British In North Africa
...the German Air-force, the Luftwaffe was about to begin the
bombing campaign that would decimate large parts of London and south east England,
and the British had no allies outside the commonwealth. It seemed that the only place
where the British could really fight the Axis was in North Africa; could battle the
Italian soldiers and try to gain control of the southern Mediterranean coastline. It would
soon turn out that this campaign would have immense importance for the British and their
allies. There were numerous major battles in this African campaign and these generally
created a major turnaround not only in the African campaign, but in the war effort in
general.
Northern Africa and the Middle East were quickly becoming very important
centers for the British and it seemed as though it were the place where they could fight
and defeat their enemies. The Middle East was important because of the vast amount of
oil contained there. The British needed this oil to assist them in their war effort and it was
certainly not something that they could afford to lose to the Axis. The Suez Canal was
also of somewhat importance for the British; it was a vital shipping lane for moving
materials through to the British in India and the Pacific. Although, because the
Mediterranean was more or less closed to shipping at this time, it was of less importance,
but still definitely something that could not fall into the hands of the Germans.
The British Territories were important for several reasons. Egypt was of course
quite important, not just the Suez Canal, but also Alexandria, the home of the eastern
Mediterranean fleet. The Nile Delta was also very important because it supplied large
amounts of cotton and wheat; again this was something that could not be allowed to fall
into German hands....
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