20th Century
Desert Mysteries Redux – Part One
In the original Desert Mysteries series, I wrote about a 1939 edition of Blackwood’s magazine bought at an antiques fair that led me to research the lives of the men who had read it and [more…]
The Desert War
20th Century
Desert Mysteries, Part Six
In the film “Lawrence of Arabia”, Lawrence is asked, “What is it, Major Lawrence, that attracts you, personally, to the desert?” His response was, “It’s clean. I like it because it’s clean.” This quote is [more…]
20th Century
Desert Mysteries, Part Five
The Royal Tank Museum In Part 4, I described the vehicles that belonged to the British and Arab “Special Forces” of WW1 and WW2 that are displayed in The Royal Tank Museum in Amman, Jordan. [more…]
20th Century
Desert Mysteries, Part Four
The Royal Tank Museum Amman in Jordan is home to one of the best museums of its type in the world, The Royal Tank Museum. A project of the King of Jordan, Abdullah II, the [more…]
20th Century
Desert Mysteries, Part One
Some years ago, for only a few pounds, I purchased from a local antiques fair a June 1939 edition of “Blackwood’s Magazine”, this magazine and miscellany (pictured) ran from 1817 to 1980. I bought it [more…]
20th Century
The Desert War – Some Impressions
Having spent a while researching the Desert War series, it is only fair to leave you my impressions based on the many thing that have passed before my eyes. It takes a while to weed [more…]
20th Century
The Desert War – May 1943
With the Axis occupying a smaller and smaller piece of real estate in Tunisia this was the month they would have to surrender, 291,000 of them. There was no way to supply them and no [more…]
20th Century
The Desert War – April 1943
The Axis forces will surrender in May so April sees the Allies squeezing the Axis into a smaller and smaller area. On the 1st the US 1st and 9th Infantry Divisions attacked Italian positions at [more…]
20th Century
The Desert War – March 1943
With the Axis on the run in Tunisia it was only a matter of time until they had to surrender. Their supply routes to Tunisia were under constant attack and the Axis could do little [more…]