Second Battle of El Alamein

Second Battle of El Alamein PDF Author: Victor Gregg
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 144821680X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 51

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Book Description
An eye witness account of the second battle of El Alamein by World War II veteran rifleman Victor Gregg. The Second Battle of El Alamein, Egypt (23 October–11 November 1942) was a decisive battle in the Second World War. With the Allies victorious, it marked the watershed of the Western Desert Campaign, prompting Winston Churchill to proclaim 'Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein we never had a defeat.' The British victory turned the tide in the North African Campaign and ended the Axis threat to Egypt, the Suez Canal and the Middle Eastern and Persian oil fields via North Africa. Victor Gregg, after an absence of eight months of service, is offered a promotion which he promptly turns down, saying, 'I just wish to fight out this war in the company of the lads who I call my mates, and they are all in the carriers.' In this first-hand account, Gregg bravely unpicks not only the action of war, but the reaction of the normal men in extraordinary circumstances, trying to cling to sanity amongst the debris of corpses - many of which were friends and comrades.

Second Battle of El Alamein

Second Battle of El Alamein PDF Author: Victor Gregg
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 144821680X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 51

Get Book Here

Book Description
An eye witness account of the second battle of El Alamein by World War II veteran rifleman Victor Gregg. The Second Battle of El Alamein, Egypt (23 October–11 November 1942) was a decisive battle in the Second World War. With the Allies victorious, it marked the watershed of the Western Desert Campaign, prompting Winston Churchill to proclaim 'Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein we never had a defeat.' The British victory turned the tide in the North African Campaign and ended the Axis threat to Egypt, the Suez Canal and the Middle Eastern and Persian oil fields via North Africa. Victor Gregg, after an absence of eight months of service, is offered a promotion which he promptly turns down, saying, 'I just wish to fight out this war in the company of the lads who I call my mates, and they are all in the carriers.' In this first-hand account, Gregg bravely unpicks not only the action of war, but the reaction of the normal men in extraordinary circumstances, trying to cling to sanity amongst the debris of corpses - many of which were friends and comrades.

What Ifs of Jewish History

What Ifs of Jewish History PDF Author: Gavriel D. Rosenfeld
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 110703762X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 419

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Book Description
Counterfactual history of the Jewish past inviting readers to explore how the course of Jewish history might have been different.

El Alamein

El Alamein PDF Author: Bryn Hammond
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1780964536
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 516

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Book Description
El Alamein, Britain's victory in the deserts of North Africa in 1942, was the first major reversal of fortunes for Hitler's Third Reich. Before the Battle of El Alamein in 1942, the British had never won a major battle on land against the Germans; nor indeed had anyone else. Drawing on a remarkable array of first-hand accounts, this book reveals the personal experiences of those on the frontline and provides fascinating details of how the war was actually fought. It also includes analysis of the strategic decisions made by the generals. El Alamein is the story of exactly how a seemingly beaten and demoralized army turned near-defeat into victory in a little over four months of protracted and bloody fighting in the harsh North African desert.

The Battle for North Africa

The Battle for North Africa PDF Author: Glyn Harper
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253031435
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 301

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Book Description
“A well-researched and highly readable account of one of World War II’s most important ‘turning point’ battles.” —Jerry D. Morelock, Senior Editor at HistoryNet.com In the early years of World War II, Germany shocked the world with a devastating blitzkrieg, rapidly conquered most of Europe, and pushed into North Africa. As the Allies scrambled to counter the Axis armies, the British Eighth Army confronted the experienced Afrika Corps, led by German field marshal Erwin Rommel, in three battles at El Alamein. In the first battle, the Eighth Army narrowly halted the advance of the Germans during the summer of 1942. However, the stalemate left Nazi troops within striking distance of the Suez Canal, which would provide a critical tactical advantage to the controlling force. War historian Glyn Harper dives into the story, vividly narrating the events, strategies, and personalities surrounding the battles and paying particular attention to the Second Battle of El Alamein, a crucial turning point in the war that would be described by Winston Churchill as “the end of the beginning.” Moving beyond a simple narrative of the conflict, The Battle for North Africa tackles critical themes, such as the problems of coalition warfare, the use of military intelligence, the role of celebrity generals, and the importance of an all-arms approach to modern warfare.

