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North Africa campaigns: Quick Facts

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The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

The Information Architects maintain a master list of the topics included in the corpus of  Encyclopædia Britannica, and create and manage the relationships between them.
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Facts

Date June 1940 - May 13, 1943
Location Africa • North Africa
Participants Free French • Germany • India • Italy • New Zealand • United Kingdom • United States
Context World War II

Photos and Videos

Map showing the British and Axis military campaigns in North Africa during World War II, with labeled troop movements, key battles, and shifting front lines from Egypt across Libya to Tunisia along the Mediterranean coast. The map includes arrows and dates marking advances and retreats by both sides, and highlights major turning points and defensive lines.
Erwin Rommel in military uniform, seen from behind, stands with other soldiers reviewing a battlefield with wrecked vehicles and debris near Tobruk, Libya, around 1941.
Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell
Black-and-white map of Africa dated December 31, 1941, showing colonial possessions and military occupations during World War II. The map uses different shading patterns to indicate territories controlled by Italy, Britain, France, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, and independent countries, as well as areas under British or Free French occupation. Country and colonial names such as French West Africa, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Belgian Congo, and Union of South Africa are labeled.
“Rats of Tobruk”
“Rats of Tobruk”
Thousands of Italian prisoners of war in uniform stand closely packed in an open area in North Africa during World War II.
Black and white map showing the African campaigns of 1942 during World War II, with military movements and battle locations marked across North Africa from Morocco and Algeria through Libya and Egypt. The map includes the Mediterranean Sea and surrounding countries, with arrows and shaded lines indicating British and Allied advances, Axis advances, and areas of fighting. A legend at the lower left explains the campaign phases.
Sir Alan Gordon Cunningham
tank
Track the League of Nations' continual failure to check via diplomacy the Axis powers' pre-World War II rise
See how Allied commanders Eisenhower and Montgomery trapped Rommel to end Axis North Africa campaigns
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Related Topics and References

Topics
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Timeline

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Battle of the Atlantic
September 3, 1939 - May 8, 1945
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Battle of France
May 10, 1940 - June 25, 1940
Dunkirk evacuation
Dunkirk evacuation
May 26, 1940 - June 4, 1940
Map showing the British and Axis military campaigns in North Africa during World War II, with labeled troop movements, key battles, and shifting front lines from Egypt across Libya to Tunisia along the Mediterranean coast. The map includes arrows and dates marking advances and retreats by both sides, and highlights major turning points and defensive lines.
North Africa campaigns
June 1940 - May 13, 1943
the Blitz
Battle of Britain
July 1940 - September 1940
German bombing of London during the Blitz
the Blitz
September 7, 1940 - May 11, 1941
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa
June 22, 1941
Pearl Harbor attack
Pearl Harbor attack
December 7, 1941
Wake Island
Battle of Wake Island
December 8, 1941 - December 23, 1941
U.S. troops advancing on Tarawa, Gilbert Islands, in 1943
Pacific War
December 8, 1941 - September 2, 1945
Bataan Death March
Bataan Death March
April 9, 1942
Doolittle Raid
Doolittle Raid
April 18, 1942
Battle of Midway
Battle of Midway
June 3, 1942 - June 6, 1942
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July 1942 - January 1943
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Battle of Guadalcanal
August 1942 - February 1943
Battle of Stalingrad
Battle of Stalingrad
August 22, 1942 - February 2, 1943
Operation Mincemeat documents
Operation Mincemeat
1943
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
April 19, 1943 - May 16, 1943
The Allied invasion of Sicily
Allied invasion of Sicily
July 9, 1943 - August 17, 1943
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Italian Campaign
July 9, 1943 - May 2, 1945
Battle of Anzio
Battle of Anzio
January 22, 1944 - June 5, 1944
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Normandy Invasion
June 6, 1944 - July 9, 1944
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Cowra breakout
August 5, 1944
Battle of Leyte Gulf
Battle of Leyte Gulf
October 23, 1944 - October 26, 1944
Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
December 16, 1944 - January 16, 1945
Battle of Iwo Jima
Battle of Iwo Jima
February 19, 1945 - March 26, 1945
U.S. Marines on Okinawa
Battle of Okinawa
April 1, 1945 - June 21, 1945
Atomic bombing of Hiroshima
atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
August 6, 1945 - August 9, 1945

Key People

Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
president of United States
George S. Patton
George Patton
American military officer
Erwin Rommel
Erwin Rommel
German field marshal
Bernard Law Montgomery
Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery
British military commander
Omar Bradley
Omar Bradley
American military officer
World War II: liberation of Paris
Jacques-Philippe Leclerc
French general
Mark Clark
Mark Clark
American military officer
Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander
Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander
British general
Arthur William Tedder
Arthur William Tedder, 1st Baron Tedder
British air marshal
Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell
Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell
British field marshal
Sir Alan Gordon Cunningham
Sir Alan Gordon Cunningham
British army officer
Lemnitzer, Lyman
Lyman Lemnitzer
American military officer
default image
Marie-Pierre Koenig
French military officer
Sir Claude Auchinleck stands outdoors in military uniform with medals and shoulder insignia visible, looking toward the camera.
Claude Auchinleck
British general
default image
Władysław Anders
Polish officer
default image
Alphonse Juin
French general
default image
Henry Maitland Wilson, 1st Baron Wilson
British field marshal
Giraud, Henri
Henri Giraud
French military officer
default image
Rodolfo Graziani, marquess di Neghelli
Italian military officer

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