Category: African and Middle Eastern Adventures

An analysis of the reasons for and course of the battle with the French at Mers-el-Kebir.

Operations of East Africa Command, 12th July, 1941 to 8th January 1943. Supplement to the London Gazette of Wednesday, 17 July 1946, Number 37655, pp.3711-3720.

A despatch from General Platt, much concerned with the occupation of Madagascar. Reprinted in 2015 from a set of four despatches edited by John Grehan and Martin Mace as The War in East Africa 1939-1943 and published in 2015 by Pen & Sword Military (ISBN: 9781783462230.

GREHAN, John & MACE, Martin. The War in East Africa 1939-1943: From the Campaign Against Italy in British Somaliland to Operation Ironclad, the Invasion of Madagascar xiv, 253p., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military, 2015. ISBN: 97817834623330.

Reprints four despatches from the London Gazette with a brief introduction, namely 37609, Operations in Somaliland; 37645, Operations in East Africa 1940-41; 37655, Operations in East African Command, 1941-43; 38225, Operations in Madagascar.

STEWART, Andrew. The First Victory: the Second World War and the East Africa Campaign. 328p., bibliog., illus., index. New Haven: Yale U.P., 2016. ISBN: 0300208553.

A good history which also has a broad sweeping background overview of how British and Commonwealth forces won this bitterly contested campaign.

GREHAN, John. Churchill’s Secret Invasion: Britain’s First Large-scale Combined Operations Offensive 1942. xii, 212p.,bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military, 2013. ISBN: 1781593825.

Operation Ironclad was the invasion of the French controlled island of Madagascar – a necessary step to protect the Cape route from the Japanese. It was a successful but chaotic affair from which many lessons were learned. A good account.

DE WAILLY, Henri. Invasion Syria 1941: Churchill and De Gaulle’s Forgotten War. xv, 400p., bibliog., illus., index. London; IB Tauris, 2016. ISBN: 9781784534493.

First published in France in 2006, this solid academic study of this neglected campaign gives good coverage of the limited naval involvement in the brief campaign.

Operations in East Africa, November 1940–July 1941. Supplement to the London Gazette of Tuesday, 9 July 1946, Number 37645, pp.3527–3599.

A despatch from General Sir Archibald Wavell covering the combined operations in this theatre.

ORPEN, Neil. East African and Abyssinian Campaigns (South African Forces: World War II, vol. I). xiv, 390p., bibliog., illus., index. Cape Town: Purnell, 1968.

A good account of the South African part in this theatre. The role of the Navy was largely as a bombardment force supporting units operating near the Red Sea coast.

A sound review of Operation Menace, the assault on Dakar, which ended in fiasco.

The author has done much to explore this often conveniently forgotten series of episodes in which Britain and de Gaulle were effectively at war with Vichy France, ranging from the bitter little war in Syria to the fiasco at Dakar and the disarming of the French naval ships in Allied ports.

The author served with Field Security, attached to the Royal Scots Fusiliers. After the initial assault on Diego Suarez he stayed on the island for some months and witnessed the less-well-known second assault to secure the rest of the island.

Another of the excellent Grub Street campaign histories which gives full measure to the involvement of the RN and FAA in operations.

Originally published as a series of essays in the New Yorker, this book describes the logistical operations of the American Persian Gulf Command whose 30,000 men ran the supply line from the Persian ports to Russia. Very peripheral, but enlivened by an introductory essay from the author's colleague, James Thurber.

A lurid account of Japanese aims and attempts to subvert and conquer the western Indian Ocean. The story of the whole Madagascar Campaign is given, up to the arrival of the new Free French governor. There is sparse reference to naval events.

Quoting extensively from unpublished letters and documents, the authors try "to give both sides of the North controversy." However, their "investigations have led . . . to the inescapable conclusion that North was saddled with the responsibility for Churchill's mistakes." North's earlier career and his post-war attempts at vindication are also described.

Admiral North was the scapegoat for the debacle at Dakar and this is the first full account of why he was blamed.

The master naval historian considers the Dakar debacle and the hunt for a scapegoat.

The Navy's supporting role is scarcely mentioned, but the land campaign is fairly fully described.

A promptly written account of the second phase of the campaign, beginning with the landing at Majunga. It espouses Thurber’s dictum to journalists - "don't get it right, get it written."

Almost a travel book. After the fall of Massawa the author established a contraband control along the Eritrean coastline and he here describes that task.