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}} | place = French AlgeriaTunisiaMorocco | result = Allied victory * Fall of the Italian Empire * Axis forces in North Africa retreat to Italy * Commencement of the Allied invasion of Sicily and Italy | combatant1 = * British Commonwealth *: *: *: *: *: *: *: South Africa *〔1942–43.〕 * *:French Algeria〔 *:French Tunisia〔 *:French Morocco〔 * Poland * Czechoslovak Legions * | combatant2 = * *:Italian Libya * ---- * Vichy France〔8–11 November 1942. Vichy officially pursued a policy of armed neutrality and conducted military actions against armed incursions from Axis and Allied belligerents. The pledging of allegiance of the Vichy troops in French North Africa to the Allies convinced the Axis that Vichy could not be trusted to continue this policy, so they invaded and occupied the French rump state (''Case Anton'')〕 *:French Algeria *:French Tunisia *:French Morocco | commander1 = | commander2 = | casualties1 = }} | }} | United States | }} | casualties2 = Considering that about 100,000 Italian prisoners were taken in East Africa and that prisoners taken by the Americans were mainly in Sicily, the total is around 340,000–350,000.}} | Germany〔Carell, p. 596〕 | Vichy France | }} | campaignbox = }} During the Second World War, the North African Campaign took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts (Western Desert Campaign, also known as the Desert War) and in Morocco and Algeria (Operation Torch) and Tunisia (Tunisia Campaign). The campaign was fought between the Allies and Axis powers, many of whom had colonial interests in Africa dating from the late 19th century. The Allied war effort was dominated by the British Commonwealth and exiles from German-occupied Europe. The United States entered the war in 1941 and began direct military assistance in North Africa on 11 May 1942. Fighting in North Africa started with the Italian declaration of war on 10 June 1940. On 14 June, the British Army's 11th Hussars (assisted by elements of the 1st Royal Tank Regiment, 1st RTR) crossed the border from Egypt into Libya and captured the Italian Fort Capuzzo. This was followed by an Italian counteroffensive into Egypt and the capture of Sidi Barrani in September 1940 and then in December 1940 by a Commonwealth counteroffensive, Operation Compass. During Operation Compass, the Italian 10th Army was destroyed and the German ''Afrika Korps''—commanded by Erwin Rommel who later became known as "The desert fox"—was dispatched to North Africa—during Operation ''Sonnenblume''—to reinforce Italian forces in order to prevent a complete Axis defeat. A see-saw series of battles for control of Libya and parts of Egypt followed, reaching a climax in the Second Battle of El Alamein when British Commonwealth forces under the command of Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery delivered a decisive defeat to the Axis forces and pushed them back to Tunisia. After the late 1942 Allied Operation Torch landings in North-West Africa, and subsequent battles against Vichy France forces (who then changed sides), the Allies finally encircled Axis forces in northern Tunisia and forced their surrender. Operation Torch in November 1942 was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa while allowing American armed forces the opportunity to engage in the fight against Nazi Germany on a limited scale.〔Wilmott, H.P. p.〕 In addition, as Josef Stalin had long been demanding a second front be opened to engage the Wehrmacht and relieve pressure on the Soviet armies, it provided some degree of relief for the Eastern front by diverting Axis forces to the African theatre, tying them up and destroying them there. Information gleaned via British Ultra code-breaking intelligence proved critical to Allied success in North Africa. Victory for the Allies in this campaign immediately led to the Italian Campaign, which culminated in the downfall of the fascist government in Italy and the elimination of a German ally. ==Western Desert Campaign== (詳細はWehrmacht had started the ''Westfeldzug''. One month later, it was plain to see that France would have to surrender within two weeks (it was euphemistically called the Armistice at Compiègne and took place on 22 June 1940). On 10 June 1940, the Kingdom of Italy aligned itself with Nazi Germany and declared war upon France and the United Kingdom.〔Playfair, p. 109〕 British forces based in Egypt were ordered to undertake defensive measures, but to act as non-provocative as possible.〔Playfair, p. 41〕 However, on 11 June they began a series of raids against Italian positions in Libya.