Search Results: Western Desert Campaigns

The desert campaigns in North Africa during the Second World War (1939-45) provided soldiers on all sides with a set of particular challenges. Scorching day temperatures, freezing night temperatures, sand and flies getting everywhere, the...

A map of the principal locations involved in the Western Desert Campaigns of the Second World War (1939-45).

The Desert Rats was the nickname of the 7th Armoured Division of the British Eighth Army, which first fought in North Africa during the Second World War (1939-45). Fighting in the Western Desert Campaigns and the North Africa Campaign, the...

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), Emperor of the French, was one of the most successful military commanders of the modern era. From relatively humble beginnings, he rose to prominence during the tumultuous wars of the French Revolution, ultimately...

A July 1941 photograph showing a South African desert patrol in North Africa during the Western Desert Campaigns of the Second World War (1939-45). (Imperial War Museums)

Desert kites are mega-constructions that consist of two long walls converging upon an enclosed space that has on its periphery small stone constructions called cells. Seen from the sky, their shape suggests that of a windborne kite; they...

In March 1715, Louis XIV of France (r. 1643-1715) issued a declaration stating that all subjects of the king were also subjects of the Catholic Church. In defiance of the king's decree, Antoine Court (l. 1696-1760) gathered a small group...

A photograph taken in May 1941 showing a British soldier protecting himself against a sandstorm during the Western Desert Campaigns in North Africa during the Second World War (1939-45). (Imperial War Museums)

A July 1942 photograph of a British Eighth Army Humber Mk II armoured car during the Western Desert Campaigns of the Second World War (1939-45). (Imperial War Museums)

A photograph taken in January 1943 showing Corporal John Henderson of the Scots Guards during the Western Desert Campaigns in North Africa in the second World War (1939-45). (Imperial War Museums)