North African Campaign Timeline

1941

5 January: Bardia captured by British and Australian force
22 January: Tobruk captured by British and Australian force
30 January: Australians capture Derna, Libya
5 February: Beda Fomm captured by British
6 February;
- Fall of Benghazi to the Western Desert Force.
- Lieutenant-General Erwin Rommel is appointed commander of Afrika Korps.
7 February: what remains of the Italian Tenth Army surrenders
9 February: Churchill orders halt to British and Australian advance at El Agheila to allow withdrawal of troops to defend Greece
14 February: First units of the Afrika Korps under Erwin Rommel start to arrive in Libya during Operation Sonnenblume
24 March: Allied forces at El Agheila defeated; Erwin Rommel starts his advance
4 April: Australian & British forces withdraw from Benghazi; Benghazi captured by Axis
6 April: British 3rd Armored Brigade is captured in Derna
8 April: British, Indian and Australian forces captured at Mechili
10 April: Siege of Tobruk begins with Australian, British and Indian forces defending
15 April: British forces are pushed back to Sollum on Egyptian border with Libya
30 April: Australian forces lose a small part of their positions in Tobruk during the Battle of Salient, roughly a 6th of Tobruk is now held by Germans
3 May: Australian forces counter attack in Tobruk unsuccessfully
15 May: British troops launch Operation Brevity to gain more territory from which to launch Operation Battleaxe later in the year
16 May: Italian forces attack Australian forces in Tobruk forcing them to withdraw
16 May: Operation Brevity called off. Allied forces fall back onto the Halfaya Pass, captured the previous day
26 May: German forces launch Operation Skorpion and move up to Halfaya Pass
27 May: German forces recapture Halfaya Pass; British troops are forced to withdraw
15 June: British and Indian troops launch unsuccessful Operation Battleaxe
5 July: Auchinleck replaces Wavell as C-in-C Middle East Command
15 August: German Panzer Group Afrika activated with Rommel in Command
1 October: 5th Light Division redesignated 21st Panzer Division
18 November: Auchinleck's offensive (Operation Crusader) begins with British, Indian, South African and New Zealander forces
21 November: British armored division defeated at Sidi Rezegh and withdraws
22 November;
- New Zealand forces attack Bir Ghirba but are unsuccessful
- Indian forces capture Sidi Omar
23 November: New Zealand forces capitalize on Indian advances to wreck Afrika Korps HQ at Bir el Chleta
23 November:
- Rommel launches Panzer attacks on the British XXX Corps, but face resistance from SA, NZ and British forces
- British and NZ forces withdraw towards Bir el Gubi
25 November:
- Panzer attack on Indian forces at Sidi Omar is repulsed
- In the second attack in the evening, Indian forces destroy the 5th Panzer Division
26 November: Ritchie replaces Cunningham as commander Eighth Army
27 November: New Zealand troops at Sidi Azeiz defeated by overwhelming advance of Panzers and German infantry
28 November: 15th Panzer despite being outnumbered 2:1 force British tanks to retreat exposing the New Zealand forces at Ed Duda on the Tobruk by-pass
1 December: New Zealand troops in Sidi Rezegh suffer heavy casualties by Panzers
3 December:
- German infantry suffers heavy defeat at the hand of New Zealand forces on the Bardia road near Menastir
- German forces suffer losses against Indian forces and forced to withdraw at Capuzzo (Trigh Capuzzo)
4 December:
- NZ forces repulse German attack on Ed Duda
- Indian forces face attrition in an uphill attempt to capture Point 174 against entrenched Italian forces without artillery support
7 December: Tobruk siege relieved by 8th Army consisting of British, Indian, New Zealander and South African forces
13 December;
- 8th Army attacks Gazala line
- NZ forces stopped at Alem Hamza
- Indian forces take Point 204
- Indian infantry face Afrika Korps and against heavy odds destroy 15 of 39 Panzers
14 December: Indian troops repel repeated Panzer attacks on Point 204
15 December: German advance overruns British forces en route to Point 204, but Indian forces at Point 204 hold on
16 December: Rommel facing reduced Panzer numbers orders withdrawal from the Gazala line
24 December: British forces capture Benghazi
25 December: Agedabia reached by the Allies
27 December: Rommel inflicts heavy damage on British armour who have to withdraw allowing Rommel to fall back to El Agheila
31 December: Front lines return to El Agheila