1. Italy Takes the Offensive

Having entered the war on Hitler's side on June 10, 1940, Mussolini hoped to gain control of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Suez Canal by conquering Egypt. He also sought to drive the British from East Africa. His first move came in July and August when Italian troops massed in Ethiopia moved west into the Sudan and south into Kenya. The major Italian objective, however, was Egypt. On September 13th, a 200,000 - man army under Marshal Graziani crossed the Libyan border and penetrated 60 miles to the Western Desert town of Sidi Barrani where it proceeded to "dig in." Acting independently of Italy, French troops loyal to the pro - German Vichy regime further complicated the situation faced by the British by tightening their control of France's North African and West African colonies as well as French - dominated Syria in the Middle East.

2. Wavell's Counteroffensive in the Western Desert

Reinforced by the only armored brigade that Britain had not left behind on the beaches of Dunkirk, General Archibald Wavell's Middle East Command had 100,000 men available to protect the Suez lifeline. By December 1940, a strike force of 40,000 men under General O'Connor was ready to take on Graziani's much larger army which, however, had fewer tanks and none to match the heavily - armored British Matildas. In a "lightning war" victory, the British captured 40,000 Italian troops at Sidi Barrani between the 9th and the 11th, and then drove the Italians entirely out of Egypt within a week. Continuing their pursuit into Libya both along the coastal strip and through the inland desert, British forces took Bardia and another 45,000 prisoners in January and then cut off the remnants of the Italian Tenth Army south of Benghazi on February 7, 1941. All told, 10,000 Italians had been killed and 130,000 captured, together with 400 tanks and 1,000 guns, at a cost of 2,000 British casualties. Back in London, Foreign Minister Anthony Eden quipped: "Never has so much been surrendered by so many to so few."

3. The British East African Campaign

Wavell put Britain's 70,000 - man East African contingent-a third of Italy's-under General Sir Alan Cunningham. The British counteroffensive against Italian East Africa began on January 15, 1941. Mogadisciu in Somoliland fell on February 26th, and Addis Ababa-capitol of Ethiopia-on April 6th. Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie reclaimed his throne in May after the surrender of the main Italian army, though scattered fighting continued in the north until the fall of Gondar in November.

4. Rommel and the Afrika Korps

In an irony of war, the British may ultimately have suffered from their quick and decisive defeats of the Italians in late 1940 and early 1941 not only in Africa but in the Mediterranean sea battles of Taranto and Cape Matapan and in Greece where Mussolini's forces were also humiliated. The reason was that Hitler-not yet tied down in Russia-had the resources available to bail out his Italian ally. Early in 1941, the Luftwaffe began its air campaign against the British in the Mediterranean while the Wehrmacht prepared to conquer Greece as well as Yugoslavia. Equally important, the brilliant tank commander General Erwin Rommel-who had distinguished himself during the German blitzkrieg of France-was appointed to lead the newly organized Deutsches Afrika Korps. Arriving in Tripoli on February 12, 1941, "The Desert Fox" launched his first offensive on March 24th. His daring tactics surprised the British who had not been able to consolidate their position in Libya because of troop diversions to man the expeditionary force being sent to Greece. Wavell's desert command managed to hold onto the port city of Tobruk, but otherwise surrendered in a matter of days to the advancing panzer columns all the gains made over many months.

5. The British Counterattack

Wavell launched "Operation Battleaxe" on June 15, 1941, to reinforce Tobruk and push back Rommel. Brilliantly using deception tactics-including dummy tanks mounted on Volkswagen chassis and camouflaged 88 mm anti - tank guns-the Afrika Korps confused and crushed the British tank forces. A demoralized Wavell was replaced by General Sir Claude Auchinleck in July. He was ready by November to try again. Initiated on the 18th, "Operation Crusader" benefited from the fact that the Russian campaign prevented Hitler from further reinforcing Rommel. In a seesaw battle lasting a month, the British ultimately compelled a German withdrawal far to the east to El Agheila the starting point of Rommel's March offensive. Thus 1941 ended with a stalemate in North Africa. The decisive battles-between "The Desert Fox" and equally crafty British General Bernard L. Montgomery-would be fought in 1942.

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Based on Time-Life Books Inc.