〔Churchill, p. 371〕 Following the defeat of France on 25 June, Italian forces in Tripolitania—facing French troops based in Tunisia—redeployed to Cyrenaica to reinforce the Italian Tenth Army.〔Macksey, p. 25〕 This, coupled with the steadily degrading equipment of the British forces led General Archibald Wavell to order an end to raiding and placed the defence of the Egyptian border to a small screening force.〔Macksey, p.38〕 Italian dictator Benito Mussolini ordered the Tenth Army to invade Egypt by 8 August. Two days later, no invasion having been launched, Mussolini ordered Marshal Graziani that, the moment German forces launched Operation Sea Lion, he was to attack.〔Macksey, p. 35〕 On 8 September, the Italians—hampered by the lack of transport and enfeebled by the low level of training among officers and weakened by the state of its supporting arms—〔 were ordered to invade Egypt the following day. The battle plan was to advance along the coastal road, while limited armoured forces operated on the desert flank.〔Macksey, p. 38〕 To counter the Italian advance, Wavell ordered his screening forces to harass the advancing Italians, falling back towards Mersa Matruh, where the main British infantry force was based. Positioned on the desert flank was the 7th Armoured Division, which would strike the flank of the Italian force.〔Macksey, p. 40〕〔Playfair (2004), pp.209–210〕 By 16 September, the Italian force had advanced to Maktila, around west of Mersa Matruh, where they halted due to supply problems.〔Macksey, p. 47〕 Despite Mussolini urging for the advance to carry on, Graziani ordered his force to dig in around Sidi Barrani, and fortified camps were established in forward locations; additional troops were also positioned behind the main force.〔Macksey, p. 68〕 In response to the dispersed Italian camps, the British planned a limited five-day attack, Operation Compass, to strike at the fortified camps one by one.〔Wavell 〕〔Playfair pp. 260–261, 264〕 The British Commonwealth force, totalling 36,000 men,〔Bauer (2000), p.95〕 attacked the forward elements of the 10-division-strong Italian army on 9 December.〔Playfair p. 267〕 Following their initial success, the forces of Operation Compass〔Mead, p. 331〕 pursued the retreating Italian forces.〔Playfair p 271〕 In January, the small port at Bardia was taken,〔Playfair, pp. 286–287〕 soon followed by the seizure of the fortified port of Tobruk. Some 40,000 Italians were captured in and around the two ports, with the remainder of the Tenth Army retreating along the coast road back to El Agheila. Richard O'Connor sent the 7th Armoured Division across the desert, with a small reconnaissance group reaching Beda Fomm some ninety minutes before the Italians, cutting off their retreat. Though desperate attempts were made to overcome the British force at the Battle of Beda Fomm, the Italians were unable to break through, and the remnants of the retreating army surrendered. Thus, over the course of 10 weeks Allied forces had destroyed the Italian Tenth Army and reached El Agheila, taking 130,000 prisoners of war in the process.〔Playfair, p. 358〕〔Wavell in 〕 Mussolini requested help from his German ally while the Italian Commando Supremo speedily sent several large motorized and armored forces to protect their colonies in North Africa.〔Bauer, p.121〕 This greatly expanded reinforcement included the soon to be renowned ''Ariete'' Armoured division under General Ettore Baldassarre. Meanwhile, the Germans hastily assembled a motorized force, whose lead elements arrived in Tripoli in February. This relatively small expeditionary force, termed the ''Afrika Korps'' by Hitler, was placed under the command of Erwin Rommel. His orders were to reinforce the Italians and block Allied attempts to drive them out of the region.〔Jentz, p. 82〕〔Rommel, p. 109〕 However, the initial commitment of only one panzer division and subsequently, no more than two panzer and one motorized divisions, indicated the limited extent of German involvement and commitment in this theater of operations.〔 The bulk of the reinforcements were Italian and therefore it was up to the Italians to do the bulk of the fighting. The forward Allied force—now named XIII Corps—adopted a defensive posture and over the coming months was built up, before having most of its veteran forces redeployed to Greece. In addition, the 7th Armoured Division was withdrawn to the Nile delta.〔Playfair (1954), p. 289〕〔Playfair (1956), p. 2〕〔Jentz, p. 85〕 The veteran forces were replaced by inexperienced forces, ill-equipped to face German armour.