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CHRONOLOGY OF THE NORTH AFRICAN WAR

1940

Sept 13th Mussolini invades Egypt.

Sept 16th Italian army consolidate defences at Sidi Barrani, fifty miles inside Egypt.

Dec 9th British General O'Connor launches probing offensive and achieves remarkable success against numerically superior enemy.

1941

Feb 7th Italian Army in North Africa surrenders to British.

Feb 12th Rommel first arrives in Tripoli.

Feb 28th British cryptanalysts break enigma key used by German airforce in N. Africa.

March-April Rommel's surprise offensive . Drives the British from Cyrenaica and surrounds Tobruk. British retreat to Egyptian border.

May 15th Operation Brevity, an attempt to retake the Halfaya Pass , is thwarted by the Germans.

June 15th British launch Operation Battleaxe, hoping to relieve Tobruk. The operation fails, the Germans counter-attack and the British withdraw.

General Wavell is eventually sacked and replaced by Auchinleck.

June 22nd OPERATION BARBAROSSA, THE GERMAN INVASION OF RUSSIA.

June 23rd Having cracked the Italian c38m cypher machine, the British gain access to onwards vital advance information about Rommel's supply ships.

Sept 17th British break important North African army enigma key.

Nov 18th British launch major offensive, Operation Crusader into Libya.

Nov 19th-22nd Heavy tank engagements. Situation unclear as to which side is winning.

Nov 23rd South African brigade destroyed. Auchinleck assumes direct battlefield command of the Eighth Army. Cancels plans for retreat and holds firm.

Nov 25th-30th German & Italian forces fight with New Zealand troops.

Dec 7th JAPANESE ATTACK PEARL HARBOUR.

Dec 8th The attrition rate for the Axis forces proves too costly. Running low on ammunition and fuel, Rommel decides to withdraw.

Dec 10th British relieve Tobruk.

Dec Rommel gains access to confidential assessments of the strengths and onwards weaknesses of the Eighth Army. His unwitting informant is the U.S. Military Attaché in Cairo whom Rommel nicknames 'die gute Quelle' ('the good source'). It is not until June 29th 1942 that the Allies realise that the American diplomatic code has been broken.

1942

Jan 21st Rommel's second surprise offensive.

Jan 29th Germans retake Benghazi.

Feb 7th The British block Rommel's advance at the heavily defended Gazala line.

May British break 'Scorpion' enigma key which will provide valuable information about German battle plans throughout the critical months of June and July.

May 26th Rommel commences Operation Theseus , attacking the Gazala line and brilliantly outflanking the British.

May 30th Overextended, Rommel beats off the British attacks, punches a supply-line through enemy minefields and resumes his attack.

June 5th Major British counter-attack in the Cauldron is defeated.

June 13 British withdraw from Gazala.

June 21st Rommel takes Tobruk. Hitler promotes him to Fieldmarshall.

June 25th Auchinleck sacks Ritchie and takes over direct command.

June 28th Rommel captures Mersa Matruh and its valuable supplies.

July 1st The British dig in at El Alamein.

Over the next three weeks the Germans launch probing attacks.

The First Battle of El Alamein.

July 10th Interception expert Seebohm killed — Rommel's Sigint base overrun by Australian troops.

July 22nd Deadlock. Both sides pull back and recuperate.

Aug 13th Montgomery takes over command of the Eighth Army.

Aug 30th Rommel's final offensive in Africa — but blocked at Alam Halfa.

(2nd Battle of El Alamein)

Sept 6th Germans disengage and begin defensive preparations. The British consolidate in preparation for a decisive offensive.

Sept 17th Montgomery orders a major deception plan to be drawn up to disguise the when and the where of the next offensive.

Sept 19th Rommel returns to Germany due to illness.

Oct 23rd The Third (and most famous) Battle of El Alamein.

Huge British offensive takes Germans by surprise.

Acting commander, Stumme, dies the following morning while on scouting patrol.

Oct 25th Rommel flies back to Africa.

Nov 1st Operation Supercharge — Montgomery switches his point of attack .

Nov 4th The German and Italian lines give way.

Rommel 's surviving forces retreat to Libya