Lamb, Philip The Tunisian Campaign

North Africa 1942-1943

World War II began on September 1, 1939, with Germany's invasion of Poland. On September 3, 1939, Great Britain and France, who supported Poland, declared war on Germany. At the beginning of the war, the fighting took place mainly on the European mainland. However, Mussolini did not want to be left behind and concluded a pact with Hitler, which led to the formation of the Axis powers consisting of Germany and Italy. The Axis powers were to operate in North Africa, Italy, Greece, and the Baltic states. Their goal was to conquer and secure the rich oil reserves in Egypt, Iraq, and Iran. Why? To keep their armed forces operational, Hitler and Mussolini needed large quantities of oil and fuel, and the oil reserves in the Middle East at that time offered them ideal conditions. Churchill, now Prime Minister, was also concerned about the rich oil fields in the Middle East and was determined to prevent the Axis powers from gaining access to them. Allied forces from around the world and the Commonwealth were rapidly assembled and deployed to North Africa. The battles of the North African campaign, such as Tobruk and El Alamein, are well documented. During the North African campaigns of 1940 to 1943, the Allies faced a formidable force of German and Italian troops. These troops were determined to defeat the Allies and conquer the oil-rich countries of Egypt, Iraq, and Iran. Churchill had instructed the Allies at the time to prevent this "at all costs." After the battles in North Africa, particularly the Allied victory at El Alamein in 1942, the Axis powers were forced to retreat and were pushed back to Tunisia, the setting of the book. On December 11, 1941, the United States of America entered World War II, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The US, along with other Allied forces, landed in Morocco and Algiers as part of Operation Torch (November 1942 to May 1943). After the US Eighth Army had pushed the Axis powers westward toward Tunisia, it was essential to prevent the evacuation of the 250,000 captured Axis soldiers to Sicily and the European mainland. D-Day, June 6, 1944, was only 13 months away. We will never To know what impact the 250,000 soldiers would have had on D-Day; suffice it to say that the battles would certainly have been much tougher.