Why did the North Africa Campaign Matter in WW2?

As Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps rolled into Egypt in 1942, the only thing standing between them and Cairo and the Suez Canal was British 8th Army. In this video we look at what was at stake for both sides, and why the North Africa Campaign made a crucial impact on the outcome of the Second World War.
Bibliography
Badoglio, Pietro. L’Italia Nella Seconda Guerra Mondiale: Memorie E Documenti. Verona, Italy: A. Mondadori, 1946.
Braddock, David Wilson, Norman Henry Gibbs, and Nick Carter. Britain’s Desert War in Egypt and Libya, 1940-1942: The End of the Beginning. Yorkshire, UK: Pen & Sword Military, 2019.
Greene, Jack, and Alessandro Massignani. The Naval War in the Mediterranean 1940-1943. London, UK: Frontline Books, 2011.
Holland, James. The Allies Strike Back, 1941-1943: The War in the West, Volume Two. New York City, NY: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2017.
Latimer, Jon. Operation Compass 1940: Wavell’s Whirlwind Offensive. London, UK: Osprey, 2000.
Mitcham, Samuel W. Rommel’s Desert War: The Life and Death of the Afrika Korps. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2007.
O'Brien, P. P. (2022). How the War was Won: Air-Sea Power and Allied victory in World War II. Cambridge University Press.
Porch, Douglas. Hitler’s Mediterranean Gamble: The North African and the Mediterranean campaigns in World War II. London, UK: Phoenix, 2005.
Walker, Ian W. Iron Hulls, Iron hearts: Mussolini’s Elite Armoured Divisions in North Africa. Ramsbury, UK: Crowood, 2006.

[@calvinliang8899]

No better way to pause important work than to watch this.

[@watch-Dominion-2018]

what important work?

[@FDNY101202]

​@@watch-Dominion-2018he's a train driver 🚆 😅

[@minihjalte]

@@watch-Dominion-2018 nuclear reactor safety overwatch

[@jasskeeper8152]

True

[@2AToday]

100%!!! Well said!

[@johndublyoo2553]

I don't remember how many programmes I've seen about WW2 campaigns but the fact that my late father fought all the way across North Africa into Italy at Cassino and later in Yugoslavia and Greece and survived the whole lot never ceases to astound me.

[@SleepyCardinal-yx2lk]

Your paps was a menace! salute to your father and sorry to hear he’s gone man

[@gbreadburnsu306]

My great grandfather followed a similar path through africa to italy. Used to run ammo through the battlefield on a motorbike while under heavy fire

[@francisebbecke2727]

I met Omar Bradley in 1981 at Fort Bliss, TX. He gave frequent talks. He said that for the US Army it was a testing ground to see if our equipment, organization, tactics, and general way of doing things could match up against the Germans. He said he would have hated to launch the Normandy invasion without the lessons learned in North Africa. He also said that he hopefully was the last US general to command an infantry division when the enemy had air superiority. He stopped in mid sentence and said, "Don't do this,"

[@biggiouschinnus7489]

That's incredible - you basically met living history.

[@gaulicwarlord]

Someone should have told the Ukrainians this. Before their counteroffensive became an utter failure.

[@MrThetous]

@@gaulicwarlordor even better, someone should have told the US State Department and National Security officials this before they pressured Ukraine into launching its offensive.

[@artkl494]

@@gaulicwarlordsomeone should have told you not to stop intellectually developing at the age of 7

[@agentmueller]

@@gaulicwarlordFunny with your username taken into account lol.

[@Raminagrobisfr]

The shortage of petroleum was a massive factor in the defeat of axis forces. And there's a dose of irony here : in Lybia, italians were sitting on huge reserves of high-quality, easy-to drill oil. these would only be discovered starting in 1959.

[@jamesharms748]

I thought it was because the drilling technology was available as yet. As with the Soviet oil fields, it useless without being to get it out of the ground, sent to be refined to a usable product.

[@jamesharms748]

Oops "not available"...

[@Raminagrobisfr]

@@jamesharms748 i don't think so. Lybian oil fields are not particularly deep or hard to drill.

[@minhthunguyendang9900]

@@Raminagrobisfr Perhaps at the time Benito didn’ see the need. He was content to fuel his Ethiopian war with 🇺🇸 oil(bought of curse)

[@patrickmiano7901]

@@jamesharms748 Refineries can always be rebuilt if not captured intact.

[@Deadeye012011]

Operation compass has to be one of the most brutal one sided beat downs in military history. 130k Italian casualties for just 2k British casualties.

[@the_j_machine2254]

5k Italians killed, 10k wounded, and 130k captured.

[@TheWizardOfTheFens]

My grandfather - who, along with my grandmother raised me from the age of three. He joined the 1st East Surrey Regiment in January 1931, was wounded at Dunkirk but managed to get off of the beaches, landed in North Africa as part of the 1st Army, fought all the way through Africa and was wounded finally for the last time on 13th August 1943 in Randazzo, Sicily. This would was caused by a German ‘S’ mine booby trap and put paid to his military career and his cross country running. I know this is a long drawn out comment, but my pride in him still lives strong. Lest we forget.

[@colinhefferman5498]

My uncle was a regular in C coy, 2nd East Surreys. He was based in Shanghai before war broke out. He died fighting the Japanese at Jitra, a few hundred miles north of Singapore.

[@Eboreg2]

Protection of the Suez Canal and preventing the Germans from having an end run to Iran and, subsequently, the Caucasus. A loss in North Africa could have significantly lowered the strategic importance of Stalingrad.

[@christopherwang4392]

The Germans and Italians would have to overcome many logistical shortcomings if they wanted to capture and hold the Suez Canal and the Middle Eastern oilfields. Taking the canal and oilfields was one thing; putting them to good use would have been another problem.

