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{{WWIITheatre}} | |||
The '''Middle East Theatre of World War II''' is defined largely by reference to the ] ], which controlled ] in both ] and eastern ]. From 1943, most of the action and forces concerned were in the adjoining ]. | |||
The region was quiet for the first few months of the war, until ] declared war against ] and Britain<ref> Italy did not declare war on all the Allied nations. For example after Italy's declaration of war on France and Britain on June 10, the next day France declares war on Italy and Great Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the Union of South Africa state that they are at war with Italy.</ref> on June 10, 1940. It remained a major active ] for two and a half years until the ] ] crossed the border from ] into ]. In February 1943, command of the Eighth Army passed from Middle East Command to the Allied Joint command for the Mediterranean, ] (AFHQ). Saudi Arabia, posturing as neutral though somewhat favoring the ],<ref name="autogenerated1">''A Country Study: Saudi Arabia''. Library of Congress Call Number DS204 .S3115 1993. Chapter 5. "World War II and Its Aftermath"</ref> officially declared war on Germany and Japan in February 1945, though, in reality, the entire Middle East Theatre was quiet from 1943 until the end of the war. | |||
== Overview == | |||
The Allies initially believed that the Middle East (Southwest Asia) could become a major operational theatre, because they thought that the Germans might invade the area. This did not materialise, although when Allied forces occupied much of the area, in anticipation of such an invasion, there was fighting against ] forces in ], and against ] in the ] which ended when Baghdad fell to British forces. | |||
The Italian forces in North Africa greatly outnumbered the British. However, Allied forces were able to not only defend against Italian incursions but also to defeat the defending Italians and take over their colonies in ] and ]. By February 1941, Commonwealth forces appeared to be on the verge of overrunning the last Italian forces in Libya, which would have ended Axis control in all of Africa. | |||
While the fighting was taking place in Libya, Axis forces were attacking ]. The Allied commander, General ], was ordered to stop his advance against Libya and send troops to Greece. He disagreed with this decision but followed his orders. | |||
The Allies were unable to stop Greece falling to the Axis forces and before they could retake the initiative in the Western Desert, the German '']'' had entered the theatre. It would not be until early in 1943, after another year and a half of hard fighting and mixed fortunes, that the Axis forces would be finally driven out of Libya and the theatre would again become an Allied-controlled backwater. | |||
== Balkans and Greek islands campaign == | |||
{{Main|Balkans Campaign (World War II)}} | |||
In late 1940, the Italians attacked Greece from Albania in the ]. Not only did the Greeks stop the attack, they forced the Italians back. Eventually, in the spring of 1941, the Germans ]. They also ] concurrently. | |||
The Greeks had been reluctant to allow Commonwealth ground forces into the country, because Britain could not spare enough forces to guarantee victory. They had, however, accepted aid from the RAF in their war with the Italians in Albania. The trigger for Commonwealth forces moving to Greece in large numbers was the entry of German forces into Bulgaria, which made clear the German intent to invade Greece. | |||
Commonwealth forces took position on a defensive line running from north-west to south-east across the northern part of Greece. However, there were critical weaknesses in the defences. The Greek forces in the area were further forward than the Commonwealth forces, and the Greek Government ignored suggestions that they should withdraw to a common line. The Greek forces were thus defeated in detail. There was also a large gap between the left flank of Commonwealth forces and the right flank of the Greek forces in Albania. That was exploited fully by the Germans. | |||
After being expelled from the Greek mainland, Commonwealth forces retreated to Crete. There, the Germans again exploited weaknesses in the defences with a bold invasion plan. In the largest and last German airborne assault, paratroops landed at several points on the island and the ] began. In all but one location, they were cut off and destroyed, and the follow-on seaborne forces were dispersed by the Allied navies. However, that one location was enough, and reinforcements were flown in to the point where the Germans were strong enough to break out and take the rest of the island. | |||
Command in London eventually decided the cause was hopeless, and ordered a withdrawal from ]. Over the next four nights 16,000 troops were taken off Crete to Egypt. A smaller number were withdrawn on a separate mission from ], but these ships were attacked en-route by Luftwaffe ]s and suffered serious losses. On 1 June the remaining 5,000 defenders at Sfakia surrendered, although many took to the hills and caused the German occupation problems for years. | |||
During the evacuation of Crete Admiral ] was determined that the "navy must not let the army down", when Mr. Winnie stated their fears that too many ships would be lost, Cunningham said, "It takes three years to build a ship, it takes three centuries to build a tradition."{{Citation needed|date=March 2012}} Nevertheless, large numbers of Allied soldiers were taken prisoner on Crete. | |||
== East Africa == | |||
{{main|East African Campaign (World War II)|l1=East African Campaign}} | |||
On 4 August 1940, Italy's forces in ] (''Africa Orientale Italiana'', AOI) attempted to conquer ]. The Italians took the British colony's capital city of ] on 19 August. The Italians also staged very minor raids across the Sudanese and Kenyan borders in 1940. | |||
