North African Campgian
For a while, Italy remained neutral in the war. However, after the Invasion of France, Benito Mussolini wanted to expand his country and declared war on the Allies. Three months after Italy’s declaration, they invaded Egypt, what was then a protectorate of Britain. This was the beginning of the war in North Africa. A war which would last three years long and take thousands of lives.
The Western Desert Campaign was the first part of the North African Campaign. It started with the invasion of Egypt. With the threat of Germany invading Britain passed, Allied troops were shipped to Africa. To protect the Suez Canal and their oil supplies, Britain fought back against the invading forces in December 1940. General Archibald Wavell, Commander-in-Chief of the Middle East, led the Western Desert Force on an attack against the Italians. His army won in Tobruk, Libya on January 22, 1941 and continued along the coast all the way to El Agheila. After this defeat in Tobruk, Hitler sent German reinforcements, the Afrika Korps led by Major-General Erwin Rommel, to aid Italy. In February, Prime Minister Winston Churchill pulled British troops from North Africa and sent them to defend Greece from the Axis forces. General Wavell was then left with a small army that was not strong enough to hold off Italian and German attacks. Hitler found out about their weak army and had his forces push the British troops back to Egypt. An Australian division was left besieged in Tobruk for 240 days. During that time the British tried two times to relieve the Australians, but both failed. General Claude Auchinleck was sent to take over Wavell’s command. General Alan Cunningham took over the British 8th Army, which was made up of troops from many different Allied nations. Operation Crusader was launched by General Auchinleck on November 18, 1941 to attack the Axis forces near Tobruk. Tanks battled in Sidi Rezegh, slowly driving Rommel’s army back. Rommel eventually called a retreat and took his troops to El Agheila, finally freeing the men in Tobruk. The Axis army in
Africa was resupplied and they began an offensive at the end
of January 1942. They successfully pushed the British to Gazala where both armies stopped to resupply. After numerous attempts to counter Rommel's attacks the Allied army was forced back to Tobruk and the Axis captured it on June 21, 1942. In the United States, President Franklin Roosevelt got word that Tobruk had fallen to Axis forces and at once offered to help the Allies in North Africa. Back in North Africa, Axis troops were in pursuit of the British Allied army that had retreated to Mersa Matruh in Egypt, where the two armies battled. General Auchinleck took full control of the British 8th Army as they continued further into Egypt, stopping at El Alamein where the British were able to hold off Rommel assaults. Auchinleck was soon relieved by General Harold Alexander and Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery replaced General William Gott as commander of the British 8th Army. Rommel began his last offensive on August 31, 1942, planning to push the British to the Nile River. The Allied army found out the offensive was coming and planted minefields near El Alamein. On the way to El Alamein the Axis army ran low on fuel and were driven back by the British in Alam el Halfa, southeast of El Alamein. The American support soon arrived and Montgomery prepared the Allied army for the counterattack on the Germans and Italians. On October 23, 1942 the Battle of El Alamein started with a huge amount of artillery fire on the Axis position. 10,000 Allied troops were killed in just five days. With help from the Royal Air Force the Axis army was weakened and on November 4, Hitler allowed for a retreat. The Allies followed Rommel’s army all the way back to Tunisia.
Africa was resupplied and they began an offensive at the end
of January 1942. They successfully pushed the British to Gazala where both armies stopped to resupply. After numerous attempts to counter Rommel's attacks the Allied army was forced back to Tobruk and the Axis captured it on June 21, 1942. In the United States, President Franklin Roosevelt got word that Tobruk had fallen to Axis forces and at once offered to help the Allies in North Africa. Back in North Africa, Axis troops were in pursuit of the British Allied army that had retreated to Mersa Matruh in Egypt, where the two armies battled. General Auchinleck took full control of the British 8th Army as they continued further into Egypt, stopping at El Alamein where the British were able to hold off Rommel assaults. Auchinleck was soon relieved by General Harold Alexander and Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery replaced General William Gott as commander of the British 8th Army. Rommel began his last offensive on August 31, 1942, planning to push the British to the Nile River. The Allied army found out the offensive was coming and planted minefields near El Alamein. On the way to El Alamein the Axis army ran low on fuel and were driven back by the British in Alam el Halfa, southeast of El Alamein. The American support soon arrived and Montgomery prepared the Allied army for the counterattack on the Germans and Italians. On October 23, 1942 the Battle of El Alamein started with a huge amount of artillery fire on the Axis position. 10,000 Allied troops were killed in just five days. With help from the Royal Air Force the Axis army was weakened and on November 4, Hitler allowed for a retreat. The Allies followed Rommel’s army all the way back to Tunisia.
