We have a very daring and skillful opponent against us,

and, may I say across the havoc of war, a great general.

Winston Churchill, speaking of Irvin Rommel to the House of Commons, in January

1942.

Welcome to the history of the 20th century.

The 20th century.

The Episode 36.1 The Desert Fox.

I want to begin today by returning to North Africa, which we last looked at in episode 342. In that episode, the Germans were just about to begin

their April 1941 invasion of Yugoslavia, so that was a long time ago. Let's review a bit.

After the fall of France and the evacuation of the British Army from continental Europe,

the only land frontiers left between Axis and Allied-controlled territories lay in Africa.

There was Italian East Africa, surrounded by British colonial possessions,

and the border between Italian-controlled Libya and British-occupied

Egypt. Italian East Africa had no lines of supply or communication back to Italy, so it

represented little threat, as it was only a matter of time before it fell.

The North African Front was much more important, as it dangled before Mussolini and Hitler,

the enticing prospect of capturing the Suez Canal and Alexandria, the home port of the British Mediterranean fleet. In contrast with Ethiopia, Axis forces in Libya could be and were supplied and reinforced

from Italy, though granted that supply line was precarious.

More about that in a moment.

If the Axis could capture the Suez Canal, that would force the Royal Navy to abandon the eastern Mediterranean.

It would allow for the opening of a supply route to Italian East Africa

and possibly allow the land forces to continue their advance east into Palestine, Iraq, Iran, and who knows, perhaps even into India.

...