As I am easily bored I usually have five books open at one time so as to have a variety of reading. But one of those books is always about World War II. If you are also a WW II buff, then you need to read this book. Published in 2002, it was a new review of a vital North African campaign. It is also a revisionist history of that campaign.
I love reading revisionist histories, as we are often told miss-truths in histories written soon---or even decades---after the facts. But when the principle characters are no longer around to wield their power to frighten historians who wish to tell us the true stories, that's when we can read what really happened and why. But that's not to say I believe what every revisionist historian would like us to believe.
This analysis of the Battle of Alamein is a good read. What I liked most about it was its focus on logistics. And that includes transportation. British Field Marshal Wavell once stated, and I can't remember the complete quote, but basically he said "Even if you have (and he goes on to describe men, materials, i.e. tanks, ammo, supplies, etc), but lack transportation, then you can accomplish almost nothing."
Throughout the description of the battle, the author often lists the number of casualties each unit takes. I was sadly impressed by the large numbers. The men of the 8th Army took heavy casualties advancing across terrain which held almost no cover. I was also personally struck at the end, when he mentioned that the 9th Australian Infantry Division comprised only 9% of the army, but took 22% of the casualties in this battle. This included Uncle Harry, my mother's brother. He spent the rest of his life in a wheel chair and I got to know him when I lived in Australia in 1956-7.
I love reading revisionist histories, as we are often told miss-truths in histories written soon---or even decades---after the facts. But when the principle characters are no longer around to wield their power to frighten historians who wish to tell us the true stories, that's when we can read what really happened and why. But that's not to say I believe what every revisionist historian would like us to believe.
This analysis of the Battle of Alamein is a good read. What I liked most about it was its focus on logistics. And that includes transportation. British Field Marshal Wavell once stated, and I can't remember the complete quote, but basically he said "Even if you have (and he goes on to describe men, materials, i.e. tanks, ammo, supplies, etc), but lack transportation, then you can accomplish almost nothing."
Throughout the description of the battle, the author often lists the number of casualties each unit takes. I was sadly impressed by the large numbers. The men of the 8th Army took heavy casualties advancing across terrain which held almost no cover. I was also personally struck at the end, when he mentioned that the 9th Australian Infantry Division comprised only 9% of the army, but took 22% of the casualties in this battle. This included Uncle Harry, my mother's brother. He spent the rest of his life in a wheel chair and I got to know him when I lived in Australia in 1956-7.
