why was the north african campaign a turning point

AP Photo That move made Egypt very wary of Italy’s imperialistic aspirations. AP Photo Both sides began to build up their forces, in preparation for their next offensive. AP Photo AP Photo

Egypt was technically independent, but was dominated by the British, who eventually built up a powerful army in the area. Why was the Battle of El Alamein a turning point in the war?

North African Campaign. As the Allies scrambled to counter the Axis armies, the British Eighth Army confronted the experienced Afrika Corps, led by German field marshal Erwin Rommel, in three battles at El Alamein. The French XIX Corps and US II Corps were meant to be under his command, but the French refused to accept British control and relationship with the Americans was unexpectedly difficult. All enemy resistance has ceased. Their tanks were not meant to be used against other tanks, but instead were weapons of exploitation. The plan was accepted, although von Arnim always preferred an attack in the north. AP Photo "Buss" Mascot with an R.A.F. By now his army lacked the strength to stop the Eighth Army, and Montgomery forced them to abandon this position in two days (On 8 April a mixed Allied force attempted to break through the Fondouk Pass, but the Germans managed to hold on until early on 10 April. AP Photo

AP Photo d) Allied forces were now in position to invade Italy. Army

AP Photo Churchill decided to visit the desert on his way to Moscow, and after a series of other plans were discussed ended up appointing Montgomery now prepared to go onto the offensive himself. AP Photo Early December even saw a short-lived German counterattack, which also saw the first clash between German and American tanks.

Their first target was the heavily defended port of Bardia, which was attacked on 3 January 1941 and surrendered two days later. AP Photo Photo taken in Libya, in 1941.Australian troops string out behind tanks in a practice advance over North African sands, on January 3, 1941. AP Photo Hitler had refused to allow any evacuations from Tunisia until it was too late, and so all of the support staff, rear area staff and technical staff were captured along with the fighting men, and virtually the entire command structure. d. when the Italians joined the Allied cause in 1942. In some respected 1942 was almost a rerun of 1941. AP Photo

AP Photo The first clash between British and German troops in Tunisia came on 16 November, on the road between Djebel Aboid and Mateur. At the start of the Second World War North Africa was dominated by the European colonial powers. The first part of the plan, von Arnim's attack towards Sidi Bou Zid, began on 14 February 1943 (That evening Rommel suggested continuing the attack, heading for the US base at Tebessa. rescue service in the Middle East. Much to their surprise the US 1st Armored Division last 18 tanks and 41 guns in a badly handled clash, the first sign that their equipment and tactics weren't quite as impressive as they had believed. The North African Campaign began in June of 1940 and continued for three years, as Axis and Allied forces pushed each other back and forth across the desert.

This image may contain graphic or objectionable content. Eventually they were forced back into the mountains, and by the end of November the front line in the north had settled down in the area it would occupy until almost the end of the campaign. On this occasions the Italians held their ground, and the American advance got caught up in the hills on either side of the road from El Guettar to Gabes. Almost inevitably this didn’t come quite quickly enough for Once again the British were able to advance across Cyrenaica. The Allied campaign in Italy, launched with some optimism after the Allied victory in North Africa in 1943, turned into a brutal, protracted, and costly slog.

Australian troops approach a German-held strong point under the protection of a heavy smoke screen somewhere in the Western Desert, in Northern Africa on November 27, 1942.German General Erwin Rommel with the 15th Panzer Division between Tobruk and Sidi Omar. This was the first of a series of battles in which the British got to within sixteen miles of Mateur.

We are masters of the North African shores'.Allied attention quickly turned to the next operation, the This win greatly lifted Americans morale, since it was our first major victory. This would be followed by a series of attacks by the US II Corps, British French Army and French XIX Corps (Montgomery's attack made very little progress. At the start of 1943 the Germans two armies in North Africa. Wavell had to find troops for a new campaign Greece, and although General O'Conner wanted to continue the advance toward Tripoli, he had to be denied permission to make the attempt.In all probability this attack would have failed. The allies were able to take control of the North African shores, which helped the allies launch an attack on Italy. The resulting On 4 February Rommel suggested that the two Axis armies could combine in an attack on the US 2nd Corps. a. at El Alamein where the British stopped Rommel in the summer of 1942. b. when South African troops crossed the Sahara and overwhelmed Rommel. AP Photo AP Photo