Italian success in East Africa was short-lived. On 19 January 1941, ] forces counter-attacked from ] in the north and ] in the south. On May 6, the capital city of AOI, ], fell. ] had managed to enter the city on 5 May. On 18 May, Prince ], the Italian Governor-General of AOI, surrendered in ] which all but ended hostilities. Some isolated Italian units fought on. But, when the Italian forces under General ] in ] surrendered on 27 November, major Italian resistance ended at the hands of the British. | |||
== Middle East campaigns == | |||
In March 1942 the ] was in Iraq. It had fought Iraq, and in the invasions of Syria, Lebanon, and Persia. As its soon to be promoted commander Major-General ] wrote: "''We could move we could fight and we had begun to build up that most valuable of all assets a tradition of success. ... it was stimulating to be at what we all felt was a critical spot, waiting for the threatened German invasion of Turkey.''"<ref>''Defeat Into Victory'' by Field Marshal William Slim, Page 3.</ref> | |||
Although ] was destined to remain a strategic backwater for the duration of ], in late 1941 and early 1942 the Allies were not certain that it would remain so. Before the turning points of the ] (June 1942 to February, 1943) and the ] (October to November 1942), the fear was that the Germans might attack the area either through Turkey, or via Cyprus into Lebanon; or through defeating of the ] in Egypt. If the anticipated attack came through Turkey or Lebanon, then not only could the ] threaten British controlled Egypt and the strategically important ] via an advance through Palestine and the ], it would also allow the Germans an alternative route to attack the Soviet Union from Southwest Asia north through the USSR's southern frontiers. In the slightly longer term the British feared independent regimes in the region as well as the possibility that the Germans might follow in ] footsteps and attack ] from Persia in the west as Japan simultaneously attacked India from the east through ]. | |||
=== Command structure === | |||
] forces in the region were for the most part under the Commander-in-Chief of the ] based in ]. The exception was Persia which for some of the time came under the command of the ]. | |||
=== British Mandate of Palestine === | |||
{{main|Bombing of Palestine in World War II}} | |||
Starting in July 1940, the Italian bombings in the ] were primarily centered on ] and ]. However, many other coastal towns such as ] and ] also suffered.<ref>, at the website of Tel Aviv Municipality (Hebrew)</ref><ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110921004629/http://www.isracast.com/article.aspx?ID=470&t=Why-Italian-Planes-Bombed-Tel-Aviv%3F |date=2011-09-21 }}, IsraCast.com</ref> On 9 September 1940, a bombing raid on Tel Aviv caused 137 deaths.<ref>Maya Zamir, , '']'', 7th of September 2007 {{he icon}} {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080112084944/http://www.tam.co.il/7_9_2007/magazin1.htm |date=January 12, 2008 }}</ref> | |||
As in most of the Arab world, there was no unanimity amongst the Palestinian Arabs as to their position regarding the combatants in WWII. Some signed up for the British army - into the mixed ] unit, but others saw an Axis victory as their best hope of gaining Arab control of Palestine. Some of the leadership went further, especially the ], ] (by then settled in Axis occupied Europe), who on November 25, 1941, formally declared ''jihad'' against the Allied Powers. During the war, the British forbade entry of Jews into Palestine escaping Nazi persecution, placing them in detention camps or deporting them to other places such as ]. However, over 30,000 Palestinian Jews fought for Great Britain during World War II, within the regular British army, ] and the ].{{Citation needed|date=July 2011}} David Ben Gurion, leader of the Jewish Agency, which was the mainstream Zionist organization in Palestine, had said "We will fight the White Paper as if there is no war, and fight the war as if there is no White Paper."<ref>Howard Blum, ''The Brigade''. p.5</ref> By 1940, The Haganah and other underground Jewish militias ordered complete cease fire with the British, in favor of the joint war effort against the Axis, but continued smuggling attempts of Jewish refugees from Iraq and Europe into ]. | |||
=== Iraq === | |||
{{main|Anglo-Iraqi War|Farhud}} | |||
Iraq had been officially granted independence by the United Kingdom in 1932, under a number of conditions, including the retention of British military bases. This caused resentment within Iraq and a pro-Axis prime minister, ], assumed control. In early 1941, Ali ordered the occupying British forces to withdraw. | |||
The Middle East Command hastily assembled a formation known as ] — which included the ] and the ] — and it arrived on April 18. There were two main British military bases in Iraq, at ] and at ], north east of ]. On April 30, the Iraqi Army surrounded and besieged the isolated and poorly defended ] base at Habbaniya. Although the base had no offensive aircraft, RAF personnel converted training aircraft to carry weapons, and attacked the Iraqi forces. | |||
Habbaniya was soon relieved by ], which defeated the larger but poorly trained Iraqi Army in a series of battles, even though the Iraqis received direct aid from the '']''. Iraqforce pressed on from Habbaniya to ] and then to ]. ] and his supporters fled the country and an ] was signed. Prior to the arrival of British forces to Baghdad, the power vacuum erupted into a series of massacres and looting (]), in which the ] was hit particularly hard. | |||
=== Syria and Lebanon === | |||
{{main|Syria-Lebanon campaign}} | |||
