A HISTORY OF
THE MEDITERRANEAN AIR WAR, 1940-1945: VOLUME
TWO. NORTH AFRICAN DESERT FEB 1942-MAR 1943
by Christopher Shores & Giovanni
Massimello
This volume picks
up the story as the 8th Army was forced back
to the Gazala area, roughly mid-way between
the Cyrenaican/Tripolitanian border of Libya
and the frontier with Egypt. It covers the
army's disastrous defeatin June 1942, and
the loss of Tobruk. The costly efforts of
the Allied air forces to protect the
retreating British and Commonwealth troops
is examined in depth. This period was
ameliorated somewhat by the arrival of the
first Spitfires. Rommel’s Afrika Korps was
defeated at Alam el Halfa at the start of
September, and then at El Alamein in
October. Joined by the first units of the
United States Army Air Force, the Allies
began to achieve a growing ascendency over
those of the Axis.
