1941
22 Dec	Churchill proposes the invasion of French North Africa to Roosevelt
	1942
JULY
6th	The British First Army is formed from the amphibious trained ‘Force 110’
24th	General Sir Alan Brooke obtains War Cabinet approval for the invasion to be called Operation Torch (originally Operation Gymnast)
AUG
14th	Lt Gen Eisenhower appointed Commander in Chief, Allied Expeditionary Force North Africa by Combined Chiefs of Staff
NOV
2nd	Operation 'Supercharge', the breakout at El Alamein gets under way. Rommel has only 32 Panzer's left intact.
3rd	Rejecting out of hand Field Marshal Rommel's proposal to withdraw the Afrika Korps, now down to about 40 tanks, to the Fuka line, Hitler orders him to stand and fight.
4th	The Italian 20th Motorised Corps is destroyed. Rommel re-issues his orders for retreat with only 12 tanks left. 10,724 Axis prisoners are taken by the British, including nine generals.
5th	The British attack Rommel’s rearguard, which is now almost 100 miles to west of El Alamein. A peace treaty is signed in Madagascar with the Vichy French.
6th	Further progress made by the Eighth Army with 20,000 further Axis prisoners being claimed.
8th	Operation 'Torch' begins at 1.00am with Anglo-American forces under Lieutenant General Eisenhower landing in Morocco and Algeria against minimal Vichy French resistance. 107453 troops in 111 transports with 216 warships in support take part. Algiers surrenders at 8.00pm. Mersa Matruh is re-taken by British.
9th	US troops advance on both sides of Oran, taking 2,000 French prisoners after stiff resistance. German paratroops are landed in Tunisia without opposition from the French.
10th	The Americans capture Oran. Petain takes command of all Vichy forces. British successes in Egypt continue with the capture of Sidi Barrani.
11th	Casablanca capitulates. Hartforce formed from 56 Recce and B coy Northamptonshire Regiment.
12th	The British 8th Army retakes Sollum and Bardia, while Panzer Army Afrika continues its withdrawal toward Tripoli.
13th	The Eighth Army captures Tobruk and Montgomery says: ‘We have completely smashed the German and Italian armies’.
17th	British paratroops engage German troops in Tunisia, while the first clashes occur between the newly landed U.S. and German forces.
18th	Laval is given absolute power by Vichy in Africa.
19th	British troops engage a German tank column only 30 miles from Tunis.
20th	The Eighth Army reaches Benghazi.
23rd	Retreating before the British 8th Army (Montgomery), Panzer Army Afrika reaches El Agheila.
24th	Laval sets up Phalange Africaine, to fight allies in Africa.
27th	British troops are only 22 miles from Tunis.
29th	British paratroops drop south of Tunis.
DEC
4th	German forces in Tunisia capture Tebourba.
8th	German troops occupy the port of Bizerte in Tunisia.
13th	Rommel begins to retreat from his positions El Agheila, as the Eighth Army continues advance in to Libya.
24th	A young Frenchman in Algiers assassinates Admiral Darlan.
26th	The French authorities execute Admiral Darlan’s assassin.
27th	General Giraud becomes the leader of French Africa.
28th	General De Gaulle welcomes Giraud’s appointment and calls for French unity.
	1943
JAN
5th	US Fifth Army is set up in Tunisia under Lieutenant General Mark Clark.
12th	Gen. Leclerc drives the last Germans troops out of the Fezzan in Southern Libya with his Free French forces from Chad.
14th	Roosevelt and Churchill's summit Conference opens near Casablanca in Morocco with the Allied joint staff under General Dwight D. Eisenhower in attendance.
15th	The Eighth Army begins a new push in Libya.
16th	The Eighth Army destroys Rommel’s rearguard at Buerat, in Libya and is now just 300 miles from the Tunisian frontier. Iraq enters the war against all three Axis powers.

