The North African Theater of War
By Noah Brummer The North African theater of War, or North African Campaign, was fought in the middle of World War II between the Allies and the Axis forces that were engaged in war in Europe as well. The regions where military encounters occurred were what we know as modern-day Libya, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. The Allies were mainly run by the British Commonwealth and other forces that were exiled from the German held Europe, while the Axis forces consisted of Nazi Germany, Italy, and Vichy France. The encounter occurred on June 10th, 1940, with the Italians declaring war, forcing the Allie forces to invade Italian Libya, and capturing Fort Capuzzo, an Italian stronghold, just four days after the declaration of war. The two forces fought back and forth until February of 1941, when Germany sent in the German Afrika Korps to save the weakened Italian Army from complete destruction. The two sides fought on for months on end, both suffering massive material losses and losses in military personnel. The United States military forces were not involved until the end of 1941, but the military personnel did not land in North Africa until May 11th, 1942. The Allie forces eventually pushed the Axis forces into Tunisia. In May of 1943 the Allie forces closed in on the Axis forces, encircling them and forcing a surrender of the Axis armies. By the end of the war each side had lost tens of thousands of personnel and millions of dollars in gear and war machinery. The Allies final count was a tragic 60,721 dead and missing. Despite their defeat, the Axis forces lost 45,681 personnel in their costly attempt at Northern African domination. The Allies would not have been able to defeat the Axis forces had the British not been able to decode them messages coming from the Enigma Machine. The Enigma Machine was pushing German Armies to victory on many of their fronts with coded messages that were unrivaled. The Enigma Machine was finally famously cracked by Alan Turing with the creation of his Turing Machine which turned the tide of World War II. With the Enigma codes broken wide open the Allie forces were able to convincingly take Northern Africa and move on to Italy where the Fascist government was overthrown. |
Taylor, Alan. “World War II: The North African Campaign.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 4 Sept. 2011, www.theatlantic.com/photo/2011/09/world-war-ii-the-north-african-campaign/100140/
Hart, Basil Liddell. “North Africa Campaigns.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 21 Nov. 2017, www.britannica.com/event/North-Africa-campaigns.
Hart, Basil Liddell. “North Africa Campaigns.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 21 Nov. 2017, www.britannica.com/event/North-Africa-campaigns.