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The Western Desert campaign (Desert War) took place in the deserts of Egypt and Libya and was the main theatre in the North African campaign of the Second World War.Military operations began in June 1940 with the Italian declaration of war and the Italian invasion of Egypt from Libya in September.
The North African campaign of World War II took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943, fought between the Allies and the Axis Powers.It included campaigns in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts (Western Desert campaign, Desert War), in Morocco and Algeria (Operation Torch), and in Tunisia (Tunisia campaign).
Troops were moved from near Cairo and from the canal zone to Mersa Matruh, 170 mi (270 km) west of Alexandria in the Western Desert, to be in a position to protect Egypt from an Italian invasion from their Libyan colony. [3] [4] A map of the Western Desert, detailing battles and movements between 13 September 1940 – 30 May 1941 (enlargeable).
The Western Desert Force (WDF) was a British Army formation active in Egypt during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. On 17 June 1940, the headquarters of the British 6th Infantry Division was designated as the Western Desert Force. [1] The formation consisted of the British 7th Armoured Division and the 4th Indian Infantry ...
14 June: British forces cross from Egypt into Libya and capture Fort Capuzzo [3] 16 June: The first tank battle of the North African campaign takes place, the " Engagement at Nezuet Ghirba " [ 3 ] 3 July: British navy shells French warships in the port of Oran (Mers El Kébir) to keep them out of German hands.
The British claimed to have inflicted 3,500 casualties for a loss of 150 men from 11 June – 9 September. [18] Further afield, both sides established scouting groups, the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) and Compagnie Auto-Avio-Sahariane (Auto-Saharan Company) which ranged the desert, observed British dispositions and raided. [19]
The British military response to the invasion was Operation Granby. General Norman Schwarzkopf was adamant that the use of special operations forces in Operation Desert Storm would be limited. This was due to his experiences in the Vietnam War, where he had seen special operations forces missions go badly wrong, requiring conventional forces to ...
Operation Compass (also Italian: Battaglia della Marmarica) was the first large British military operation of the Western Desert Campaign (1940–1943) during the Second World War. British metropolitan, Imperial and Commonwealth forces attacked the Italian and Libyan forces of the 10th Army (Marshal Rodolfo Graziani ) in western Egypt and ...