The European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign in World War II

Nov 07, 2025 0

The European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign was a crucial theater of operations during World War II. This campaign involved extensive military actions across North Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. The successful effort to hold the line and protect a base in Australia dispersed available American strength, and rained a problem for military planners in the matter of massing military power to strike a decisive blow at Germany.

The Army's solution was to begin immediately to concentrate Allied power in England and from there, as soon as possible, to launch a drive across the English Channel aimed at Germany. Early in 1942 plans were made for such a cross-Channel operation, to take place in April 1943, and possibly as early as September 1942 if either Germany or Russia showed signs of collapsing. Army Forces in the British Isles (USAFBI) on 8 January 1942 with Maj. Gen. James E. Chaney as commanding general. Army (ETOUSA, or ETO) on 8 June 1942. Maj. Gen. Dwight D.

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Key Operations and Campaigns

Several key operations defined the course of the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign:

North African Invasion (Operation TORCH)

When it became evident by mid-1942 that there could be no cross-Channel attack in September, American planners acceded to a plan the British had been urging. This was to use the means that would be accumulated in England by the fall of 1942, plus additional forces from the United States, to invade North Africa, where, it was hoped, French forces might lend support to the operation. The primary objective was to utilize ready Allied forces in an operation commensurate with current capabilities to relieve pressure on the Russians.

Other objectives of the operation were to gain French Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia as a base for enlisting the French colonial empire in the war, to assist the British in destroying Axis forces threatening Egypt and Suez, to open the Mediterranean to Allied shipping, to shorten the route to the Far East, and to prepare the way for further operations against the European Axis. The Combined Chiefs of Staff ratified the plan and named General Eisenhower as commander in chief of the Allied Expeditionary Force that was to invade North Africa.

To carry out TORCH a command named Allied Force Headquarters, North Africa (AFHQ), was established in London on 11 August 1942 with Eisenhower, by this time a lieutenant general, in command. The Advance Echelon, AFHQ, arrived in Algiers on 9 November 1942. Army (MTOUSA) on 1 November 1944. In North Africa the Germans and their Italian allies controlled a narrow strip along the Mediterranean coast between Tunisia and Egypt with an army numbering some 100,000 men under Field Marshal Erwin Rommel.

French forces in North Africa also numbered about 100,000 men plus considerable naval strength. Their position was enigmatic, since the loyalties of the French forces had become split among factions following their defeat in 1940. The Allied plan for TORCH involved concentric attacks. Gen. Sir Harold R. L. Alexander, British Commander in Chief in the Middle East, was to strike west from Egypt with the British Eighth Army under Lt. Gen. Bernard L. Montgomery, while a combined Anglo-American force was to invade French North Africa and hit the enemy's rear. General Eisenhower was to command the invasion forces, and the British Eighth Army also was to come under his command when the two forces eventually converged on Tunisia.

The Allies planned three simultaneous landings: one outside the Strait of Gibraltar near Casablanca, Morocco, and two inside the Strait in Algeria near Oran and Algiers. The British Eighth Army opened an offensive at El Alamein on 23 October 1942, after having soundly defeated a prior Axis offensive. Army Forces ashore near Casablanca, while the British Navy put other United States forces and contingents of British troops ashore near Oran and Algiers. The total invasion force comprised more than 400 ships, 1,000 planes, and some 107,000 men.

Troops landing at Casablanca consisted of the I Armored Corps of three divisions under Maj. Gen. George S. Patton, Jr., shipped directly from the United States, the only instance in World War II in which a force of more than division size was combat-loaded in United States ports for landing directly on a hostile beach. II Corps, Maj. Gen. Lloyd W. Fredendall commanding, with elements of three divisions. The Allies achieved strategic surprise, but the operation was delayed by the French forces, who fought back in every case but one.

By 11 November negotiations had succeeded both in ending French resistance and winning French cooperation, and an Allied column headed for Tunisia. Meanwhile the Germans had moved into Tunisia in force by water from Sicily, and were able to stop the Allied drive short of the Tunisian capital (Tunis). Eventually the Axis brought in more than 150,000 troops from Sicily. Rommel's troops, falling back before the British Eighth Army's drive, established themselves behind the so-called Mareth Line in southeastern Tunisia in contact with the German reinforcements.

