Allied administration of Libya European possessions in Africa to gain independence. Allied administration of Libya The Allied administration of Libya was the control of the ex-Italian colony of Libya by the Allies from 1943 until Libyan independence was granted in 1951. It was divided into the following: The Allied administration was done by the United Kingdom in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, and by France in Fezzan. Officially Libya remained "Italian Libya" until February 1947, when Italy signed the Peace Treaty losing all the colonies and possessions of the defeated former Italian Empire. The British administered it as the British Military Administration of Libya. The French
Italian East Africa Staff) had planned for a war after 1942. In the summer of 1940, Italy was far from ready for a long war or for the occupation of large areas of Africa. Hostilities began on 13 June 1940, with an Italian air raid on the base of 1 Squadron Southern Rhodesian Air Force (237 (Rhodesia) Squadron RAF) at Wajir in the East Africa Protectorate (Kenya). In August 1940, the protectorate of British Somaliland was occupied by Italian forces and absorbed into Italian East Africa. This occupation lasted around six months. By early 1941, Italian forces had been largely pushed back from