Eighth Army: From the Western Desert to the Alps, 1939-1945

From June 1940 to October 1942, Eighth Army was the only Western army facing and fighting the Axis powers, Italian as well as German, on the battlefield. It was a British army, but represented the Free World. Some of the great fighting divisions of the War were part of it - the 9th Australian, the 2nd New Zealand, 1st South African, 4th Indian, 51st Highland and 7th Armoured - the famous Desert Rats - joined by the Free French, the Greek Brigade, and many more from Britain and around the world. Though ultimately triumphant, the Army was not always victorious - it had to fight obsolete equipment, indifferent command and excessive demands as well as the enemy - not forgetting its most admired foe, Rommel, who met his match in Eighth Army's General Sir Bernard Montgomery (Monty). This book is built on the memories of Eighth Army veterans, collected from all over the world. It includes personal accounts of the battles fought at Sidi Rezegh, Alamein, in Sicily and at Cassino - and all the way to the Gothic Line, the end of Eighth Army's 3,000-mile march to victory. It is a story that deserves to be told, about an army that deserves to be remembered.