Campaigns, Battles and Events of the Desert War, 1940–1943

10 June 1940 – Italy declares War on France and Britain
September 1940 – Italian offensive from Libya against Egypt
December 1940 – Successful British counter-offensive
January 1941 – Tobruk taken by British troops
February 1941 – Benghasi taken by British troops
March/April 1941 – Recapture of the Cyrenaika with the exception of Tobruk
19/20 April 1941 – Raid on Bardia by #7 Commando
April 1941 – German Siege of Tobruk
November 1941 – Operation Crusader to relieve Tobruk
29 January 1942 – Benghasi taken by Axis troops
7 February 1942 – El Gazala taken by Axis troops. Tobruk surrenders.
28 June 1942 – Marsa Matruk taken by Axis troops.
30 June 1942 – Axis advance halted in front of El Alamein
October/November 1942 – British counter-offensive captures the Cyrenaika
November 1942 – Operation Torch, Allied troops land in Morocco and Algeria
12 November 1942 – Ceasefire between French and Allied troops in North Africa
November 1942 – German and Italian forces land in Tunisia
November 1942 – German forces occupy Vichy-France
27 November 1942 – German troops take Toulon, the French Navy sinks its ships
17 February – 29 March 1943 – The Mareth Line, Tunisia
15 May 1943 – Heeresgruppe Afrika capitulates in Tunisia

Somaliland, Eritrea, Ethiopia

British and French Somaliland captured by Italian troops
6 April 1941 – Addis Abeba taken by British troops
May 1941 – Capture of the Amba Alagi stronghold by #51 ME Commando
16 May 1941 – Italian forces in Ethiopia capitulate

Bibliography

Fraser, Daivd: Rommel. Die Biographie.
Gilbert, Adrian: Blitzkriege 1939–1943. Von der Invasion in Polen bis El Alamein.
Kriebel, Gudmundsson: Inside the Afrika Korps.
Kühn, Volkmar: Mit Rommel in der Wüste.
Moorehead, Alan: Desert War – The North African Campaign 1940–1943.
Piekalkiewicz, Janusz: Der Wüstenkrieg in Afrika 1940–1943.
Rolf, David: The Bloody Road to Tunis.
Williamson, Gordon: Afrikakorps 1941–1943.

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