Desert Armour

[jwsleser]

I spotted a new book from Osprey titled Desert Armour Tank Warfare in North Africa: Beda Fomm to Operation Crusader, 1940–41 by Robert Forczyk. As the title states, it will cover the early battles in A.S. One can see from the Table of Contents posted on the website that the authors covers doctrine, organization, and then the actual operations. Looking forward to reading the book to see if it adds materially to the history of the early A.S. battles.

Desert Armour

Robert Forczyk covers the development of armoured warfare in North Africa from the earliest Anglo-Italian engagements in 1940 to the British victory over the Ge…

ospreypublishing.com

Book is scheduled for release on 28 February. I have preordered.

Pista! Jeff

 

[Slavomir]

Great find, Jeff.

Another book by R. Forczyk on desert warfare is announced and scheduled for October 2023: Desert Armour. Tank Warfare in North Africa: Gazala to Tunisia, 1942-1942.
Desert Warfare

Best regards

 

[jwsleser]

Thank you for the additional find. I will wait to read the first before deciding whether to preorder the second.

My concern is whether Forczyk accessed Italian primary sources. If he did, then the books could be a nice addition to the library. If not, then another Anglo-centric account. Forczyk lives in the US, so I am wondering how much Italian material he collected for his books.

Pista! Jeff

 

[jwsleser]

I have been told that this book has been released. I had preordered it, but Osprey states my copy won't be dispatched until 28 Feb. Huh?

Forczyk made a blog post HERE talking about the book. It appears he only used the Italian material available at NARA, no research in the Italian archives. It will be interesting to see what he found.

Pista! Jeff

 

[jwsleser]

Osprey notified me that my copy of Forczyk's book has shipped. So maybe in 10-12 days....... No idea why it didn't ship days ago.

I am mainly interested to see what sources he used to address the Italian side of Compass. As I suspect that he mainly used material from NARA, I am keenly interested in seeing which rolls he used. I also suspect that his discussion of Italian doctrine will mainly be from Sweet. However I am wiling to be pleasantly surprised if he discovered other sources.

I have discovered that I made a tactical error. My experience has been that books from UK publishers are not usually available from US dealers like Amazon until a month or so after its release in the UK. Amazon already has the book and if I ordered today, it would arrive by 6 March (Prime) or tomorrow if I used fastest delivery. So any US CS members interested in the book should look to US sources instead of Osprey.

Pista! Jeff

 

[Slavomir]

I am keenly interested in seeing which rolls he used.

Me as well. As you know, I spent quite few days at NARA and would like to see what I have missed.

Regards

 

[jwsleser]

I have Parts I and II of the guides and I didn't find any rolls that likely held early (1940–early 1941) material for A.S. I am certainly curious to see what sources he used for Compass.

Pista! Jeff

 

[jwsleser]

I was pleasantly surprised when I opened by mail box and discovered that my copy of Desert Armour had been delivered. It appears it was shipped from inside the US, so Osprey likely prepositioned copies. These are my initial impressions after spending an hour with the book.

It is a very good looking book. It is the slightly larger 24.5 cm x 19.5 cm that your normal book size (23.4 cm x 15.6 cm). The book is well illustrated with B&W pictures, color Osprey draws of vehicles and another equipment, color maps, and wiring diagrams dispersed throughout the book. Just from the physical quality of the book makes me wish I that should have approached Osprey about publishing my book.

And expected (but hoped for better), the bibliography is rather slight. No primary Italian sources are listed expect for one memoir, not even Iezzi's account of the V btg. carri M that is available on the web. The Italian sources are the usual suspects: Montanari, the earlier officials, various Osprey vehicle books, and Pignato's and Cappellano's Gli autoveicoli. No Italian NARA rolls (only German) or Kew War Diaries are listed (the AWM War Diaries are listed). So no expectation of any thing really new.

