Early Battles of the Eighth Army: Crusader to the Alamein Line 1941-42
Head to head with Erwin Rommel in Africa, the British Eighth Army enjoyed superior numbers and a more effective air force, but despite the valor of its men, it had difficulty turning those advantages into battlefield victory because of command, equipment, and morale problems. After modest success during Operation Crusader in November 1941, the Eighth Army found itself battered and driven back for much of the ensuing year as Rommel scored victory after victory. Not until the fall of 1942 at the Alamein Line did the Eighth Army's fortunes begin to reverse. |
Contents
1 A Day in the Desert 1 | 1 |
2 CRUSADER 9 | 9 |
3 Pyrrhic Victory 27 | 27 |
4 CounterStroke 41 | 41 |
5 Pause for Reflection 51 | 51 |
6 Cauldron 68 | 68 |
PHOTO SECTION | 80 |
7 Divided Counsels 81 | 81 |
10 Five Failures 121 | 121 |
11 Talk of Retreat 137 | 137 |
12 Arrivals and Departures 151 | 151 |
Bibliography 167 | 167 |
| 171 | |
| 175 | |
Other Books in the Series | 184 |
Back Cover | 199 |
Common terms and phrases
15th Panzer 1st Armoured Division 1st South African 21st Panzer 22nd Armoured Brigade 4th Armoured Brigade 5th Indian 7th Support Group 90th Light action Adem advance Afrika Korps aircraft Alam Halfa Alamein Allied anti-tank guns Ariete Army Tank Brigade Army’s artillery assault attack Auchinleck August Australian Axis Battalion bombers British armour Cairo captured casualties command CRUSADER Crüwell defences Deir el Shein Desert Air Force Dorman-Smith Eighth Army El Alamein enemy Field Marshal Carver fighters fighting flank frontier Gazala Line Gott Guingand Hacheim Headquarters Hurricanes Indian Brigade Indian Division infantry Italian Jock Columns July June LLLL LLLL LLLL Major Malta Mersa Matruh Middle East miles minefields Montgomery Motor Brigade Norrie North Africa offensive officers Official History ordered Panzer Division position Regiment Ritchie Rommel Royal Tanks Ruweisat Ridge Sidi Rezegh South African Brigade Squadron STACKPOLE MILITARY HISTORY staff Stukas Tobruk Trigh Capuzzo troops XIII Corps XXX Corps Zealand Brigade