Montgomery launches the second battle of El Alamein against Rommel

In a few weeks Montgomery and the Eighth Army push Rommel back some 1200 miles, into Tunisia

American and British forces, under Dwight Eisenhower, land in Morocco and Algeria

After three days of resistance the French commanders in north Africa bring their troops over to the Allied side

William Tubman begins a 28-year spell as president of Liberia

Roosevelt and Churchill meet in Casablanca for a strategic conference

The Casablanca Conference includes the decision to insist on unconditional surrender by the Axis powers

May 7 - the Allies capture Tunis, taking 250,000 German and Italian prisoners and winning control of North Africa

Gamal Abdel Nasser and army colleagues form a secret party, the Free Officers, to fight for an independent Egyptian republic

Arab countries, gathered for a conference in Cairo, form the Arab League to further their joint interests

Demonstrations in Algeria spark off an uprising against French rule, which is put down with the loss of perhaps 10,000 Muslim lives

Daniel Malan becomes South Africa's prime minister after his National Party wins the general election

Daniel Malan moves swiftly to reinforce apartheid, South Africa's already existing system of racial segregation

The Muslim Brotherhood carries out acts of terrorism against the Egyptian authorities and British troops

Egypt controls the Gaza Strip area of Palestine at the end of the Arab-Israeli war

Radical young members, including Nelson Mandela, take control of the ANC

Soweto begins to be built outside Johannesburg to segregate the city's black labour force

The British government bans hereditary ruler Seretse Khama from Bechuanaland because he has married a white woman

Libya wins independence from Italy, as a kingdom with Idris I as head of state

A decision by the United Nations makes Eritrea an autonomous federal province within Ethiopia

Kwame Nkrumah, recently released from gaol, becomes prime minister of the British colony of the Gold Coast

A group of officers led by Gamal Abdel Nasser depose Egypt's king, Farouk, and send him into exile

Ahmed Ben Bella forms the Front de Libération National (FLN) to fight for Algerian independence

An outbreak of terrorism in Kenya is orchestrated by a secret Kikuyu organization, the Mau Mau

Jomo Kenyatta, charged with having organized the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya, is sentenced to seven years in prison