13 - The Mediterranean and North Africa, 1940–1944

Summary

The distinctive character of the war in the Mediterranean was shaped by the existence of four strategic dispositions. Fighting for territory around the Mediterranean was the preserve of those called as dominators, fighting to get through the Mediterranean, voyagers, and fighting to get out of the Mediterranean, escapers. A hostile Italy made it hard to imagine the artery as a centrepiece of strategy. The Royal Navy used a friendly defence correspondent, Hector Bywater, subsequently famous as the man who predicted Pearl Harbor, to put its doubts into the public domain. The 'arterial strategy' made the most sense of the North African campaigns. Winston Churchill came close to suggesting that not only the British Army but the Royal Navy needed to deliver a blood sacrifice to prove it could face the Germans. The failure to concentrate resources in the Mediterranean was the fundamental mistake identified by the German Commander Marshal Kesselring.