The Western Desert Campaign or the Desert War, took place in the Western Desert of Egypt and Libya and was a theatre in the North African Campaign during the Second World War. The campaign began in September 1940, with the Italian invasion of Egypt. The Italians halted to bring up supplies, and Operation Compass, a British five-day raid in December 1940, led to the destruction of the Italian 10th Army. Benito Mussolini sought help from Hitler and a small German blocking detachment was sent to Tripoli under Directive 22 (11 January), being the first units of the Afrika Korps (Generalleutnant Erwin Rommel), under nominal Italian command but Italian dependency on Nazi Germany made it the dominant partner.