We are facing a very bold and clever foe, and I may well say a great general!
- Winston Churchill
Phase two in the North African Campaign, Operation Torch, began fours days after the Axis army started their retreat. Three task forces, comprising of British and American troops were shipped to North Africa. Canada sent corvettes and landing crafts to assist Operation Torch. The first force, the Western Task Force, landed near Casablanca, Morocco. The second was the Center Task Force, they landed near Oran, Algeria. The final group, the Eastern Task Force landed near Algiers, Algeria. At the time Algeria and Morocco were occupied by Vichy France. The task forces objective was to get Bizerte, the Tunisian port and airfield and take control of it. With little resistance by Vichy France, the task forces made their way to Tunis, the Capital of Tunisia. On November 9, 1942 Hitler quickly sent German support from Sicily and the Germans took control of Vichy France.
I want to impose on everyone that the bad times are over, they are finished! Our mandate from the Prime Minister is to destroy the Axis forces in North Africa…It can be done, and it will be done!
- Bernard Law Montgomery
The Tunisia Campaign was the final stage of the campaign. The German forces got to Tunis before the Allies and at Tebourba, Tunisia near the end of November they drove them back 20 miles. Due to too much rain in January 1943 the Allied army was forced to stop in northern Tunisia and wait for better weather. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was named supreme commander of the whole Allied army at the Casablanca Conference. Rommel, who was in southern Tunisia, planned to take out the British First Army on his way to Tunia. A German offensive was launched on February 14, attacking Allied troops in Kasserine Pass. The battle was successfully won in four days by Lieutenant- General Hans-Jürgen von Arnim and Field Marshal Rommel. However on February 15 the Allies reclaimed the pass. In spite of this, Rommel was put in charge of the Armeegruppe Afrika, a merged Axis army. The new Axis army started to fall apart and the Allies were able to stop their supplies from Sicily. On March 6, a month after Montgomery’s men crossed the border into Tunisia, Rommel led an attack on them with 140 tanks. At Medenine he was met with the British army ready and waiting, during the fighting Rommel lost over one third of his tanks. After this defeat, Rommel was forced to return to Germany due to sickness, leaving Arnim in charge. In the middle of March, Montgomery tried to break through the Mareth Line but in two days his army was defeated and they headed to the Tebaga Gap. Breaking through on March 26, the Axis retreated to Enfidaville. From April 7 to May 7 the Allied army moved along the North African coast, taking over cities on the way. On May 7, 1943 the Allies took Tunis. What was left of the German and Italian troops were trapped between Bizerte and Tunis and in Cape Bon. Five days later on May 13, 1943 Arnim surrendered to the Allies, finally ending the war.
At the end of the North African Campaign the Allies had lost 220,000 troops. The Axis had lost 620,000 troops and hundreds of thousands more were wounded. During those three years the British and American troops learned to work together and Britain perfected Ultra intelligence. The victory in North Africa allowed for invasion of Sicily and the Italian mainland to happen in the summer of 1943.
At the end of the North African Campaign the Allies had lost 220,000 troops. The Axis had lost 620,000 troops and hundreds of thousands more were wounded. During those three years the British and American troops learned to work together and Britain perfected Ultra intelligence. The victory in North Africa allowed for invasion of Sicily and the Italian mainland to happen in the summer of 1943.
