tunis and Bizerta. The air campaigns by the Axis forces proved to be a difficult challenge for the British forces. However, the Allies were left with the advantage of having secured the island of Malta, enabling the Allies to carry out future aerial operations. Additionally, on land, allied British and American forces were able to hold onto their possessions. On December 4, 1942, the Allied Force Headquarters in North Africa reported that military operations were ongoing in the Tebourba area. The Axis powers attempted a second counter-attack in the neighborhood of Tebourba following their failed attempt on December 1. The attack was successfully repulsed by the Allied powers, and the enemy sustained significant damage to their weaponry. During the winter, there followed a period of stalemate during which time both sides continued to build up their forces.  By the new year, the British First Army had one British, one US and one French Corps (a second British Corps headquarters was activated in April). In the second half of February, in eastern Tunisia, the Axis had some successes against the mainly inexperienced French and US troops, most notably in routing the [[II Corps (United States)|US II Corps]] commanded by Major General [[Lloyd Fredendall]] at the [[Battle of Kasserine Pass]].

By the beginning of March, the [[Eighth Army (United Kingdom)|British Eighth Army]] &ndash; advancing westward along the North African coast &ndash; had reached the Tunisian border. Rommel and von Arnim found themselves in an Allied "two army" pincer. They were outflanked, outmanned and outgunned. Rommel went back to Germany for health reasons and was substituted by the Italian general [[Giovanni Messe|Messe]].

The British Eighth Army bypassed the Axis defence on the Mareth Line in late March after harsh fighting{{citation needed|date=April 2022}} 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]]. The last Axis force to surrender in North Africa was the 1st Italian Army of General Messe.<ref>Walker 2006, p. 193</ref> This huge loss of experienced troops greatly reduced the military capacity of the Axis powers, although some Axis troops escaped Tunisia. This defeat in Africa led to all Italian colonies in Africa being captured.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}

== Intelligence ==
=== Axis ===
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-443-1575-19A, Nordafrika, Schützenpanzer.jpg|thumb|A German Signals reception unit in the desert]]
The Axis had considerable success in intelligence gathering through radio communication intercepts and monitoring unit radio traffic. The most important success came through intercepting the reports of Fellers, the US military attaché in Egypt. He had been tasked by Marshall with providing detailed reports on the military situation in Africa.<ref name="Deac">{{cite web |url=http://www.historynet.com/intercepted-communications-for-field-marshal-erwin-rommel.htm/1 |title=Intercepted Communications for Field Marshal Erwin Rommel |author=Wil Deac |work=World War II Magazine |date=12 June 2006 |access-date=26 February 2013 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303225443/http://www.historynet.com/intercepted-communications-for-field-marshal-erwin-rommel.htm/1 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Fellers talked with British military and civilian headquarters personnel, read documents and visited the battlefront. Known to the Germans as "die gute Quelle" (the good source) or more jokingly as 'the little fellow', he transmitted his reports back to Washington using the "Black Code" of the [[United States Department of State|US State Department]]. However, in September 1941, the Italians had stolen a code book containing the Black Code, photographed it and returned it to the US embassy in Rome.<ref>Lewin p. 251</ref> The Italians shared parts of their intercepts with their German allies. In addition the "[[Cipher Department of the High Command of the Wehrmacht|Chiffrierabteilung]]" (German military cipher branch) were soon able to break the code. Fellers' reports were very detailed and played a significant role in informing the Germans of allied strength and intentions between January and June 1942

In addition, the Italian ''[[Servizio Informazioni Segrete]]'' or SIS code-breakers were able to successfully intercept much radio encrypted signals intelligence (SIGINT) from British aircraft traffic as well as first-class ciphers from British vessels and land bases, providing [[Supermarina]] (Regia Marina) with timely warnings of Allied intentions in the Mediterranean.<ref>Vincent P. O'Hara and Enrico Cernuschi, 2013, p.119.</ref> Indeed, so successful was the Italian SIS in handling the bulk of Axis naval intelligence in the Mediterranean, that "Britain's offensive use of SIGINT was largely negated by Italy's defensive SIGINT."<ref name="O'Hara and Cernuschi 2013 135">Vincent P. O'Hara and Enrico Cernuschi, 2013, p.135</ref>

