The MTO:    Background   Overview    North Africa    Italy   Air War    Sea War    Comm. Zone 
bigpigeon.us webpage WWII Germany > The MTO > MTO Overview, © 2024 by Robert A. Christiansen, updated by RAC 27 Sep 2024.
I outline WWII military activity on the ground in the Mediterranean area thusly:
Before the November 1942 involvement of U.S. ground forces: ​Click here for background
  • The loss of the Balkans, 1939–1941.
  • Securing Syria and Lebanon, 1941.
  • Combat in Libya and Egypt between British Empire and Axis troops,  late 1940–early 1943.
By the Western Allies within the Mediterranean Theater:
  • Invasion of Morocco and Algeria, November 1943.
  • Combat in Tunisia, November 1942–May 1943.
  • Invasion and conquest of the Italian island of Sicily, July–August 1943.
  • Invasion and campaigns northward on the Italian peninsula, September 1943–May 1945.
By Great Britain and the Soviet Union acting independently:
  • The liberation of the Balkans, 1944–1945.
The War in Morocco and Algeria - November 1942
United States ground involvement in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO) began with Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of the Vichy French controlled Morocco and Algeria on 8 November 1942. French troops resisted for three days before surrendering. ​
The War in Tunisia - 1942–1943
  • In November 1942, Allied forces moved east from Algeria into Tunisia while the Axis rushed troops to Tunisia by ship and by air.
  • Germany won this race, and the Tunisian Campaign lasted until May 1943.
  • In February 1943, Axis forces in Tunisia were joined by Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps, pursued west across Libya by Bernard Montgomery's Eighth Army.
  • Axis forces were gradually confined into extreme northern Tunisia around Bizerte and Tunis.
  • Axis forces surrendered in mid-May. An estimated 250,000 Italian and German military were taken prisoner.
NW Africe in WW II
Northwest Africa in WWII
The War in Sicily - 1943
  • Sicily, 1943 - Operation Husky landings on the south coast began on 9 July. The Sicily campaign ended on 17 August with the Axis withdrawal from Messina across the straits to the Italian mainland.
The War on the Italian Peninsula, 1943–1945
Midway through the Allied campaign on Sicily, Italy's leader Benito Mussolini was overthrown. Subsequently, Italy surrendered and British and American troops landed in three locations in southern Italy.

The Allies then began their long slog north up the Italian peninsula. Their advance was halted by German fortifications for extended periods during both the winter of 1943-44 and the winter of 1944-45. 

The August 1944 Operation Dragoon landing in Southern France used troops drawn from the Italian campaign. These troops moved northward and after a month became part of ETO.

​Combat in northern Italy continued until the Axis surrender on 2 May 1945.
Allied Progress in Italy - July 1943 to May 1945
Allied Progess in Italy - July 1943 to May 1945
The Balkans Liberated, 1944–1945
(United States ground forces were not involved in these operations.)
  1. In August 1944, advancing Soviet troops entered Romania from the east.
  2. After a coup in Romania, the Romanian Army switched sides, from the Axis to the Soviet Union.
  3. The combined Soviet and Romanian forces moved west into Bulgaria and Yugoslavia.
  4. To avoid being trapped, the German Army in Greece withdrew to the north. 
  5. British troops entered Greece from the south and followed the retreating Germans.
  6. The Germany Army, under pressure from Yugoslav partisans and the approaching armies, withdrew from Yugoslavia.
Civil War in Greece and atrocities in Yugoslavia followed their liberation.
The Balkans Today
The Balkans Today
Long after WWII ended, Yugoslavia split into today's seven nations, reaching from Slovenia in the north to the Republic of Macedonia as shown on the above map.
  • Portions of Yugoslavia were wracked by civil wars from 1991 to 2001.
  • Kosovo is not fully independent from Serbia.
  • Macedonia is now known as North Macedonia.
US Army Divisions in the Mediterranean Theater Campaigns
Operation Torch planners were unsure whether Spain would remain neutral. Thus, I Armored Corps commanded by General George Patton was kept in Morocco for several months after the November 1942 invasion. After the Soviet victory over Germany at Stalingrad in early 1943, Spain no longer had interest in joining the Axis.

In mid-1944, seven American and French divisions were removed from combat in Italy to prepare for the August 1944 invasion of southern France.
Mediterranean Theater Campaign by Divisions
US Army Divisions in the Mediterranean Theater Campaigns

​                    ██  Sources for Big Pigeon's WWII Germany > The MTO > MTO Overview webpage   ██
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