British in North Africa
British in North Africa
In June 1940, the British position seemed almost hopeless. France had fallen to
the German Blitzkrieg, the German Air-force, the Luftwaffe was about to begin the
bombing campaign that would decimate large parts of London and south east England,
and the British had no allies outside the commonwealth. It seemed that the only place
where the British could really fight the Axis was in North Africa; could battle the
Italian soldiers and try to gain control of the southern Mediterranean coastline. It would
soon turn out that this campaign would have immense importance for the British and their
allies. There were numerous major battles in this African campaign and these generally
created a major turnaround not only in the African campaign, but in the war effort in
general.
Northern Africa and the Middle East were quickly becoming very important
centers for the British and it seemed as though it were the place where they could fight
and defeat their enemies. The Middle East was important because of the vast amount of
oil contained there. The British needed this oil to assist them in their war effort and it was
certainly not something that they could afford to lose to the Axis. The Suez Canal was
also of somewhat importance for the British; it was a vital shipping lane for moving
materials through to the British in India and the Pacific. Although, because the
Mediterranean was more or less closed to shipping at this time, it was of less importance,
but still definitely something that could not fall into the hands of the Germans.
The British Territories were important for several reasons. Egypt was of course
quite important, not just the Suez Canal, but also Alexandria, the home of the eastern
Mediterranean fleet. The Nile Delta was also very important because it supplied large
amounts of cotton and wheat; again this was something that could not be allowed to fall
into German hands.
The African territories were of course important but there were several other
reasons why this was chose as a battle ground for the British. The British were being
bombed by the Luftwaffe through the summer months of 1940 and it was becoming
increasingly more important for the British to fight the enemy. There was a desperate need for a military victory to raise the morale for the British people. Africa seemed to be the logical choice for this battle because that was where the Axis was weakest. Hitler did not feel that Africa was that important so he left it to his weaker allies, the Italians. “the Mediterranean was a theatre where the British could strike blows at the Axis”. Victories in Africa would also be important for the future of the war effort. If the British could control the African coastline then it would not only provide important protection for the allied shipping in that area, but it would also be an important “jump-off” point to secure Malta and Sicily, which could be used to harass the Italian mainland. The Sicilian air-fields would be of tremendous importance because it would allow the Allies to fly
many sorties into Italian territory, and hopefully reduce the Italian enthusiasm for war, which was already quite low. The Americans too, were also in favor of taking the Axis out of Africa. They felt that if the Germans were successful in taking Northern Africa they would have more of an open range through the Atlantic, and could become involved in Latin America.
There was also the issue of French North Africa. When the Germans invaded and conquered France, a pro-German government was established at Vichy in the south of France. The Vichy government remained in control of a large part of the country and its territories, indulging