Agheila, El

Small Libyan town on the south coast of the Gulf of Sidra, south of Benghazi. A thin strip of firm ground between the sea and extensive salt marshes, it forms a natural bottleneck and so during the North African campaign in World War II was of strategic importance to both sides.

The British chose the town as their forward outpost after clearing the Italians out of Cyrenaica but lost it 24 March 1941 to a reconnaissance patrol sent out by Rommel to test their defences. Rommel followed up this success and continued to push the British back to Benghazi, marking the start of his first offensive. He himself fell back on El Agheila temporarily in January 1942 and finally in November 1942 in his retreat after El Alamein, when a deep outflanking movement through the desert by New Zealand troops drove him to continue his retreat.