North Africa campaigns

North Africa campaigns

(1940–43) Battles in World War II for control of North Africa. After the 1940 victory by Italian troops in Egypt, the Italians were driven back into Libya by British troops. German reinforcements led by Erwin Rommel forced the British to retreat into Egypt after the defense of Tobruk. In 1942 the British under Bernard Law Montgomery counterattacked at the Battles of El Alamein and pushed the Germans west into Tunisia. In November 1942 U.S. and British forces under Dwight D. Eisenhower landed in Algeria and Morocco, then moved east into Tunisia. In May 1943 the Allies, advancing from east and west, defeated the Axis forces and forced the surrender of 250,000 Axis troops.