The desert war, starting with Italy's invasion of Egypt and the attacks and counterattacks between Germany and Italy and the Commonwealth forces, the Axis defeat at El Alamein.
In 1940 Mussolini deploys a massive army to invade British held Egypt, to capture the Suez Canal and most of all to establish an Italian empire to rival Germany's. So begins a multi-year campaign over a meaningless stretch of desert involving forces from a dozen nations and characterized by persistent attackers, stubborn defenders and ultimately controlled by supply line challenges.—David Foss