"The Dash" or "Monty's Dash" refers to the extremely quick Allied campaign in North Africa. After the death of Erwin Rommel during the Second Battle of El Alamein in November 1942, the Axis forces were left demoralised and disorganised. Montgomery met with the displaced King of Libya and Bey of Tunis (both of whom were displaced by Italian colonial policy) as well as the Sultan of Morocco (a man known for his hatred of Hitler and sympathy for the Jews, but nonetheless was extremely anti-French and pro-independence), and promised them their independence in exchange for their military support against the Axis, something which he didn't have the authority to do. Islamic holy men across North Africa proclaimed a jihad against the Axis, and with the assistance of North African partisans and international Islamic mujahideen, Monty was able to pursue the retreating Axis forces from El Alamein to Algiers in just four weeks. In Algiers, the German and Italian forces in North Africa formally surrendered to Monty.
However, history repeats itself. Despite Monty's efforts to lobby on behalf of the North Africans, Churchill supported the resumption of French control over Tunisia and Morocco, and the creation of a British client-state in Libya. Betrayed first by Lawrence of Arabia during World War I, and again by Monty of the Sahara during World War II, Arabs and Muslims around the world began conceiving of themselves in decidedly anti-Western terms, and the network of international mujahideen which the Allies sponsored during World War II would be the ancestors of many Islamist and anti-colonial militant organisations throughout the Cold War.
The Peacock Throne