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The North African Campaign War in the Desert 10 June 1940 7 July - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
The North African Campaign War in the Desert 10 June 1940 7 July - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
The North African Campaign War in the Desert 10 June 1940 7 July 1942 1 2 2 The Start of World War II In North Africa Viewed by Hitler as a Sideshow Gibraltar Nazi Goal - Capture from British Spain joins the Axis British
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The Start of World War II In North Africa Viewed by Hitler as a “Sideshow”
Gibraltar – Nazi Goal - Capture from British – Spain joins the Axis British occupy the Suez Canal and Egypt
- Protect lines of communication
- Protect the oil fields of the Middle East.
Italy occupies Libya – Vichy France occupies Algeria and Syria Tripoli to Alexandria – 1,400 miles
- Poor road network along the coast
- Few ports along the coast for resupply
- Mountains and desert begin 30 – 50 miles inland
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The Start of World War II In North Africa Viewed by Hitler as a “Sideshow”
War in North Africa will be fought within 50 miles of the coast War will be a war of movement – ships (tanks) in the desert
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The Start of World War II In North Africa Viewed by Hitler as a “Sideshow”
War in North Africa will be fought within 50 miles of the coast War will be a war of movement – ships (tanks) in the desert Tanks and artillery will make the difference
- German “88”
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Italian North African Forces = 300,000
vs.
British forces in North Africa = 40,000
- Italians begin the campaign with advance on British Egypt
- Italians halted by the British commanded by General Archibald Wavell
- British will push the Italians back – Capture nearly 130,000 Italians soldiers
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- In order to help Italians Hitler sends
two under-strength divisions and support personnel under the command of Major General Erwin Rommel (“Desert Fox”) in March 1941 (“Afrika Korps”)
- Rommel immediately goes on the
- ffensive – pushes the British back,
captures the British commander General O’Connor
- Rommel halted at Tobruk
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Tobruk Holds Out Against Germans for a Year April 1941 – June 1942
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The Battle Becomes a See-Saw of Positions
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The Siege of Tobruk – April 1941 – June 1942 Captured -- Opens Supply Port for Rommel
- Longest Siege of British
Military History
- Australian, Indian and
- ther Commonwealth
Soldiers hold out until the end.
- Rommel Pushes Towards
Egypt
- Halted at El Alamein
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World War II Desert Battlefield Debris
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Hitler Turns to the East – Fall 1940
Failure of the Operation Sea-Lion Plan Planning begins for the invasion of Russia German goal of Lebensraum (“Living Room/Space” - Mein Kampf)
- Unable to move westward – population –
societies – focus on larger, less inhabited countries in order to have space for the expanding Greater German society
- Make use of the available natural resources
- f these areas / eliminate the “inferior
races” that currently populate the areas / repopulate with Germans
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Balkan Campaign - Spring 1941
Italy invades the Balkans – Albania – Greece
- Greeks and British push back the Italians
April 1941 Hitler invades the Balkans & Greece
- Chase the British to the Island of Crete
- Disrupts the German timetable for invasion
- f Russia
- Axis controls much of the Middle East and