No obvious errors jumped up at me as I read a few select sections (bits during Compass and Beda Fomm). He does correctly state that it was the «Sabratha» defending Derna and not the 10º rgt. bers. The discussion of Italian doctrine and tank development is very incomplete and I don't agree with his interpretation of what it all meant. I feel he short changes Italian thinking and decisions about armour in the June 40–Feb 41 timeframe in A.S., but where he ends up is accurate. His wiring diagram of a carri M btg. is for three companies, but he does discuss the two company organization in the text (p.78). No mention of the reserve platoons or organization of the btg. carri L.

The book is footnoted, but not as many as I have preferred. There are many statements that I would certainly wish to have a cite. A few too many statements that are new to me and I sorta feel aren't quite right. I am left guessing whether they are thoughts from other writers or the author's own.

The bits I read are very readable and I feel that this is a solid account of the events it covers. My initial sense is this might be a better book than Luck was Lacking or Iron Hearts for those new to A.S. or looking for something a little more in depth. That judgement will need to wait until I read all the book.

Pista! Jeff

 

[jwsleser]

I have read the entire book. I do recommend it to the members of CS because it offers a different take on the why's behind the events in A.S. IMHO it provides reasons for students of the campaigns to take a closer look at the leadership displayed by all sides. I do have some issues with what the author provides, but it is more in the realm of supporting his argument rather than the argument itself.

My first thought was the book should have been named Desert Armour Commanders as Forczyk really focuses on the commanders and their decisions. Forczyk provides a different assessment of the strength/weaknesses of the armour leadership during the campaign than one normally finds in works on North Africa.

The subtitle should have been 'Why Rommel should have been fired.' I have always felt that Rommel has been vastly overrated since the mid-1980s. The more I delved into the Italian accounts and records, the more I came to realize that Rommel needs a serious biographer to peel back the onion skins. I believe that Forczykl has opened that door and someone will finally do some deep research and write a study of Rommel's command in A.S. This alone made the book fresh for me even as I felt that the author didn't really offer anything new in terms of research.

In terms of research, what Desert Armour really offers is analysis, not some earth-shattering new discoveries from the archives. This is a mixed blessing as while the analysis is refreshing, he skimps on supporting his arguments with details.

The subordinate German leadership get a closer look as well, with Forczyk indicating that they too made many mistakes. In fact, by the end of Crusader (which is the end of this first volume) the reader will wonder why the Germans were seen as these great masters of maneuver warfare in the desert. He also begins to poke holes into the argument that the German equipment was so superior that gave the DAK a nearly unbeatable edge. Even that famed 88mm is challenged with Forczyk stating "... and their real trump card was the low-silhouette, high-velocity 5cm Pak 38 anti-tank gun." (p.283).

The Germans are not alone as the British commanders get raked over the coals. "He [Gott] is easily the most over-rated commander of the desert campaign" (picture caption p.278) and "Simply put, Crusader proved Gott was the wrong man to command an armoured division assigned to conduct a challenging mission." (p.282). Gatehouse, Campbell, Scott-Cockburn, etc. are discussed as well.

Forczyk does include looking at the Italians, but it quickly become clear that his research wasn't very deep. He is generally positive, discussing the various problems that prevented them from from being successful. His discussion of the events leading up to and including Compass are okay, with only his discussion of Beda Fomm causing a few cringes. It is not that his account of 5–7 Feb 1941 was bad, but it clearly reflected the lack of any real in-depth research. In his discussion of Crusader, the issue of Gambara and the actions of the d.moto. «Trieste» are not mentioned. In the end, I felt what he provided was more reflective of being inclusive rather than a serious look at the Italian armored leadership.

My main problem with the book was the lack of supporting material for his arguments. He didn't provide things like Gott's orders/messages during Crusader to support his statements that Gott basically did nothing at times. The same for Rommel. I really wanted him to lay out his arguments using the hard facts available in the historical record. While the maps were nice in showing the actual actions, better would have to use them to outline the options/issues he presented. The maps tended to be more tactically focused when he is discussing operational issues which limited their usefulness. Only the map for the planned British operation for Crusader (p.223) showed an operational level situation in support of the narrative. Compass, the first Axis offensive, and the frontier battles lack any map/diagram of the operational situation/challenges he was addressing.

In all, I do recommend this book for the way it offers a different viewpoint of the battles covered. It will generate discussion on various forums.

Pista! Jeff