Genealogy Chat

I have been looking at countless websites about WW2 in Africa, but I cannot find the answer to a simple question.

Can anybody tell me, very briefly, how the Allies and the Germans came to be fighting each other in Africa? Why Africa?

Sorry if this is a silly question, but the fact is I don't know the answer.

Duncan

I don't know the answer, I can only add that my grandad fought in Egypt (Africa) in WWII. I couldn't say why, though.

Sam x

Hi Sam, similar story here, my father-in-law fought in Africa but wouldn't talk about it. I have found an unreal amount of information about the war, but not what I want to know.

Duncan

Basically Mussolini attacked British occupied Egypt. He saw this as a way to gain territory, & prestige in the eyes of Germany. Britain retaliated & pushed Italy back to Libya. In response to this Hitler sent in Rommel to help his Italian ally & protect his rear flank.

More ......

http://www.cs.ndsu.nodak.edu/~lugert/wwii.htm

This goes through all the phases of WW2 in Africa. It explains it all well.

Real background ...
At this point we should back up a little and ask the question, why North Africa? What, besides the million square miles of sand, is the strategic importance of North Africa? To answer the first question, Benito Mussolini saw an opportunity for territorial gains and military gains against the western allies in Britain and France. The answer to the second question is more a matter of location than anything else. First, if the allies controlled North Africa they would have a better chance of holding the Mediterranean which was the epicentre of the war. As for Africa, it was the gateway to India and other British possessions through the Suez Canal. One of the fears of the allies was that Japan would invade India and Germany North Africa, and the two would meet somewhere in between, crippling Britain's supply lines from India. As it turns out this was never a real threat, but it did cause occasional worry on the part of Churchill.


Ozi.

Ozi, you are a star, thank you very much for your reply. Your few lines have explained what I couldn't find despite scouring the internet.

Thanks again

Duncan

I must admit I asked my husband. Then when I googled WW2+Africa, I added +why. That brought up the good site I recommended.

Ozi.