The Afrika Korps had the intelligence services of the 621st Signals Battalion mobile monitoring element which arrived in North Africa in late April 1941,{{sfn|Forty|1998|pp=97, 148}} commanded by Hauptmann Alfred Seeböhm. The 621st Signals Battalion monitored radio communications among British units. Unfortunately for the Allies, the British not only failed to change their codes with any frequency, they were also prone to poor radio discipline in combat. Their officers made frequent open, uncoded transmissions to their commands, allowing the Germans to more easily identify British units and deployments.<ref name="Deac" /> The situation changed after a counterattack during the Battle of Gazala resulted in the 621st Signals Battalion being overrun and destroyed, and a number of their documents captured, alerting British intelligence to the problem.<ref name="Lewin p. 252">Lewin p. 252</ref> The British responded by instituting an improved call signal procedure, introducing radiotelephonic codes, imposing rigid wireless silence on reserve formations, padding out real messages with dummy traffic, tightening up on their radio discipline in combat and creating an entire fake signals network in the southern sector.<ref name="Lewin p. 252" />

=== Allies ===
[[File:Colossus.jpg|thumb|[[Colossus computer|Colossus Mark II]] computer at [[Bletchley Park]]]]
Allied codebreakers read much enciphered German message traffic, especially that encrypted with the [[Enigma machine]]. The Allies' [[Ultra (cryptography)|Ultra]] programme was initially of limited value, as it took too long to get the information to the commanders in the field, and at times provided information that was less than helpful.<ref>[http://www.topedge.com/panels/ww2/na/intelligence.html "Intelligence in North Africa"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130124083841/http://www.topedge.com/panels/ww2/na/intelligence.html |date=24 January 2013 }} Quote:Protection of the top secret Ultra source meant that the distribution of Ultra was extremely slow and by the time it had reached the relevant commander it was often out of date and therefore at best useless and at worst dangerously mis-leading.</ref> In terms of anticipating the next move the Germans would make, reliance on Ultra sometimes backfired. Part of the reason the initial German attacks in March 1941 were so successful was that Ultra intercepts had informed Wavell that OKW had clearly directed Rommel not to take any offensive action, but to wait until he was further reinforced with the 15th Panzer Division in May.<ref>[http://www.deutsches-afrikakorps.de/html/verlauf_maerz_1941.html ''Verlauf März 1941''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130205231844/http://www.deutsches-afrikakorps.de/html/verlauf_maerz_1941.html |date=5 February 2013 }}.
In: ''Der Feldzug in Afrika 1941–1943'' (deutsches-afrikakorps.de). Retrieved 24 November 2009. Quote: Schuld an dieser Einschätzung sind die Enigma Berichte, aus denen Wavell ersehen kann, dass Rommel lediglich den Auftrag hat, die Syrte-Front zu stabilisieren, und dass sein wichtigster Verband, die 15. Panzerdivision, noch nicht in Afrika eingetroffen ist. Translated: The responsibility for this assessment are the Enigma reports, which can be seen from Wavell that Rommel only has a mandate to stabilize the Sirte front, and that his most important unit, the 15th Panzer Division, has not yet arrived in Africa.</ref> Rommel received this information, but placed more value on his own assessment of the situation. Trusting that the Germans had no intention of taking major action, the British command did not respond until it was too late.<ref>Lewin p. 33 Quote: On 30 March Wavell signalled, 'I do not believe he can make any big effort for another month.'</ref> Furthermore, Rommel did not generally provide OKW or the Italian ''Comando Supremo'' details of his planned operations, for he thought the Italians too prone to leak the information. Thus on 21 January 1942, when Rommel struck out on his second offensive from El Agheila, ''Comando Supremo'' was just as surprised to learn of it as the British were.<ref>Lewin pp. 99–101 Quote from Rommel's diary: I had maintained secrecy over the Panzer Group's forthcoming attack eastwards from Mersa el Brega and informed neither the Italian nor the German High Command. We knew from experience that Italian Headquarters cannot keep things to themselves and that everything they wireless to Rome gets round to British ears. However, I had arranged with the Quartermaster for the Panzer Group's order to be posted in every ''Cantoniera'' in Tripolitinia on 21 January&nbsp;...</ref> Ultra intercepts provided the British with such information as the name of the new German commander, his time of arrival, and the numbers and condition of the Axis forces, but they might not correctly reveal Rommel's intentions.

