El Agheila ( ar, العقيلة, translit=al-ʿUqayla ) is a coastal city at the southern end of the Gulf of Sidra in far western

Cyrenaica Cyrenaica ( ) or Kyrenaika ( ar, برقة, Barqah, grc-koi, Κυρηναϊκή ��παρχίαKurēnaïkḗ parkhíā}, after the city of Cyrene), is the eastern region of Libya. Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between ...

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

. In 1988 it was placed in

Ajdabiya District Ajdabiya ( ar, إجدابيا) was one of the districts of Libya. It lay in the northeastern part of the country. Its capital was Ajdabiya. As of 2007 it was subsumed within the enlarged Al Wahat District. When Ajdabiya District was in existence ...

; it was in that district until 1995. It was removed from Ajdabiya District in 1995 but in 2001 it was placed back into Ajdabiya District. In 2007, El Agheila was placed within the enlarged Al Wahat District. El Agheila is best known to history as the site of several

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

battles during the North African Campaign.

History

El Agheila is the site of the Roman fortified town of Anabucis and its Greek precursor Automala. During the Italian occupation of Libya the town was the site of an Italian concentration camp for

Bedouins The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and Ar ...

. The camp was just south of town and housed over 10,000 inmates. Thousands of the Bedouins starved to death in the camp run by the Italian colonial troops.

World War II

In February 1941, El Agheila was taken by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Western Desert Force The Western Desert Force (WDF) was a British Army formation active in Egypt during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. On 17 June 1940, the headquarters of the British 6th Infantry Division was designated as the Western Des ...

following their destruction of the Italian Tenth Army in

Operation Compass Operation Compass (also it, Battaglia della Marmarica) was the first large British military operation of the Western Desert Campaign (1940–1943) during the Second World War. British, Empire and Commonwealth forces attacked Italian forces of ...

. The British halted there while most of the Western Desert Force was moved to deal with the

Axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis * Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...

's invasion of Greece. This gave the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Afrika Korps The Afrika Korps or German Africa Corps (, }; DAK) was the German expeditionary force in Africa during the North African Campaign of World War II. First sent as a holding force to shore up the Italian defense of its African colonies, the ...

under Erwin Rommel a chance to arrive and launch an offensive which retook El Agheila in March and drove the British all the way back to

Tobruk Tobruk or Tobruck (; grc, Ἀντίπυργος, ''Antipyrgos''; la, Antipyrgus; it, Tobruch; ar, طبرق, Tubruq ''Ṭubruq''; also transliterated as ''Tobruch'' and ''Tubruk'') is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near ...

and the

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

ian frontier. Rommel would further fortify the city and use it as a base for his operations. After being driven back from Tobruk following Operation Crusader in December 1941, the Afrika Korps fell back to El Agheila, halting their retreat and the British advance there. In January 1942, Rommel launched a new offensive at El Agheila, which would again drive the British back towards Tobruk. This time he would capture Tobruk and advance into Egypt before being halted at El Alamein in July 1942 and decisively defeated there in November. The Afrika Korps was broken, and its retreating remnants gave up El Agheila for the final time to the advancing

British Eighth Army The Eighth Army was an Allied field army formation of the British Army during the Second World War, fighting in the North African and Italian campaigns. Units came from Australia, British India, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Free French Forces ...

in December 1942.

Libyan civil war

During the

Libyan Civil War Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. The ...

, the town was taken by anti-Gaddafi forces in early March, retaken by forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi in mid-March, and retaken again by NTC forces in late March only to be once again taken by government forces a couple of days later. It was retaken a third time by anti-Gaddafi forces in August.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:El Agheila Port cities and towns in Libya Gulf of Sidra Populated places in Al Wahat District Cyrenaica