Book description
'Between Friday and Monday we never slept at all. Everyone's face
was one mass of sand . The guns were so hot, all the paint had
gone' Bombardier Ray Ellis
Had the Allies lost in North Africa, Rommel's Afrika Korps would
have swept through the Middle East, cutting the vital supply line
through the Suez Canal to Australia and India, and taking the
oilfields of the Persian Gulf. Britain would have been isolated,
without oil, and unable to fight.
These historic battles of 1940-1943 were fought over vast distances
on rugged terrain, with supply lines often stretched to breaking
point. It was here that David Stirling formed the SAS to perform
audacious sabotage missions, and the Long Range Desert Group collected
intelligence from behind enemy lines.
This is the story of the Allies' first victory against Hitler's
army, told in the voices of the men who were there, which proved that
the seemingly unstoppable Germans could be beaten.
Julian Thompson served in the Royal Marines for 34 years, retiring as
Major General. He commanded 3 Commando Brigade, which carried out the
initial landings in the Falklands conflict and fought most of the
subsequent land battles. He is now Visiting Professor in the Department
of War Studies, King's College, London and is the author of
Forgotten
Voices of Burma
and the critically acclaimed
The Imperial War Museum Book of the War
in Burma 1942-1945
.
