Osprey Men-at-Arms 368 : The British Army (2) 1939-1945 : Middle East & Mediterranean

The scope of Britain's wartime Middle East Command stretched far beyond the Libyan desert where the 8th Army's most famous battles were fought - from Gibraltar and Tunisia in the west, to Iraq and Persia in the east, and from Greece south to the Gulf of Aden. In 1940-43 this was the only arena where the British Army could take the ground war to the German Wehrmacht; it saw a succession of setbacks and triumphs, until spring 1945 found the 8th Army victorious in northern Italy. This second of three titles devoted to the uniforms and equipment of 1939-45 describes and illustrates the tropical uniforms issued to the legendary 'Desert Rats' of 8th Army and their comrades of 1st Army. It covers the period of Britain's first significant land victory of the war - the crushing defeat of the Italian Army in North Africa in 1940-41; the long, see-saw desert campaign against Rommel's Afrika Korps, 1941-43, during which harsh lessons in modern mechanised warfare were learnt in a series of sobering defeats; and the final decisive victories at El Alamein and in Tunisia. The 8th Army's war was far from over, however; there followed the invasion of Sicily and Italy, 1943; and the bitter struggle northwards through the Italian mountains, against stubborn resistance, which lasted until VE-Day in May 1945. A summary of these campaigns is illustrated by photographs, and detailed colour plates of the wide range of uniforms worn in the varied conditions of this huge theatre of war. Text by Martin Brayley with illustrations by Mike Chappell.

Contents

• Organisation of the British Army in Egypt 1939-40
• Development and Reinforcement of 8th Army in North Africa 1941-42
• 1st Army 1942-43
• Campaign Summary
• Pre-War Tropical Uniforms
• Development 1940-44
• Insignia Practice
• Foreign-Made Uniforms - Empire, Commonwealth and US