The Events of the Libyan Campaign
The Libyan Campaign consisted of a series of Offensives and alternating warfare with both Axis and Allies gaining significant victories. According to official figures about 27 WWII battles took place in Libya. The Libyan Campaign began in September 1940 when Marshal Rodolfo Graziani's Italian 10th Army launched an invasion of Egypt from Libya. However it was not until the British counter attack in December of 1940 that any fighting took place in Libya.This counter attack was launched by the British Eighth Army and was called “Operation Compass.” On the 5th of January the small port at Bardia was captured by the British. This was followed by the seizure of the port of Tobruk. Operation Compass was successful and pushed the 10th army back into Libya. During the Operation the Italians lost around 3,000 killed and 130,000 captured, as well as approximately 400 tanks and 1,292 artillery pieces. This was a huge success for the Allied forces however as Kennedy Hickman, military history expert, states “, the British failed to exploit the success of Operation Compass”. The substantial losses of the Italians resulted in the addition of the ‘Afrika Korps’ which vastly strengthened their effort in the Western Desert.
Erwin Rommel also arrived in Africa during February of 1941 and by March had prepared to launch an offensive against the current British line in Libya. His plans went ahead and just before June 1941 the Axis offensive pushed the British line back into Egypt, although they did manage to hold on to the port of Tobruk in Cyrenaica. Tobruk was successfully held by the “Rats of Tobruk”. The brave efforts of these men provided a base from which operations in Libya were able to continue. In fact historian Patrick Clancey believes “possession of the besieged port effectively thwarted any further offensive drives by Rommel, who needed its facilities to resupply his mechanized forces.” Following this Operation Brevity was launched a small scaled counter-offensive which hoped to force back Axis forces off essential areas along the border. This was unsuccessful and was followed by Operation Battleaxe in June 1941. The objective was to remove the Axis forces from Eastern Cyrenaica and to relieve the Tobruk garrison. However this was also a failure and despite being seemingly outnumbered the Axis pulled off a victory.
The next major offensives were Operation Flipper and Crusader which were launched simultaneously in November 1941. Operation Crusader was a costly victory however; the Allies had achieved their objective. Tobruk had been relieved and Axis forces were forced back to western Cyrenaica. However the Operation led to the loss of much of the Allies tank and anti-tank guns which were inferior to the German. In January 1942 Rommel launched another offensive at El Agheila. This offensive pushed the British back towards Tobruk. Rommel then proceeded to successfully capture Tobruk during the Battle of Gazala on the 21 June 1942. This was a tremendous success for Rommel and the Axis forces drove the Eighth Army back over the Egyptian border. However three Allied victories in Egypt during the First Battle of El Alamein, Battle of Alam el Halfa and a decisive victory at Second Battle of El Alamein meant the British were on the front foot and advancing.
The Axis retreated back to El Agheila and with supply issues due to the prioritisation of other areas Rommel favoured a fighting retreat to the Gabès Gap in Tunisia, which would increase the supply distance for the Eighth Army to 2,400 kilometres. However Cavalerro did not agree with Rommel and believed that the Axis forces would not retreat as far as Gabès Gap. Cavalerro and Rommel reached a compromise with the Axis retreating to Buerat. The Allies continued their offensive and in February 1943, retreating German and Italian forces were forced to abandon Libya as they were pushed out of Cyrenaica and Tripolitania, thus ending Italian jurisdiction and control over Libya. The Allies then proceeded to enter Tunisia of 9 March after having gained a stronghold in Libya.
The Libyan Campaign consisted of a series of Offensives and alternating warfare with both Axis and Allies gaining significant victories. According to official figures about 27 WWII battles took place in Libya. The Libyan Campaign began in September 1940 when Marshal Rodolfo Graziani's Italian 10th Army launched an invasion of Egypt from Libya. However it was not until the British counter attack in December of 1940 that any fighting took place in Libya.This counter attack was launched by the British Eighth Army and was called “Operation Compass.” On the 5th of January the small port at Bardia was captured by the British. This was followed by the seizure of the port of Tobruk. Operation Compass was successful and pushed the 10th army back into Libya. During the Operation the Italians lost around 3,000 killed and 130,000 captured, as well as approximately 400 tanks and 1,292 artillery pieces. This was a huge success for the Allied forces however as Kennedy Hickman, military history expert, states “, the British failed to exploit the success of Operation Compass”. The substantial losses of the Italians resulted in the addition of the ‘Afrika Korps’ which vastly strengthened their effort in the Western Desert.
Erwin Rommel also arrived in Africa during February of 1941 and by March had prepared to launch an offensive against the current British line in Libya. His plans went ahead and just before June 1941 the Axis offensive pushed the British line back into Egypt, although they did manage to hold on to the port of Tobruk in Cyrenaica. Tobruk was successfully held by the “Rats of Tobruk”. The brave efforts of these men provided a base from which operations in Libya were able to continue. In fact historian Patrick Clancey believes “possession of the besieged port effectively thwarted any further offensive drives by Rommel, who needed its facilities to resupply his mechanized forces.” Following this Operation Brevity was launched a small scaled counter-offensive which hoped to force back Axis forces off essential areas along the border. This was unsuccessful and was followed by Operation Battleaxe in June 1941. The objective was to remove the Axis forces from Eastern Cyrenaica and to relieve the Tobruk garrison. However this was also a failure and despite being seemingly outnumbered the Axis pulled off a victory.
The next major offensives were Operation Flipper and Crusader which were launched simultaneously in November 1941. Operation Crusader was a costly victory however; the Allies had achieved their objective. Tobruk had been relieved and Axis forces were forced back to western Cyrenaica. However the Operation led to the loss of much of the Allies tank and anti-tank guns which were inferior to the German. In January 1942 Rommel launched another offensive at El Agheila. This offensive pushed the British back towards Tobruk. Rommel then proceeded to successfully capture Tobruk during the Battle of Gazala on the 21 June 1942. This was a tremendous success for Rommel and the Axis forces drove the Eighth Army back over the Egyptian border. However three Allied victories in Egypt during the First Battle of El Alamein, Battle of Alam el Halfa and a decisive victory at Second Battle of El Alamein meant the British were on the front foot and advancing.
The Axis retreated back to El Agheila and with supply issues due to the prioritisation of other areas Rommel favoured a fighting retreat to the Gabès Gap in Tunisia, which would increase the supply distance for the Eighth Army to 2,400 kilometres. However Cavalerro did not agree with Rommel and believed that the Axis forces would not retreat as far as Gabès Gap. Cavalerro and Rommel reached a compromise with the Axis retreating to Buerat. The Allies continued their offensive and in February 1943, retreating German and Italian forces were forced to abandon Libya as they were pushed out of Cyrenaica and Tripolitania, thus ending Italian jurisdiction and control over Libya. The Allies then proceeded to enter Tunisia of 9 March after having gained a stronghold in Libya.