Rommel's Army In Africa

Based on a unique private collection of military artefacts, and illustrated with over 250 photographs, this fascinating book offers a unique perspective on the German Armed Forces that fought in North Africa under Rommel from 1941-1943. Dal McGuirk began collecting battlefield mementoes from returned servicemen in his home town of Maryborough in Queensland, at the age of fifteen. He now has one of the largest collections of Afrikakorps memorabilia in the world -- uniforms, field equipment, weapons, insignia, medals, diaries, paybooks, letters, postcards and a collection of over 3000 unpublished photographs. Drawing on his wealth of material, on private and official sources, and on his correspondence and personal interviews with many surviving members of the Afrikakorps, his book gives an unrivalled picture of the human reality of the desert war. The book's stunning collection of photographs includes a comprehensive colour record of the uniforms and equipment that the German Army carried with them to North Africa, complete with informative captions. Other sections of the book deal with effects of the Allied ULTRA Operation on Rommel's campaigns, the character of Rommel himself as seen by members of the Afrikakorps and the German newspapers of the day, the workings of the German Army revealed by military documents of the period, and aspects such as burials and graves and health hygiene in North Africa. A book certain to enthral collectors, modellers, and anyone with an interest in military history, Rommel's Army in Africa offers, through words and photographs, the most vivid, intimate and detailed portrait possible of what life was like for German fighting men on the battlefields of North Africa. Book jacket.