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| The '''] Theatre of ]''' is defined largely by reference to the ] ], which controlled ] in both ] and eastern ]. From 1943, most of the action and forces concerned were in the adjoining ] | |||
| The region was quiet for the first few months of the war, until ] declared war against ] and Britain{{ref|declared}} on ], ]. It remained a major active theatre for two and a half years until the ] ] crossed the border from ] into ]. In February 1943, command of the Eighth Army passed from the Middle East Command to the Allied Joint command for the Mediterranean, ]. The Middle East Theatre remained quiet for the remainder of the war. | |||
| ==Overview== | |||
| The Allies initially believed that the Middle East (Southwest Asia) could become a major operational theatre, because they thought that the Germans might invade the area. This did not materialise, although when Allied forces occupied much of the area, in anticipation of such an invasion, there was fighting against ] forces in ], and against ] in the separate ]. | |||
| The Italian forces in North Africa greatly outnumbered the Allies. However, Allied forces were able to not only defend against Italian attacks but also to defeat the Italians and occupy their colonies in ] and ]. By February 1941, Commonwealth forces appeared to be on the verge of overrunning the last Italian forces in Libya, which would have ended Axis control in all of Africa. | |||
| While the fighting was taking place in Libya, Axis forces were attacking ]. The Allied commander, General ], was ordered to halt his advance against Libya and sent troops to Greece. He disagreed with this decision but followed his orders. | |||
| The Allies were unable to stop Greece falling to the Axis forces and before they could retake the initiative in the Western Desert the German '']'' had entered the theatre. It would not be until early in 1943, after another year and a half of hard fighting and mixed fortunes, that the Axis forces would be finally driven out of Libya and the theatre would again become a backwater. | |||
| == Balkans and Greek islands campaign== | |||
| {{Main|Balkans Campaign}} | |||
| The Italians attacked Greece from Albania in late 1940. Not only did the Greeks stop the attack, they forced the Italians back. Eventually, in the spring of 1941, the Germans intervened in Greece. They also invaded Yugoslavia concurrently. | |||
| The Greeks had been reluctant to allow Commonwealth ground forces into the country, because Britain could not spare enough forces to guarantee victory. They had, however, accepted aid from the RAF in their war with the Italians in Albania. The trigger for Commonwealth forces moving to Greece in large numbers was the entry of German forces into Bulgaria, which made clear the German intent to invade Greece. | |||
| Commonwealth forces took position on a defensive line running from north-west to south-east across the northern part of Greece. However, there were critical weaknesses in the defences. The Greek forces in the area were further forward than the Commonwealth forces, and the Greek Government ignored suggestions that they should withdraw to a common line. The Greek forces were thus defeated in detail. There was also a large gap between the left flank of Commonwealth forces and the right flank of the Greek forces in Albania. That was exploited to the full by the Germans. | |||
| After being thrown off the Greek mainland, Commonwealth forces retreated to Crete. There, the Germans again exploited weaknesses in the defences with a bold invasion plan. In the largest and last German airborne assault, paratroops landed at several points on the island and the ] began. In all but one location, they were cut off and destroyed, and the follow-on seaborne forces were dispersed by the Allied navies. However, that one location was enough, and reinforcements were flown in to the point where the Germans were strong enough to break out and take the rest of the island. | |||
| Command in ] eventually decided the cause was hopeless, and ordered a withdrawal from ]. Over the next four nights 16,000 troops were taken off Crete to Egypt. A smaller number was withdrawn on a separate mission from Heraklion, but these ships were attacked en-route by Luftwaffe ]s and suffered serious losses. On ] the remaining 5,000 defenders at Sfakia surrendered, although many took to the hills and caused the German occupation problems for years. | |||
