Afrika Korps At War The Long Road Back

Coming within a stone's throw of controlling Alexandria and the Suez in late 1941, Rommel met dogged Allied resistance and embarked on one of the most brilliantly executed retreats in modern military history.

This book explores the experiences of the German Afrikakorps soldier during the North Africa campaign, from the Korps' arrival in–theatre in February 1941 to its eventual surrender in Tunisia in May 1943, with a particular focus on the intense period of warfare in the Western Desert between 1941 and 1942. Under the leadership of one of the war's most famous commanders, Erwin Rommel, the Afrikakorps grew to include a broad range of armour, infantry, artillery, anti-tank, engineer, communications, supply, medical and service elements. The soldiers of the Afrikakorps considered themselves as part of an elite, a highly select group that had no equal, not only in the German Army, but in the rest of the world.

The Second Battle of El Alamein marked a major turning point in the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. El Alamein saw two of the greatest generals of the war pitted against each other: Rommel and Montgomery. Through key profiles and a chapter devoted to 'The Armies' Battle Story: El Alamein explores what made these men inspired leaders and what led to their respective defeat and victory. Montgomery's success ensured that the Axis army was unable to occupy Egypt and therefore gain control of the Suez Canal or the Middle Eastern oil fields, thereby preventing a major source of income and power for them. The background and impact of the battle are explored in separate chapters, so offering the reader a clear insight into why what happened in this remote part Egypt was so central to the Allied cause. Through quotes and maps the text explores the unfolding action of the battle and puts the reader on the frontline. If you truly want to understand what happened and why – read Battle Story.

Adolf Hitler’s war in Africa arose from the urgent need to reinforce the Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini, whose 1940 invasion of Egypt had been soundly beaten. Of secondary importance to his ideological dream of conquering the Soviet Union, Germany’s Führer rushed a small mechanised force into the unfamiliar North African theatre to stave off defeat and avert any political fallout. This fresh account begins with the arrival of the largely unprepared German formations, soon to be stricken by disease and heavily reliant upon captured materiel, as they fought a bloody series of see-sawing battles across the Western Desert. David Mitchelhill-Green has gathered a wealth of personal narratives from both sides as he follows the brash exploits of General Erwin Rommel, intent on retaking Libya; the Nile firmly in his sights. Against this backdrop is the brutal human experience of war itself.

Few of the major campaigns of World War II aroused as much controversy as the War in North Africa, 1940-1943. Figures such as Rommel, Montgomery, and Eisenhower would become world famous because of the fighting in North Africa. This book opens with seven historiographical essays that evaluate and critically assess the major contributions to the literature on the War in North Africa. It then includes an alphabetically arranged bibliography of the 504 entries cited in the essays. The material is easily accessible, with cross-references between the text and the bibliography and a full index. The volume includes chapters on the Desert War, 1940-42; the Axis Powers in North Africa; Montgomery, Alam Halfa and El Alamein; TORCH: the Landings in French North Africa, and the Tunisian Campaign. Full attention is given to questions and issues historians have raised on such controversies as the Auchinleck-Montgomery dispute, the debate over Operation TORCH, and the Darlan affair. Emphasis is on English-language works, but the most significant Italian, German, and French works are cited and assessed. The book has been written for use in public, college, university, and institutional libraries, and to serve general readers and military historians.

The story of one of the most important battles of the Second World War between two of its greatest generals is expertly related and explained by a leading historian, with detailed illustrations and supplementary facts.

This WWII pictorial history illustrates Nazi Germany’s North African campaign, showing life under Rommel through vivid wartime photographs. Prior to the outbreak of World War II, the German Army had focused exclusively on preparations needed to wage war in continental Europe. The threat of an Italian collapse in North Africa in early 1941, however, prompted Hitler to aid his ally by sending an armored blocking force to Libya. Not content to merely thwart the British from capturing Tripoli, Lieutenant-General Erwin Rommel harried his inexperienced expeditionary force eastward towards the Nile Delta. With Rommel in the Desert presents a pictorial narrative of the unfolding conflict from the arrival of the Deutsches Afrikakorps until Rommel's departure from the battlefield in March 1943. These rare wartime photographs show daily life in the desert war, with its shifting fortunes and unique challenges. Primarily viewed from the perspective of ordinary combatants, this is their personal record of serving with Rommel in the desert.