Western Desert Campaign - Pre-war

Pre-war

The British had forces in Egypt since 1882, but these were much reduced as a result of the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty signed with the Kingdom of Egypt in 1936. The relatively modest British and Commonwealth forces in Egypt were there primarily to protect the Suez Canal. The canal was vital to Britain's communications with her Far Eastern and Indian Ocean territories.

However, since 1938, the British forces in Egypt had included "Mobile Force (Egypt)". Commanded by Major General Percy Hobart, this was one of only two British armoured training formations. On the outbreak of war, this force was renamed "Armoured Division (Egypt)" and ultimately became the 7th Armoured Division. The 7th Armoured, later to become informally known as the "Desert Rats", served as the principal force defending the Egyptian border with Libya at the start of the war.

In June 1939, Lieutenant-General Henry Maitland "Jumbo" Wilson arrived in Cairo, Egypt, as General Officer Commanding (GOC) British Troops in Egypt and was placed in command of the British and Commonwealth forces defending Egypt. At the end of July, Lieutenant-General Archibald Wavell was appointed to the rank of local general and sent to Cairo to be General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of the newly created Middle East Command with responsibility for the Mediterranean and Middle East theatre; this command had operational control of all ground forces in Egypt, the Sudan, Palestine, Transjordan, and Cyprus. However, as the war progressed, its authority was extended to include British-led ground forces in east and north Africa, Aden, Iraq and the shores of the Persian Gulf, and Greece. On 17 June 1940, the troops Wilson had facing Libya under Major-General Richard O'Connor and his 6th Infantry Division headquarters were redesignated Western Desert Force. O'Connor was given the local rank of lieutenant-general in October as his command was reinforced and expanded.

Libya had been an Italian colony since the Italian Royal Army (Regio Esercito) defeated the Ottoman Imperial Army in 1912 during the Italo-Turkish War. Bracketed by French North Africa and Egypt, the Italians prepared for conflicts on both sides.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Italy had two armies in Libya: the 5th and the 10th Armies. Both were commanded overall by the Commander-in-Chief of Italian North Africa and Governor-General of Italian Libya, the charismatic Marshal of the Air Force (Maresciallo dell'Aria) Italo Balbo. The 5th Army, consisting of nine infantry divisions in Tripolitania, was commanded by General Italo Gariboldi. The 10th Army in Cyrenaica was led by General Mario Berti and had five infantry divisions. In late June 1940, the 10th Army was the principal force on the border with Egypt. In all respects, the Italian land and air forces (Regia Aeronautica) in Libya greatly outnumbered the British in Egypt. The British, however, had the advantage of better quality.

According to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, the approximately 215,000 Italians in Libya faced approximately 50,000 British in Egypt. The British estimated that the Italians had six "metropolitan" infantry divisions and two "militia" infantry divisions in Tripolitania, two "metropolitan" infantry divisions and two "militia" infantry divisions in Cyrenaica, and three "frontier" divisions. To counter this force, the British had the 7th Armoured Division, two-thirds of the 4th Indian Infantry Division, one-third of the New Zealand Division, 14 British battalions, and two regiments of Royal Artillery.