The Tunisian campaign (also known as the Battle of Tunisia) was a series of battles that took place in Tunisia during the North African campaign of the Second World War, between Axis and Allied forces from 17 November 1942 to 13 May 1943. The Allies consisted of British Imperial Forces, including a Greek contingent, with American and French corps. Despite initial successes by the German and Italian forces brought from the mainland and which had withdrawn into and occupied Tunisia after their defeat in the Western Desert and the success of Operation Torch, massive supply interdiction efforts and Allied assaults from east and west led to the decisive defeat of the Axis. Over 260,000 German and Italian troops were taken as prisoners of war, including most of the Afrika Korps.
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- ⭐ Core Definition: Tunisian campaign
- Tunisian campaign in the context of North Africa campaign
- Tunisian campaign in the context of Eighth Army (United Kingdom)
- Tunisian campaign in the context of Western Desert Campaign
- Tunisian campaign in the context of Panzer Army Africa
- Tunisian campaign in the context of French Liberation Army
Tunisian campaign in the context of North Africa campaign
The North African campaign of World War II took place in North Africa from 11 June 1940 to 13 May 1943, fought between the Allies and the Axis powers. It included campaigns in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts (Western Desert campaign, Desert War), in Morocco and Algeria (Operation Torch), and in Tunisia (Tunisia campaign). The Allied war effort was dominated by the British Commonwealth and exiles from German-occupied Europe. The United States entered the war in December 1941 and began direct military assistance in North Africa on 11 May 1942.
Fighting in North Africa started with the British raids on Italian Libya on 11 June 1940 after Italy's entry into the Second World War on the German side. On 14 June, the British 11th Hussars and part of the 1st Royal Tank Regiment, (1st RTR) crossed the border from Egypt into Libya and captured Fort Capuzzo. This was followed by an Italian counter-offensive into Egypt and the capture of Sidi Barrani in September. The British recaptured Sidi Barrani in December during Operation Compass. The Italian 10th Army was destroyed and the German Afrika Korps was dispatched to North Africa in February 1941 in Operation Sonnenblume to reinforce the Italians and prevent an Axis defeat.
Tunisian campaign in the context of Eighth Army (United Kingdom)
The Eighth Army was a field army of the British Army during the Second World War. It was formed as the Western Army on 10 September 1941, in Egypt, before being renamed the Army of the Nile and then the Eighth Army on 26 September. It was created to better control the growing Allied force based in Egypt and to direct its efforts to lift the siege of Tobruk via Operation Crusader.
It later directed Allied forces through the remaining engagements of the Western Desert campaign, oversaw part of the Allied effort during the Tunisian campaign and finally led troops throughout the Italian campaign. During 1943, it made up part of the 18th Army Group before being assigned to the 15th Army Group (later, the Allied Armies in Italy).
Tunisian campaign in the context of Western Desert Campaign
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 of the Second World War. Military operations began in June 1940 with the Italian declaration of war and the Italian invasion of Egypt from Libya in September. Operation Compass, a five-day raid by the British in December 1940, was so successful that it led to the destruction of the Italian 10th Army (10ª Armata) over the following two months. Benito Mussolini sought help from Adolf Hitler, who sent a small German force to Tripoli under Directive 22 (11 January). The Afrika Korps (Generalleutnant Erwin Rommel) was formally under Italian command, as Italy was the main Axis power in the Mediterranean and North Africa.
In the spring of 1941, Rommel led Operation Sonnenblume, which pushed the Allies back to Egypt except for the siege of Tobruk at the port. At the end of 1941, Axis forces were defeated in Operation Crusader and retired again to El Agheila. In early 1942 Axis forces drove the Allies back again, then captured Tobruk after the Battle of Gazala but failed to destroy their opponents. The Axis invaded Egypt and the Allies retreated to El Alamein, where the Eighth Army fought two defensive battles, then defeated the Axis forces in the Second Battle of El Alamein in October 1942. The Eighth Army drove Axis forces out of Libya to Tunisia, which was invaded from the west by the Allied First Army in Operation Torch. In the Tunisian campaign the remaining Axis forces surrendered to the combined Allied forces in May 1943.
Tunisian campaign in the context of Panzer Army Africa
The Panzer Army Africa (German: Panzerarmee Afrika; Italian: Gruppo Corazzato Africa) was a joint German-Italian field army that fought in the North African campaign during World War II. It consisted of one German corps and three Italian corps. In 1943, during the Tunisian campaign, the Panzerarmee Afrika 's name was changed to Army Group Africa, and its composition became the newly-formed German 5th Army plus the Italian 1st Army. During the campaigns in North Africa, the Panzerarmee Afrika was subordinate to the Italian command and to German command headquarters in the Mediterranean.
Tunisian campaign in the context of French Liberation Army
The French Liberation Army (French: Armée française de la Libération [aʁme fʁɑ̃sɛːz də la libeʁɑsjɔ̃]; AFL) was the reunified French Army that arose from the merger of the Giraudist Armée d'Afrique with the prior Gaullist Free French Forces (Forces françaises libres; FFL) during World War II. The military force of Free France, it participated in the Italian and Tunisian campaigns before joining in the 1944 Liberation of France with other Western Allies of World War II. It went on to join the Western Allied invasion of Germany to secure the capitulation of Germany's remaining forces. The successor to the FLA, the modern French Armed Forces would jointly occupy Germany with the other allies until 1955.