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Western Desert campaign

Western Desert Campaign
Part of the North African Campaign of the Second World War
El Alamein 1942 - British infantry.jpg
British infantry advance at El Alamein, October, 1942
Date 11 June 1940 – 4 February 1943
(2 years, 7 months, 3 weeks and 3 days)
Location Western Desert, Egypt and Libya
24°N 25°E / 24°N 25°E / 24; 25Coordinates: 24°N 25°E / 24°N 25°E / 24; 25
Result Allied victory
Belligerents

British Empire British Commonwealth

 Free France

Poland Free Poland
Kingdom of Greece Free Greece
Czechoslovakia Free Czechoslovakia
 Italy
 Germany
Commanders and leaders
United Kingdom Archibald Wavell
United Kingdom Alan Cunningham
United Kingdom Claude Auchinleck
United Kingdom Harold Alexander
United Kingdom Bernard Montgomery
Kingdom of Italy Italo Balbo 
Kingdom of Italy Rodolfo Graziani
Kingdom of Italy Italo Gariboldi
Kingdom of Italy Ettore Bastico
Nazi Germany Erwin Rommel
Nazi Germany Georg Stumme 

British Empire British Commonwealth

 Free France

The Western Desert Campaign (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.


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