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The Balkans and North Africa 1941-1942

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Blitzkrieg - Book 4

By Will Fowler
Published in 2003 by Ian Allen Publishing, UK
Softcover, 96 Pages
Size - 24cm * 17.5cm

In the spring of 1941, shortly before his forces launched their invasion of Russia, Hitler was forced to undertake an assault upon the Balkans. The Yugoslavs, nominally allied to the Axis powers, had been encouraged to revolt by the British and, in April 1941, Hitler launched a preemptive strike through Yugoslavia and, thence, to Greece, sweeping both British and local forces in front of them.

The second part of this book deals with North Africa, where the Deutches Afrika Korps under Erwin Rommel was formed to support an increasingly beleaguered Italian force. The initial success of the DAK was great, but the Desert campaign was characterized by success and failure, with the British putting up strong resistance as Allied forces defended Egypt and the Suez Canal. Using contemporary photographs, allied with line drawings and detailed analysis, the author explores how the strategy evolved during these two campaigns.

Unternehmen MARITA
The German invasion of Yugoslavia, triggered by the need to rescue the Italians from their disastrous attack on Greece, was a model of co-operation between tanks and aircraft. Riven by national factionalism and hopelessly outclassed, the Yugoslav armed forces were quickly defeated.

Greek Tragedy
British and Greek troops fought together against German and Italian forces, but air power was the deciding factor of the campaign. With the benefit of ULTRA intelligence, the British and Commonwealth troops of W Force were able to withdraw from Greece and German-occupied Athens

Unternehmen MERKUR
The plans for the German airborne attack on Crete were known through ULTRA to the island's commander General Freyberg. The inadequately armed and equipped troops under his command fought hard and were close to defeating the German paratroops, but were finally forced to withdraw

Afrika Korps Ascendant
German troops under General Erwin Rommel arrived in North Africa to assist the Italians who were suffering badly under attacks by British and Commonwealth forces. Under Rommel the Afrika Korps counter attacked and eventually pushed the 8th Army back into Egypt, where General Montgomery took a stand at El Alamein.

Fully Illustrated with over 100 B&W photos, and over 30 colour illustrations including maps, weapons and photographs.