WWII in North Africa

Italian Fiat G.50 Bibliography with Notes plus Bonus Content Dunning, Chris. Courage Alone—The Italian Airforce 1940-1943. Manchester: Crecy Publishing Limited, 2010, p. 315. “The proliferation of types (of aircraft) led to a lack of spares keeping many aircraft on the ground for want of simple components. As an example, a nightmarish situation developed in North Continue reading

British Mobility and the Universal Carrier Bibliography with Notes plus Bonus Content Latimer, Jon. Operation Compass. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2000. Kindle. Chapter: Opposing Forces “Most importantly, all transport was mechanised and while there was never enough of it, it was scaled far more plentifully than that of the Italians. “Armour support included the Universal Carrier Continue reading

Fall 1940: British Preparations for Operation Compass Bibliography with Notes plus Bonus Content Braddock, David. Britain’s Desert War in Egypt and Libya, 1940-1942:  ‘The End of the Beginning’. Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Books, 20019. Kindle. Chapter 2 The First British Offensive (1) “…Field Supply Depot (FSD) 3 and 4, one for each division, were set Continue reading

Fall 1940: British Night Patrols Find A Gap Bibliography with Notes plus Bonus Content Latimer, Jon. Operation Compass. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2000. Kindle. Chapter: The Campaign “The armoured cars were particularly vulnerable to air attack and the Italians had formed a squadron specifically to hunt for them. Subjected to over 20 air attacks that day, Continue reading

Spy Plane: The Heinkel 115 Floatplane Bibliography with Notes plus Bonus Content McKenzie, Alastair. Malta Mystery. Mechtraveller.com. https://mechtraveller.com/2017/07/malta-mystery/ “I came across the anecdote in Stuart R. Scott’s 1996 book: Battleaxe Blenheims – 105 squadron RAF at war 1940-1 * “… The airfield was at Luqa where the airport is now. Their barracks and mess were Continue reading

Logistics: The Cape of Good Hope and Takoradi Bibliography with Notes plus Bonus Content Bickers, Richard Townshend. The Desert Air war: a gripping historical account of the RAF’s role in North Africa during World War II. UK: Lume Books, 2018. Kindle. Chapter Two “…In the 1920s and 1930s an alternate route had been reconnoitered…this began Continue reading

A Tale of Two Seaplanes Part 2: Italian CANT Z.506 (Heron) Bibliography with Notes plus Bonus Content Sammut, Jeffrey. How an Italian plane was hijacked and flown to Malta in 1942.https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/italian-aircraft-hijacked-and-flown-to-malta.733759 “…The Italian merchant ship was spotted off the coast of Sapientza Island. The torpedo bombers hugged the surface of the sea to start their Continue reading

A Tale of Two Seaplanes Part 1: Italian CANT Z.501 (Gull) Bibliography with Notes plus Bonus Content Aviastar. Flying Boat: CRDA Cant Z.501 Gabbiano. http://www.aviastar.org/air/italy/crda_gabbiano.php “More than 40 known instances are on record of encounters with Allied aircraft and many were shot down, although they were also involved in the rescue of several ditched RAF Continue reading

The British Tin Flimsy Bibliography with Notes plus Bonus Content Hanson, Jonathan. Irreducible imperfection: The flimsy. ExploringOverland.com https://www.exploringoverland.com/overland-tech-travel/2012/8/17/irreducible-imperfection-the-flimsy.html “Stacked in pallets on cargo ships, the weight of the top layers simply crushed those below, resulting in fuel losses of up to 40 percent, and making unloading the intact containers extremely hazardous with thousands of gallons Continue reading

Pipeline to Victory Part 2 Bibliography with Notes plus Bonus Content Judd, Brandon. The Desert Railway: The New Zealand Railway Group in North Africa and the Middle East during the Second World War. Auckland: Publishing Press, 2003. https://www.nzsappers.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/The-Desert-Railway.pdf Chapter 8 OFFENSIVE AND COUNTER-OFFENSIVE “During the offensive 19th Army Troop sappers were working with desperate speed Continue reading