World War II-Mediterranean Africa Middle East

Mediterranean, Africa, and the Middle East

Control of Southern Europe, the Mediterranean Sea and North Africa was important because the British Empire depended on shipping through the Suez Canal. If the canal fell into Axis hands or if the Royal Navy lost control of the Mediterranean, then transport between the United Kingdom, India, and Australia would have to go around the Cape of Good Hope, an increase of several thousand miles.

Almost immediately after declaring war, Italy attacked Malta, a Mediterranean island held by Great Britain. Despite repeated bombings, the British kept it for the duration of the war. The island was used as an "unsinkable aircraft carrier", disrupting Axis shipping and serving as an important Allied resupply point.

Following the French surrender, the British attacked the French Navy anchored in North Africa in July 1940, out of fear that it might fall into German hands. This contributed to a souring of British-French relations for the next few years. Soon following this action was the Battle of Calabria, the first large conflict between the Allied navies and the Italian Navy (Regia Marina).

With France no longer a threat, Italy sought to expand its empire in Africa. In June 1940 it made incursions into Egypt, starting the North Africa campaign, and into Sudan and Kenya. In August, Italy invaded British Somaliland.

Free French Forces under Charles de Gaulle attempted to take control of Vichy French territories in Africa. In September 1940, they made a failed attempt to capture French West Africa, though in November, they later succeeded in French Equatorial Africa.

On November 12, 1940, the British launched the first all-aircraft naval attack against the Italian fleet at Taranto, scoring a major victory. In December, British forces under General Archibald Wavell launched Operation Compass, expelling Italian forces from Egypt and pushing them all the way west across Libya. Starting in January 1941, British forces began an offensive into Italian East Africa, culminating in an Italian defeat. Italy also faced problems in the Balkans, where the Greek Army pushed the Italians out of Greece into southern Albania.

Alarmed by the Italian setbacks, Hitler authorized reinforcements, and sent German forces to Africa in February. The Afrika Korps led by General Erwin Rommel launched an offensive that pushed British forces back into Egypt, and besieged the port of Tobruk.

In an effort to secure their transportation lines, the Allied navies engaged the Regia Marina in the Battle of Cape Matapan, doing significant damage to the Italian fleet.

In Iraq, a coup threatened the British oil supply, causing them to have to commit troops to invade and occupy the country. In June 8, British and Free French forces invaded Vichy-controlled Syria and Lebanon due to the Vichy allowance of Axis forces to pass through the area and utilize military bases.

A week later, Wavell launched Operation Battleaxe, which was intended to be a major offensive in the Western Desert, but resulted in the loss of nearly half of the British tanks in the region. Frustrated by the lack of success, Churchill had Wavell replaced with Claude Auchinleck in early July.

In late August, after the German invasion of the Soviet Union, the British and the Soviets launched a joint invasion of Iran to secure its oilfields and the Persian Corridor supply route for Soviet use.

There was then a lull in activity as Hitler focused on the invasion of the Soviet Union. On November 18, the Allies launched Operation Crusader, an offensive in the Western Desert, which pushed Rommel back to his original starting point at El Agheila in Libya. The British suffered a significant blow in the Mediterranean Sea though, losing several ships shortly after the First Battle of Sirte.

Australian troops at El Alamein

On January 21, 1942, Rommel launched an offensive, which pushed the British forces back to Gazala, just west of Tobruk. He gained a reputation as the "Desert Fox".

In May, after the Japanese Indian Ocean raid, British forces invaded Vichy controlled Madagascar to prevent the Japanese Navy from using it as launch point for further such attacks.

In late May, the Axis overran Tobruk and chased the British to within a few miles of Alexandria, Egypt. They were finally halted at El Alamein, the last defensible position before Alexandria.

Churchill changed commanders again. Auchinleck was replaced by Harold Alexander, and Bernard Montgomery took over Allied land forces in Egypt. This allowed Montgomery to focus on North Africa without the distractions from other parts of the Middle East that previous commanders had faced.

In late October, after building up his forces, Montgomery launched the Battle of El Alamein, destroying most of Rommel's armor in a punishing frontal assault, pushing the Axis forces back and pursuing them across the desert. Several Italian divisions, unable to retreat and abandoned by the Germans, were captured following this battle.

In November, Allied forces landed in an amphibious operation in Vichy-controlled Morocco and Algeria with minimal resistance. In retaliation, the Germans seized the remainder of mainland France, though they failed to capture the remainder of the French Navy when it was scuttled in the port of Toulon. With Allied forces closing in from the East and West, Rommel launched a surprise counterattack at Kasserine Pass. Although it was a minor tactical success, his strategic situation soon became hopeless, and his forces were hemmed into a smaller and smaller area in Tunisia. By May 1943, the Axis were forced to evacuate Africa entirely, and hundreds of thousands of troops surrendered.