[@X.Y.Z.07]

I'd imagine bringing back the oil to germany would be even more difficult, with Royal Navy presence in the Mediterranean.

[@koc988]

@@christopherwang4392 Why allow them to get that far?

[@bruh-ni1fy]

​​​​@@X.Y.Z.07 The Royal Navy's Mediterranean presence would have been greatly diminished by the loss of the MENA territories. They would have to rely on Gibraltar, Malta, and Cyprus and nothing else. Supplying those islands would also be much more difficult now that every single bit of supplies had to come through the Gibraltar route.

[@tomriley5790]

@@bruh-ni1fy without North Africa and Suez Cyprus could not have been supplied.

[@andrewclayton4181]

North Africa was the only place where Britain could confront the axis on land. It needed combat experience which could only be gained there. The two successful thrusts by Rommel both coincided with significant British troop withdrawal's. The first in the spring of 1941, following the arrival of the Africa corps, saw British troops siphoned off to bolster the defence of Greece. The second of Rommell's thrusts was early in 1942 when more divisions, including Australians, we're sent to the far east following Japan 'sentry into the war. It's an interesting campaign to follow, and there all sorts of ramifications involved with it. The Italians in Ethiopia, the Vichy French in Syria. Malta, the naval confrontations. The emergence of LRDG and SAS..a lot of fascinating stuff.

[@executivedirector7467]

Fascinating - yes. But strategically, it was just an economy-of-force project for both sides.

[@feedyourmind6713]

Great Britain was also looking to maintain their colonial power spot.

[@executivedirector7467]

@@feedyourmind6713 Absolutely - this is key to understanding a lot of British and US strategic decionmaking in WW2.

[@feedyourmind6713]

@@executivedirector7467 Why thank you.

[@tomriley5790]

Rommel also had access to British reports due to a leak through the US embassy...

[@Bullet-Tooth-Tony-]

Germany's hold on France was too strong at the time. The Germans were far more capable in France in 1942/43 than 1944, so advancing through North Africa was a better way to keep Germany involved in a limited war, expending her resources and keeping America involved.

[@hazchemel]

Absolutely, and it was within our power to actually wage war upon our mortal enemy. In this respect, Guadalcanal was the US's Egypt.

[@pauledwards9493]

Bingo, keep them overstretched. Though, we were as well.

[@deriznohappehquite]

Every tank, artillery shell, and gallon of oil that went to the Mediterranean and Sahara couldn’t go to the East.

[@talesoftheamericanempire]

They should have skipped Africa and invaded Sardinia. But Roosevelt wanted to take over the French empire while the Germans and Soviets killed each other. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iIPRo5-MjtmNiqM

[@mappingshaman5280]

The germans at the height of their involvement in North africa only had 9 divisions there. The North Africa front was purely strategic: protect the suez and had almost no tactical value.

[@MatSpeedle]

It still amazes me that my grandfather was part of this 8th Army and lived through all this. Always love learning more about this campaign. Thank you sir!

[@9HighFlyer9]

My grandfather was 39th FA BN, 3d ID from 1939 until 1945. He also made it through. Still had shrapnel on his spine and heart when he died in 2001. Every time I watch a video of North Africa and the following campaigns I hope to catch a glimpse of him.

[@MatSpeedle]

@@9HighFlyer9 I'm exactly the same, I'm always looking for him. I know he's there somewhere as I'm sure yours is too :) I don't have a lot of details on his deployment but I know he went through Africa onto Italy/Anzio/Monte Casino with the Artillery as part of the 8th. He was always proud to be a Desert Rat.

[@hansgruber3064]

⁠@@9HighFlyer9 my grandfather also fought in the North African campaign and was wounded by a mortar shell fragment. He refused to leave his company and had the medic just patch him up as best he could. The medic must of done a good job because it was only removed when he had a hip operation in he’s 80’s. My family had to explain to the doctor that it happened in the war. The doctor just didn’t seem to understand that it happened in WW2 and wanted to know the medics name so he can report him for leaving the fragments in!

[@9HighFlyer9]

@@MatSpeedle I believe you may have misremembered. The US Eighth army was in combat in the Pacific during WW2. The British 8th Army was in North Africa and the other places mentioned. Maybe I am wrong for assuming you're American? Was he/you British? It would make sense you having referred to "Desert Rats"

[@Jin-Ro]

So was mine. He actually appears in the TV series The World at War, manning a machine gun nest somewhere in North Africa.

[@Belgand]

The rise and fall of empires is one aspect of WWII that isn't given enough attention in popular histories. The belligerents almost universally were attempting to create new empires while the allies were seeing or soon would see theirs beginning to crumble. It also plays a large role in the war becoming so worldwide. France and the UK trying to maintain control of colonial possessions in Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific would drive much of the fighting in those areas while the breadth of the Commonwealth would bolster UK forces. In the end we saw two new, but very different empires form. The USSR took control over Eastern Europe with a series of puppet regimes while Western Europe and the US would become closer than ever before, continuing the alliance until the present day. Eventually even incorporating Japan as a major US ally. The Cold War would exploit much of this with waves of decolonization as those old empires finally fell apart in the wake of the war. Resulting in wars to achieve independence as well as civil wars over how those newly independent nations ought to be governed.

[@Typo350]

Yeah all of the allies lose their empires, except for the US. The US uses WWII to build their empire. Oh Britain wants 50 of our old destroyers? Yeah sure they can have them, but only if they give us all these naval bases/territories. America was empire building all throughout the second world war

[@Ihavpickle]

Ok🥱🥱🥱

[@whoopsacademics-fg7eq]

Great book that came out about this recently called "Blood and Ruins: The Great Imperial War, 1931-1945"

[@Ihavpickle]

@whoops academics Buy it for me then I'll give a shit🥱🥱

[@nuclearwinter1984]

@@Ihavpickle really smart, succinct reply… well done!

