The North African Campaign
Background - The North African Campaign
Fighting in North Africa stemmed from the area’s strategic importance to the Commonwealth. Egypt’s Suez Canal, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, was a vital transport artery, while the Middle East oilfields were crucial to sustaining the Allied war effort. Italy’s decision in June 1940 to enter the war on Germany’s side seriously jeopardised Britain’s position in Egypt. Italian forces in Libya and Abyssinia (Ethiopia) dwarfed the 36,000 British troops in the region.
Operation Crusader - The North African Campaign
New Zealanders were only marginally involved in the initial British operations that drove the Italians out of Egypt late in 1940. New Zealand airmen served in British air and naval units in the Mediterranean theatre, while the cruiser HMNZS Leander patrolled the Indian Ocean. As British forces crushed the Italians in Abyssinia, elements of the Deutsches Afrika Korps (German Africa Corps) began arriving in Libya and the 2nd New Zealand Division departed for Greece in March 1941. Both developments ensured that the battle for North Africa would be a lengthy campaign.
El Alamein - The North African Campaign
Disasters at Ruweisat and El Mreir
Following the breakout at Minqar Qaim in late June 1942, the New Zealand Division fell back to the Alamein Line, where it took part in the first Battle of Alamein. At Ruweisat Ridge on 15 July 1942, and the El Mreir Depression a week later, the New Zealanders seized their objectives after successful night assaults. But on both occasions they were left unsupported by British armoured units, and when German tanks appeared they had no choice but to surrender.
Tunisia and victory - The North African Campaign
The North African Campaign timeline
Timeline showing key events of the Second World War, particularly New Zealand's involvement in North Africa.
Kiwi stories - The North African Campaign
War is often thought of as constant frontline action, but in reality troops are often out of the lines, training or on leave. Listen to the experiences of New Zealand soldiers behind the frontline during the North African campaign, 1940-1943. The extracts below have been drawn from interviews in Megan Hutching's book The Desert Road: New Zealanders Remember the North African Campaign, published in 2005. Each image (apart from the last) links to an audio extract and interview transcript.
Notes and questions, North Africa - war oral history programme
North Africa – February 1940–May 1943
We had Anzac Day. The fields were full of these red Tunisian poppies so I said to the troops, 'It's a bit quiet this morning. Get a few jam jars, pop out into the fields and get some poppies and put them on the graves in the cemetery.' There were about twelve or fifteen graves there, I think.
Lawrence Wright, Medical Corps, North Africa
Before you interview any veterans of this campaign, we recommend you read our Guide to recording oral history.
Further information - The North African Campaign
This web feature was written by Megan Hutching and Ian McGibbon and produced by the NZHistory.net.nz team. In 2011 it was revised by Gareth Phipps.
New Zealand Division in Syria
New Zealand army trucks and the locals' donkey-drawn carts jostle for space on the road from Damascus in Syria to Beirut, Lebanon. The New Zealand Division were sent to Syria in February 1942, as part of Allied preparations to counter a possible German invasion of the Middle East from the north – a threat that never eventuated. In June the New Zealanders were rushed back to the Egyptian desert to help fend off a more immediate danger, a renewed German-Italian offensive from the west.
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