In 1941, the German Africa Corps under General Erwin Rommel, stationed in North Africa in support of their Italian allies in Libya, dominated the area for a long time due to their modern equipment and good leadership. In the heavy desert actions of 1941 and 1942 the Africa Corps forced the British forces, which were numerically superior, right back to the gates of Cairo. But in 1943, after the second Battle of El Alamein, they were hemmed in by the British and Americans and had no alternative but to surrender and retreat.