The Battle for North Africa

Glyn Harper

Description

In the early years of World War II, Germany shocked the world with a devastating blitzkrieg, rapidly conquered most of Europe, and pushed into North Africa. As the Allies scrambled to counter the Axis armies, the British Eighth Army confronted the experienced Afrika Corps, led by German field marshal Erwin Rommel, in three battles at El Alamein. In the first battle, the Eighth Army narrowly halted the advance of the Germans during the summer of 1942. However, the stalemate left Nazi troops within striking distance of the Suez Canal, which would provide a critical tactical advantage to the controlling force. War historian Glyn Harper dives into the story, vividly narrating the events, strategies, and personalities surrounding the battles and paying particular attention to the Second Battle of El Alamein, a crucial turning point in the war that would be described by Winston Churchill as "the end of the beginning." Moving beyond a simple narrative of the conflict, The Battle for North Africa tackles critical themes, such as the problems of coalition warfare, the use of military intelligence, the role of celebrity generals, and the importance of an all-arms approach to modern warfare.

List of Maps
Acknowledgements
Introduction: The Eyes of the Whole World, Watching Anxiously
1. Military Background
2. The First Battle
3. Drastic and Immediate Changes
4. Alam Halfa
5. Preparations and Plans
6. Attempting the Break-In
7. Slugging It Out
8. Operation 'Supercharge'
9. Assessment
Bibliography
Index

Sujets

• HISTORY
• Histoire
• Segunda Guerra Mundial
• África
• General officer
• Military
• El Alamein
• World War II
• History of Africa
• General
• North
• Africa
• Seconde Guerre mondiale

Informations

• Publié par: Indiana University Press
• Date de parution: 22 septembre 2017
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780253031433
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

