Category: Red Sea

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.

KEEBLE, Peter. Ordeal by Water. viii, 216p., illus. London: Longmans, 1957; Garden City: Doubleday, 1958.

Commander Keeble worked for the Fleet Salvage Officer in the Mediterranean. This is his autobiography from the Italian chariot attack on Alexandria to war's end. Provides an interesting contrast to Ellsberg's account, of the salvage operations at Massawa.

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.

CARVER, Ben. The Merchant Navy: Ships and Trains in World War II. x, 102p.,bibliog., illus., index. Reading: Finial, 2008. ISBN: 9781900467407.

The book arises from an interest in the eleven ‘Merchant Navy’ Class locomotives rescued at the end of BR steam in the 1960’s. He gives brief well illustrated war histories of the ships of the eleven companies represented by the surviving locomotives.

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.