An anti-aircraft battery protects an Allied airfield in Tunisia.

Source: National Archives (208-N-7820-P)

At a B-17 base in North Africa crew members celebrate their 100th mission.

Source: National Archives (208-AA-3A-61)

B-25 bombers roar over an army base in Tunisia, North Africa.

Source: National Archives (208-AA-3A-40)

Charles Mann was born on his family's 400 acre farm, 4 miles northwest of Luverne, on April 26, 1920. He was delivered by Jim Sherman's grandfather, "Doc" Sherman. He left school after 8th grade to work on the family farm. He was among the first group of inductees to leave . . .

Soldiers of Company L, 60th infantry, 9th Division in Algiers. Charles Mann of Luverne is in the top row, fourth from left.

Source: Charles Mann

Charles Mann at basic training, February 24, 1942.

Source: Charles Mann

Charles Mann in Algiers, French Morocco. August 10, 1944.

Source: Charles Mann

General George S. Patton uses new tactics in North Africa.

American soldiers in fox holes during the fight in North Africa.

Source: National Archives (208-AA-4NN-26)

Ernest Taylor Pyle, best known as "Ernie," covered the Second World War for the Scripps Howard newspaper chain. Pyle was born to farmers in Dana, Indiana on August 3, 1900. He joined the US Navy in 1918 hoping to see action in World War One, but the . . .

Ernie Pyle at Anzio, Italy. March 18, 1944

Source: National Archives (111-SC-191703)

Ernie Pyle at his typewriter, Anzio, Italy, March 18, 1944.

Source: National Archives (111-SC-191705)

A favorite of the GIs, journalist Ernie Pyle offers a cigarette to an infantryman. He later would be killed by a sniper's bullet.

Source: National Archives (127-N-116840)

American soldiers settle into a foxhole once occupied by Germans, North Africa. May 7, 1943

Source: National Archives (111-SC-171619)

The effort at home helped supply the troops with a wealth of materials and machines such as this tank used in North Africa.

Source: National Archives (111-SC-282399)

Soldiers of an antiaircraft regiment rush to their guns in North Africa. February 25, 1943

Source: National Archives (111-SC-177052)

A Tank Destroyer in Tunisia, North Africa. 1943

Source: National Archives (111-SC-172474)

The campaign in North Africa was fought over control of the Suez Canal. Great Britain depended on the canal for access to Middle Eastern oil and raw materials from Asia. The Suez Canal and the Mediterranean also formed the primary lifeline to Britain's overseas dominions. The ground campaign in North . . .

After two months of sporadic fighting, the battle for North Africa suddenly intensified.

Wounded soldiers on stretchers wait to be loaded into a hospital train. North Africa, 1943.

Source: National Archives (319-CE-2-SC-236215)