[@USSResolute]

One thing I took away from this is that WW2 was at least in part a war for OIL. Interesting.

[@mitchverr9330]

A bit of a shame that theres no comment on Rommels early success being mainly due to Churchill gutting the WDF to support Greece along with the removal of O'Conner from field command. I think it would be pretty interesting if we saw what would have happened if O'Conner/Wavell and the full WDF took on Rommel in his initial attacks instead of the skeleton force which O'Conner was rushed to try and support and captured en route. Also while mentioned via Churchill wanting more "aggression", a comment on Churchills forcing Wavell out of position, arguably the best logistics commander in the army would have been nice too. Churchills "aggression" demands lead to many blunders in Africa as forces were being used when they simply should not have.

[@stc3145]

They assumed Rommel would only be able to attack in May/June and not Feburary which is when he did attack

[@ryanelliott71698]

TIKHISTORY touched on this and how at times Churchill was actively going against the war effort. Yeah, one could argue Churchill taking away O’Conners troops to other fronts could be seen as a way to show the American government Britain is willing to fight everywhere. However… Churchill dicing up his forces only made them easy pickings

[@luisdelvalle4862]

This is Leftist Revisionist Anti-Churchill nonsense.

[@cjclark1208]

Churchill was a war criminal and awful little man.

[@Paul-zf8ob]

If England hadn’t broken the German codes I don’t think they could beat Rommel. It took an American army, a large British force with much more firepower and knowing what Rommel was going to do to defeat him.

[@Rbbats1996]

My grandfather was a US Army and WW2 veteran. He was a Tec5 and fought in the North African Campaign; my two great Uncles, and grandfather's brother, also fought in WW2 and were in the US Navy and deployed to Sicily--both fought in the Battle of the Bulge. My grandfather and two great-uncles all returned home safely.

[@tigerland4328]

My grandfather fought in north Africa. He wasn't in the western desert with the British Eighth Army but landed during the torch landings. He fought in Tunisia and later Italy and Arnhem.

[@James-kv6kb]

Probably they returned home safely because by the time you turned up all the hard work had been done. The Americans only got involved to sell military equipment

[@tigerland4328]

@@James-kv6kb was that ment for me as well?

[@James-kv6kb]

​@@tigerland4328if it was your name would have been attached to the comment

[@James-kv6kb]

​@@tigerland4328however if you're a Yank it does apply to your country. So much carnage so you people can sell military weapons the Germans only had another go because of World War I which the American started

[@Thx1138sober]

I've never seen much of the Italian footage in this video before and I've been a WWII history junkie since about age 10 (1968) and it has a look to it, just like early 1960s B&W TV. Very Cool.

[@ryanhuff456]

Looked really cleaned up and smooth

[@Sailor_Greg]

These videos are amazing. What the history channel should be. Keep up the great work!

[@timalexander7758]

Always a great day when you drop a vid! Thank you!

[@user-mg8kk1mw2f]

Always well researched and well presented. That stabilised footage really brings it home. My grandfather was in the 8th and fought with Monty.

[@DaveSCameron]

Ah wonderful, I really appreciate your work and efforts here. 👍

[@nostreesnomess]

I've always wondered why I'd heard about North Africa during WW2 movies, books and even in school but I've never looked into it, I'm glad now I finally am, just shows how complicated and complex the war really was

[@nathanbrisebois8756]

It's a pretty well covered and docu ented theater of the war... although I'm Canadian and the UK and commonwealth forces were much more prevalent in Africa than the USA was, but they were definitely there. Proving grounds for the Sherman Tank. Desert Rats. Australians kicked ass in North Africa. The Italians and Rommel were bumbling idiots. Tons of interesting stuff in the North Africa Theatre

[@abattlescar]

It mattered so that decades later war gamers could play The Campaign for North Africa.

[@slypear]

Wonderful video footage - thank you!

[@drandrewclarke]

excellent production. just the right amount of detail

[@De_Wit]

Interesting as always. Thank you good sir.

[@sathancat]

wow the video quality is amazing!

[@culturevulture3382]

Excellent summary. Thank you.

[@mancroft]

Excellent as usual. Thank you.

[@AugmentedGravity]

Beautiful work

[@TheFBIorange]

This video was AMAZING and drove home the importance of the N. African theatre to a new level for me. I had always considered it a sideshow of the western front. Suez canal for access to colonial resources for the Allies, and oil fields for the new mechanized warfare of the 40s - no wonder Britain took the front so seriously. Also seems like this same strategic point explains the Suez Canal Crisis of the 60s. I would agree with Rommel here that this might have actually been the most important theatre for the Axis... Great work, looking forward to your future work and still making my way through your collection!

[@celebrim1]

The front was of critical importance to the Allies, but it was absolutely a sideshow for the Axis that they did not need and could not win.

[@101jir]

​@celebrim1 Not a "side show" so much as a check. They stood to gain relatively little, but stood to lose much.

[@nickdecker2350]

Seriously, so often you hear "_____ and we'd be speaking German" usually about the timing of invading Russia or the US involvement. When in reality: a little more oil or a little more food and we'd be speaking German - and Africa could have gotten them more of both

[@Salmon_Rush_Die]

This footage is amazing. So much of it I've never seen.

[@MsZeeZed]

10:38 - that’s fairly true given Rommel was head of Hitler’s personnel protection unit in September 1939 and was given a Panzer Division in France 1940 as a personal favor from Hitler. Rommel however always commanded large formations like they were small ones, sometimes personally. This achieved great results short-term, but no part of the Army he commanded was able to achieve sustained breakthroughs if the fight lasted more than a few months, Benghazi-Gazala-Egypt is the exception. Probably because the Eastern half of the British Empire forces hadn’t experienced the tactic of using 88mm flak guns in a straight line as anti-tank weapons. Something already used to devastating effect in France.

