Gurkhas of the British Eight Army go on the
attack during the Battle of El Alamein

November 2-24
Africa, Egypt/Libya
Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, severely lacking supplies, decides to withdraw from El Alamein. He delays this for 48 hours, after Adolf Hitler's order to stand firm, but then continues following further Allied attacks. The Allies push him back to Tobruk, Benghazi, and then El Agheila by the 24th. Germany and Italy have lost 59,000 men killed, wounded, or captured. The Allies have suffered 13,000 killed, wounded, or missing. General Bernard Montgomery's victory saves the Suez Canal and raises Allied morale. Alamein is the first major defeat of German forces during the war.

November 5
Africa, Madagascar
Vichy French forces in control of the island surrender.

November 8-11
Africa, Morocco/Algeria
Three Allied Task Forces, including five carriers, land 34,000 US troops near Casablanca, 39,000 US and British troops near Oran (accompanied by a parachute assault), and 33,000 troops near Algiers. US General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the supreme commander, aims to seize Vichy French North Africa as a springboard for future operations to clear the whole of North Africa of Axis forces. Admiral Jean François Darlan, Vichy commissioner in Africa, causes diplomatic turbulence by arranging a cease-fire and agreeing to support the Allies. The surprise invasion is a product of successful interservice planning, and Rommel is now fighting on two Fronts.

November 11
Western Front, Vichy France
German and Italian forces occupy Vichy France to prevent an Allied invasion from the former Vichy French territories in North Africa.

November 12-14
Pacific, Solomons
A US cruiser-destroyer squadron inflicts serious losses on a Japanese naval force of 18 warships attempting to bombard Guadalcanal's Henderson Field, and also lands 11,000 troops.

November 17-28
Africa, Tunisia
British paratroopers land at Souk-el-Arba and join a limited Allied advance toward Bizerta. Thousands of German reinforcements are arriving daily, and the Allies are not yet ready for a large offensive. By the 28th, they are within 20 miles (32 km) of Tunis but are halted by Axis counterattacks. Allied reinforcements from Algiers are slowed by rain and mud. A stalemate develops across much of Tunisia.

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