The Mediterranean and Middle East: British fortunes reach their lowest (Sept. 1941 to Sept. 1941) PDF Download

Author: Ian Stanley Ord Playfair
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : World War, 1939-1945
Languages : en
Pages : 584

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Author: Daniel Todman
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190658495
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 993

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The second volume of Daniel Todman's account of Great Britain and World War II The second of Daniel Todman's two sweeping volumes on Great Britain and World War II, Britain's War: A New World, 1942-1947, begins with the event Winston Churchill called the "worst disaster" in British military history: the Fall of Singapore in February 1942 to the Japanese. As in the first volume of Todman's epic account of British involvement in World War II ("Total history at its best," according to Jay Winter), he highlights the inter-connectedness of the British experience in this moment and others, focusing on its inhabitants, its defenders, and its wartime leadership. Todman explores the plight of families doomed to spend the war struggling with bombing, rationing, exhausting work and, above all, the absence of their loved ones and the uncertainty of their return. It also documents the full impact of the entrance into the war by the United States, and its ascendant stewardship of the war. Britain's War: A New World, 1942-1947 is a triumph of narrative and research. Todman explains complex issues of strategy and economics clearly while never losing sight of the human consequences--at home and abroad--of the way that Britain fought its war. It is the definitive account of a drama which reshaped Great Britain and the world.

Author: Ian Stanley Ord Playfair
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781845740672
Category : World War, 1939-1945
Languages : en
Pages : 686

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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 equpiment 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.

Author: Vincent P. O'Hara
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253006058
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 404

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An invaluable account of one of the most overlooked sea battles of World War II. By mid-1942 the Allies were losing the Mediterranean war: Malta was isolated and its civilian population faced starvation. In June 1942 the British Royal Navy made a stupendous effort to break the Axis stranglehold. The British dispatched armed convoys from Gibraltar and Egypt toward Malta. In a complex battle lasting more than a week, Italian and German forces defeated Operation Vigorous, the larger eastern effort, and ravaged the western convoy, Operation Harpoon, in a series of air, submarine, and surface attacks culminating in the Battle of Pantelleria. Just two of seventeen merchant ships that set out for Malta reached their destination. In Passage Perilous presents a detailed description of the operations and assesses the actual impact Malta had on the fight to deny supplies to Rommel’s army in North Africa. The book’s discussion of the battle’s operational aspects highlights the complex relationships between air and naval power and the influence of geography on littoral operations. “An important and highly recommended addition to the literature on World War II in the Mediterranean.” —IPP Naval Maritime History

Author: Adrian Turner
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473813867
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 343

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To read many accounts, it would appear that the Eighth Army's victory at El Alamein was quickly followed by its triumphant arrival at Tunis. Adrian Turner, the experienced authority on the period, redresses the imbalance by describing brilliantly the progress of this legendary fighting force and describing the ferocity of such battles as that for the Mareth Line. The author deftly handles strategic level thinking, the tactical battles and individual contributions. Aviation readers will be thrilled by recognition of the Desert Air Force's contribution, too often neglected.

Author: Adrian Stewart
Publisher: Canelo
ISBN: 1800329423
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 309

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The end of the beginning... An epic conflict North Africa was a turning point for the British in the Second World War: a harsh landscape of sand and enemy tanks, but ultimately a place of victory, that Churchill famously called ‘the end of the beginning.’ When General Montgomery became commander of the Allied Eighth Army in 1942, he found the troops dispirited after a series of defeats by his nemesis, General Rommel. However, under Monty’s inspired leadership the army turned their fortunes around, going on to win seven battles and driving the enemy out of North Africa. However, little credit has been attributed to the Eighth Army for its victories, and even the legendary Battle of El Alamein has been consistently underrated. This highly informed and gripping account brings to light how the troops, and their leaders, won these decisive battles, and helped to win the war. Lucid and accessible, this masterly account is vital reading for all enthusiasts of military history. Perfect for readers of Jonathan Dimbleby and Max Hastings.

Author: Adrian Stewart
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1783460598
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 392

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Alex, as he was known whether by Prime Ministers or the rank-and-file, was a legendary figure. A hero from the Great War he saw active service in Russia in 1919 20 and against the Pathans on the North West Frontier in 1935. By 1940 he was a divisional commander with the B.E.F. in France. His conduct during the withdrawal through Dunkirk where he took over the British 1st Corps in the crisis confirmed his outstanding ability.In the dark days of 1942 by now a full general he was sent to Burma with orders to hold the Japs at Rangoon. Just in time he realizes it was impossible and his decision to withdraw prevented a total disaster.Despite this defeat he retained Churchills confidence and he was appointed C in C Middle East. While eclipsed in PR terms by his subordinate Montgomery many felt that Monty owed his success to Alex by protecting him from an increasingly impatient Churchill. Alexander went onto commanded the invasion of Sicily and as Army Group Commander masterminded the long slog up through Italy. His charm and easy nature were his greatest strengths as others worked enthusiastically with him, but critics have sought to prove that he lacked true ability and steel.

Author: Paul McElhinney
Publisher: Amberley Publishing Limited
ISBN: 1445690624
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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The incredible true story of Air Marshal Sir George Robert Beamish, KCB, CBE - a man who played rugby for Ireland and the British & Irish Lions before becoming a leading light of the RAF during the Second World War, and a senior commander in the years following the war.

Author: Vincent O'Hara
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
ISBN: 1612514081
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 362

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The Mediterranean is the maritime crossroads where Europe, Asia, and Africa meet. More major naval actions were fought there than in the Atlantic or Pacific yet remarkably little has been written about the subject. Th is fresh study of the Mediterranean’s naval war analyzes the actions and performances of the five major navies—British, Italian, French, German, and American—during the entire five-year campaign and examines the national imperatives that drove each nation’s maritime strategy. Struggle for the Middle Sea provides a history of the entire campaign from all perspectives and covers Germany’s largely unknown—and remarkably successful—struggle to employ sea power in the Mediterranean after the Italian armistice. Defense & Foreign Affairs Strategic Policy (August 2009) has called it “a new and stunningly important view of World War II” and “a fabulously readable and important book.”

Author: Peter Cox
Publisher: Exisle Publishing
ISBN: 1775592162
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 393

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Sir Geoffrey Cox described Sidi Rezegh, fought during Operation Crusader in Libya over November and December 1941, as ‘the forgotten battle of the Desert War’. The objective of Crusader was to retake Cyrenaica, the eastern region of Libya, and ultimately drive the Italians and Germans out of North Africa. The campaign also involved British and South African troops, and did achieve the badly needed relief of Tobruk. Despite the New Zealand Division’s major role, and the importance of this campaign in achieving British victory in North Africa, it has largely been neglected by historians, failing to receive as much attention as Crete, El Alamein or Cassino. Yet more New Zealand soldiers were killed or taken prisoner during Crusader than in any other campaign fought by ‘the Div’ during the war. Peter Cox, whose father fought at Sidi Rezegh, draws on his experience of twice visiting the battlefield to tell the story of this complex and costly campaign. He sets the scene for the fighting in Libya, describes the unforgiving and inhospitable desert landscape, follows the stages of the action itself and recounts the often moving and heroic stories of the New Zealanders who fought there. Many never returned home. This is both a very accessible account of a significant New Zealand contribution to World War II and a tribute to the thousands of men who took part in this punishing battle.