[[File:Special Air Service in North Africa E 21337.jpg|thumb|right|British [[Special Air Service|SAS]] patrol in armed jeeps]]
The primary benefit of Ultra intercepts to the effort in North Africa was to aid in cutting the Axis supply line to Tunisia. Ultra intercepts provided valuable information about the times and routes of Axis supply shipments across the Mediterranean. This was critical in providing the British with the opportunity to intercept and destroy them. During the time when Malta was under heavy air attack, the ability to act on this information was limited, but as Allied air and naval strength improved, the information became instrumental to Allied success. It is estimated that 40% to 60% of Axis supply shipping was located and destroyed due to decrypted information.<ref name="cl.cam.ac.uk">Kingsly, Sir Harry [http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/research/security/Historical/hinsley.html "The Influence of ULTRA in the Second World War"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622015407/http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/research/security/Historical/hinsley.html |date=22 June 2011}}</ref><ref>Hinsley, Francis Harry (1993), British intelligence in the Second World War, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-521-44304-3}}</ref> However, this claim is strongly disputed by the authors [[Vincent P. O'Hara]] and Enrico Cernuschi (2013) who claim that historians like [[Harry Hinsley|F.H. Hinsley]] have greatly exaggerated the effects of Ultra. For example, they claim that intelligence provided by Ultra had little impact in stopping Italian convoys reaching North Africa. Of the 2.67&nbsp;million tons of materiel, fuel, and munitions shipped to Africa &ndash; nearly all in Italian vessels and under Italian escort &ndash; 2.24&nbsp;million tons managed to arrive despite the best efforts of Ultra and the British Navy to prevent it.<ref>Vincent P. O'Hara and Enrico Cernuschi, 2013. p.118</ref> In effect, "Ultra did not deny the Axis armies the supplies they needed to reach the Nile."<ref name="O'Hara and Cernuschi 2013 135" />

Heavy losses of German paratroopers during the [[Battle of Crete]], made possible by Ultra warnings of the drop times and locations, meant that Hitler hesitated in attacking Malta,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.topedge.com/panels/ww2/na/intelligence.html |title=Intelligence in North Africa |work=topedge.com |access-date=28 September 2016}}</ref> which aided the British in gaining control of the Mediterranean, as did the losses of the Italian Navy at the [[Battle of Cape Matapan]].<ref>Hinsley, F.H.; Stripp, Alan, eds. (1993), Codebreakers: The inside story of Bletchley Park (OU Press paperback ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-19-280132-6}}  p 3</ref> To conceal the fact that German coded messages were being read, a fact critical to the overall Allied war effort, British command required a flyover mission be carried out before a convoy could be attacked in order to give the appearance that a reconnaissance flight had discovered the target.

== Atrocities ==
{{See also|Jews outside Europe under Axis occupation}}
The North African campaign was often labeled a "war without hate", a pure military clash in the desert without the partisan murders and [[ethnic cleansing]] that was occurring across Europe. This view has been challenged by recent historians, given that there were indeed many civilians who lived in the region,<ref>[[Robert Citino]], ''Death of the Wehrmacht: The German Campaigns of 1942'', University Press of Kansas, 2007, p. 116.</ref> and the campaign was marked by numerous atrocities and abuses by both Italian and German forces towards Allied prisoners of war and local [[The Holocaust|Jewish]], [[Berbers|Berber]], and Arab populations.<ref>{{Cite journal|author1=Patrick Bernhard |date=1 December 2012 |title=Behind the Battle Lines: Italian Atrocities and the Persecution of Arabs, Berbers, and Jews in North Africa during World War II |journal=Holocaust and Genocide Studies |volume=26 |issue=3 |pages=425–446 |doi=10.1093/hgs/dcs054}}</ref> These acts were often motivated by racism and antisemitism.<ref>Patrick Bernhard, ''Im Rücken Rommels. Kriegsverbrechen, koloniale Massengewalt und Judenverfolgung in Nordafrika, 1940-1943'' in:ZfGen Zeitschrift für Genozidforschung, page 83 – 122
ZfGen, Volume 17 (2019), Issue 1–2, {{ISSN|1438-8332}}, ISSN online: 1438-8332, "the North African Campaign was anything but war without hate. There ere numerous intentional crimes and infringements of the rules of conduct, including the ill treatment and murder of captured enemy soldiers, the plunder of indigenous population, the rape of local woman, as well as exploitation, murder and mass detainment in concentration camps of Arabs, Berbers and Jews which was often motivated by racial and anti-Semitic hatred"</ref>

== Aftermath ==
[[File:Wehrmacht fuel barrel in Tunesia.jpg|thumb|upright|Wehrmacht fuel barrel in Tunisia, 2010]]
After victory by the Allies in the North African campaign, the stage was set for the [[Italian campaign (World War II)|Italian campaign]] to begin. The [[Allied invasion of Sicily|invasion of Sicily]] followed two months later. Nearly 400,000 Axis and Allied troops were lost, injured or died of disease by the end of the North African campaign.

