The Mediterranean And Middle East 1941 1945 Atlas

With our 2021 reprint of the eight text volumes of THE MEDITERRANEAN AND MIDDLE EAST - OFFICIAL CAMPAIGN HISTORY this Atlas contains a full assembly of all 249 maps and sketches.

Illustrated with 29 maps/diagrams and 44 photographs “The second of the eight volumes dealing with the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern theatres in the 18-volume official British History of the Second World War, this book is largely concerned with the consequences of Germany's decision to prop up its faltering Italian ally in North Africa in 1941. It opens with General Rommel reversing Britain's conquest of Italian Cyrenaica, and increasing Axis air attacks on the fortress island of Malta. Britain's naval victory against the Italians at Cape Matapan in March is swiftly followed by British reverses in the Balkans. A British-backed anti-Nazi coup d'état in Yugoslavia results in April in Germany's occupation of that country and Britain's retreat from Greece before a relentless German advance. Germany's airborne invasion of Crete sparks a fierce battle for the island, ending in a British evacuation. A pro-Axis coup in Iraq is followed by a successful British intervention, which deposes the pro-Nazi Rashid Ali regime in Baghdad. British and Free French forces also occupy Vichy French-ruled Syria. The book ends with more attacks on Malta, the building-up of Allied forces in the Middle East, and General Wavell's replacement by General Auchinleck as British Commander in North Africa.”-Print Edition

The second ot the eight volumes dealing with the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern theatres in the 18-volume official British History of the Second World War, this book is largely concerned with the consequences of Germany s decision to prop up its faltering Italian ally in North Africa in 1941. It opens with General Rommel reversing Britain s conquest of Italian Cyrenaica, and increasing Axis air attacks on the fortress island of Malta. Britain s naval victory against the Italians at Cape Matapan in March is swiftly followed by British reverses in the Balkans. A British-backed anti-Nazi coup d etat in Yugoslavia results in April in Germany .s occupation of that country and Britain s retreat from Greece before a relentless German advance. Germany s airbourne invasion of Crete sparks a fierce battle for the island, ending in a British evacuation. A pro-Axis coup in Iraq is followed by a successful British intervention, which deposes the pro-Nazi Rashid Ali regime in Baghdad. British and Free French forces also occupy Vichy French-ruled Syria. The book ends with more attacks on Malta, the building-up of Allied forces in the Middle East, and General Wavell s replacement by General Auchinleck as British Commander in North Africa. The text is supported by 10 appendices, 29 maps and diagrams and 44 photographs.

This, the fourth in the eight volumes of the 18-volume official British History of the Second World War describing the war in the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern theatres, narrates the defeat of the Axis forces in North Africa in 1942-43. The survival of Malta against determined Axis assaults enabled the Allies to cripple supplies to Rommel s Afrika Korps, while building up their own land, air and sea forces. The entry of America to the war in December 1941 had allowed the allies to co-ordinate a grand strategy for the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern theatre. In October 1942, after careful preparation and a massive artillery bombardment, General Montgomery launched the Eighth Army against the Afrika Korps in the Battle of El Alamein, while in November, Operation Torch the Anglo-American amphibious landings in French -ruled North Africa, scored an almost bloodless success and proved a dry run for D-Day in 1944. Squeezed between the Allied nutcrackers to the west and east, the Germans offered stubborn resistance in the Tunisia campaign of 1943, at the battles of Kasserine Pass and the Mareth Line, but after suffering severe casualties, the Allies broke through and the Axis forces in North Africa surrendered in May 1943. The text is supported by 12 appendices, 40 maps and diagrams and 44 photographs.