A good read for dad

Highly mobile South African troops played a major role in dislodging the Italian forces from Abyssinia and Somalia in East Africa in 1941. Military historian David Brock Katz has detailed the untold story of the desert war in South Africans versus Rommel. In November 1941 German General Erwin Rommel decimated the South African force at Sidi Rezegh in northern Libya. They fought back and captured Bardia and Sollum, but Rommel drove the British and South Africans back to Tobruk where the troops, including 10 000 South African soldiers, eventually surrendered. However, at El Alamein, the South Africans held fast. The author’s research shows how Britain’s clumsy operational conduct of the desert war cost the South Africans dearly and re-examines South Africa’s role at Sidi Rezegh, Tobruk and El Alamein. Riveting reading for history buffs.

Delta Books, R287.