== See also ==

* [[List of British military equipment of World War II]]
* [[List of equipment of the United States Army during World War II]]
* [[List of French military equipment of World War II]]
* [[List of German military equipment of World War II]]
* [[List of Italian Army equipment in World War II]]
* [[List of North African campaign battles]]
* [[North African campaign timeline]]
* Timelines of World War II by year: [[Timeline of World War II (1940)|1940]]{{\}}[[Timeline of World War II (1941)|1941]]{{\}}[[Timeline of World War II (1942)|1942]]{{\}}[[Timeline of World War II (1943)|1943]]
* [[Libya in World War II]]

== Notes ==
=== Footnotes ===
{{reflist|group=nb}}

=== Citations ===
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

== References ==
* {{Cite book |first=Rick |last=Atkinson |title=[[An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942–1943]] |orig-year=2002 |year=2004 |publisher=Abacus |isbn=0-349-11636-9|author-link=Rick Atkinson}}
* {{Cite web |url=http://gi.grolier.com/wwii/wwii_8.html |title=Mediterranean Operations |first=Brigadier C. N. |last=Barclay |publisher=GI – World War II Commemoration |access-date=8 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970121012937/http://gi.grolier.com/wwii/wwii_8.html |archive-date=21 January 1997}}
* {{cite book |first=Eddy |last=Bauer |title=The history of World War II |edition=Revised and updated |orig-year=1984 |year=2000 |publisher=Silverdale |location=Great Britain |isbn=978-1-85605-552-9}}
* {{cite book |first=Paul |last=Carell |author-link=Paul Carell |title=Le volpi del deserto. 1941–1943: le armate italo-tedesche in Africa settentrionale |trans-title=The wolves of the desert. 1941–1943: the Italo-German armies in North Africa |publisher=Bantam |location=New York |year=1960}}
* {{cite book |last=Forty |first=George |year=1998 |title=The Armies of Rommel |publisher=Arms and Armour Press |location=London |isbn=978-1-85409-379-0}}
* {{cite book |first=Thomas L. |last=Jentz |title=Tank Combat in North Africa: The Opening Rounds, Operations Sonnenblume, Brevity, Skorpion and Battleaxe, February 1941 – June 1941 |publisher=Schiffer Publishing |year=1998 |isbn=0-7643-0226-4}}
* {{cite book |first=John |last=Keegan |author-link=John Keegan |title=Oxford Companion to World War II |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2001 |isbn=0-19-280666-1}}
* {{cite book |last=Lewin |first=Ronald |year=1998 |orig-year=1968 |title=Rommel As Military Commander |publisher=B&N Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-7607-0861-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/rommelasmilitary0000lewi}}
* {{cite journal |last1=O'Hara |first1=Vincent |last2=Cernuschi |first2=Enrico |title=The Other Ultra: Signal Intelligence and the Battle to Supply Rommel's Attack toward Suez |journal=Naval War College Review |date=Summer 2013 |volume=66 |issue=3 |pages=117–138}}
* {{Cite book |first1=Major-General I.S.O. |last1=Playfair |author1-link=Ian Stanley Ord Playfair |first2=Brigadier C.J.C. |last2=and Molony |first3=Captain F.C. |last3=with Flynn [[Royal Navy|RN]] |first4=Group Captain T.P. |last4=Gleave |editor-last=Butler |editor-first=J.R.M |editor-link=James Ramsay Montagu Butler |title=The Mediterranean and Middle East, Volume IV: The Destruction of the Axis Forces in Africa |series=History of the Second World War United Kingdom Military Series |orig-year=1st. pub. [[HMSO]] 1966 |year=2004 |location=Uckfield, UK |publisher=Naval & Military Press |isbn=1-84574-068-8 |name-list-style=amp}}
* {{Cite book |last=Walker |first=Ian |title=Iron Hulls, Iron Hearts: Mussolini's Elite Armoured Divisions in North Africa |location=Ramsbury |publisher=Crowood |year=2006 |isbn=1-86126-839-4}}
* {{Cite book |last=Willmott |first=H.P. |title=June, 1944 |year=1984 |publisher=Blandford Press |location=Poole, Dorset |isbn=0-7137-1446-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/june194400will}}
* {{Cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/thewar/detail_5211.htm |work=The War |title=North Africa (1940–1943) |first=David T. |last=Zabecki |year=2007 |publisher=PBS |access-date=8 September 2010 |archive-date=12 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100412233135/http://www.pbs.org/thewar/detail_5211.htm |url-status=dead}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|2=North African campaign}}
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* [http://www1.yadvashem.org/yv/en/education/newsletter/25/index.asp?WT.mc_id=wiki The Jews of North Africa and the Holocaust] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130731230343/http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/education/newsletter/25/index.asp?WT.mc_id=wiki |date=31 July 2013}} an e-Newsletter for Holocaust educators by [[Yad Vashem]]
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/launch_ani_north_africa_campaign.shtml BBC's flash video of the North African campaign]
* [http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/war-in-the-desert/war-in-the-desert-index-1940.htm Timeline of the North African campaign]
* [http://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/exhibitions/newspapers/operations/northafrican_e.shtml Canadian World War 2 Online Newspaper Archives – The North African Campaigns, 1940–1943]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120828133551/http://desertwar.net/north-african-campaign.html North African Campaign Desert War.net]

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