Tag Archives: Afrika Korps

This week in the War, 19–25 October 1942: The Battle of El Alamein

Posted on October 19, 2014 by secondbysecond

For the Allies, there was little reason for optimism at start of 1942. By the end of the year, the situation had changed dramatically. The Americans had scored a massive naval victory at the Battle of Midway, the Russians had triumphed … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 31 March–6 April 1941: The Afrika Korps is on the move

Posted on April 3, 2013 by secondbysecond

On 31 March 1941, Erwin Rommel’s Italian and German forces attacked the British at Mersa El Brega. The Afrika Korps was on the move. In his book Knight’s Cross: A Life of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, David Fraser tells the … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 10–16 February 1941: Erwin Rommel arrives in North Africa

Posted on February 11, 2013 by secondbysecond

This week in the war, 11 February 1941, the British War Cabinet made its fateful decision to send an expeditionary force to Greece, where a German invasion was expected by March. Thus O’Connor lost the resources and the window of … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 9–15 December 1940: “I purred like six cats.”

Posted on December 12, 2012 by secondbysecond

“I purred like six cats,” Churchill writes in his autobiographical The Second World War. He was describing his reaction to General Wavell’s plans for a North African offensive. Archibald Wavell was C-in-C for the Middle East and then some—from Iraq … Continue reading →

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In the news: Giant Messerschmitt found off the coast of Sardinia

Posted on September 18, 2012 by secondbysecond

According to the British newspaper The Telegraph (13 September 2012) a team of Italian researchers led by Cristina Freghieri recently discovered a Messerschmitt 323 Gigant (Giant) some 200 feet below the surface of the Mediterranean. The enormous aircraft had been shot … Continue reading →

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