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| 1940, June 10 |
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| ITALY DECLARED WAR ON FRANCE AND GREAT BRITAIN. | 1 |
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| Aug. 6 |
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| Italian forces invaded British Somaliland from Italian East Africa, completing their conquest by Aug. 19. | 2 |
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| Aug. 27 |
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| Free French forces under Leclerc took possession of Duala on the Cameroon Coast, West Africa. | 3 |
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| Sept. 13–15 |
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| An Italian army invaded Egypt from Libya. | 4 |
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| Sept. 22–25 |
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| British naval forces and Free French troops under de Gaulle tried unsuccessfully to occupy Dakar in French West Africa. | 5 |
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| Dec. 1 |
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| The British opened a surprise drive against the Italians in North Africa. From Mersa Matruh in Egypt, to which they had retreated, imperial troops outflanked the Italians, captured 1,000 prisoners, and advanced so rapidly that they were in Sidi Barrani and had begun the invasion of Libya by Dec. 12. | 6 |
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