The Desert War | World War 2

The Desert War, 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 (11 January). The German Afrika Korps (Generalleutnant Erwin Rommel) was under nominal Italian command but Italian dependency on Nazi Germany made it the dominant partner. In the spring of 1941, Axis forces under Rommel pushed the British back to Egypt except for the port of Tobruk, where the Siege of Tobruk took place until it was relieved during Operation Crusader. The Axis forces were forced to retire to where they had started by the end of the year. In 1942 Axis forces drove the British back again and captured Tobruk after the Battle of Gazala but failed t