[@RandomStuff-he7lu]

Officers under Rommel's command - "Where the fuck is Rommel? I can't get in contact with him." Rommel - "I feel like leading this platoon today."

[@minhthunguyendang9900]

Read Corelli Barnett’s « The Desert Generals » 🇬🇧 brass, conservative to the core, never allowed the use of the excellent 94mm AA as a.t.

[@keithfarrell3370]

Brilliant is usual. Thanks

[@oneshotme]

Enjoyed your video and I gave it a Thumbs Up

[@deltaVelocity_]

The AI interpolation of the historical footage is honestly a bit nauseating. the attempted upscaling's a bit ugly too.

[@samadams2203]

I kept looking at the blurred features and wondering if it was AI creating from scratch or attempting to sharpen historical footage. Guess it's the latter, it looks rather strange.

[@jtgd]

What?

[@SlavicCelery]

It makes everything look like it was wrapped in shrink wrap.

[@kronanthekonqueror2979]

To me the interpolation isn't the issue, it's really the upscaling. Way, way too much artifacting (I think is the right word).

[@devonhamilton8378]

I think it looks awesome. I have seen all this footage before and it looks better then ever.

[@sgtrock6283]

Great video as usual. The quality seems a bit over processed, some of the footage looks like its been upgraded to 60fps and cleaned up a bit too much.

[@Diggy246]

Great video as usual taking above the military history to the political. No offence, however, I believe you might've used AI program to upscale the footage. It does not look good and I think, with some of it, would rather go with the low res quality.

[@HansWurst-gl8it]

The faces at 10:55 look definitely more haunted than usual for those who've seen the war.

[@WillVRam]

4:17 - Allies destroyed the Italian 10th Army - results 5:30 - The hight investiments of Hitler on north Afrika after the Rommel's victories. 8:12 - Rommel's thoughts and objectives 8:56 The United Kingdom's matter about north afrika campaign 9:05 - Winston Churchill's 10:08 - The growth of desert battles' importance and it's massive ramifications.

[@brokenbridge6316]

Nicely done video

[@robbabcock_]

Great video!

[@watch-Dominion-2018]

will you and Operations Room do a series on the Korean War?

[@James-kv6kb]

It's not hard to sit in front of a computer and make a video why don't you do it . Occasionally you have to contribute

[@watch-Dominion-2018]

@@James-kv6kb no

[@James-kv6kb]

@@watch-Dominion-2018 OK so you don't have the intelligence to do it yourself judging by your response

[@watch-Dominion-2018]

@@James-kv6kb your mom gae

[@user-yy9hk9od9u]

It was done so the Italian campaign was possible. The British also wanted to defend Egypt and the canal at all cost.

[@aswclassicsiow8588]

My dad went through this, was in the 8th Army with the Royal Artillery, (full time soldier from 1938 to 1946) but would rarely talk about it,

[@PRWphoto]

My father also went through this. He was on Rommel's staff. He was captured when German resistance in North Africa collapsed, and spent the remainder of the war in an American POW camp in Kansas. Talked about it a lot.

[@sleepwalker3520]

that footage is amazing

[@adrianwallenborg7396]

I watched this to fall asleep, slept for 15 hours. Grear video, would watch again.

[@Dayvit78]

These videos are amazing. Were they digitally remastered?

[@philipnorris6542]

At the going down of the Sun and in the morning we will remember them.

[@zainmudassir2964]

It was good experience for Allies using large armour formations against Nazi Germany. Luftwaffe also suffered heavily especially transport aircraft in Tunisian campain

[@pincermovement72]

In fairness the desert rats were poor in north west Europe compared to other unbloodied armour units , mostly because of the different terrain but also being battle hardened they were more cautious. Admittedly the virgin armour corps would have been useless in the desert

[@executivedirector7467]

@@pincermovement72 Having just returned from Normandy myself, I was struck by how wide-open and flat the terrain around Caen, and south & west of Caen, is. Should have been very easy indeed to adopt desert tactics to this sector. Most of the upper command echelon of the 7th AD was (rightly) relieved of command in Normandy.

[@Bullet-Tooth-Tony-]

@@executivedirector7467 I always assumed that Caen was a narrow front with limited flanking opportunities? at least that's what i've seen on some of the maps. The sector was like 62 miles and very confined.

[@executivedirector7467]

@@Bullet-Tooth-Tony- Not confined at all. Quite wide-open. Plenty of flanking opportunities - Villers-Bocage was a fantastic example of a great opportunity that was nearly taken. Nothing at all like the terrain west of Bayeux.

[@minhthunguyendang9900]

Tunis was called the 2nd Stalingrad

[@kayconstandse3310]

Let me start off by saying that I love your video's. Please keep up the great work. I have to ask though: which post processing have you used to make your footage 4k60p. The artifacts and lack of motion blur really hurts my brain. I haven't noticed it until this video though. Did you change something? Edit: Nevermind. I see you've changed it in the "Why Did The Americans Hate Monty?" video.

[@bikenavbm1229]

great explanation

[@stevecummins324]

Found out recently from German stenographic records (typed up records of meetings) . north africa was only place Germany had to source cobalt. And without adding it to the steel they were made from, it's high performance aircraft engines couldn't run for more than a few hours without self destructing

[@Conn30Mtenor]

Short answer? The Suez Canal and oil. Especially oil.

[@bigsarge2085]

Informative as always, thank you!

[@jabbs8836]

The voice of this channel is so nostalgic to me at this point

[@watchthe1369]

My thinking has always been that it was about the Suez canal. Australian and Indian resources going to Britain would have to go all the way around the end of Africa if that canal was lost. For America it was a case of figuring out how to use their equipment and gaining field experience in case there were major flaws.

[@rickm9244]

I would say the Italians dragged Germany into that fight more than anything. Africa was meant to be Italy's prize and the UK was seen as a beaten force. No idea why Germany thought the Italians were considered a good fighting force. They were so under equipped for the job at hand.

