Timeline of the North African campaign

Last updated September 09, 2025

This is a timeline of the North African campaign of World War II.

1940

May 1940 — Army of Africa (France) — 14 regiments of zouaves, 42 regiments of Algerian, Tunisian and Moroccan tirailleurs, 12 regiments and demi-brigades of the Foreign Legion and 13 battalions of African Light Infantry were serving on all fronts.^[1]
10 June: The Kingdom of Italy declares war upon France and the United Kingdom^[2]
14 June: British forces cross from Egypt into Libya and capture Fort Capuzzo ^[3]
16 June: The first tank battle of the North African campaign takes place, the "Engagement at Nezuet Ghirba"^[3]
3 July: British navy shells French warships in the port of Oran (Mers El Kébir) to keep them out of German hands.
13 September: Italian forces invade Egypt from Libya
16 September: Italian forces establish front east of Sidi Barrani
9 December:
- British and Indian forces launch Operation Compass with the Battle of Marmarica (Battle of the camps)
- Indian forces capture Nibeiwa with cover from British artillery
- British tanks and Indian troops overrun Tummar West followed by Tummar East
10 December: Indian forces capture Sidi Barrani with support from British artillery
11 December: British armoured forces arrive in Sofafi but Libyan and Italian divisions escape
16 December: Sollum retaken by Allies

1941

5 January: Bardia captured by British and Australian force
22 January: Tobruk captured by British and Australian force
30 January: Australians capture Derna, Libya
5 February: Beda Fomm captured by British
6 February:
- Fall of Benghazi to the Western Desert Force
- Lieutenant-General Erwin Rommel is appointed commander of Afrika Korps
7 February: What remains of the Italian Tenth Army surrenders
9 February: Churchill orders halt to British and Australian advance at El Agheila to allow withdrawal of troops to defend Greece
14 February: First units of the Afrika Korps under Erwin Rommel start to arrive in Libya during Operation Sonnenblume
24 March: Allied forces at El Agheila defeated; Erwin Rommel starts his advance.
4 April: Australian & British forces withdraw from Benghazi; Benghazi and Msus captured by Axis.
6 April: British 3rd Armored Brigade is captured in Derna
8 April: British, Indian and Australian forces captured at Mechili
10 April: Siege of Tobruk begins with Australian, British and Indian forces defending
15 April: British forces are pushed back to Sollum on Egyptian border with Libya
30 April: Australian forces lose a small part of their positions in Tobruk during the Battle of Salient, roughly a 6th of Tobruk is now held by Germans
3 May: Australian counterattack at Tobruk fails
15 May: British troops launch Operation Brevity to gain more territory from which to launch Operation Battleaxe later in the year^[4]
16 May:
- Italian forces attack Australian forces in Tobruk forcing them to withdraw^{[ citation needed ]} [who withdrew?]
- Operation Brevity called off. Allied forces fall back onto the Halfaya Pass, captured the previous day^[5]
26 May: German forces launch Operation Skorpion and move up to Halfaya Pass
27 May: German forces recapture Halfaya Pass; British troops are forced to withdraw^[6]
15 June: British and Indian troops launch Operation Battleaxe which fails
5 July: Auchinleck replaces Wavell as C-in-C Middle East Command
15 August: German Panzer Group Afrika activated with Rommel in Command
18 September: German air raid on Cairo in which 39 Egyptian civilians are killed and nearly 100 injured, bringing condemnation against the Axis from the Arab and Muslim press. Radio Berlin later apologizes to its Arab listeners.
1 October: 5th Light Division renamed 21st Panzer Division
18 November: Auchinleck's Operation Crusader begins (Operation Crusader (18 November – 30 December 1941) with British, Indian, South African and New Zealander forces
21 November: British armoured division defeated at Sidi Rezegh and withdraws
22 November:
- New Zealand forces attack Bir Ghirba but fail
- Indian forces capture Sidi Omar
23 November:
- New Zealand forces capitalize on Indian advances to wreck Afrika Korps HQ at Bir el Chleta
- Rommel launches Panzer attacks on the British XXX Corps but faces resistance from SA, NZ and British forces
- British and NZ forces withdraw towards Bir el Gubi
25 November:
- Panzer attack on Indian forces at Sidi Omar is repulsed
- In the second attack in the evening, Indian forces destroy the 5th Panzer Regiment of the 21st Panzer Division
26 November: Ritchie replaces Cunningham as commander Eighth Army
27 November: New Zealand troops at Sidi Azeiz defeated by overwhelming advance of Panzers and German infantry
28 November: 15th Panzer despite being outnumbered 2:1 forces British tanks to retreat, exposing the New Zealand forces at Ed Duda on the Tobruk by-pass
1 December: New Zealand troops in Sidi Rezegh suffer heavy casualties from Panzers
3 December:
- German infantry suffers big defeat at the hand of New Zealand forces on the Bardia road near Menastir
- German forces suffer losses against Indian forces and withdraw at Capuzzo (Trigh Capuzzo)
4 December:
- NZ forces repulse German attack on Ed Duda
- Indian forces face attrition in an uphill attempt to capture Point 174 against entrenched Italian forces without artillery support
9 December: Tobruk siege relieved by Eighth Army consisting of British, Indian, New Zealand and South African forces; White Knoll captured by the Polish Carpathian Brigade from the elements of the Italian Brescia Division
13 December:
- 8th Army attacks Gazala line
- NZ forces stopped at Alem Hamza
- Indian forces take Point 204
- Indian infantry face Afrika Korps and against heavy odds destroy 15 of 39 Panzers
14 December: Indian troops repel repeated Panzer attacks on Point 204
15 December: German advance overruns British forces en route to Point 204 but Indian forces at Point 204 hold on
16 December: Rommel facing reduced Panzer numbers orders withdrawal from the Gazala line
24 December: British forces capture Benghazi
25 December: Agedabia reached by the Allies
27 December: Rommel inflicts many losses on British tanks who have to withdraw allowing Rommel to fall back to El Agheila
31 December: Front lines return to El Agheila