〔Playfair (1956), pp. 2–5〕 Although Rommel had been ordered to simply hold the line, an armoured reconnaissance soon became a full-fledged offensive from El Agheila in March 1941.〔Jentz, p. 82〕〔 In March–April, the Allied forces were forced back〔Playfair (1956), pp. 19–40〕 and leading general officers captured. The Australian 9th Infantry Division fell back to the fortress port of Tobruk,〔Latimer, pp. 43–45〕 and the remaining British and Commonwealth forces withdrew a further east to the Libyan–Egyptian border.〔Playfair (1956), pp. 33–35〕 With Tobruk under siege from the main Italian-German force, a small battlegroup continued to press eastwards. Capturing Fort Capuzzo and Bardia in passing, it then advanced into Egypt, and by the end of April had taken Sollum and the tactically important Halfaya Pass. Rommel garrisoned these positions, reinforcing the battle-group and ordering it onto the defensive.〔Playfair (1956), p. 160〕〔Jentz, pp. 128–129, 131〕 Though isolated by land, Tobruk's garrison continued to receive supplies and replacements, delivered by the Royal Navy at night. Rommel's forces did not have the strength or training to take the fortress. This created a supply problem for his forward units. His front-line positions at Sollum were at the end of an extended supply chain that stretched back to Tripoli and had to bypass the coast road at Tobruk. Further, he was constantly threatened by a breakout of the British forces at Tobruk.〔Latimer, pp. 48–64〕 Without Tobruk in Axis hands, further advances into Egypt were impractical.〔Playfair (1956), p. 41〕〔Jentz, p. 128〕 The Allied forces soon launched a small-scale counter-attack called Operation Brevity. This was an attempt to push the Axis forces off the key passes at the border, which gained some initial success, but the advanced position could not be held. Brevity was then followed up by a much larger-scale offensive, Operation Battleaxe. Intended to relieve the siege at Tobruk, this operation also failed. Following the failure of Operation Battleaxe, Archibald Wavell was relieved of command and replaced by Claude Auchinleck. The Western Desert Force was reinforced with a second corps, XXX Corps, with the two corps forming the Eighth Army. Eighth Army was made up of army forces from the Commonwealth nations, including the British Army, the Australian Army, the British Indian Army, the New Zealand Army, the South African Army, and the Sudan Defence Force. There was also a brigade of Free French under Marie-Pierre Koenig. The new formation launched a new offensive, Operation Crusader, in November 1941. After a see-saw battle, the 70th Division garrisoning Tobruk was relieved and the Axis forces were forced to fall back. By January 1942, the front line was again at El Agheila. After receiving supplies and reinforcements from Tripoli, the Axis again attacked, defeating the Allies at Gazala in June and capturing Tobruk. The Axis forces drove the Eighth Army back over the Egyptian border, but their advance was stopped in July only from Alexandria in the First Battle of El Alamein. Of great significance, on 29 June U.S. reports from Egypt of British military operations stopped using the compromised "Black Code" which the Axis were reading, so learning of British "strengths, positions, losses, reinforcements, supply, situation, plans, morale etc". General Auchinleck, though he had checked Rommel's advance at the First Battle of El Alamein was replaced by General Harold Alexander. Lieutenant-General William Gott was promoted from XIII Corps commander to take command of the entire Eighth Army, but he was killed when his aircraft was intercepted and shot down over Egypt. He was replaced by Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery. At the end of June, the Axis forces made a second attempt to break through the Allied defenses at El Alamein at Alam Halfa, but were unsuccessful. After a lengthy period of build-up and training, the Eighth Army launched a major offensive, decisively defeating the Italian-German army during the Second Battle of El Alamein in late October 1942, driving the Axis forces westward and capturing Tripoli in mid-January 1943. By February, the Eighth Army was facing the Italian-German ''Panzer'' Army near the Mareth Line and came under command of General Harold Alexander's 18th Army Group for the concluding phase of the war in North Africa, the Tunisia Campaign. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「North African Campaign」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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