![]() 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. In early 1942 Axis forces drove the Allies back again, then captured Tobruk after the Battle of Gazala but failed to destroy their opponents. At the end of 1941, Axis forces were defeated in Operation Crusader and retired again to El Agheila. 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. The Afrika Korps ( Generalleutnant Erwin Rommel) was formally under Italian command, as Italy was the main Axis power in the Mediterranean and North Africa. Benito Mussolini sought help from Adolf Hitler, who sent a small German force to Tripoli under Directive 22 (11 January). ![]() 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 (10ยช Armata) over the following two months. Military operations began in June 1940 with the Italian declaration of war and the Italian invasion of Egypt from Libya in September. ![]() 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. ![]()
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