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| 1942 |
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| Anglo American Middle East Supply Center, coordinated Middle Eastern economies to meet Allied war needs. | 1 |
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| April–May |
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| British invasion of Iraq and subsequent overthrow of pro-Axis government under Rashid Ali al-Gaylani. | 2 |
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| May 26 |
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| Second Axis drive on Egypt. Reinforced, Rommel opened a powerful drive that captured Tobruk (June 21) and swept on to Bardia and Bir-el-Gobi. The victorious advance of the Axis troops was finally checked at El Alamein, only 70 miles from Alexandria. A four-month lull followed. | 3 |
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| Oct. 23 |
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| Third British offensive in North Africa. The British Eighth Army under Gen. Bernard L. Montgomery drove from El Alamein and expelled Rommel's divisions from Egypt by Nov. 12. | 4 |
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| Nov. 8 |
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| INVASION OF FRENCH NORTH AFRICA. An Anglo-American invasion force, commanded by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, disembarked in French Morocco and Algeria. This amphibious operation, on a scale hitherto unequaled in history, required 850 ships. The French garrisons at Casablanca, Oran, and Algiers were overcome after brief fighting, and an armistice arranged (Nov. 11) by Adm. Jean-François Darlan, who was in Algiers. Darlan, whose role as representative of the Vichy government was ambiguous, aided the Anglo-American forces in assuming control of French North Africa and West Africa. | 5 |
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| Dec. 1 |
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| Darlan retained his post as chief of state in North Africa with Anglo-American approval. On his assassination (Dec. 24), Gen. Henri Giraud was designated to succeed him. | 6 |
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