A British fighter Hawker Hurricane hits a German reconnaissance vehicle SdKfz 222. In El Alamein,
the luck of the Africa Korps, exhausted by the distance to its supply basses, turned down. The British Army adopted flexible
tactics to ensure that Rommel's troops could not reach the port of Alexandria, where the Germans would have the chance to
resupply their ranks.
The war in North Africa soon showed itself as very hard due to the presence of an enemy common to the two contenders, the desert,
as shown in this photograph of two German soldier caught amidst a sand storm.
Motorcycles equipped with sidecar and machine gun were widely used by the German messengers throughout the various war fronts.
A German SdKfz 250 command vehicle. These, modified versions of the reconnaissance vehicles
which were then in service, were essential in the German way of understanding war, on which the direct presence
of high commanders on the front would be of great help for the tactical approaches.
A German 88-millimeter cannon, considered as the terror of the tanks. In the time of the battles in El
Alamein, this gun was probably the only anti-tank weapon in service with the German Army able to penetrate at safe ranges the
80-millimeter frontal armor of the British tank Matilda II. The many fringes painted around the barrel indicate the number of
targets destroyed by this piece.
The Messerschmitt Me Bf 110 served during the whole conflict as an excellent heavy fighter,
powerfully armed with machine guns and 20-millimeter cannons, but nonetheless it was considered by many as a mediocre
aircraft because it was used, often and wrongly, as a bomber.
The Messerschmitt Me Bf 109, built successively in several variants that introduced necessary
improvements on the original design, was the standard fighter in the Luftwaffe during the entire conflict, albeit its
indubitable qualities were surpassed by those of other models later introduced.
An American heavy fighter P-38 Lightning burns after being shot down by the Germans in Tunisia. In the
Tunisian front the Americans would engage in combat against Germans and Italians for the first time. The further invasion of
Sicily and the rest of Italy was near.
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A British Bren Carrier, immobilized during a confrontation in the desert. The German tanks that
have hit the small vehicle continue with their advance, which at this moment still seems unstoppable. The Africa Korps, formed
by several divisions, advances with strenght determined to reach the Suez Canal, the oilfields on the Middle East and finally
the Caucasus, where another war is already being fought. But none of these objectives would be reached.
This propaganda photograph pubished in the Signal Magazine depicts a heroical representation of the symbol of German victory
in front of a Messerschmitt Me Bf 109 from a fighter wing, honoring the hard air war over North Africa.
A Kubelwagen car used as a liaison vehicle in the theater of operations. The scarcity of fuel
started to threat the Africa Korps, making clear that the conquest of Alexandria was necessary to continue the war in
North Africa.
This transport airplane Junkers Ju 52 was destroyed by the Germans themselves to prevent the British from
making any use out of it. The Africa Korps, prosecuted by the British troops, performed a skillful withdrawal that would allow
the Germans to escape from North Africa, saving lives and materials.
A Messerschmit Me Bf 110 equipped with external fuel deposits while flying above the desolation of the
desert. The defensive machine gun in the rear of the cockpit was necessary for the defense of a heavy fighter, which being slower
than the lighter counterparts could not defend itself by using agile manoeuvers.
An airfield improvised in the dusty desert, where Ju 52 transport airplanes, Me Bf 110 fighters and numerous barrels of the
precious fuel live together.
The American light cruiser USS Savannah in the docks of Algiers in June 1943, shortly after the American
disembarkment in Algeria. Beyond, two Liberty cargo ships are burning after being hit during an air attack.
Some British fighters Supermarine Spitfire are about to take off from an improvised runway, to attack with their guns the
Germans and Italians trapped in Cape Bon, in the Tunisian coast.
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