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Afrika Korps at War - Volume 1

$19.95

1. The Road to Alexandria

Author - George Forty
Published in 1998 by Ian Allen, UK
Softcover, 160 Pages
Size - 29.5cm * 22cm

By early 1941 the British were riding the crest of a wave in North Africa. They had completely destroyed the entire 10th Italian Army, captured the whole of Cyrenaica and stood poised on the frontier of Tripolitania, apparently ready to continue their triumphal progress. Two months later, however, the situation had completely altered. Once again the enemy was back on the 'Egyptian frontier wire, Tobruk was under siege and three top British generals had been 'put in the bag'. what had caused this sudden reversal of fortunes, which had all the belly-dancers and bar-keepers in Cairo rushing for their German and Italian phrasebooks?

The answer was of course the arrival of General Erwin Rommel and his now legendary Deutsches Afrika Korps. Hitler, worried about the consequences of a total Italian collapse in North Africa, had decided to send in small numbers of German troops to bolster up the flagging and demoralised Italians. Between 14 and 20 February 1941, advance units of the DAK began to arrive in Tripoli. They were soon in action against the British, and they and their commander — 'The Desert Fox' — were destined to become one of the most famous and respected fighting formations of any army in World War 2.

In this first volume, The Road to Alexandria, George Forty traces the highlights of their initial momentous year in the desert. There have of course been many books written about the North African war, so what makes this one so different from all the others?

Simply that this story is told in their own words by men of the Afrika Korps and that the majority of their reminiscences and the spectacular photographs which illustrate them have never been seen by the general public before. The author's treatment is similar to that which he employed in his highly successful books on the Desert Rats, the Afrika Korps' equally famous opponents.

Fully Illustrated with B&W photos