Rome Liberated 5 Jun '44
North Africa Cemetery
bigpigeon.us webpage  WW II - Germany > MTO, updated by RAC 12 Mar 2022.
Links to all MTO webpages.
  • MTO means Mediterrranean Theater of Operations.
  • Webpages outline the major MTO operations. 
  • Most are largely, but not quite, complete.
​North Africa & Sicily Italy - The Italian Mainland ​​The MTO Sea War
The MTO Air War
The MTO Communications Zone
Mediterranean Theater Overview

United States ground combat in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations - the MTO - began with the November 1942 Allied amphibious invasion of northwest Africa and ended in northern Italy in early May 1945.

By November 1942, British Empire forces in northeast Africa had already been fighting Italian and German forces for over two years.
MTO operations began with the November 1942 Operation Torch Allied amphibious invasion of Morocco and Algeria, followed by a land campaign in Tunisia. Later amphibious landings were:
  • Sicily.
  • Salerno and Anzio, followed by a long slog northward up the Italian mainland.
  • Southern France, using troops drawn from the Italian campaign. 
The US in the Mediterranean
The US Landings in the Mediterranean (Operation Torch was in November).
NW Africe in WW II
Northwest Africa in WW II
I outline WW II Mediterranean Theater combat thusly:
  1. The loss of the Balkans, 1939 - 1941.
  2. Combat in Libya and Egypt between British Empire and Axis troops,  late 1940 - early 1943.
  3. Allied invasion of Morocco and Algeria, Nov 1943.
  4. Combat in Tunisia, Nov 1942 - May 1943.
  5. Allied conquest of the Italian island of Sicily, Jul - Aug 1943.
  6. Allied campaigns northward in mainland Italy, Sep 1943 - May 1945.
  7. The liberation of the Balkans, 1944 - 1945.
US ground troops were involved in 3., 4., 5., and 6. above.
Allied Progress in Italy - July 1943 to May 1945
Allied Progess in Italy - July 1943 to May 1945
The Mediterranean Area Early in World War II
Only the following Mediterranean Sea areas remained in Allied hands throughout World War II:
  • Gibraltar, at the southern tip of Spain.
  • Malta, an island south of Sicily.
  • Cyprus, an island west of Syria.
  • Palestine, which included today's Israel.
  • Northeast Egypt.

In particular, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia were French colonies, occupied by the Vichy French military, which was friendly to Nazi Germany.
The Mediteranean and Nearby Countries
The Mediterranean Sea and Nearby Countries
Clockwise around the Mediterranean from the west using the above map:
  • Spain was recovering from its devastating civil war of 1936-1939. The authoritarian government of Francisco Franco remained neutral during World War II, although a division of Spanish volunteers did fight against Russia on the Eastern Front from 1941 to 1943.
  • Southern France was part of the Vichy French government.
  • Italy was part of the Axis group of countries.
  • Albania had been absorbed as a protectorate of Italy in 1939.
  • Yugoslavia and Greece had been subdued in early 1941 by German and Italian forces.
  • Turkey remained neutral during most of World War II.
  • Syria and Lebanon were under control of Vichy France until captured by British forces in June and July of 1941.
  • Palestine was in British hands.
  • Egypt was a client state of Britain. However, coastal northwestern Egypt was occupied at times by Italian and German forces.
  • Libya was an Italian colony.
  • Tunisia, Alberia, and Morocco were French colonies loyal to Vichy France until the end of 1942.
Chronological View of the Mediterranean Theater (under development)
The Loss of the Balkans, 1939-1941.

​The Balkans occupy the large European peninsula east of Italy shown on the accompanying map.
  • Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria were German allies for most of WW II.
  • Italy occupied Albania in 1939 and in late 1940 attempted to invade Greece.
  • Germany invaded Yugoslavia and Greece in April 1941. British Empire forces retreated to the Greek island of Crete, which the German Army then overran around June 1.
  • For the following three and a half years, Yugoslavia remained carved into pieces, each occupied by Germany or one of the adjoining Axis nations. One of the larger pieces, Croatia, joined the Axis powers.
Picture
The Balkans in 1939
The Desert War in Libya and Egypt, 1940-1942.

