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Halfaya Pass is located in Egypt, near the border with Libya. A 600 feet (180 m) high escarpment extends south eastwards from the Egyptian-Libyan border at the coast at as-Salum, with the scarp slope facing into Egypt. Halfaya Pass is about two miles 2 miles (3.2 km) inland from the Mediterranean and provides a natural route through.
Tobruk or Tobruck is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border of Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District and has a population of 120,000.
The North African Campaign of the Second World War took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco and Algeria, as well as Tunisia.
The 1st South African Infantry Division was an infantry division of the army of the Union of South Africa. During World War II the division served in East Africa from 1940 to 1941 and in the Western Desert Campaign from 1941 to 1942. The division was disbanded on 1 January 1943, for conversion into what would become the 6th South African Armoured Division. The division was also briefly active after the war from 1 July 1948 to 1 November 1949.
The South African 2nd Infantry Division was an infantry division of the army of the Union of South Africa during World War II. The division was formed on 23 October 1940 and served in the Western Desert Campaign and was captured by German and Italian forces at Tobruk on 21 June 1942. The remaining brigade was re-allocated to the South African 1st Infantry Division.
The Western Desert Campaign, took place in the deserts of Egypt and Libya and was the main theatre in the North African Campaign during the Second World War. The campaign began in September 1940 with the Italian invasion of Egypt; Operation Compass, a British five-day raid in December 1940, led to the destruction of the Italian 10th Army. Benito Mussolini sought help from Adolf Hitler, who responded with a small German force sent to Tripoli under Directive 22. The German Afrika Korps was under nominal Italian command but Italian dependency on Nazi Germany made it the dominant partner.
The Battle of Gazala was fought during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War, west of the port of Tobruk in Libya, from 26 May to 21 June 1942. Axis troops of the Panzerarmee Afrika consisted of German and Italian units. Allied forces were mainly British, Indian, South African and Free French.
El Agheila is a coastal city at the southern end of the Gulf of Sidra in far western Cyrenaica, Libya. In 1988 it was placed in Ajdabiya District; it was in that district until 1995. It was removed from Ajdabiya District in 1995 but in 2001 it was placed back into Ajdabiya District. In 2007, El Agheila was placed within the enlarged Al Wahat District.
Major General Daniel Hermanus ("Dan") Pienaar was a South African World War II military commander.
Gazala, or Ain el Gazala, is a small Libyan village near the coast in the northeastern portion of the country. It is located 60 kilometres (37 mi) west of Tobruk.
The 27th Infantry Division "Brescia" was an auto-transportable Infantry Division formed 1 January 1935 as 27th Infantry Division Sila and reorganized to the 27th Infantry Division "Brescia" 24 May 1939.
It was made up of draftees from Calabria. The Brescia was classified as an auto-transportable division, meaning staff and equipment could be transported on cars and trucks, although not simultaneously.
The Battle of El Agheila was a brief engagement of the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. It took place in December 1942 between Allied forces of the Eighth Army and the Axis forces of the German-Italian Panzer Army, during the long Axis withdrawal from El Alamein to Tunis. It ended with the German-Italian Panzer Army resuming its retreat towards Tunisia, where the Tunisia Campaign had begun with Operation Torch (8–16 November 1942).
The 102nd Motorised Division Trento was a motorised infantry division of the Italian Army during World War II. It was formed in 1939 and kept in reserve in Italy until it was moved to North Africa in February 1941. It took part in Axis attacks across North Africa, following the Allied Operation Compass and suffered heavy losses at Tobruk. The division was then reformed and took part in all of the major battles of the Western Desert Campaign until it was destroyed during the Second Battle of El Alamein.
101st Motorised Division Trieste or 101° Divisione Trieste (Italian) was a Motorised Division of the Italian Army during World War II. The Trieste was formed in 1939 and served in Albania and North Africa where it surrendered to the Allies in 1943.
17th Infantry Division "Pavia" was an auto-transportable Infantry Division of the Italian Army during World War II. The Pavia was formed in October 1939 and sent to Libya. It was never completely motorised as a formation. It was almost destroyed during the Second Battle of El Alamein. The Pavia was classified as an auto-transportable division, meaning staff and equipment could be transported on cars and trucks, although not simultaneously.
The Eighth Army was a field army formation of the British Army during the Second World War, fighting in the North African and Italian campaigns. Units came from Australia, British India, Canada, Free French Forces, Greece, New Zealand, Poland, Rhodesia, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
Gamal Abdel Nasser Airbase is a Libyan Air Force base, located about 16 km south of Tobruk. It is believed to once have had about 60 or 70 Mirage F.1EDs aircraft assigned.
The 15th Panzer Division was an armoured division in the German Army, the Wehrmacht, during World War II, established in 1940.
