The Italian Invasion of Egypt in 1940
The Italian advance into Egyptian territory in 1940 marked the start of the North African campaign
The offensive was well prepared, and the consequences seemed materialized. Context. After the fall of France, the war seemed to be near the end, at least in the minds of
Axis leadership, and especially Benito Mussolini. The idea of an attack against Egypt from the Italian colony of Libya started to take shape
in the Supreme Command, fueled by Mussolini's infinite ambitions. Marshal Italo Balbo, governor of Libya and superior commander for the North African theater
was well aware of the deficiencies in equipment and training that his forces experienced
He urged the Supreme Command to send machine guns, tanks, artilleries, and most importantly, trucks
Balbo died on the 28th of June, crashing his plane shot down over Tobruk in a Sunday fire accident
He was hastily replaced by Marshal Rodolfo Graziani, a veteran of the Italian-Colombian
War, who took over the task of planning the attack on Egypt
Graziani quickly realized the same issue that Balbo faced, and forwarded new requests for
supplies and reinforcements. Mussolini renewed his pressure for an attack, and in early July, he urged Marshal Graziani
to act. This attack was just a political move, and in Mussolini's calculations, would have increased
Italy's prestige and claim during the peace talks, believed to be imminent
He recklessly disregarded most of Graziani's requests. He was requested more anti-tank weapons, tanks, and trucks. O.O.B
Italian Forces In summer 1940, the Italian Army had two large units deployed in Libya, the 5th Army in Tripolitania
Western Libya, and the 10th Army in Cyrenaica Eastern Libya. After the fall of France, the 10th Army became the national choice for the upcoming offensive
It consisted of XXI Corps, Division Ciri and Cavanzaro, plus the Guzzi Clemente O'Maletti
a motorized armored group, XXII Corps, Division Certe, XXIII Corps, Division Mamerita, 1st
and 2nd Black Shirts Division, transferred from the 5th Army, Libyan Divisions Group
led by the 4th Black Shirt Division, and 1st and 2nd Libyan Divisions
The 10th Army, led by General Mario Berchi, could also count on the various hostilities
for battalions of L3 Tank S and the Special Armored Brigades. In total, around 120,000 men, 70 M1139 tanks, arrived in July, and a few hundred L3 Tank
S. The 10th Army was a formation capable of garrisoning and defending the Italian colony
It was surely not suited for mobile warships, with few tanks, barely 2,000 operational trucks
almost no armored cars, recon vehicles, and no berserker units. The advance to the city of Albarano
Following Mussolini's continuous change of mood and ideas, the attack originally planned
for mid-July was postponed to September. In fact, during late July and August, Mussolini attempted to mount an attack against Greece
and Yugoslavia, but he was blocked by the Germans, who did not want to spark any conflicts
in the Balkan region