The British Army 1939-45 (2): Middle East & Mediterranean

Description

The scope of Britain's wartime Middle East Command stretched far beyond the Libyan desert where the 8th Army's most famous battles were fought - from Gibraltar and Tunisia in the west, to Iraq and Persia in the east, and from Greece south to the Gulf of Aden. In 1940-43 this was the only arena where the British Army could take the ground war to the German Wehrmacht; it saw a succession of setbacks and triumphs, until spring 1945 found the 8th Army victorious in northern Italy. A summary of these campaigns is illustrated by photographs, and detailed colour plates of the wide range of uniforms worn in the varied conditions of this huge theatre of war.

Martin Brayley is a military photographer whose Royal Navy service has taken him all over the world. A long-time militaria collector, he has contributed many articles to specialist magazines and is the author of 'WWII British Women's Uniforms in Colour Photographs' (1995) and 'The World War II Tommy' (1998). An expert marksman, he has represented Great Britain at international level. Martin is currently working on a number of World War II titles for Osprey Publishing. He lives in Hampshire with his wife and two children. Mike Chappell comes from an Aldershot family with British Army connections stretching back several generations. He enlisted as a teenage private in the Royal Hampshire Regiment in 1952 and retired in 1974, as RSM of the 1st Battalion The Wessex Regiment (Rifle Volunteers), after seeing service in Malaya, Cyprus, Swaziland, Libya, Germany, Ulster and home garrisons. He began painting military subjects in 1968 and since then has gained worldwide popularity as a military illustrator. Mike has also written and illustrated many books in the Osprey Military list.