When one gazes upon the bookshelves in the Military History section of a well-endowed library, one cannot help but notice the number of volumes dedicated to the battles for North Africa during World War II and particularly to the Battle of El Alamein in October 1942. The Desert Campaign in the North African littoral from 1940 to 1943 has been described as the most overwritten campaign in history, thus attesting to the interest of readers during the past 60 years.
The halting of the Axis drive toward the Nile Delta in July 1942 has been ignored for many years, however, along with one of the campaign's principal participants, namely Maj. Gen. Eric Dorman-Smith. Author Corelli Barnett's frightening alternative scenario after the Gazala and Tobruk disasters in June 1942 is not far off mark: “The Eighth Army once finally destroyed, the Germans would hold the magnificent Delta base within a week. The Mediterranean fleet would have to escape southward through the Suez Canal; Palestine and Syria, bereft of troops, would fall in a few days; and then—within a month at Rommel's pace—the oilfields of the Persian Gulf would be wrecked or producing for the Axis.”
Read Full Article »