[@dragonstormdipro1013]

Not just under-equipped, under qualified too. They faced Australian and Indian troops, both significantly better at desert warfare than them. The Italians actually outnumbered the British Colonial troops in many cases but were hopelessly outmatched by the Anzacs, Indians, and Nigerians.

[@spidos1000]

@@dragonstormdipro1013 why are you just mentioning just colonials? It was mainly the British that fought in North Africa. You sound like those typical Polish guys who think that they won the war by themselves.

[@dragonstormdipro1013]

@@spidos1000 Because usually the contribution of the colonial troops is downplayed under the alias of "Italians were bad". When in reality, Britain won against Italians with the help from capable men across the empire. Against Italians during Operation Compass at start it was Indian and British troops who fought at first. Indians (4th Indian division) were replaced by Aussies after 1 week as Indians were needed in Sidi Akarid and other East African places for their mountain warfare training. Aussies captured Tobruk. Always, be with Indians, or Aussies, Brits were there in both infantry and Armour support.

[@Plab1402]

​@@spidos1000 the British colonies are often forgotten in both world wars, even tho they helped a lot we can't just give all the credit to the UK, also numbers isn't everything just look at the rats of toburk, those Aussies weren't gonna let any Italian or German to enter toburk

[@gratefulguy4130]

@@dragonstormdipro1013 OP said it properly. "Under equipped for the job at hand".. the Italians actually had a great deal of well-trained troops & leaders at the beginning. They also had a strong navy. In almost all cases, though.. from light machine guns to tanks to bombers the Italians were severely lacking. It's a wonder they held up as well as they did.

[@celebrim1]

The most important thing about the North Africa campaign was that the allies lured the Germans to be fighting there at all. The Germans biggest weakness as an army was logistics and lack of consideration for logistics. This was particularly true of one of its most charismatic and gifted officers, Erwin Rommel. The problem with fighting in North Africa for Germany came down to three things. First, once they failed at the siege of Malta they never could control the Mediterranean. Attempting to do so without first reducing Malta meant that their supply line was always vulnerable. They just never should have done so. They should have pulled the Italians back to "fortress Europe" and abandoned the North African coast, at least until or if they could win control of the sea. Secondly, the fighting in North Africa consumed two of the things that Germany had in the shortest supply - motor transport and fuel. The Afrika Corp needed trucks - thousands and thousands of trucks - and with that an enormous amount of gasoline. The truth is, that at the time of operation Barbarossa, the Afrika Corp was consuming as much motor transport and gasoline as the entire Eastern front. Quite obviously, the armies in Russia were vastly more important than the ones in Afrika, both in size and in the strategic importance of what they were doing, but yet they got equal share of the supplies. This was not to put too fine a point on it, completely insane. Without the logistic failures of Operation Barbarossa in the first year, it's possible that Russia could have been knocked if not entirely out of the war, then so far out of the war that it's capacity to rebuild and resist in the following years would have been diminished to the point that Germany could have won on the Eastern front. Imagine occupying Moscow in the first year and no battle of Stalingrad in the second year and maybe even gaining control of the oil fields in the Caucuses. It would have at the least made the war go on for years longer than it did. But thirdly, and this is the really stupid part, if you do the math on what it took to supply the Afrika Corp on it's long extended and vulnerable supply line, it becomes clear that it was impossible for the Germans to win against any sort of opposition at all. The British could have held Egypt with little more than an army of children, and Rommel's tanks would have run out of ammo and gasoline before they made it to Cairo. The entire operation was so poorly conceived in the first place that it never should have been undertaken. Without control of Malta and the ability to control the sea, it was just not possible with the trucks they had to supply the army over such vast distances.

[@danieldpa8484]

Europeans truly harmed themselves with both world wars: collapse of British, German, French, Russian, Austrian, Italian, Dutch, Belgian, Portuguese and Ottoman empires as a result of 30 year conflict, with 10 years of actual fighting (1914-1918/1939-1945) - 400 years of conquering the world just squandered in a heartbeat.

[@davedixon2068]

not squandered they stopped Nazism in the second world war and German expansionism in the first, so no not squandered!

[@Gearjerk5]

Thanks for the video. You might want to lay off the upscaling though, it was pretty rough looking.

[@trident8480]

As a 27 year old born in 96 I've only ever seen wars that either turned out too be started on lies or on a purpose too gain wealth. Thats why i feel it's so important too study ww2 and understand the sacrifices made

[@residentevil4freek]

How is WW2 any different?

[@Mrclean431]

Jesus man. The media has told you over n over the usa is the bad guy. We arent. 9-11 we went into afgahnistan. 03 we went into iraq ... for why again? Well he ... saddamn... was a terrorist plain n simple. Harboring wmd. Paying suicide bombers. WEEKLY SHOOTING MISSILES AT OUR PLANES IN THE NO FLY ZONE. All of those were the reasons to go do it. Post 9-11 we didnt fuk around with terrorist threats like saddam was. Iraq was just as right as Afghanistan was.

[@ultrajorge]

"I've only ever seen wars that either turned out too be started on lies or on a purpose too gain wealth" yeah that's ww2 for you... For both sides.

[@karlheinzvonkroemann2217]

WW2 is no different! It should have ended in July of 1940. History is written to suit those people in power.