1942

21 January:
- Rommel's second offensive begins
- A lone He 111 of the Sonderkommando Blaich successfully bombs the Fort Lamy air field^[7]
- Panzerarmee Afrika begins Operation Theseus
23 January: Agedabia captured by Axis forces
29 January: Benghazi captured by Axis forces
4 February: Front line established between Gazala and Bir Hakeim
26 May: Axis forces assault the Gazala line, the Battle of Gazala (26 May to 21 June 1942) and Battle of Bir Hakeim begins
11 June: Axis forces begin offensive from "the Cauldron" position^{[ where? ]}
13 June: "Black Saturday". Axis inflicts heavy defeat on British armoured divisions
21 June: Axis capture of Tobruk
28 June: Mersa Matruh, Egypt, falls to the Axis
29 June: U.S. reports from Egypt of British military operations stop using the compromised "Black Code" which the Axis were reading
30 June: Axis forces reach El Alamein and attack the Allied defences, the First Battle of El Alamein begins
4 July: First Battle of El Alamein continues as Axis digs in and Eighth Army launches series of attacks
31 July: Auchinleck calls off offensive activities to allow Eighth Army to regroup and resupply
13 August: Alexander and Montgomery take command respectively of Middle East Command and Eighth Army
30 August: Rommel launches unsuccessful Battle of Alam el Halfa
13 September: Allies launch unsuccessful Operation Agreement, a large scale amphibious raid directed against Tobruk
23 October: Montgomery launches Operation Lightfoot starting the Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 11 November 1942)
5 November: Axis lines broken at El Alamein
8 November: Operation Torch is launched under the command of General Eisenhower, Allied forces land in Morocco and Algeria
9 November: Sidi Barrani captured by Eighth Army
10–27 November: Case Anton
13 November: Tobruk captured by Eighth Army
15 November: British forces capture Derna in Libya
17 November: First Army (Operation Torch's Eastern Task Force) and Axis meet at Djebel Abiod in Tunisia
20 November: Benghazi captured by Eighth Army
27 November: First Army advance halted between Terbourba and Djedeida, 12 miles from Tunis, by Axis counterattack
10 December: First Army front line pushed back to defensive positions east of Medjez el Bab
12 December: Eighth Army starts an offensive towards Axis forces near El Agheila
22 December: First Army starts three-day offensive towards Tebourba which fails
25 December: Sirte captured by Eighth Army

1943

Creation of the French Expeditionary Corps (1943–44)
The French Liberation Army (French: Armée française de la Libération, AFL) a reunified French Army, is created in 1943 when the Army of Africa (Armée d'Afrique) led by General Giraud is combined with the Free French Forces (Forces Françaises Libres) of General de Gaulle ^[8]
Italian campaign (World War II) begins (1943 to 1945)

