Looking on T.N.A. Home page I noticed something I hadn't seen before. T.N.A. Learning Curve; so I looked up Med & N/Africa. "To Quote" North Africa Contained important Reserves of oil. Egypt was also a crucial British territory.If Hitler or his ally Mussolini,leader of Italy,captured Egypt then they could threaten British Naval Bases in the Mediterranean.They could also threaten the Suez Canal. This was a vital link for troops and resources from India and other parts of the British Empire. Can anyone spot a bloomer.
Talk about rewriting history. Oil wasn't discovered in the North African countries until the late 1950s/early 60s. One wonders, though, whether Hitler would have supported Rommel more if he'd known there was oil there?
OIL and T.N.A. Each side accused each other of fouling the Water supplies when all it was Oil seeping naturally into the Wells.This wasn't explored until years later than Rommels time. I did point out the error but the lady didn't think it was factually inaccurate as BP was exploring in Egypt in the 1920s. I will write to her so that what I have to say will go on record. It would be handy to know whether Egypt was producing any amount of oil at the time. Never heard of any. A few years ago I went 20 or so Kms up the Alamein track and came across the Alamein Oil Company. Three nodding Donkeys pumping into a 2.5" pipe.
Seems there was a little production in Egypt before the war: Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation -- Company History
Egypts Oil Thanks for that Kyt. I would have thought that with the area where oil was found being many miles to the East of Suez was in the area known as the Middle East, more so than N/Africa.
And it has never been mentioned as a serious reason for Hitler's plans - namely supporting Italy, cutting off the Canal and linking with the armies coming down from Russia via the ME. Even Iran wasn't a serious proposition, and support for the Iraqi uprising was minimal.
Middle East Syria and Iraq were a problem that had to be dealt with as they were the "backdoor"danger.The Vichy Airfields could have been a problem as Ultra had picked up the possibility of their use against us. At this time I think the Germans hadn't much chance or capability to give help to any further conflict in the area,but the possibility of one took efforts to put safeguards in place. The sad part of the whole Vichy situation in Syria was that many thousands of French troops chose not to join the Commonwealth Forces and shipped out. There were of course members of the French Foreign Legion who joined their Comrades who were fighting against the Axis Forces. My Father was in this Campaign and his company were shelled by Vichy Warships while moving up through Lebanon. With the French being"Allies" there was no Campaign Medal or Clasp ever awarded.
The Australian 7th division never received the honours they should have. One of their brigades fought at Tobruk however it is usually only the 9th Division who are mentioned. Their Syrian campaign victory was not widely applauded at the time as it would not have looked good - Australians fighting French. Possibly why they were known as the silent 7th. Quite a good read: The Silent 7th: An Illustrated ... - Google Book Search After leaving North Africa they fought the Japanese in New Guinea in some of the bloodiest fighting of the war. It was the 7th (18th Brigade from Tobruk) who defeated the Japanese at Milne Bay.
I know that Burma, and Italy, are often referred to as the forgotten fronts but the ME must surely take that dubious honour. I once read where the Indian Division involved (I forget which one at this moment) was said to have been on garrison duties during this period!!!
Indian Divisions Kyt perhaps you could look at 10th Indian Division. 17th August 1942 HQ to one of the Indian Divisions were aboard the Princess Marguerite when she was torpedoed. Twenty minutes before the incident everyone had gone through lifeboat drill,so all had lifebelts. It is said the ship sank quite slowly and sank beneath the surface with hardly a ripple. There were also men aboard from the 1st Btn. Kings Own Royal Regiment, some of whom were lost.
Brian, I've just remembered that it was the 8th Indian Division who's activities were questioned. I know the 10th was involved in the ME too but they actually had a bloody hard fight of it.