18th

The Germans counter attack in Tunisia. They gain ground against the Free French, but are repulsed by British forces.

19th

The Eighth Army captures Homs and Tarhuna, near Tripoli.

23rd

The Eighth Army triumphantly enters Tripoli. The Vice-Governor of Libya and prefect of Tripolitania offer a formal surrender.

25th

Prime Minister Churchill and President Roosevelt end the Casablanca Conference with their announcement of the demand for the unconditional surrender of Germany and Italy.

26th

The Eighth Army takes Zaula in Libya, less than 100 miles from Tunisian frontier.

29th

Advance units of the Eighth Army cross the Tunisian frontier from Libya.

31st

Eighth Army takes Zuara, near the Tunisian frontier.

FEB

12th

Rommel and Von Arnim's forces launch a counter attack against the American 2nd Corps in central Tunisia, forcing them back in some disarray.

14th

The 5th Panzerarmee under von Arnim, forces the retreat of the US 2nd Corps, inflicting very heavy losses in the battle of the Kasserine Pass.

17th

The Eighth Army occupies Medenine in southern Tunisia. 5th Panzerarmee's advance beyond the Kasserine Pass is suspended.

20th

Fierce fighting in continues in central Tunisia after the German breakout through the Kasserine Pass, but further offensive operations by the Afrikakorps are halted in order for them to withdraw to the Mareth line.

25th

The RAF begins a round the clock bombing campaign in Tunisia, with 2,000 raids in the next 48 hours.

26th

Von Arnim launches a five-day counter attack in northern Tunisia, gaining some ground. Montgomery issues the plan Operation 'Pugilist', which is to smash the Mareth defensive Line in southern Tunisia.

MARCH

9th

Von Arnim replaces Field Marshal Rommel as C-in-C of the Axis forces in Tunisia and Rommel is ordered by Hitler to leave Africa, never to return.

19th

The British Eighth Army begins its offensive against German and Italian defenders of the Mareth line.

20th

The Eighth Army continues its attacks against the Mareth line in southern Tunisia.

26th

The Eighth Army wins the battle of the Mareth line, forcing the axis troops to retreat to the North.

28th

The British First Army goes onto the offensive in northern Tunisia.

30th

Elements of the Eighth Army break through at the Gabes Pass, over 100 miles into Tunisia and heads North.

APRIL

6th

British and American forces in Tunisia launch an attack against the 5th Panzerarmee.

7th

Eighth Army joins up with the U.S. 2nd Corps in central Tunisia, while the British First Army makes progress in the North.

10th

British forces take Sfax, 150 miles South of Tunis.

11th

The British First Army takes Kalrouan, 100 miles South of Tunis.

12th

The Eighth Army take Sousse, to the East of Kairan and claim that 20,000 axis prisoners have been taken in Tunisia since the 20th March.

22nd

The British First and Eighth Army's, the U.S. 2nd Corps and Free French forces begin the final offensive to destroy the axis bridgehead in Tunisia.

26th

Axis losses in Africa for first 3½ months of 1943 are 66,000 killed, wounded and captured.

28th

British forces repulse a last, desperate Panzer counter blow in Tunisia.

JUNE

3rd

US troops take Mateur, less than 50 miles Northwest of Tunis.

5th

British forces break through the defences of the 5th Panzerarmee to the South of Tunis.

7th

Tunis falls to British First Army.

9th

The unconditional surrender of all axis troops in Tunisia takes at 11am.

10th

The British First Army reaches Hammamet.

12th

Surrender of all German and Italian forces in Tunisia (130,000 German and 120,000 Italian prisoners). General von Arnim and 25 other axis generals are claimed captured, so ending the life of the once mighty 'Afrika Korps' and marking the end of the three-year North African campaign.

13th

Marshal Messe, the Italian C in C of Tunisia, surrenders to Montgomery.

JULY

12th

King George VI lands in Morocco, only his second sanctioned visit of the war to forces overseas.