Having consolidated a giant beachhead in Tunisia, Rommel assumed the offensive on 14 February 1943. II Corps, in an attempt to turn the south flank of the British First Army, commanded by Lt. Gen. Kenneth N. A. Anderson, and capture an Allied base of operations around Tebessa. The Germans defeated the Allies in a series of sharp armored actions, forced a withdrawal of American troops through the Kasserine Pass and the valley beyond, and made a spectacular advance of almost a hundred miles before determined countermeasures by the Allies brought them to a halt, still short of their objectives, on 22 February.

Upon the failure of this counteroffensive, the Germans withdrew to their original positions. During the first part of March the Germans attempted two lesser offensives-one against the British First Army and the other against the British Eighth Army-which also failed. At this point the Allies were able to resume their offensive. II Corps, now under Patton, attacked toward the flank and rear of the Mareth Line, while elements of the British Eighth Army outflanked the Axis position and broke through into the eastern coastal region of central Tunisia.

Within a month all Axis troops had been compressed into a small bridgehead covering the Cape Bon Peninsula. In the final phase of the operation, Maj. Gen. Omar N. II Corps so that Patton could prepare for the invasion of Sicily.

Map of Operation Torch

Sicily (Operation HUSKY)

A decision to invade Sicily was made at an Allied conference at Casablanca which took place from 14 to 23 January 1943. By that tome it had become apparent that a cross-Channel invasion (an operation earnestly desired by the Russians) would be impossible during 1943. Ground forces assembled to conduct the Sicilian Campaign (10 July - 17 August 1943) constituted the 15th Army Group under the command of General Alexander. Seventh Army under General Patton.

Among the American forces was the 82d Airborne Division, which was scheduled to drop behind the invasion beaches to forestall enemy reaction to the landings. For weeks before the invasion, Allied planes raided western Sicily in order to deceive the defenders regarding the Allied intention, which was to make landings on the southern and eastern coasts of the island. These raids succeeded in dispersing German armor, which made it difficult for them to mount quick, concentrated counterattacks.

The invasion took place on 10 July 1943. Winds of near gale proportions made the landings difficult, but the weather conditions threw the defenders off guard and made possible a tactical surprise. After landing, the Allies intended to strike for dominating ground in the east-central part of the island and then to take Messina on the strait between Sicily and Italy. Thereupon Patton sent a mobile provisional corps under Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Keyes to the northwest, which cut the island in two, captured Palermo by 22 July, and broke the morale of the Italian garrison of 275,000 men on the island.

The American forces were now in a position to attack from the west to break the deadlock opposite the British. When the Seventh Army drove eastward across the island, the Germans began to withdraw across the Strait of Messina to Italy. Despite attacks by Allied aircraft, they were able to evacuate some 60,000 troops. On 17 August 1943 American patrols pushed into Messina, and the campaign reached a successful conclusion. Axis losses in the campaign were around 167,000 killed, wounded, and captured, including some 10,000 German casualties.

Italy

Allied victory in Sicily had resulted in the overthrow of Mussolini's government, and the capitulation of Italy was only a matter of negotiation and time. An armistice was announced on 8 September. The Italian surrender resulted in German evacuation of the islands of Sardinia and Corsica, gave the Allies the Italian Navy, and, in effect, made Italy a co-belligerent with the Allies. The Italian Campaign (3 September 1943 - 2 May 1945) placed Allied troops on the European mainland for the first time, but it was never intended as a substitute for an attack aimed at Germany by way of the more open and more remunerative route through northern France.

On 3 September 1943 elements of the British Eighth Army landed on the toe of the Italian boot. Fifth Army, under Lt. Gen. Mark W. Clark landed on beaches along the Gulf of Salerno, and a British fleet placed a division of troops at Taranto in the arch of the boot. Heavy fighting quickly developed at Salerno, where German armored counterattacks jeopardized the entire Allied position. It was six days before the Americans were able to surmount the crisis and secure the beachhead. Fifth Armies united their fronts southeast of Salerno.

On 7 October the British took Naples with its fine port. Meanwhile the British had captured the airfields of Foggia near the Adriatic coast on 27 September, and by mid-October had moved north to a line extending from Larino west to Campobasso, where they were abreast of the Americans on their left. and three British) were withdrawn to the United Kingdom for the cross-Channel operation. Shipping limitations, in any case, forbade any large-scale reinforcement of the Mediterranean except at the expense of the buildup of American forces in the United Kingdom.

