THE FALL OF TOBRUK
CRISIS IN THE DESERT, by J. A. 1. AégarHamilton and L. C. F. Turner; Oxiord University Press. English price, 42/-. ‘THE fall of Tobruk cost South Africa 10,000 men, a third of her fighting strength, and left South Africans with a bitter taste in their mouths. But there is no trace of bitterness in this history of those critical three months, MayJuly, 1942. The authors (Editor-in-Chief and Assistant Editor respectively of the Union War Histories) have let the facts
speak for themselves. They have presented them so interestingly, interpreting and expanding where required, that the picture is clear and criticism unnecessary. Much can be read between the lines, however. With all the advantages given by access to enemy records as well as to their own, the authors are able to compare British and enemy versions of the same incidents. Sometimes they give what they carefully call "the most likely explanation" of these happenings, once or twice remarking mildly, though careful to resist the temptations of hindsight, that "the observer is inclined to wonder what could have been effected" had such and such a course of action been. taken. Each piece of evidence fits into place: signal and answer and intercept (the Germans were well served by the carelessness of British commanders whose unguarded signals sometimes gave them fore-knowledge of our intentions); operation order and report; unit history and published memoir. Nor is the part played in the battle by the personalities of commanders on both sides neglected. The book is beautifully printed and well bound; clear maps make the narrative easy to follow, and the inclusion of German maps (although redrawn) helps to show clearly the enemy’s intentions and the mistakes of his Intelligence in assessing British strengths and dispositions. The photographs are good but not outstanding, and some of the pictures of British and enemy tanks and guns could have come straight from an Army recognition manual for all the life there is' in them. The addition of detailed figures of unit casualties in places’ would have helped the reader, better to form an opinion on the severity of the fight-
ing.
W.A.
G.
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 28, Issue 722, 15 May 1953, Page 12
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359THE FALL OF TOBRUK New Zealand Listener, Volume 28, Issue 722, 15 May 1953, Page 12
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