​From the middle of 1940 until October 1942, British Empire and Italian/German forces fought a see-saw battle across the coastal areas of Libya and Egypt.

After the November 1942 British victory at the Second Battle of El Alamein in Egypt, German and Italian forces began a long retreat westward across Libya and then into Tunisia, where they joined the Axis forces that had been sent to Tunisia after the Allied invasion of French North Africa, also in November 1942.

See also the North Africa webpage.
The Eastern Mediterranean in WW II
The Eastern Mediterranean in WW II
The War in Morocco and Algeria - November 1942.
​
United States involvement in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO) began with Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of the Vichy French controlled Morocco and Algeria on November 8, 1942. 
The War in Tunisia - 1942-1943.

After landing in Morocco and Algeria in November 1942, Allied forces moved east into Tunisia while German rushed troops to Tunisia by ship and by air. Germany won this race, and the Tunisian Campaign lasted until May 1943.

The Axis forces were gradually pushed into extreme northern Tunisia. An estimated 250,000 Italian and German military were taken prisoner.
Tunisia Today
Tunisia Today
The War in Sicily - 1943.​
The War in Mainland Italy - 1943-1945.

After the successful Allied campaign on the Italian island of Sicily, Italy surrendered and British and American troops landed on the Italian mainland. The Allies then began the 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. Combat in the Mediterranean Theater continued until May 2, 1945.
The Balkans Liberated - 1944-1945.
​
  1. In August 1944, advancing Soviet troops entered Romania from the east.
  2. After a coup in Romania, the Romanian Army suddenly switched from fighting against Soviet forces to fighting with the Soviets.
  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 WW II ended, in a series of civil wars from 1991-2001, Yugoslavia split into today's seven nations reaching from Slovenia in the north to the Republic of Macedonia as shown on the above map. (Kosovo is not fully independent from Serbia. Macedonia is now known as North Macedonia.)
US Army Divisions in the Mediterranean Theater
Operation Torch planners lacked confidence that Spain would remain neutral. Thus, a sizable force of American troops commanded by General George Patton was kept in Morocco for several months after the November 1942 invasion. After the German defeat at Stalingrad in early 1943, any interest Spain may have had in joining the Axis subsided.

In mid 1944, a number of 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
Divisions in the Mediterranean Theater
Sources for the MTO - Mediterranean Theater of Operations webpage:​​
  • The webpage header image, North Africa Cemetery, is courtesy of Warrick Page of the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC). This cemetery is near Tunis. The ABMC has two other Mediterranean Theater cemeteries, near Anzio, Italy and near Florence, Italy.
  • The US in the Mediterranean map is courtesy of 
  • The NW Africa in WW II map is courtesy of Mariana Abate at https://infograph.venngage.com/p/110521/the-african-campaign.
  • The map summarizing Allied operations in Italy is courtesy of pinterest.com.
  • The source of the The Mediterranean Sea and Nearby Countries map is currently unknown.
  • I do not have a reliable source for the map The Balkans in 1939.
  • The Eastern Mediterranean in WW II map is found at https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-C-Egypt/maps/USA-C-Egypt-2.jpg.
  • The Tunisia Today map is courtesy of worldatlas.com.
  • The The Balkans Today map is courtesy of en.reseauinternational.net.
  • The Divisions in the Mediterranean Theater stylized map is courtesy of www.armydivs.com. This map shows the participitation of United States Army divisions in the campaigns that took place in the MTO.
  • For an informal history of the Iowa/Minnesota 34th Infantry Division in the MTO, see https://www.iowanationalguard.com/History/History/Pages/World-War-II.aspx.