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Chapter Four: British Response and Operation Compass
After the last German troops surrendered and thus the Battle of Britain came to a close, the British Government under Churchill began to plan the Empire’s next move – Germany had been significantly damaged by the botched invasion, and thus Britain had numerous options for how to proceed forward. While plans were drawn up by Britain’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, however, political events were also taking place in the Home Islands.

Had the war not occurred, then a general election would have been scheduled for either 1939 and 1940 – yet the outbreak of war, and the subsequent threat of invasion, led to Acts of Parliament being passed which prolonged the existing Parliament’s lifetime, allowing the Government to focus entirely on the war effort. However, now that Britain was free from the possibility of invasion and secured, many voices in both Parliament and the Government began to suggest that a general election should take place – after all, if Britain was safe, then why should British democracy be suspended? Both Churchill and his Deputy (and Labour Leader), Clement Attlee, eventually came to agree with this argument, and so, in late October, Churchill requested a dissolution of Parliament from King George VI, thereby allowing writs to be issued for a general election in November.

Prior to election day, the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberals (the three main parties in the wartime National Government) agreed that, regardless of the election outcome, the National Government should continue until the war was at an end. When polling day did indeed arrive, the British electorate, boosted by the recent wartime victories and Churchill’s leadership, with a turnout of 77.4%, voted decisively for the status quo. Both the Conservatives and Labour saw increases in support, a rare occurrence in British politics, while third parties (in particular the Liberal National and National Labour Parties, who were heavily associated with appeasement) saw drops in support. With the National Government returned by an overwhelming landslide, Churchill, delighted that he had secured a mandate and that the British people had endorsed the war effort, remained Prime Minister, while the Cabinet and Government Ministries remained largely the same. Detailed results of the 1940 general election are as follows:


While the election campaign took place (and after it), the British Government and senior military officials focused on what Britain’s next move in the conflict with Germany should be. In the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Britain, some eager voices suggested that a counter-invasion should be staged, and British troops should land in Northern France to repulse the Germans from the country. However, while this idea was initially contemplated, it was decided that such an assault would be difficult to pull off, even after the casualties sustained by Germany in the Battle of Britain, and it could end up with Britain in the same situation as Germany after the botched attempt at Sealion.

So, instead, it was agreed by the War Cabinet and the Joint Chiefs of Staff that Britain’s focus for the time being would be on North Africa – in particular, evicting Italy from Libya and (once that goal was achieved) assisting Free French efforts to capture the remaining Vichy French colonies in West Africa. Both objectives were made easier by the fact that Britain could afford to deploy more men overseas, now that the threat of invasion was gone and, as a result, fewer troops needed to be kept in the Home Islands. So, an extra five divisions, numbering 75,000 men were sent to Egypt to assist the upcoming British offensive to repulse Italian troops from Egypt and advance into Libya, code-named Operation Compass. These extra troops meant that the British and Commonwealth forces scheduled to take part in Compass now numbered roughly 111,000.

Compass began on December the 9th 1940, as the British forces in Egypt under Field Marshal Archibald Wavell and General Richard O’Connor began to advance, quickly repulsing Italian forces from Egypt after the Battle of Sidi Barrani between the 10th and the 11th. From there onwards, British and Commonwealth troops began to advance further, with Sollum and the Halfaya Pass being captured by British forces on December the 13th, at which point fighting began to take place in Italian territory. The next major engagement of Compass was the Battle of Bardia, which occurred between New Years’ Eve and New Years’ Day – the 45,000 Italian troops defending the port were ultimately defeated by the 22,000 British and Australian troops, under the command of Australian Lieutenant General Iven Mackay [1]. Once Bardia was captured, the next target for the Allies was Tobruk, which the British 7th Armoured Division and the Australian 19th Brigade reached on January the 2nd, and captured by January the 17th.

Throughout January, British and Commonwealth troops continued to advance into Libya, securing several victories over the Italian forces defending numerous coastal cities. Eventually, by January the 26th, Italy gave the order to evacuate Cyrenaica, putting the region under British control. Yet Compass was not done yet – after the Italian forces were ordered to retreat, British and Commonwealth troops worked to intercept them, and were successful in doing so, leaving the Italian Tenth Army essentially destroyed. By February the 5th, British and Commonwealth troops had reached El Aghelia, and from there O’Connor planned a final push to capture further territory from Italy before Compass came to an end. On February the 6th, British and Commonwealth troops advanced beyond El Aghelia, and fighting began between Allied and Italian troops for control of the town of Ra’s Lanuf. Fighting between the two sides was fierce, as the Allied troops were determined to gain control of the town, while the Italian troops were desperate to maintain control - however, the Italian forces were eventually forced to retreat further, allowing the British troops, led by O’Connor, to enter the town.

Between the 6th and the 11th, further engagements between British and Italian forces took place for control of the port of Sidra and the town of Bin Jawad. Once again, both sides fought with significant determination during the two respective battles, yet eventually Britain once again came out triumphant, and orders were given for Italian troops to retreat. At this point, most Italian troops were ordered to retreat to the city of Sirte, and thus Wavell faced the option of ordering the continuation of Compass further to capture the city. However, Wavell decided against the idea, as the number of Italian forces stationed in Sirte meant that taking the city would be a costly endeavour, and Compass had already extended well passed its original goal, to force Italian troops out of Egypt, and many of the British and Commonwealth vehicles and equipment were starting to need repairs. And so, British and Commonwealth troops in Bin Jawad ceased their advance, and instead began fortifying their gains – well over half of Libya had been secured by the Allies through Compass, and plans were drawn up for a further offensive to completely push the Italians out of Libya by the end of 1941. Yet this would have to wait until the vehicles and equipment worn out in Compass were either repaired or replaced. In the meantime, a large number of British troops who took part in Compass were sent away from Libya to the Balkans, to assist Greece in its campaign against German and Italian forces [2].

Meanwhile, the Italian forces in Libya were left in a state of disarray, having lost a significant amount of land and having their morale gravely hit. Mussolini initially requested German aid to possibly repulse the Allied advances, yet Germany, still licking its wounds from the Battle of Britain, refused its ally’s request for aid. And so, the Western Desert Campaign entered a pause for the time being.

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[1] Due to the greater number of British troops, the Allies are advancing faster in this alternate Compass than in our timeline’s Compass, while Allied victories are far more decisive in this timeline.

[2] The Balkan Campaign goes the same as our timeline, aside from that, in this timeline, British and Greek troops are able to hold Crete, as Germany, having had most of its paratrooper regiments destroyed in the Battle of Britain, is unable to stage an invasion of the island.

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