Destiny in the Desert

Destiny in the Desert PDF Author: Jonathan Dimbleby
Publisher: Profile Books
ISBN: 1847654673
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 727

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Book Description
It was the British victory at the Battle of El Alamein in November 1942 that inspired one of Winston Churchill's most famous aphorisms: 'This is not the end, it is not even the beginning of the end, but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning'. And yet the significance of this episode remains unrecognised. In this thrilling historical account, Jonathan Dimbleby describes the political and strategic realities that lay behind the battle, charting the nail-biting months that led to the victory at El Alamein in November 1942. It is a story of high drama, played out both in the war capitals of London, Washington, Berlin, Rome and Moscow, and at the front in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Morrocco and Algeria and in the command posts and foxholes in the desert. Destiny in the Desert is about politicians and generals, diplomats, civil servants and soldiers. It is about forceful characters and the tensions and rivalries between them. Drawing on official records and the personal insights of those involved at every level, Dimbleby creates a vivid portrait of a struggle which for Churchill marked the turn of the tide - and which for the soldiers on the ground involved fighting and dying in a foreign land. Now available in paperback in time, Destiny in the Desert, which was shortlisted for the Hessell-Tiltman prize 2012-13, is required reading for anyone with an interest in the Desert War.

The Battle of Alamein

The Battle of Alamein PDF Author: John Bierman
Publisher: Viking Adult
ISBN:
Category : Egypt
Languages : en
Pages : 530

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Book Description
"The picture is large in scope, juxtaposing the designs and delusions of grand strategy against the courage, chaos, and confusion of individuals in combat. At Alamein, Nazi Germany's hitherto unbroken succession of land victories was finally reversed, and the mightiest war machine the world had ever seen suffered its first major defeat. This riveting account is military history at its absolute best."--BOOK JACKET.

Fighting the People's War

Fighting the People's War PDF Author: Jonathan Fennell
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107030951
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 967

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Book Description
Jonathan Fennell captures for the first time the true wartime experience of the ordinary soldiers from across the empire who made up the British and Commonwealth armies. He analyses why the great battles were won and lost and how the men that fought went on to change the world.

Days of Infamy

Days of Infamy PDF Author: Harry Turtledove
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101212640
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 461

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Book Description
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese launched an attack against United States naval forces stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. But what if the Japanese followed up their air assault with an invasion and occupation of Hawaii? With American military forces subjugated and civilians living in fear of their conquerors, there is no one to stop the Japanese from using the islands' resources to launch an offensive against America's western coast.

War of Shadows

War of Shadows PDF Author: Gershom Gorenberg
Publisher: PublicAffairs
ISBN: 1610396286
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 475

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Book Description
In this World War II military history, Rommel's army is a day from Cairo, a week from Tel Aviv, and the SS is ready for action. Espionage brought the Nazis this far, but espionage can stop them—if Washington wakes up to the danger. As World War II raged in North Africa, General Erwin Rommel was guided by an uncanny sense of his enemies' plans and weaknesses. In the summer of 1942, he led his Axis army swiftly and terrifyingly toward Alexandria, with the goal of overrunning the entire Middle East. Each step was informed by detailed updates on British positions. The Nazis, somehow, had a source for the Allies' greatest secrets. Yet the Axis powers were not the only ones with intelligence. Brilliant Allied cryptographers worked relentlessly at Bletchley Park, breaking down the extraordinarily complex Nazi code Enigma. From decoded German messages, they discovered that the enemy had a wealth of inside information. On the brink of disaster, a fevered and high-stakes search for the source began. War of Shadows is the cinematic story of the race for information in the North African theater of World War II, set against intrigues that spanned the Middle East. Years in the making, this book is a feat of historical research and storytelling, and a rethinking of the popular narrative of the war. It portrays the conflict not as an inevitable clash of heroes and villains but a spiraling series of failures, accidents, and desperate triumphs that decided the fate of the Middle East and quite possibly the outcome of the war.

Rifleman

Rifleman PDF Author: Victor Gregg
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 1408817578
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
Born into a working-class family in London in 1919, Victor Gregg enlisted in the Rifle Brigade at nineteen, was sent to the Middle East and saw action in Palestine. Following service in the western desert and at the battle of Alamein, he joined the Parachute Regiment and in September 1944 found himself at the battle of Arnhem. When the paratroopers were forced to withdraw, Gregg was captured. He attempted to escape, but was caught and became a prisoner of war; sentenced to death in Dresden for attempting to escape and burning down a factory, only the allies' infamous raid on the city the night before his execution saved his life. Gregg's fascinating story, told in a voice that is good-natured and completely original, continues after the end of the war. In the fifties he became chauffeur to the Chairman of the Moscow Norodny bank in London, involved in shady dealings and strange meetings with MI5, MI6 and the KGB. His adventures, though, were not over - in 1989, on one of his many motorbike expeditions into Eastern Europe, he found himself at a rally of 700 people in a field in Sopron at a fence that formed part of the barrier between the Soviet Union and the West. Vic cut the wire, and a few weeks later the Berlin Wall itself was destroyed - a truly unexpected coda to an incredible life lived to the full. This is the story of a true survivor.