Talk:Western Desert Campaign

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Contents 1 Renaming 2 Wikipedia:Naming conventions (military units) 3 Major rewrite 4 NPOV 5 DETAILS ABOUT THE BRITISH COUNTER-OFFENSIVE (1940-41) 6 Who was Wavell? 7 Online resources 7.1 Full books 7.2 Google books (limited) 8 Article structure

[edit] Renaming

To avoid confusion, I'm thinking that this should be renamed the Western Desert Campaign. Any objections? Oberiko 15:44, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia:Naming conventions (military units)

Forgive the spam, but I'm trying to round up wikipedians with an interest in international military history to help work out some conventions for the names of military units. If you are interested in that sort of thing, please visit Wikipedia:Naming conventions (military units) and join the discussions on the talk page. — B.Bryant 17:48, 15 Apr 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Major rewrite

I'm trying to massively rewrite this whole page, as it's very thin on detail, has a number of factual errors and is generally in need of a lot of work. I think the basic structure is sound, but the sections need beefing up.

Lots of edits coming. --Po8crg 14:52, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

Great, if you need any help, don't hesitate to ask. Oberiko 17:00, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

Done for the moment - I might have another look at the Gazala-El Alamein period later. I think the maps may need moving about a bit to align with the new sections I've put in, but I find that sort of thing incredibly fiddly. Po8crg 17:20, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] NPOV

Too much of this is written from the British perspective. It needs some work to get it NPOV, but I'm not really good at editing my own writing. At least we now cover all the major events of the campaign! Po8crg 20:43, 12 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] DETAILS ABOUT THE BRITISH COUNTER-OFFENSIVE (1940-41)

In Sidi-El-Barrani (Nibeiwa)(on December 9, 1940) about 1,300 Italians were killed in action, among them their commander: general Pietro Maletti(today accused by historians for the massacre of 2,200 civilians in Ethiopia in 1937). In Beda Fomm (on February 7, 1941) was killed in action the commander of the 10th Italian Army (general Giuseppe Tellera) after 9 counter-attacks of his troops. The Italian garrison of Jarabub (Colonel Carlo Castagna), full surrounded, lasted hard resistance until March 21, 1941.

[edit] Who was Wavell?

He's mentioned in the article and I assume he was in command of the allied forces for a time, but it's never explicitly said, nor is his full name included anywhere. Can this be fixed? --Lendorien 19:55, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Online resources

These are all books which contain information pertinent to the Western Desert Campaign.

[edit] Full books

• Desert Warfare: German Experiences in World War II (Command and General Staff College)
• Tactical victory leading to operational failure: Rommel in North Africa (Command and General Staff College; PDF)
• Study of military history through commercial war games: a look at Operation Crusader with the Operational Art of War (Command and General Staff College; PDF)
• Fallen Eagles: The Italian 10th Army in the opening campaign in the western desert, June 1940 - December 1940 (Command and General Staff College; PDF)
• The 9th Australian Division Versus the Africa Corps: An Infantry Division Against Tanks--Tobruk, Lybia, 1941 (Command and General Staff College; PDF and full text)
• The Relief of Tobruk (New Zealand Electronic Text Centre)
• Battle for Egypt (New Zealand Electronic Text Centre)
• Alam Halfa and Alamein (New Zealand Electronic Text Centre)
• Bardia to Enfidaville (New Zealand Electronic Text Centre)
• The U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II: Egypt-Libya (HyperWar)
• The Army Air Forces in World War II, Volume One: Plans and Early Operations, January 1939 to August 1942 (Google Books)
• A Battle Report: Alam Halfa (Google Books)

[edit] Google books (limited)

• Brazen Chariots: An Account of Tank Warefare in the Western Desert, November-December 1941
• The Battle of El Alamein: Fortress in the Sand
• Medicine and Victory: British military medicine in the Second World War
• Montgomery's Desert Army
• Rommel's Desert Army
• Operation Compass 1940: Wavell's Whirlwind Offensive
  • Contains a picture of territories prior to the start of the WDC
• The British Army, 1939-45
• The Italian Army, 1940-45
• Raising Churchill's Army: The British Army and the War against Germany 1919-1945
• World War II
• Post-Victorian Britain, 1902-51
• The Second World War: A Short History
• The Churchill War Papers: The Ever-Widening War, 1941
• Strategic Deception in the Second World War
• The Second World War: The hinge of fate
• History of the Second World War
• Rommel's Afrika Korps: Tobruk to El Alamein
• Tank Warfare: Strategy and Tactics
• El Alamein
• The Second World War, 1939-45: A Strategical and Tactical History
• Tobruk 1941: Rommel's opening move
• Tricolor over the Sahara: The Desert Battles of the Free French, 1940-1942
• The German Soldier in World War II
• War and Remembrance
• Historical Dictionary of the British Empire (2 Volumes)
• El Alamein 1942: The Turning of the Tide

[edit] Article structure

• Overview
  • Background
  • Importance of the Western Desert
• Military campaign
  • Initial hostilities and Italian offensive
  • British counter-attack (Compass)
  • German reinforcements and Rommel's offensive
  • Siege of Tobruk
  • British responses (Brevity, Battleaxe, Compass)
  • Rommel's second offensive
  • El Alamein and the British drive west to Tunisia
• Conclusions
• See also
• References
• External links

Oberiko 17:38, 21 March 2007 (UTC)