North African Campaign Veteran
Elizabeth "Betty" Dimock
Born Elizabeth Grimmer in Saint John, New Brunswick during the middle of the First World War she remembered saying: “This was my great ambition, to be a nurse in the next war.” So when she was old enough to go into training at age 19, she went to the Chipman Memorial Hospital in New Brunswick. The Second World War started and Elizabeth was registered in The South African Army. The hospitals were set up in South Africa because they couldn’t establish them fast enough in North Africa. Elizabeth treated patients from the North African Campaign that were sent to their hospitals. In 1943 she went back to Canada, where she joined the Canadian army and was sent to England and later, Holland. She had to return to Canada in 1946 due to health concerns. Elizabeth later married Herbert Dimock, became an artist and taught art classes for a few years. Elizabeth Dimock passed away peacefully on November 14, 2015 in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Born Elizabeth Grimmer in Saint John, New Brunswick during the middle of the First World War she remembered saying: “This was my great ambition, to be a nurse in the next war.” So when she was old enough to go into training at age 19, she went to the Chipman Memorial Hospital in New Brunswick. The Second World War started and Elizabeth was registered in The South African Army. The hospitals were set up in South Africa because they couldn’t establish them fast enough in North Africa. Elizabeth treated patients from the North African Campaign that were sent to their hospitals. In 1943 she went back to Canada, where she joined the Canadian army and was sent to England and later, Holland. She had to return to Canada in 1946 due to health concerns. Elizabeth later married Herbert Dimock, became an artist and taught art classes for a few years. Elizabeth Dimock passed away peacefully on November 14, 2015 in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Work Cited
Header image from Google
Amy Karlinsky and Janice Dehod. Betty Dimock. N.p.: Amy Karlinsky and Janice Dehod, n.d. Martha Street Studio. Web. 9 Dec. 2015 <http://printmakers.mb.ca/images/uploads/pdfs/dimock_brochure_final.pdf>.
"Elinor Elizabeth Dimock." Bardal Funeral Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Dec. 2015. <http://www.bardal.ca/obituary/elinor-elizabeth-dimock-2/>.
"North Africa, 1940-43." National Army Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Dec. 2015. <http://www.nam.ac.uk/exhibitions/online-exhibitions/north-africa-1940-43>.
"The North African Campaigns, 1940-1943." Canadian War Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Jan. 2016. <http://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/exhibitions/newspapers/operations/northafrican_e.shtml>.
"Veteran Stories: Elizabeth "Betty" Dimock Grimmer." The Memory Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Dec. 2015. <http://www.thememoryproject.com/stories/63:elizabeth-betty-dimock-grimmer/>.
Zabecki, David T. "Battlefield North Africa: Rommel's Rise And Fall." Military.com Content. PRIMEDIA Enthusiast Publications, Inc., 2000. Web. 9 Dec. 2015. <http://www.military.com/Content/MoreContent?file=PRnafrica>.
Amy Karlinsky and Janice Dehod. Betty Dimock. N.p.: Amy Karlinsky and Janice Dehod, n.d. Martha Street Studio. Web. 9 Dec. 2015 <http://printmakers.mb.ca/images/uploads/pdfs/dimock_brochure_final.pdf>.
"Elinor Elizabeth Dimock." Bardal Funeral Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Dec. 2015. <http://www.bardal.ca/obituary/elinor-elizabeth-dimock-2/>.
"North Africa, 1940-43." National Army Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Dec. 2015. <http://www.nam.ac.uk/exhibitions/online-exhibitions/north-africa-1940-43>.
"The North African Campaigns, 1940-1943." Canadian War Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Jan. 2016. <http://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/exhibitions/newspapers/operations/northafrican_e.shtml>.
"Veteran Stories: Elizabeth "Betty" Dimock Grimmer." The Memory Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Dec. 2015. <http://www.thememoryproject.com/stories/63:elizabeth-betty-dimock-grimmer/>.
Zabecki, David T. "Battlefield North Africa: Rommel's Rise And Fall." Military.com Content. PRIMEDIA Enthusiast Publications, Inc., 2000. Web. 9 Dec. 2015. <http://www.military.com/Content/MoreContent?file=PRnafrica>.