[@amogus948]

Despite his tactical victories, Rommel's strategy was terrible. German staff and generals knew that, logistically speaking, it would have been almost impossible to conquer Egypt given the Axis weak logistic. The main issues were - Italian ports in Libya being too small - the British periodically harrasing convoys from sea and air ("only" 20-25% of the Italian convoys to NA were sunk or stopped, however given the situation any delay could be enough to screw up any Axis plan) - having to drive hundreds of km to deliver supply and troops to the front, something that is already a strain on logistic on its own but becomes even worse given the enviroment (as far as I know,in the desert to keep X vehicles/weapons combat ready you need to stock from X to 2X of them as replacements) and the poor level of motorization in the Italian and German Army (not only barely 20-30% of the Wermacht was motorized, but, overall speaking, many of their trucks were spoils of war from the conquered countries and this caused issues with spare parts and maintenance) While the German staff and (most of) the other generals were aware of this issue and that any advance would have just made even harder and costly (e.g. at one point up to 1/3 of the scarce oil arriving in Africa had to be used to fuel the trucks driving it to front) to supply the army, Rommel decided to just ignore his limits and orders and tried to invade Egypt (Malta not being neutralized made it even worse), a decision that eventually led to the 2nd battle of El Alamein and the loss of almost all of its tanks and a seizable part of the Axis forces under his command. It was true that the British could count on endless supplies from GB and the Usa, but their manpower was very limited (e.g. by late 1944 both them and the Canadians were almost out of manpower) and at the time "they could not afford to lose another Army in Egypt" so playing safe on the defensive, even at the cost of slowly losing terrain while bleeding out the Allies, would have been better than losing almost everything at El Alamein

[@amogus948]

@@Luke_Sandy_High_Ground geography played a role like in EVERY battle fought in history, but it was far from being the main cause. Also in the 2nd battle of El Alamein the British were the attackers so the same geography that helped them in August (when they were on the defensive) was now limiting their movements Rommel put himself in a desparate situation when he added 500 km to his already overextended and weak supply line (Tobruk could be barely used and it was 1000 km from Tripoli) after he failed to invade Egypt. His logistic and supply situation became even worse when the British sunk in August a convoy with his oil and soon Montgomery became aware of this due to Enigma, thus making him even more willingly to attack and exploit this advantage asap. The rest of the victory was the result of his plan, his ability to use tanks in a proper and concentrated way and, last but not least, his leadership

[@tomriley5790]

It's notable that 2 axis tankers were sunk by shortly before the second battle of el Alamein (IIRC) leaving Rommel very short of fuel. Endless supplies from GB might be somewhat exagerated! But certainly there was relatively good supplies through the Indian Ocean.

[@alexanderchenf1]

You failed to look at the big picture. A strained attack was the only chance for Afrika Korp to have any chance of victory before the overwhelming enemy reinforcement arrived. It was the same philosophy of attacking France. Rommel could not afford to wait

[@SuperCatacata]

​​​@@tomriley5790 Yeah, it's definitely a huge exaggeration. The citizens of Malta would tell you all about how they didn't have "endless supplies". They would've starved if not for the SS Ohio and the many sacrifices made to bring it to port. You can make a point without pitiful levels of exaggeration, OP.

[@richardmeo2503]

I do not agree. Had Hitler committed to taking N. Africa, Rommel would have won, as he had come so close twice. Hitler was wrong in not realizing that the fall of Egypt would doom England was HIS WORST FAILURE.

[@warmonger8799]

AWESOME 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@dongilleo9743]

Italy was woefully unprepared for war when Mussolini jumped into the war in June 1940. With France and England seemingly defeated, he thought getting in would give Italy a seat at the table when it was time to divide the spoils of victory. If Mussolini was going to get into the war, he should have forced the Italian military to make contingency plans well before, just in case. A perfect target would have been Malta. An early surprise attack on Malta, launched immediately upon Italy declaring war, by the combined Italian air, land and navy forces, might have succeeded. That would have secured the supply line to north Africa, and made Malta an Italian strong point in the middle of the Mediterranean instead of an English one. Once the English began to reinforce and fortify Malta, the opportunity had mostly passed, especially without German help.

[@Mrgunsngear]

Thanks

[@samhavoc1066]

"... and bafflingly, the island of Crete." Why baffled? Crete in Allied hands was too much a threat to holding Greece and provided airfields that could easily strike at Romanian oilfields. Plus, the surviving British Greek Expeditionary Force was there. Not baffling at all that Germany wanted to remove the threat.

[@AnthonyEvelyn]

I like how the films were redone and frame rate stabilized. Brings everything to a whole new perspective.

[@rubiconnn]

Honestly I think it looks terrible. Everything is so smudgy looking.

[@lifefindsaway7875]

I didn’t realize how smooth it looked for an old film until you mentioned it! You’re right, a little touch up like this makes it much more enjoyable to watch

[@chrispittsley208]

Great video information-wise, but maybe ditch the weird AI upscaling on the archival footage in the future.

[@Crimethoughtfull]

What's going on here? Somehow these video clips look like modern 4K clips that have been rendered BnW rather than the standard 2-D BnW low-res reel from 80years ago...how did you do this?? It is amazing!

[@tommygun9416]

Please continue with a video on the formation of the SAS and their involvement in North Africa

[@davidgreenwood7797]

What is going on with the frame rate of some of the historical videos? I’m ok with updating them with added cells but I’d like to know if they are restored or original.

[@cwinowich]

Good video but you didn't mention why in the latter parts of the battle for north africa the germans needed to hold tunisia as long as possible.

[@minhthunguyendang9900]

Illusion oblige

[@lukecroft4331]

Will you be covering the battle of monte Cassino?

[@earthenjadis8199]

This theater was always a sideshow. Compared to the titanic struggle in the East or even the scale of the battle in 1940, this was relatively minor. In addition, this campaign was decided on the Mediterranean Sea. Rommel could have smashed the Commonwealth on land as much as he wanted and it would mean little if the Axis couldn't control the sea.

[@SD78]

The campaign kept the Germans away from the Suez Canal, the oilfields and refineries of Persia and Iraq. Also it prevented the Germans from attacking the Caucasus oilfields from Persia.

[@fips711]

The majority of the Italian army was always spread amongst Italy, the Balkans and Russia. Most of their trucks also went to the Balkans and Russia.

