After a short siege, the Italian and German forces withdrew from Tripoli, and the Allies entered the town to great worldwide fanfare.

[1] At the same time as the Second Battle of El Alamein, Operation Torch deposited approximately 83,300 U.S. and 23,000 British soldiers in three task forces in an invasion of French North Africa, in Morocco and Algeria on 8 November 1942.

In a series of desperate rear guard actions, Rommel defended his flanks while driving his main body west.

"Let me then assure you, soldiers and airmen, that your fellow-countrymen regard your joint work with admiration and gratitude, and that after the war when a man is asked what he did it will be quite sufficient for him to say, 'I marched and fought with the Desert Army.'

And when history is written and all the facts are known, our feats will gleam and glow and will be a source of song and story long after we who are gathered here have passed away.