history ww2?

Question

why was north africa vital to the british?
what did rommel accomplish there?
why was el Alamein a turning point?

Answer 1

1.) The Northern African Campaign was strategically important for both the Allies and the Axis powers. The Allies used the campaign as a step towards a second front against the Axis powers in Fortress Europe, and it helped to ease Axis pressure on the Russian front. The Axis had planned to follow a successful campaign in North Africa with a strike north to the rich oil fields of the Middle East. This would have cut off nearby oil supplies to the Allies, and would have tremendously increased the oil supplies available for the Axis war machine. (Source: Wikipedia.)

2.) On September 13 1940, Italian forces stationed in Libya launched the Tenth Army in a tentative, 100,000 troop invasion into British-held Egypt and set up defensive forts at Sidi Barrani. The army was largely un-mechanized and Italian general Graziani, with little intelligence on the state of British forces there, chose not to continue further towards Cairo.

The British forces were greatly outnumbered, 35,000 to 200,000, and only half of the British were combatants. Nevertheless they launched a counter-attack, Operation Compass. It was far more successful than expected and resulted in the surrender of the entire Italian army and the advance of the Allies to El Agheila. The stunning defeat of the Italians did not go unnoticed and soon German troops, the Deutsches Afrikakorps under Rommel (The Desert Fox), were sent in to reinforce them.

Although ordered to simply hold the line, Rommel launched an offensive from El Agheila which, with the exception of Tobruk, managed to press the Allies beyond Salum, effectively putting both sides back at their approximate original positions.

During the following stalemate, the Allied forces reorganised as the Eighth Army, which was made up of units from the armies of several countries, especially the Australian Army and the Indian Army, but also including divisions from the South African Army, the New Zealand Army and a brigade of Free French under Marie-Pierre Koenig. The new formation launched a new offensive and recaptured almost all of the territory recently acquired by Rommel, failing only to take the garrison forces at Bardia and Salum. Once again, the frontline was at El Agheila.

After receiving supplies from Tripoli, Rommel again attacked. Defeating the Allies at Gazala and capturing Tobruk, he drove them back to the border of Egypt where his advance was stopped in the First Battle of El Alamein.

At this point General Bernard Montgomery took over as commander of Allied forces in North Africa and, after victory in the battles of Alam Halfa and Second El Alamein, Montgomery began to push the Axis forces back, going as far as capturing Tripoli.

3) The Second Battle of El Alamein marked a significant turning point in the Western Desert Campaign of World War II. The battle lasted from October 23 to November 3, 1942. Following the First Battle of El Alamein, which had stalled the Axis advance, General Bernard Montgomery took command of the British Commonwealth's Eighth Army from Claude Auchinleck in August 1942.

Success in the battle turned the tide in the North African Campaign. Allied victory at El Alamein ended German hopes of occupying Egypt, controlling access to the Suez Canal, and gaining access to the Middle Eastern oil fields. The German defeat at El Alamein marked the end of German expansion.

Answer 2

the first link is to HM college and is all about Rommel's campaign.
the second link explains more of the british side and is from Wikipedia.org