| During the evacuation of Crete Admiral ] was determined that the "navy must not let the army down", when British generals stated their fears that too many ships would be lost, Cunningham said that "It takes three years to build a ship, it takes three centuries to build a tradition". Nevertheless large numbers of Allied soldiers were taken prisoner on Crete. | |||
| ==East Africa== | |||
| ] | |||
| {{main|East African Campaign}} | |||
| On ], 1940, Italian forces stationed in ] invaded ], taking the capital ] on ]. The success was short-lived, however, as Commonwealth forces counter-attacked from ] in the north and ] in the south. The attacks were of great success and resulted in total Italian defeat only 94 days after the initial invasion. | |||
| ==Middle East Campaign== | |||
| {{main|Middle East Campaign}} | |||
| The Allies were wary of ties between Germany and the regime in ]. In early 1940 the regime ordered the withdrawal of British bases in Iraq. There were two main British bases in Iraq, around ] and at ] north east of ]. British forces in the country and others Allied units, including the ], were hastily assembled as ], to take control of Iraq. Little resistance was encountered. | |||
| Similarly, the ] authorities in ] and ] had allowed '']'' planes to refuel on their territory. On ], ], a corps-sized Allied force based in ] launched three thrusts into Vichy territory. A vigorous resistance was mounted and the bitter fighting lasted more than a month. However, the weight of numbers eventually told, especially when combined with an advance on ] by part of ], the French surrendered. | |||
| The final major military operation in the war in the Middle East Campaign took place shortly thereafter. The Soviet Union desperately needed supplies for its war against Germany. Supplies were being sent round the ] convoy route to ] and ], but the capacity of that route was limited and subject to enemy action. Supplies were also sent from American to ] in Soviet-flagged ships. However, yet more capacity was needed, the obvious answer was to go through Persia. The ] of Persia was somewhat pro-German, and so would not allow this. Consequently Commonwealth and Soviet forces ]. The Shah was deposed and his son put on the throne. | |||
| ==Western Desert Campaign== | |||
| {{main|Western Desert Campaign}} | |||
| After the fall of France and before United States land forces entered the war in ], the north African campaign in the Sarah desert and Mediterranean coastal plains of Tunisia, Libya and western Egypt was the major land front between Western Allied and Axis forces. | |||
| On September 13th, Italian forces stationed in Libya launched a small invasion into Egypt and set up defensive forts at ]. | |||
| Allied forces, though greatly outnumbered, launched the counter-attack ]. It was more successful than planned and resulted in massive amounts of Italian prisoners and the advance of the Allied forces up to ]. This stunning defeat of Italian forces did not go unnoticed and soon the ], commanded by ], 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 ], managed to press the Allies beyond ], 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 ] and the ], but also including divisions from the ], the ] and a brigade of ] under ]. 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 ] and Salum. Once again, the ] was at El Agheila. | |||
| After receiving supplies from ], Rommel again attacked. Defeating the Allies at ] and capturing Tobruk, he drove them back to the border of Egypt where he was stopped by the ]. | |||
| At this point General ] took over as commander of Allied forces in North Africa and, after victory in the battles of ] and ], began to the push the Axis forces back, going as far as capturing Tripoli. | |||
| After the successful Allied ] and the advance of the ] into ], strategic command of the campaign passed from C-in-C Middle East to the Joint Allied Commander of ]. | |||
| Amal and kelly are the collest | |||
| ==Command Structure== | |||
| {{main|Middle East Command}} | |||
| The British '''Middle East Command''' was based in ] with responsibility for Commonwealth operations in the ] and ], and also those in ], ], and the ], including ]. | |||
| The ] (C-in-C)s were | |||
| * ] July ] – July ] | |||
| * ] July ] – August ] | |||
| * Sir ] August ] – ???? | |||
| ==Notes== | |||
| # {{note|declared}} Italy did not declare war on all the Allied nations. For example after Italy's declaration of war on France and Britain on June 10, the next day France declares war on Italy and Great Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the Union of South Africa state that they are at war with Italy. | |||
| {{WWIITheatre}} | |||
| ] | |||
Latest revision as of 23:31, 17 January 2023
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