A Luftwaffe aircraft was shot down over Iraq during the advance on Baghdad. Since the nearest Axis bases were on ], the Allies realised that the plane had refueled in ] controlled Syria or Lebanon. This confirmed suspicions among the Allies regarding the "armed neutrality" of Vichy territories. | |||
Australian, ], British and Indian units invaded Syria and Lebanon from Palestine in the south on 8 June 1941. Vigorous resistance was put up by the Vichy. However, the Allies' better training and equipment, as well as the weight of numbers eventually told against the Axis. Further attacks were launched at the end of June and early July from ] into northern and central Syria by troops from ]. By 8 July the whole of north east Syria had been captured and elements of Iraqforce advancing up the river Euphrates were threatening ] and as a consequence the rear of the Vichy forces defending Beirut from the advance from the south. Negotiations for an armistice were started on 11 July and surrender terms signed on 14 July. | |||
=== Iran === | |||
{{main|Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran}} | |||
The final major military operation in the war in the Middle East campaign took place shortly thereafter. The ] desperately needed supplies for its war against Germany. Supplies were being sent round the ] convoy route to ] and ], but the capacity of that route was limited and subject to enemy action. Supplies were also sent from America to ] in Soviet-flagged ships. However, yet more capacity was needed, the obvious answer was to go through ]. The ] of Iran was deemed as pro-German; he would not allow this free access. Consequently, British and Soviet forces invaded and occupied Iran. The Shah was deposed and his son put on the throne. | |||
== Western Desert Campaign == | |||
{{main|Western Desert Campaign}} | |||
After the fall of France and before United States land forces entered the war in ], the north African campaign in the Sahara desert and Mediterranean coastal plains of Libya and western Egypt was the major land front between Western Allied and Axis forces. | |||
In September 1940, Italian forces stationed in Libya crossed the border and launched an ]. After advancing to ] they set up defensive positions in order to regroup and resupply before continuing. | |||
In December, the outnumbered Allied forces launched ] which was initially to be a five-day raid against the Italian defensive positions in Egypt. Ultimately the raid turned into a full-scale counter-offensive against Italian forces in Egypt and Libya. The operation was more successful than planned and resulted in the capture of the Libyan province of ] and the advance of the Allied forces as far as ]. Over 100,000 Italian prisoners were taken. | |||
The defeat of Italian forces did not go unnoticed and soon the German Africa Corps ('']''), commanded by ], were sent in to reinforce the Italians. Although ordered to simply hold the line, Rommel launched an offensive from El Agheila in March 1941 which, with the exception of ], managed to press the Allies beyond ] on the Egyptian border, effectively putting both sides back at their approximate pre-war positions. | |||
During the following stalemate, the Allied forces were reinforced and reorganised as the ]. In addition to British formations, the army was made up of divisions from the armies of several countries: the ], the ], the ], and the ]. There was also a brigade of ] under ]. In November 1941 the new formation launched a new offensive, ], and recaptured almost all of the territory recently acquired by Rommel and lifting the ]. Once again, the ] was at El Agheila. | |||
After receiving supplies from ], Rommel was able to push the Allies back to Gazala, west of Tobruk. After a period when both sides were rebuilding their strength, the Axis forces defeated the Allies in May 1942 at the ], capturing Tobruk, and drove them back to past the border of Egypt. Deep into Egypt, the Axis forces were halted in July at the ]. | |||
At this point General ] took over as commander-in-Chief ] and Lieutenant-General ] took over the Eighth Army under him. After victory in the defensive battle of ] in late August and early September, the Eighth Army went on the offensive in October 1942 and decisively defeated the Axis at the ]. The Axis forces were pursued through Libya and the capital Tripoli was captured by Eighth Army in January 1943. | |||
After the advance of the Eighth Army into eastern ] in early 1943, ] was formed to control Eighth Army and ] which was attacking Tunisia from the west after the successful Allied ] in November 1942. Strategic command of Eighth Army thus passed from C-in-C ] to ], the Joint Allied Commander of ], under which 18th Army Group came. | |||
== Command Structure == | |||
{{main|Middle East Command}} | |||
The British '''Middle East Command''' was based in ] with responsibility for Commonwealth operations in the ] and ], and also those in ], ], and the ], including ]. In August 1942 forces in Persia and Iran (known as ]) were detached and brought under the separate, newly formed ] under ] ] (the post having been turned down by Auchinleck, the outgoing Middle East Command C-in-C).<ref>{{cite book |first=Compton |last=Mackenzie |authorlink=Compton Mackenzie |title=Eastern Epic: September 1939 – March 1943 Defence |volume=I |publisher=Chatto & Windus |location=London |year=1951 |oclc=1412578 |page=591}}</ref> | |||
The ] (C-in-C)s were | |||
* ] July 1939 – July 1941 | |||
* ] July 1941 – August 1942 | |||
* ] August 1942 – June 1969 | |||
== See also == | |||
*] | |||
*] | |||
*] | |||
==References== | |||
{{Reflist|2}} | |||
{{World War II}} | |||
{{Middle East conflicts}} | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] |
Latest revision as of 23:31, 17 January 2023
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