Eventually they were forced back into the mountains, and by the end of November the front line in the north had settled down in the area it would occupy until almost the end of the campaign. Operation Torch was the Allied invasion of French North Africa, and only lasted for a few days in November 1942. The Allies attacked on 21 January, and resistance was over by noon on 22 January. Rommel then decided to turn this raid into a larger scale offensive, and the British position in Cyrenaica quickly collapsed. Rommel had managed to make a hole in the Allied minefields on the Gazala Line and resupplied his panzers, and the British attack was defeated. Alexander's signal to Churchill after the Axis surrender has become famous - 'Sir, it is my duty to report that the Tunisian Campaign is over. Almost 10,000 New Zealanders were killed or wounded; another 4041 became prisoners of war (POWs). The British offensive, Operation Compass, began on 7-8 December. By the time he was able to order the attack, Montgomery was ready for him, having received Ultra intercepts detailing General Messe's plan. The biggest weakness in the Allied plan was in the east, where no attempt was made to land in Tunisia. The Tunisian Campaign (December 1942-13 May 1943) thus began an overland advance into Tunisia, through mountainous countryside. Rommel abandoned the El Agheila position after a short battle (12-18 December 1942), and didn't attempt to make another stand in Libya. Rommel's last attack in Egypt had ended in failure. The British held a line that ran south from El Alamein, half way across the gap to the depression, and then a second line, at 90 degrees to the first, running back from the left flank, with a gap between the two forces. The North Africa campaign was the British and Americans against the Germans in North Africa. CASE STUDIES Both sides began to build up their forces, in preparation for their next offensive. In contrast the British advance was operating at the end of a difficult supply line, which could only support three small columns, all from General Anderson's British First Army. Two days of fighting followed around Beda Fomm, before on 7 February, with their last tanks gone, the remaining Italians surrendered. At the same time the Germans were building up a new army in northern Tunisia. A further advance west to cut off Italian troops attempting to escape raised the total to 38,000 prisoners. The initial aim was to destroy the Italian camps in Egypt, and if possible take Tobruk, a key port in eastern Cyrenaica (the eastern half of Libya). Rommel was flown out of North Africa but 130,000 Germans surrendered and by May 1943 the war in North Africa was over. It was very important in strategic terms with the Mediterranean, and the British African Empire at stake. The frontal assault achieved some initial successes, but then bogged down, and Messe was able to counterattack. On the Allied side General Anderson commanded the First British Army, coming from Algeria. Montgomery began his attack on the Mareth Line on 20 March, with an attempt to break into the main Axis defensive positions. At the start of 1943 the Germans two armies in North Africa. We are masters of the North African shores'. Create your own unique website with customizable templates. On 16 March Patton began Operation Wop, a series of diversionary attacks around Gafsa intended to draw Axis troops away from Mareth. By now his army lacked the strength to stop the Eighth Army, and Montgomery forced them to abandon this position in two days (Battle of Gabes/ Wadi Akarit, 6-7 April 1943). The attack itself was carried out by the Western Desert Force, led by Lt General Sir Noel Beresford-Peirse. Once again the British were able to advance across Cyrenaica. If the Allies could build up their strength in this area, then it was possible that they could advance to the coast and cut the Axis bridgehead in half.