When did the North African campaign of World War II take place?
The North African campaign ran from the 11th of June 1940 to the 13th of May 1943. It began with British raids on Italian Libya and ended with the Axis surrender in Tunisia.
Questions about North African campaign
Short answers, pulled from the story.
How many prisoners of war were captured at the end of the North African campaign?
The Axis forces surrendered on the 13th of May 1943, yielding over 275,000 prisoners of war. The last Axis force to surrender was the 1st Italian Army under General Messe.
Who commanded the German Afrika Korps in North Africa?
Erwin Rommel commanded the Afrika Korps. He was placed in command when the force's lead elements arrived in Tripoli in February 1941, with orders to reinforce the Italians and block Allied advances.
What was Operation Torch and when did it happen?
Operation Torch was the Allied landing in Vichy-held French North Africa. It began on the 8th of November 1942 and finished on the 16th of November, targeting Morocco and Algeria to open a second front against Axis forces.
How did the Black Code breach help the Axis in North Africa?
Italian agents stole and photographed the US State Department's Black Code book from the US embassy in Rome in September 1941 and returned it undetected. US military attache Bonner Fellers used this code to transmit detailed reports on Allied positions, plans, and strength to Washington, which Germany read from January to June 1942.
What role did Ultra codebreaking play in the North African campaign?
Ultra, the Allied programme to decrypt Axis Enigma machine messages, had mixed results in North Africa. It is estimated that 40% to 60% of Axis supply shipping was located and destroyed using decrypted intelligence, though that figure is disputed by historians O'Hara and Cernuschi, who note that 2.24 million of the 2.67 million tons shipped to Africa arrived safely.