23 January: Tripoli captured by British Eighth Army
30 January: Axis forces capture Faïd pass in central Tunisia
4 February: Axis forces in Libya retreat to Tunisian border south of the Mareth Line
14 February: Axis advance from Faïd to launch Battle of Sidi Bou Zid and enter Sbeitla two days later
19 February: Battle of Kasserine Pass launched by Axis forces
6 March: Axis launch Operation Capri against Eighth Army at Medenine but lose 55 tanks. Patton takes command of II Corps.
9 March: Rommel returned to Germany. Command of the Army Group Africa was handed over to General Hans-Jürgen von Arnim.
16 March: Battle of the Mareth Line begins^[9]
19 March: Eighth Army launches Operation Pugilist
23 March: U.S. II Corps emerge from Kasserine to match the Axis at Battle of El Guettar. Battle of Mareth ends.^[9]
26 March: Eighth Army launch Operation Supercharge II outflanking and making the Axis position at Mareth untenable. Battle of Tebaga Gap takes place.^[10]
4 April: The 9-man crew of the US Air Force B-24 Liberator Lady Be Good fails to return from a bombing raid; the crew parachute from the aircraft but become lost and perish in the Libyan desert
6 April: Right wing of First Army links with Eighth Army. Battle of Wadi Akarit takes place.
22 April: Allied forces launch Operation Vulcan
6 May: Allied forces launch Operation Strike ^[11]
7 May: British enter Tunis, Americans enter Bizerte
13 May: Axis Powers surrender in Tunisia
14 May: Moncef Bey deposed in Tunisia
15 May: Muhammad VIII al-Amin installed as Bey of Tunisia
1 August: Operation Tidal Wave attacks Nazi oil refineries in Romania, from remote base at Benghazi, Libya
10 December: the Moroccan Istiqlal Party holds first congress under Gaulist/US auspices

1944

Food shortages and growth of Tunisian and Algerian nationalist movements
15 August – Operation Dragoon, Allied landing in Provence: Capture ports of Toulon and Marseille; AFL make up the majority of troops landing on French soil

1945

8 May: Sétif massacre of Algerian demonstrators for independence on the day of German surrender

Footnotes

↑ Ian Sumner & Francois Vauillier, page 11 The French Army 1939-45 (1), ISBN 1-85532-666-3
↑ Playfair v.I, p. 109
1 2 Paterson, Ian A. "History of the British 7th Armoured Division: Engagements – 1940". Archived from the original on 14 August 2007. Retrieved 2 January 2008.
↑ Playfair v. II, pp. 159–160
↑ Playfair v.II, p. 162
↑ Rommel, p. 137
↑ MESSERSCHMITT Bf 108 – 'TAIFUN'. Retrieved 29 April 2011
↑ Horn 2020, p. 16.
1 2 Playfair, v.IV Map 31
↑ Playfair, v.IV Map 34
↑ Playfair, v.IV Pg 446

References

Horn, Gerd-Rainer (2020). The Moment of Liberation in Western Europe: Power Struggles and Rebellions, 1943–1948. OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-258286-7.
Paterson, Ian A. "History of the British 7th Armoured Division: Engagements – 1940". Archived from the original on 14 August 2007. Retrieved 2 January 2008.
Playfair, Major-General I.S.O.; with Stitt RN, Commander G.M.S.; Molony, Brigadier C.J.C. & Toomer, Air Vice-Marshal S.E. (2004) [1st. pub. HMSO 1954]. Butler, J.R.M (ed.). The Mediterranean and Middle East, Volume I The Early Successes Against Italy (to May 1941). History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series. Naval & Military Press. ISBN 1-84574-065-3.
Playfair, Major-General I.S.O.; with Flynn R.N., Captain F.C.; Molony, Brigadier C.J.C. & Toomer, Air Vice-Marshal S.E. (2004) [1st. pub. HMSO 1956]. Butler, J.R.M (ed.). The Mediterranean and Middle East, Volume II The Germans come to the help of their Ally (1941). History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series. Naval & Military Press. ISBN 1-84574-066-1.
Playfair, Major-General I.S.O.; and Molony, Brigadier C.J.C.; with Flynn R.N., Captain F.C. & Gleave, Group Captain T.P. (2004) [1st. pub. HMSO 1966]. Butler, J.R.M (ed.). The Mediterranean and Middle East, Volume IV: The Destruction of the Axis Forces in Africa. History of the Second World War United Kingdom Military Series. Uckfield, UK: Naval & Military Press. ISBN 1-84574-068-8.
Rommel, Erwin (1982) [1953]. Liddell-Hart, Basil (ed.). The Rommel Papers. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-80157-4.

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[1] Ian Sumner & Francois Vauillier, page 11 The French Army 1939-45 (1), ISBN 1-85532-666-3

[2] Playfair v.I, p. 109

[Paterson1940-3] 1 2 Paterson, Ian A. "History of the British 7th Armoured Division: Engagements – 1940". Archived from the original on 14 August 2007. Retrieved 2 January 2008.

[4] Playfair v. II, pp. 159–160

[5] Playfair v.II, p. 162

[6] Rommel, p. 137

[7] MESSERSCHMITT Bf 108 – 'TAIFUN'. Retrieved 29 April 2011

[FOOTNOTEHorn202016-8] Horn 2020, p. 16.

[PlayfairIV31-9] 1 2 Playfair, v.IV Map 31

[10] Playfair, v.IV Map 34

[11] Playfair, v.IV Pg 446

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