Field Marshal Erwin Rommel knew what full-scale assaults looked like, and this didn’t look like one. Having just returned to North Africa from Italy (where he had celebrated his 50th birthday), he was greeted with the news that a large contingent of tanks…British tanks…were gathering to the east. But Rommel had plans, and he didn’t [...]
Archive for the ‘Africa’ Category
British Launch Crusade: Salvation of Tobruk the Goal
Posted in Africa, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1941, Afrika Korps, Field Marshall Erwin Rommel, General Claude Auchinleck, Libya, Operation Crusader, Seige, Tobruk on November 18 | Leave a Comment »
British Begin Westward Push in North Africa
Posted in Africa, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1942, Adolf Hitler, Afrika Korps, El Alamein, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel on November 5 | Leave a Comment »
The last two months had been particularly unkind to the Afrika Korps. Field Marshal Erwin Rommel’s gamble at Alma el Halfa had not paid off, and early advances merely gave way to a retreat that, ten days later, found them back where they started…with a smaller force. And that was the good news. Two weeks [...]
Clark Takes Secret Trip, Returns with Extra Baggage
Posted in Africa, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1942, Algeria, Cherchel, General Henri Giraud, General Mark Clark, HMS Seraph, North Africa, Operation Torch on October 21 | Leave a Comment »
It was October 21, 1942. In Virginia, the mid-afternoon sun shone down on an invasion fleet. To date, it was largest of its kind ever assembled. It’s destination?…the coasts of North Africa where Operation Torch would be unleashed.
An ocean away, off the coast of North Africa, it was also October 21, 1942. But the sun [...]
Rommel Goes “All in” at Alma El Halfa
Posted in Africa, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1942, Alexandria, Alma El Halfa, Egypt, El Alamein, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, Field Marshall Erwin Rommel, M4 Sherman on August 30 | Leave a Comment »
When we last visited North Africa, things were going pretty well for the Germans. It was July of 1942, and Erwin Rommel was having a field day at British expense. The Field Marshal had pushed his opponent out of Libya and 200 miles east into Egypt. The British ended their retreat and threw down their [...]
Italian Army Adds “Horn” Section to the Band
Posted in Africa, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1940, British Somaliland, General Archibald Wavell, General Guglielmo Nasi, Italy on August 3 | Leave a Comment »
In 1940, the Horn of Africa had taken on a distinctly Italian flair. And that was to be expected, since much of it had been conquered by Italy. Eritrea became an Italian possession in 1935, Abyssinia was invaded in late 1935 and overrun in May of the following year. Italian Somaliland had been under Italian control [...]
The Desert Fox Runs the British to Ground
Posted in Africa, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1942, Alexandria, Egypt, El Alamein, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, General Claude Auchinleck, Libya, Tobruk on July 1 | Leave a Comment »
In July of 1941, El Alamein was an unknown dot on the African map. Located 65 miles west of Alexandria and the Nile River Basin in Egypt, the town was a backwater railroad station of little concern. But what a difference a year makes!
In July of 1942, El Alamein, the little train depot on the Mediterranean, became [...]
“We are Masters of the North African Shores”
Posted in Africa, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1943, General Harold Alexander, Winston Churchill on May 13 | Leave a Comment »
That’s how General Alexander concluded the message sent to his boss, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, at 1:16pm on May 13, 1943. The North African campaign, fought over a 6-month period, was finally over. But the cost had been high for the Allies. More than 6,000 British soldiers had been killed, along with more than 9,500 [...]
Allies Strike in North Africa, Axis Powers Strike Out
Posted in Africa, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1943, Bizerte, Operation Strike, Tunis on May 7 | Leave a Comment »
Meanwhile, in North Africa…
Yeah, it’s been a while since we’ve said anything about it, but Allied forces (predominantly U.S. and British) had been working for six months to expel the German and Italian forces from the northern coasts of Africa. Opposing armies and navies had worked at the end of extremely long supply lines trying [...]
Operation Capri: Tanks for Nothing
Posted in Africa, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1943, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, Medenine, North Africa, Operation Capri, Tunisia on March 6 | Leave a Comment »
In all of our discussions of World War II, we’ve spent precious little time in North Africa. And unfortunately, that’s been somewhat intentional, because I’m not well-versed in that theater. But I’ve been doing more reading on the subject, hoping to find some gray matter than can absorb the information. Let’s see how I’m doing.
The [...]
“A Daring and Skillful Opponent”
Posted in Africa, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1941, Afrika Korps, Deutsches Afrikakorps, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, Libya, North Africa, Tripoli on February 12 | Leave a Comment »
“We have a very daring and skillful opponent against us. And may I say across the havoc of war, a great general.”
I don’t think he paid very many compliments to the enemies arrayed against him, so those words, spoken by Prime Minister Winston Churchill concerning Erwin Rommel, scream in effusive praise for the German General (and [...]
Allied Forces Recover Nicely in North Africa
Posted in Africa, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1942, Casablanca, Dieppe, General George Patton, Operation Torch, Vichy France on November 11 | Leave a Comment »
The Allied landings in North Africa on November 8th met with only modest resistance. But performance was so terrible that more than one commander was thankful they didn’t encounter any tougher opposition, or the outcome would have looked more like that of Dieppe a couple of months earlier.
And right away, some readers will say, “Hey, [...]
The North African Torch Ceremony
Posted in Africa, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1942, Casablanca, Germany First, Operation Torch, President Franklin Roosevelt on November 8 | Leave a Comment »
It may have been Japan that drew America into the Second World War, but America’s President adopted a policy of “Germany First” early on. At that time, Great Britain stood alone in Western Europe and Russia, though having checked the German advance near Moscow, stood on legs most wobbly, near the brink of collapse.
But in a [...]
