The North African campaign, the struggle of the Italians and Germans against the Allies in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia between 1940 and 1943, was a war of movement and manoeuvre, of dramatic changes of fortune, and it was a war in which mechanized forces excelled. Compared with the heavily populated landscapes of northwest Europe, the empty open spaces of North Africa appeared to be ideal operating terrain for tanks, yet the harsh desert conditions tested men and machinery to the limit, as Anthony Tucker-Jones demonstrates in this remarkable selection of wartime photographs.
The use of armour during the entire course of the campaign is covered, from the initial Italian offensive, the arrival of Rommel’s Panzergruppe Afrika, the battles fought along the North African shore which culminated in El Alamein, then the Allied advance into Tunisia which led to the final defeat of the German and Italian armies. The images give a fascinating inside view of combat, but they also reveal the daily routines of tank warfare 65 years ago, and give a vivid impression of what it was like to fight in and live with the tanks of the day.
After a career in the intelligence community, Anthony Tucker-Jones became a freelance defence consultant and a prolific writer on intelligence, terrorism and military affairs. His most recent books are Hitler's Great Panzer Heist, Falaise: The Flawed Victory, Stalin's Revenge: Operation Bagration and the Annihilation of Army Group Centre, Operation Dragoon: The Liberation of Southern France 1944, and Armoured Warfare on the Eastern Front.