[@WildReefer]

My dad R.I.P fought there with the Desert Rats. He was a "wireless operator" on a scout car. He was fluent in Morse code. He almost didn't get the job as he was a Jewish immigrant from Russia, and they weren't sure he could be trusted. Still, the Nazis were rounding up Jews in North Africa for extermination and he knew what was at stake for the sizeable Jewish population in what was at the time the British Mandate of Palestine, so he did his best to stop Rommel like everyone else inspite of the friction between the Jews and British at the time over the White Paper, but the top priority was to stop Hitler. He would joke that the Germans would always send their Shtuka dive bombers to straff them every day at tea time because they'd be outside the vehicle making tea in the open. Eventually they emerged victorious obviously. From there he was moved to Italy where he joked that he had been the first Allied soldier to relieve himself on Mt. Vesuvius. 😂 They don't make 'em like him anymore. I miss him a lot. A true modest hero of a bygone era.

[@blckdrgn813]

This is well put together, but I also feel that the AI upscaling of footage is a bit too obvious in places.

[@jamesgon7345]

My great uncle fought in the North African campaign and took his guitar and harmonica everywhere he fought he was 19 when he joined the military he said that when he got there and the boat landed that he could smell the bodies in the heat and that as he got closer to the base he saw what was making it they were useing bulldozers to push hundreds of bodies into pits he said the people looked more like one giant living thing than individuals and he said he sat there and broke down then one of his commanding officers came to talk to him he asked him what was wrong and he said he was worried about his wife and kid back home then his commander laughed and said there gonna be fine you see that pit out there that’s what you have to worry about and then left he passed away this year at around 98 I believe and was an awesome man who never let what he saw and did get in his rip to the best Magician and musician my uncle Nelson lowe

[@WickedTkl]

I’m the biggest fan of you in Japan. I wish to see you make a video about Crete island in WW2, especially about sir Patrick Leigh Fermor and his mission of capturing a Nazi General.

[@phillip0537]

I wonder what would have happened if Germany had not gone after the Caucasus oil field and instead used the forces sent into Russia on the North Africa campaign? I imagine sea lift and supply would have been a critical problem, so maybe it would have been impossible.

[@patrickkenyon2326]

Germany did not have the naval supply capacity to keep Rommel supplied.

[@johnsanko4136]

Germany had a dire need of oil. Had they went for the Suez and Middle Eastern oil first, they would have run out far sooner. I think the more interesting "what if" is if Paulus didn't overreach trying to take Stalingrad, and instead kept fortifying their lines from the Caucas oil fields back to Germany. The Eastern front would have been completely different.

[@sid2112]

Or if Japan had focused on Indonesia and westward instead of the Phillipines.

[@dongilleo9743]

The size of the German and Italian forces in northern Africa were always going to be limited by the inability to logistically support more than a limited army. An early German Army logistic assessment determined that no more than four German divisions could be kept supplied in north Africa, and that was about as large as the German contingent was during the campaign there. Even if Rommel had won at El Alamein, it was an absolutely impossible delusion that he would have been able to conquer the Middle East and drive north through Syria, Iraq, and Iran to attack the Soviet Union from the south and meet up with German forces driving south.

[@sijul6483]

​@@johnsanko4136or if Halder followed Hitler's orders and put preference on Army Group South, and not Central as he had done.

[@canibezeroun1988]

This critical campaign was why I respected Churchill as a strategist. He recognized the importance of this region for the war effort. While not much there was oil in the middle East and closing the Suez would divide Britain from it's empire and allow the Italians and Germans to build more ships in safe waters.

[@CedarPass]

Good presentation, folks. Not so sure about many of the seemingly AI-enhanced video clips, however (I watched the 4k playback version here on YT.) But nonetheless, the content and messaging are helpful in supporting the Title's question.

[@humpteedumptee8629]

This really depends on how much you zoom out. If you zoom all the way out it becomes easy access to the Middle East, less shorelines to defend, preserving navy resources. If you zoom all the way in it becomes oil in Libya, and minerals in Algeria.

[@fraginz]

Those B&W films have some good quality images🧐

[@christoffermonikander2200]

No mention of the Persian corridor? A Axis victory in North Africa would have not only led to the capture of the middle eastern oil fields but also cut of one of the major supply routes of lend lease cargo to the Soviet Union.

[@executivedirector7467]

It's a bit of a drive from Egypt to Iran.

[@grondhero]

Regarding the (potential) loss of the Suez Canal: *What was stated:* 3:23 "...which fed the British war machine." *What I heard at 1:11am:* "...which fed the British royal tea."

[@toa_cracau4286]

Same thing

[@ML-ii8gt]

Are the historical clips somehow enhanced? They seem a little bit sharp, but not consistanly.

[@evanohlsten7814]

is the war footage in the background AI interpolated?

[@funkyschnitzel]

Have you used AI upscaling and frame interpolation on the footage? It looks slightly unreal. I would definitely prefer to see the original unaltered footage, as whatever is going on with this is very distracting.

[@Homeschoolsw6]

"Why did the North Africa Campaign Matter in WW2?" Oil (WW2 was the 2nd major energy war), Suez canal (trade and communications with the Far East) and Russia's southern flank. Plus a win for GB right when they needed it...a moral boost.

[@jacobdewey2053]

What do you consider the first major energy war? The Sino-Japanese war?

[@Homeschoolsw6]

@@jacobdewey2053 As far as death toll WW1. It was about access to Mideast oil via a pipeline running through Turkey and into the Balkans. That's partly why there was so much tension in the region prior to Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassination.

[@tomriley5790]

Suez was only a minor factor during wartime - nothing could go through the med anyway - at best it was a way of supporting Cyprus after Crete fell. Obviously very important in peacetime. Had the Germans taken all of persia and into the caucasus then potentially suez may have been useful for them to ship oil back but more likely it would have gone through the black sea.