Fifth and British Eighth Armies together had only 11 divisions, but this force was able to tie down some 20-odd German divisions throughout the long campaign. Having paused a few days after taking Naples and Foggia, the Allied force in Italy renewed its offensive late in October 1943. This drive broke a strong German position at the Volturno River and carried the Allies as far as the so-called Winter Line (or Gustav Line), anchored on Cassino, which the Germans had been preparing about 75 miles south of Rome.

In December 1943 the Allied line was reinforced by a French corps equipped with American arms. VI Corps, with British and American troops, in an attempt to envelop the western flank of the German line, while he simultaneously tried to break through the Gustav Line. The VI Corps made an amphibious tending at Anzio, behind the German line about 30 miles south of Rome, on 22 January 1944. The landing was initially successful and additional forces came in while the landing force pushed inland against growing enemy resistance.

After the first week, the Germans reacted with a strong counterattack that reached a peak of intensity on 17 February and threatened to wipe out the beachhead. But the VI Corps' magnificent defense of the perimeter, supported by artillery, tanks, planes, and naval gunfire, brought the last of the major counterattacks to a halt on 2 March. In May 1944 the Allied forces made a carefully planned assault on the Winter Line, synchronizing their thrusts with an attack from the Anzio beachhead.

The Germans made their next stand along the so-called Gothic Line in the north Apennine Mountains. The Allied force, although reduced in strength by the necessity to relinquish some divisions for use in France, initiated a drive in September that broke the Gothic Line after a three-month campaign. The Italian Campaign Involved some of the hardest fighting in the war and cost the United States forces some 114,000 casualties.

Europe - June 1944

June 1944 was a major turning point of World War II, particularly in Europe. Although the initiative had been seized from the Germans some months before, so far the western Allies had been unable to mass sufficient men and material to risk an attack in northern Europe. But by mid-1944 early mobilization of manpower and resources in America was beginning to pay off. Millions of American men had been trained, equipped, and welded into fighting and service units.

American industrial production had reached its wartime peak late in 1943. While there were still critical shortages-in landing craft, for instance-production problems were largely solved, and the Battle of the Atlantic had been won. By the beginning of June 1944, the United States and Great Britain had accumulated in the British Isles the largest number of men and the greatest amount of materiel ever assembled to launch and sustain an amphibious attack. Strategic bombing of Germany was reaching its peak. Army Air Forces. By late summer 1943 Allied bombers were conducting round-the-clock bombardment of German industry and communications. In general, British planes bombed by night and American planes bombed by day.

After considerable study strategists determined to make the cross-Channel attack on the beaches of Normandy east of the Cherbourg Peninsula. Three months before D-day, a strategic air campaign was inaugurated to pave the way for invasion by restricting the enemy's ability to shift reserves. French and Belgian railways were crippled, bridges demolished in northwestern France, and enemy airfields within a 130-mile radius of the landing beaches put under heavy attack. Special attention was given to isolating the part of northwestern France bounded roughly by the Seine and Loire Rivers.

Opposed to the Allies was the so-called Army Group B of the German Army, consisting of the Seventh Army in Normandy and Brittany, the Fifteenth Army in the Pas de Calais and Flanders, and the LXXXVIII Corps in Holland-all under command of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. Commander of all German forces in western Europe was Field Marshal von Rundstedt who, in addition to Group B. also had at his disposal Group G composed of the First and Nineteenth Armies.

Map of Operation Overlord

The Invasion of Normandy (Operation OVERLORD)

Despite unfavorable weather forecasts, General Eisenhower made the decision to attack on 6 June 1944. At 0200 that morning one British and two American airborne divisions were dropped behind the beaches in order to secure routes of egress from the beaches for the seaborne forces. After an intensive air and naval bombardment, assault waves of troops began landing at 0630. More than 5,000 ships and 4,000 ship-to-shore craft were employed in the landings. forces in the center (OMAHA Beach) met determined opposition. During the weeks that followed the landings, the Germans fiercely resisted Allied advances in the hedge...

The ribbon is principally dark green, edged with brown bands separated from the green by green, white, and red stripes on the left (wearer's right), and by white, black, and white stripes on the right (wearer's left). In the center are equal blue, white, and red stripes.

The European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal

The EuropeanâAfricanâMiddle Eastern Campaign Medal was a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was first created on November 6, 1942, by Executive Order 9265 issued by President Franklin D.

