WWII Notes 8: North Africa

WWII Notes 8: North Africa Hitler’s Original Strategy for Europe After the Fall of France  Mediterranean was not ______focus for Hitler (Soviet Union was), but hoped his allies could pressure ______colonial holdings in the Mediterranean o Wanted to lure Italy, Fascist Spain, and Vichy France into an ______to pressure England in the Mediterranean o Without success . Spain and Vichy France wouldn’t jump on board and Italy was erratic Allies in the Middle East  Iraq – pro German ______caused British intervention April 1941 that restored pro-British government in Baghdad  British and Free French troops moved into ______in June 1941 where they fought against Vichy French troops  End of June 1941, England ______or has friends in all of the Middle East Mussolini Invades North Africa  Believed in the ______of the British  Wanted to take Greece and Egypt and recreate the ______(like we haven’t heard that before)  Italian Egyptian campaign launched September 13, 1940 o British beat Italians out of Egypt by ______1940  By February 1941, England had taken most of ______and captured over 130,000 of the Italian invasion force o “Never has so much been surrendered by so many to so few” said Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden (parody of Churchill’s quote) Germany Has to Help Italy  British go on ______against Italy in North Africa, Germany decides it has to help  Early 1941 England had captured all of Italian East Africa (______, Eritrea, and Italian Somaliland) and had retaken French and British Somaliland  Hitler intervenes by sending ______in February 1941 to save the situation  Rommel sent to ______in charge of one armored and one mechanized division: together they’re called Afrikakorps  Rommel had just shown up and forced British back to Egypt EXCEPT for ______o Rommel needed Tobruk for supplies o ______at this point along Egyptian frontier New German strategy for Mediterranean  Intended to be a ______ Short-sidedness – shows Hitler’s limitations – ______German statesman who doesn’t appreciate the ______implications of the Middle East Theories: Could Germany Have Won?  Would had to have ______the necessary forces to North Africa  Could have seized the Suez and captured ______Worlds Wars – Ms. Hamer WWII Page 1 April 25-27, 2012  Would have cut England off from their ______ Would have helped Germany with oil later in the war  There were real problems that would have created real issues for Germany asserting their power in the Middle East o Logistics . ______was the only major Axis port . Fighting in narrow band on ______along the coast . British air from Malta ______supplies coming from Italy . Water, oil, spare parts, and ammunition were always ______

1941-1942 Change of Course May 1942 - Rommel Unleashed New Offensive  German troops took Tobruk and captured 35,000 British ______as well as many ______ By late June Afrikakorps was at El Alamein  Hitler promoted Rommel to ______First Battle of el Alamein July 1942  Ended with British ______it, but unable to push Germans back o British ability to ______their troops in Egypt including US Sherman Tanks helped  Churchill in mid-August replaced his commander in North Africa with General Harold Alexander who would command the entire theater  General Bernard Montgomery was chosen to lead the British ______o Monty was very popular with troops because he ______to move until he had superiority – seen to care about troops 2nd Battle of el Alamein – October 23, 1942  British forces led by Montgomery: 230,000 troops; 1500 Tanks  German forces 80,000 troops; 500 Tanks  British were able to thwart Axis supplies with the use of ULTRA (breaking of German code) o British lost more ______than Germans, but Rommel couldn’t handle the German losses because Hitler ______reinforcements  November Rommel was in retreat and Monty’s ______allowed the Germans to retreat into Libya Would the Allies Be Able to Drive Axis Out of Africa?  ______between British and Americans  Both agreed on ______ US wanted to focus on cross-______invasion only  UK wanted to finish off ______in Mediterranean first  US got the ______(August 1942) o Small raid on Northern France with mostly Canadian troops o Over 3,000 Allied casualties (______of the invading force) WWII Notes 8: North Africa  Churchill urged FDR to adopt the plan for the ______of French North Africa o US Army Chief of Staff George Marshall was upset about this – thought it reeked of British ______(defending the empire and all) o Result was Operation Torch

Operation Torch First Allied joint military operation Commanded by US General Dwight D. Eisenhower Skills in planning, ______, and logistics Personal and ______skills: team player, not led by ego, had great personal magnetism Allied Landings  Allied landings at Casablanca in ______and Oran and Algiers in Algeria o Out of German airspace, but would mean ______because landing so far west  200,000 French troops in North Africa ______to Vichy France and they disliked the British o So the ______led this operation o Allies didn’t trust ______so they picked Giraud to lead Free France, but de Gaulle would emerge in full control of French policy in N Africa Axis Resisted  Germans poured troops into Tunisia from Libya  French ______– 7000 French casualties Allied Disaster  Allies successfully ______in November, but were bogged down in Tunisia o Inter-Ally ______o Americans did not perform with great distinction  First encounter with Germans at ______was a disaster o US commanded by Major-General Lloyd Fredendall and British General Anderson Here Comes Patton!  March 6, 1943 - Ike named Patton as the new ______of Army 2nd corps  As much or more of an ______as Montgomery! Allies Turn it Around  March 1943 - Allies had amassed great ______and began the final push towards victory  Rommel was unable to get ______o Hitler refused to see the ______of the Afrikakorps  Germans failed to hold North Africa and Operation Torch ______What this Means for Europe  This was scary to America because the success meant ______in 1942 or 1943…

Worlds Wars – Ms. Hamer WWII Page 3 April 25-27, 2012