[@Homeschoolsw6]

@@tomriley5790 Suez and Egypt mattered to GB.

[@spoddie]

You mentioned Australia once, and no mention of NZ, South Africa and India.

[@markbrandon7359]

Note,, The figures given for German strength were at the end of the conflict Rommel never ever had those kind of numbers if he had Egypt would have fallen. Once Hitler realized Africa would fall he sent in huge reinforcements some 250'000 were forced to surrender. When Rommel was made Field Marshal he said "I would have rather been given another Division" which might very well have meant victory instead Hitler waited until the battle was lost and then huge numbers of men and equipment that were wasted.

[@robert-trading-as-Bob69]

Hitler did not realize the importance of North Africa. Not only would an Axis win there have helped control the Med, but Britain's oil supplies would be severely curtailed. It is possible that Turkey would have joined the Axis if they had won. There is a possibility that Spain may also have joined the Axis at this time. Controlling North Africa would have led to a new campaign to liberate East Africa. Axis forces stationed on the Induan Ocean would have greatly strengthened the Japanese efforts in Asia. The defeat and capture of many mainly English-speaking South Africans would have strengthened the far-right Nationalist Afrikaans majority, possibly leading to a brief Civil War or a coup, to remove South Africa from English control. Whether SA would join the Axis is difficult to predict, but at a minimum, Great Britain would have lost its naval bases in South Africa making access to the Indian Ocean more difficult. Australia and New Zealand would have fallen into the American sphere of influence due to proximity and reliance on American War materials. A defeat in North Africa would also have cost these two countries most of their fighting forces, leaving them vulnerable to Japanese invasion. India would be isolated and most likely defeated by the Japanese and internal revolt against British rule. Madagascar may well have become a Japanese possession to control access to the southern Indian Ocean. Germany's main opposition would then be America, Canada, and Britain in the Atlantic. If Turkey joined the Axis, Soviet Russia would have faced a two-front invasion, and it barely survived the initial German invasion.

[@kareldekale4987]

Palestine was the gateway to India, the connecting link between three continents, if held by the English and the Jews, both shopkeepers, offers the opportunity of making the land of Israel the great imperium of East and West:Bernard Rosenblatt, Social Zionism, pp145,146 Uit :Water flowing eastward van Mrs L.Fry blz.50

[@robert-trading-as-Bob69]

@kareldekale4987 Shopkeepers huh... You forget the Palestinian Jews were divided at the time, some fighting for the British, some defending against Arab raids, and those that continued to fight against the British, who they considered occupiers. Well, those Shopkeepers certainly surprised the world, didn't they!

[@kareldekale4987]

@@robert-trading-as-Bob69 Just follow the money, even to-day with the coming third world war!

[@98765zach]

This may be a small thing but I just have to say starting the video that excellent work has been done remastering this footage to high clarity and frame-rate, or if it isn’t remastered archive footage that they’ve done an excellent job of reenacting. Very smooth and clear

[@brotherhogan6880]

The North Africa front dosent get enough light on it. It’s such a cool and interesting part of the war

[@guacamoler]

The AI upscaled video is so funny - makes it look like some alternate reality

[@maryannedouglas]

Operation Compass next, please!

[@pauls1883]

Mussolini’s great mistake was not taking Malta in July 1940. The Brits had already decided it was indefensible and we’re ready to abandon it. Additionally, he had twenty odd years to improve the port facilities at Tripoli, Bengazi and Tobruk but never quite got around to it 🤨

[@OK-yy6qz]

Musolini's great mistake was getting involved in wars early on pre world war 2 instead of rebuilding his war industry. Other than that his decision to start a simultaneous war in both Greece and Egypt was pretty devastating to his already weak army.

[@MakeMeThinkAgain]

This is a decent start to answering the question posed. Even all these years later it isn't clear if Churchill and the British were very fortunate or very cunning. Had British forces not lost as often as they won, Germany would not have invested as many resources in North Africa. And North Africa was the absolute worst, most difficult, and most fuel intensive theater for the Germans to be involved in. Also, every Axis success made their logistical situation worse. Not only did they need more troops, tanks, fuel, and munitions, but they had to transport all that further east and across a sea that was more and more dominated by the Allies. When you recall how close run things on the Eastern Front were in both 1941 and 1942, you have to wonder how much of a difference it might have made if Hitler had simply left the Italians to their own devices. Also, the fighting in North Africa was an essential training ground for both the British and American armies. This is where they were able to learn the lessons of combined arms warfare at little risk.

[@tigerland4328]

I'd say it was a bit of both. The British army had proved they could conduct successful large scale combined arms operations against both the Italians (operation compass Dec 40- feb 41) and the Germans (operation crusader nov-Dec 41). Personally I think it was events away from north Africa that cost the British an earlier victory in the theatre. Troops were sent from North Africa to Greece just after compass robbing the WDF of the chance to drive the Italians out of Libya. Again troops were sent from North Africa to Singapore and Burma just after operation crusader(aswell as diverting reinforcements bound for africa to the far east) robbing the eighth Army the chance of pushing the axis forces out of Libya. Churchill's constant demands for counter offensives didn't help either.

[@markbrandon7359]

Note,, The Panzer III's shown are of the older type armed with the 3.7cm gun they were taken from the workshops where they were waiting to be up gunned. The British always claimed that German tanks were so much better that is simply not the case. The Matilda could only be destroyed by the 8.8cm or a stuka. When the Grant arrived it had the most powerful gun and thickest armor and the Sherman was even better. Rommel never had more than a handful of Mark IV's and his Panzers were not up gunned with the long barrel versions until after Gazala. Cry as the Brits will over the 2LB'er it could destroy any German tank at 800yards

[@blank-yw4kj]

1:27 To be fair to Mussolini he wasn’t wrong, he just didn’t see the part where the British took Italy down with them lol