Establishment and Criteria

The EAME Campaign Medal was initially established by Executive Order 9265, dated 6 November 1942, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and announced in War Department Bulletin 56, 1942. The medal design was submitted to the Commission of Fine Arts on 17 September 1946 and the first sample was completed in July 1947. Originally known as the "EAME Ribbon", the EuropeanâAfricanâMiddle Eastern Campaign Medal is awarded for any service performed between December 7, 1941, and March 2, 1946, inclusive, provided such service was performed in the following geographical theater areas:

West boundary: From the North Pole, south along the 75th meridian west longitude to the 77th parallel north latitude, thence southeast through Davis Strait to the intersection of the 40th parallel north latitude and the 35th meridian west longitude, thence south along that meridian to the 10th parallel north latitude, thence southeast to the intersection of the equator and the 20th meridian west longitude, thence along the 20th meridian west longitude to the South Pole.

For service in active combat in the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater of Operations against the enemy and awarded a combat decoration or furnished a certificate by the commanding general of a corps, higher unit, or independent force that the individual actually participated in combat.

The European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal was worn after the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal and before the World War II Victory Medal.

Design and Symbolism

The medal's obverse was designed by Mr. Thomas Hudson Jones based on General Eisenhower's request that the medal include an invasion scene. The Bronze medal is 1+3â8 inches (35 mm) in diameter. On the obverse is a LST landing craft and troops landing under fire with an airplane in the background below the words EUROPEAN AFRICAN MIDDLE EASTERN CAMPAIGN.

In the center of a bronze medallion one and a quarter inches in diameter, an LST landing craft is shown with troops landing under fire, with an airplane in the background below the words EUROPEAN-AFRICAN-MIDDLE EASTERN CAMPAIGN (in three lines). This scene represents the major invasions of Africa and Europe during the Second World War and portrays elements of the Army, Navy, and Air Corps. The words describe the Theater of operations.

In the center of a bronze medallion one and a quarter inches in diameter, an American bald eagle is shown alight on a rock. To the eagle's left, the dates 1941-1945 (in two lines); to the eagle's right, the words UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (in three lines). The bald eagle is the national symbol and thereby represents the American people.

The European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal was established by Executive Order 9265, on November 6, 1942 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The medal was awarded to any member of the United States armed forces for 30 days of continual service performed in the theater of operations between December 7, 1941 and March 2, 1946.

Additional Awards

For those service members who participated in one or more designated military campaigns, campaign stars are authorized to be worn on the medal. A bronze arrowhead device was awarded for participation in designated Army amphibious and airborne combat assaults (Note: only one bronze arrowhead could be worn on the ribbon).

Bronze service stars:Bronze service stars were awarded by all services for participation in designated campaigns.

Notable Campaigns for Service Stars

Service stars were awarded for participation in the following campaigns:

Air Combat, EAME Dec. 7, 1941 â Sept.
Egypt-Libya June 11, 1942 â Feb.
Algeria-French Morocco Nov. 8, 1942 â Nov.
Tunisia (Air) Nov.
Sicily (Air) May 14, 1943 â Aug.
Naples-Foggia (Air) Aug. 18, 1943 â Jan.
Anzio Jan.
Rome-Arno Jan. 22, 1944 â Sept.
Northern France July 25, 1944 â Sept.
Southern France Aug. 15, 1944 â Sept.
Northern Apennines Sept.
Rhineland Sept.
Ardennes-Alsace Dec. 16, 1944 â Jan.

Ribbon Design

The ribbon to the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal has a broad center stripe of green that is bisected by blue, white and red pinstripes. The green is edged on the right by slightly wider pinstripes of green, white and red (green being the outmost color); to the left, the center stripe of green is edged by slightly wider pinstripes of white, black, and white. The outer edges of the ribbon are edged in brown.

The Secretary of War directed that ribbons for the area campaign medals were to employ separate colors to denote the theaters they represented. The theater color was to predominate in each ribbon and the common relationship among all of them was to be achieved by using colored stripes put in the same place on each of the ribbons. The central stripe of green (bisected by the blue, white and red pinstripes taken from the American Defense Service Medal) alludes to the vegetation of Europe. The brown edge stripes represent North Africa. The green, white and red pinstripes inside the right edge are the colors of Italy and the white, black and white pinstripes inside the left edge represent Germany, thus representing both of the Axis powers in Europe.

Notable Recipient

The first recipient of the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal was General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was presented his medal on July 24, 1947.