7th Armoured Division: The 'Desert Rats' (Spearhead 14) - Softcover

Forty, George

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0711029881 ISBN 13: 9780711029880

Publisher: Ian Allan Pub, 2003

Synopsis

The new 'Spearhead' series is designed to look at the cutting edge of war, dealing with units capable of operating completely independently in the forefront of battle. Each volume in the series examines the chosen unit's origins and history, its organization and order of battle, its battle history theater by theatrer, its insignia and its markings. Also covered are biographies of the most important commanders of each unit. Each title ends with an assessment of unit effectiveness - as seen by the unit itself, by its opponents and the light of more recent historical research. The books also include a detailed reference section with a critical bibliography, a listing of relevant museums and web sites, information about reenactment groups and memorials.

The British 7th Armoured Division will be remembered best by its small red shoulder flash that depicted Jaculus Orientalis-the Greater Egyptian Jerboa. Hardy, highly mobile and most at home in the desert, the human Desert Rats proved masters of desert fighting- as have their modern day descendants, the 7th Armoured Brigade, now operating in Iraq. As part of O'Connor's Western Desert Force, the Desert Rats helped to destroy the Italian forces that had started the war in the Western Desert-the Italian Tenth Army being completely defeated at Beda Fomm 5-7 February 1941; then they fought toe-to-toe with Rommel's feared Deutsches Afrika Korps in a seesaw campaign that ended in May 1943 with the surrender of Axis forces in North Africa. Next they were involved in one of the major amphibious landings of the war in Europe as part of the US Fifth Army at Salerno, fighting on northwards through Italy, until withdrawn back to UK, to take part in the Second Front as a vital component of the spearhead of British forces in Normandy, landing at Arromanches on 7 June 1944. They had to learn new skills in the close French bocage countryside, so different to the limitless space of the desert. And they did so the hard way with heavy losses at Villers-Bocage. From then on the division was hardly ever out of action: advancing across Europe from Lisieux in France through Belgium where it relieved Ghent and, finally, on to northern Germany where it took the surrender of Hamburg. These tough troops were then honored by being chosen to go to Berlin to take part in the great Victory Parade of 1945. For all those interested in military history, the new 'Spearhead' series is an excellent account of each of the individual units. Written by acknowledged experts in the subject, each volume is a detailed account of the development and operational record of some of the most famous military units in history.

About this title

About the Author

George Forty OBE spent 30 years as a regular Army officer in the Royal Tank Regiment before becoming curator of the Bovington Tank Museum, where he was the inspiration for its growth in the 1980s and 1990s. His first two books were on the Desert Rats (with whom he served postwar) and were published by lan Allan Publishing in 1976 and 1977; since then he has written over 50 more books, most recently being Battle of Crete and Fortress Europe: Hitler's Atlantic Wall.

About this edition

• Publisher: Ian Allan Pub
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0711029881
• ISBN 13: 9780711029880
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 96