Operations In North Africa And The Middle East 1939 1942

Download or read book Operations in North Africa and the Middle East 1939-1942 written by John Grehan and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2015-01-30 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Middle East Command in the Second World War covered a vast region, stretching across Egypt, Libya, Malta, Palestine and Transjordan, Cyprus, Sudan, Eritrea, most of Syria and a small part of Iraq, and included some forty different languages. At one point it also oversaw operations in Greece, Kenya and British Somaliland. Its campaign area ran for a thousand miles from the Jordan to the Horn of Africa. Initially under the leadership of General Sir Archibald Wavell, Middle East CommandÕs early actions were in contending with the Italian forces in Libya and Italian East Africa. He was soon distracted by the German invasion of Greece and the subsequent defence of, and withdrawal from, the Island of Crete. With his attention turned from North Africa to the ®gean, Italian forces in North Africa were able to hold their ground and even receive reinforcements in the form of RommelÕs Afrika Korps . WavellÕs despatches detail all of these campaigns up to July 1941, when he was superseded by General Claude Auchinleck. The ÔAukÕ had to deal with the Anglo-Free French invasion of Syria and Lebanon and the nationalist uprising in Iraq. His main concern, though, was with stopping RommelÕs advances through Libya. The Axis forces were eventually held close to the border of Egypt at El Alamein. It was as far as Rommel would go and it marked the end of the long run of Axis successes in North Africa. The despatches presented here form a unique collection of original reports from the commanding officers in this widespread and difficult region. This is the first time these documents have been brought together in a single volume

Download or read book British Battles of the Crimean Wars 1854-1856 written by John Grehan and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2014-01-22 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Crimean War was the most destructive armed conflict of the Victorian era. It is remembered for the unreasoning courage of the Charge of the Light Brigade, for the precise volleys of the Thin Red Line and the impossible assaults upon Sevastopol's Redan. It also demonstrated the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of the British military system based on privilege and purchase.??Poor organisation at staff level and weak leadership from the Commander-in-Chief with a lack of appreciation of the conditions the troops would experience in the Crimea resulted in the needless death of thousands of soldiers. The Royal Navy, by comparison, was highly effective and successfully undertook its operations in the Baltic, the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.??The relative performance of the two branches of Britain's armed forces is reflected in the despatches sent back to the UK by the?respective commanders. The comparative wealth of detail provided by Admirals Napier, Dundas and Lyons contrast sharply with the limited, though frequent, communications from Generals Raglan, Codrington and Simpson.??The despatches of all these commanding officers are presented in this compilation just as they were when first published in the 1850s. They tell of the great battles of the Alma, Balaklava and Inkerman, of the continuing struggle against Sevastopol and the naval operations which cut the Russian communications and ensured an eventual, if costly, victory. They can be read, just as they were when revealed to the general public more than 150 years ago.

Download or read book Air Force Combat Units of World War II written by Maurer Maurer and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 1961 with total page 520 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Together We Stand written by James Holland and published by HarperCollins UK. This book was released on 2005 with total page 904 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "When the Axis fores were finally driven from North Africa in May 1943, over 250,000 were taken prisoner, as many as had surrendered to the Russians at Stalingrad. It was a major victory and a crucial stepping-stone to the future invasion of Italy and France." "Yet, just a year before, the Allies had been facing one disaster after another. In North Africa, the Eighth Army's terrible defeat at Gazala represented Britain's nadir. Slowly but surely, however, the Allies began to turn the tide. This crucial period was a time of learning for both America and Britain and, by the end of the Tunisian campaign they had finally gained material but also certain tactical advantages over Germany, particularly in the air war. As this book shows, the development of a tactical air force - principles that are still used to this day - were founded over the skies of North Africa." "And yet this is also a book about the men - and women - who found themselves caught up in this struggle, people drawn from all parts of the globe and brought together to make up these polyglot Allied forces: British and American, Nepalese and Punjabi, South African and Australian, Maori and Zulu, and from all ranks and all services."--BOOK JACKET.

Download or read book Fighting the People's War written by Jonathan Fennell and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2019-01-24 with total page 967 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jonathan Fennell captures for the first time the true wartime experience of the ordinary soldiers from across the empire who made up the British and Commonwealth armies. He analyses why the great battles were won and lost and how the men that fought went on to change the world.

Download or read book MEDITERRANEAN AND MIDDLE EAST VOLUME III (September 1941 to September 1942) British Fortunes Reach Their Lowest Ebb. HISTORY OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR: written by Major-General I. S. O. Playfair and published by Naval & Military Press. This book was released on 2021-02-09 with total page 584 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This, the third of eight volumes in the 18-volume official British History of the Second World War, dealing with the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern theatres, describes the nadir of British fortunes in the region. Covering the year from September 1941 to September 1942, the book opens with the latest round in the ding-dong battle in North Africa with 'Operation Crusader', Britain's bid to relieve the besieged port of Tobruk and chase Rommel from the western desert. The authors emphasise how Britain was hampered by obsolescent equipment such as the Crusader tank. Despite this, British, Australian and South African forces relieved Tobruk and entered Benghazi on Christmas Day 1941 - only to evacuate it after Rommel's swift recovery the following month. At sea, the Royal Navy suffered serious blows with the loss of 'Ark Royal' and 'Barham' and a daring Italian 'human torpedo' attack on British ships in Alexandria harbour. Axis air attacks on Malta and convoys supplying it reached their peak in April, and the island was awarded the George Cross for its gallant defence. Rommel counter-attacked in the desert in May, defeating the Eighth Army at Gazala, and on June 21st Tobruk was lost. But the Axis attempt to take Cairo was stalled at the battle of Alam el Halfa and, after General Auchinleck was replaced by General Montgomery, the Allies prepared to go back on the offensive. With 11 appendices, 40 maps and diagrams and 40 photographs.

Download or read book A Pattern for Joint Operations written by Daniel R. Mortensen and published by Government Printing Office. This book was released on 1987 with total page 108 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: CMH Pub. 93-7. This study in the Historial Analysis Series discusses the the origin and development of American close air support doctrine and practice in World War II. It explains how the Tunisian campaign demonstrated the need for tactical changes and close cooperation between the staffs and forces in joint and combined forces. The struggle of ground and air leaders to define and construct a command and control system, and ultimately to allocate and commit precious air resources to requisite ground missions, has as many lessons today as it did more than forty years ago. L.C. card 87-19335.