BAttle
for
North
Afric A
TheTwentieth-Century Battles
Spencer C. Tucker, editor
Balkan Breakthrough: Te Batle of Dobro Pole 191 R8 ichard C. Hall
Te Batle of An Loc James H. Willbanks
Batle of Dogger Bank: Te First Dreadnought Engagement, January 19 15
Tobias R. Philbin
Te Batle of Leyte Gulf: Te Last Fleet Act Hio. Pn . Willmot
Te Batle of Heligoland Bight Eric W. Osborne
Te Batle for Manchuria and the Fate of China: Siping, 19 H46arold M.
Tanner
Te Batle for Western Europe, Fall 1944: An Operational Assessmen Jothn
A. Adams
Te Batle of the Otranto Straits: Controlling the Gateway to the Adriatic in
World War I Paul G. Halpern
Batle of Surigao Strai Atnthony P. Tully
Te Brusilov Ofensive Timothy C. Dowling
China’s Batle for Korea: Te 1951 Spring Ofensive Xiaobing Li
D-Day in the Pacifc: Te Batle of Saipa Hn arold J. Goldberg
Te Dieppe Raid: Te Story of the Disastrous 1942 Expedit Rionobin
Neillands
Te Imjin and Kapyong Batles, Korea, 1951 S. P. MacKenzie
In Passage Perilous: Malta and the Convoy Batles of June 194 V2 incent P.
O’Hara
Invasion of Norway, 1940
Midway Inquest: Why the Japanese Lost the Batle of Midw Dayallas
Woodbury Isom
New Georgia: Te Second Batle for the Solomon Rs onnie Day
Operation Albion: Te German Conquest of the Baltic Islan Mdsichael B.
Barret
Prelude to Blitzkrieg: Te 1916 Austro-German Campaign in Roman ia
Michael B. Barret
Te Second Batle of the Marn Me ichael S. Neiberg
Te Siege of Kut-al-Amara: At War in Mesopotamia, 1915–19 N16ikolas
Gardner
Where Chiang Kai-shek Lost China: Te Liao-Shen Campaign, 1948 Harold
M. Tanner
Writen in Blood: Te Batles for Fortress Przemyśl in WW GI raydon A.
Tunstall Jr.BAttle
for
North
Afric A
El Alamein and the Turning Point for World War II
glyn harper
Indiana University Press
TheTis book is a publication of Manufactured in the United States of
America
Indiana University Press
Ofce of Scholarly Publishing Library of Congress
Cataloging-inHerman B Wells Library 350 Publication Data
1320 East 10th Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA Names: Harper, Glyn, author.
Title: Te batle for North Afri ca :
iupress.indiana.edu El Alamein and the turning point for
World War II / Glyn Harper.
© 2017 by Glyn Harper Description: Bloomington : Indiana
All rights reserved University Press, 2017. | Series:
Twentieth-century batles | Includes
No part of this book may be reproduced bibliographical references and index.
or utilized in any form or by any meansI,d entifers: LCCN 2017020636 (print) |
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any information storage and retrieval ISBN 9780253031426 (cloth : alk.
system, without permission in writing paper)
from the publisher. Te Association of Subjects: LCSH: El Alamein, Batle of,
American University Presses’ Resolution Egypt, 1942.
on Permissions constitutes the only Classifcation: LCC D766.9 (print) |
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of Paper for Printed Library Materials,
ANSI Z39.48-1992.Contents
· List of Map s vii
· Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Te Eyes of the Whole World, Watching
Anxiousl y1
1 Te Military Backgrou nd8
2 Te First Batle: July 194 236
3 “Drastic and Immediate” Chan ge75s
4 Alam Halfa: Rommel’s Last Atem pt92
5 Preparations and Pl an1s16
6 Atempting the Break-I: On ctober 23–2 4144
7 Slugging It O ut170
8 Operation Supercharge: Te Breakthroug h204
9 Refections and Reputat ion23 s7
· Bibliography 257
· Index 265List of Maps
1. Opening day of First Alamein: July 1 , 19 3472
2. Te batle of Alam Halfa: August 30–September 7, 1 94927
3. Te October 24 atack showing the objectives and progress
made 150
4. Te three crumbling Australian opera ti1o82ns
5. Te initial atack and progress of OperSauptieo rn charge 214
viiaCknowLedgMents
All publications are a team efort. For me, one of the most enjoyable
parts of the publishing process is being able to acknowled -ge the assis
tance I have received in writing a book and to thank people for their
c on t r i b u t i on s .
I must begin by ofering my thanks to Spencer C. Tucker, the initial
editor of this series of books. In 2010, Spencer took a great d- eal of in
terest in a visiting Fulbright Scholar to the Virginia Military Institute.
A friendship developed and it was at Spencer’s invitation t - hat I com
menced work on this book. I remain immensely grateful for the faith
he placed in me and for his ongoing support. Indiana University Press
has been delightful to work with and has easily overcome the tyranny of
distance in dealing with an author who lives a long way from the USA.
Also overcome, but perhaps not so easily in my case, has bee-n the dif
ferent spellings used in both countries. I also wish to acknowledge the
work of Janice Frisch, Peggy Solic, and Ashley Runyon and thank them
for their support, efciency, and sound advice.
Te primary source material for this book has been obtained from
research institutions in four separate countries. Without fail, the stafs
at all these institutions have been friendly, courteous, and helpful. I am
deeply indebted to them for their professionalism, assistan-ce, and dedi
cation. I must especially acknowledge Neil Frances and the staf of the
Wairarapa Archive in Masterton, New Zealand. Neil and his colleagues
searched their photograph collections of the Second World War and
provided all the images used in this book. Tey did not charge for this
service and I am grateful for their generosity.
ixx Ack now l e dgm e nts
Paul Lumsden produced the excellent maps from his farm near Ward
in New Zealand’s South Island. As I live in New Zealand’s other large
island, this process also meant there were problems of distance involved.
Tanks to the internet, the rural phone service, and Skype, any problems
were easily overcome.
Massey University, New Zealand’s defning university, was fully
supportive of this project. Te University gave me the time t - o under
take the research and to write this book. Massey University’s School
of Humanities also provided some fnancial assistance tow ard its
publication.
Finally, I wish to acknowledge and thank my wife, Susan Lemish,
for her support and all the work she has put into this book. Susan read
all the frst drafs twice, assisted with the research, checke-d all the foot
notes and bibliography, and undertook a myriad of other tasks necessary
to bring this book to publication. It is not surprising, then, that Susan
does not want to hear about the batles of El Alamein for some time now.
Glyn Harper
Palmerston North, New Zealand
January 2017BAttle
for
North
Afric A
TheIntroductIon: the eyes
of the whole world,
watchIng anxIously
On the evening of October 23, 1942, Lieutenant General Berna-rd Mont
gomery setled in for a good night’s sleep. Montgomery later claimed
that he retired to his caravan early as was his habit, read a few pages from
1a novel “and some time afer nine o’clock he went to s Ilef ept.”his was
true, it was a remarkable display of calm, steely resolve and composure
given what was at stake. Earlier Montgomery had writen a Personal
Message to be read to the men of his Eighth Army that morning. Part of
his Message read:
When I assumed command of the Eighth Army I said that the mandate was to
destroy ROMMEL and his Army, and that it would be done as soon as we were
ready.
We are ready NOW.
Te batle which is now about to begin will be one of the decisive batle-s of his
tory. It will be the turning point of the war. Te eyes of the whole world will be
2on us, watching anxiously which way the batle will swing.
Montgomery was in no doubt that the batle would swing his way. It
was part of the reason he claimed to sleep so soundly that night. Earlier
he had dined with Lieutenant General Sir Oliver Leese, his 30 Corps
commander. On learning that Leese intended to watch the ope-ning bar
rage timed for 9:40 p.m. that evening, Montgomery counseled against it.
Leese recalled what Montgomery said to him:
My job, he said, was to go to bed early so as to appear fresh in the morning and
be able by my appearance to give confdence to the troops. I had then to be on
top of my form so as to accept the inevitable shocks of batle; and be able to plan
3quickly and soundly the next night’s atacks. He could not have been more right.
12 The Battle for North Afr ica
Montgomery may have been right, but Leese ignored his advice and later
moved to a slight ridgeline from which he could observe the opening
barrage. It was the largest fred by the British Army in the war up to that
time. But Montgomery