num_pages: 427
description: The Crucible of War: Book 1 The definitive work on the Desert War. Manchester Evening News Wavells Command is the first of the three volumes of The Crucible of War. Volume 1 of The Crucible of War trilogy covers General Wavells command a period that began triumphantly with the rout of the Italian Army and ended in catastrophe with the devastating entry of Rommel into the conflict. On 11th June 1940 Mussolini declared war on Britain and France. From their colony in Libya the Italians began invading Egypt in an attempt to expand their African Empire. Thus began the Desert War  a battle to secure critical Middle East oil supplies which would last for three years. Commander-in-Chief of the Middle East was General Sir Archibald Wavell. By 1940 and with limited resources he was responsible for all British land forces in Egypt the Sudan Palestine Transjordan and Cyprus as well as the Army formations in British Somaliland Aden Iraq and along the shores of the Persian Gulf. The area for which he had accepted military command thus included nine different countries in two continents. In December 1940 in Libya Wavells Western Desert Force of 36000 men attacked the Italians across desolate and inhospitable terrain in order to keep Egypt from falling to the Axis and shield access to the Red Sea the Persian Gulf and possibly even India from Hitler. Attack was the only form of defense and under field commander General Richard OConnor an immensely successful and exhilarating campaign was carried out against Marshal Grazianis forces. The Italians were pushed back hundreds of miles and 130000 prisoners were taken. By February 1941 nearly all Axis forces had been expelled from North Africa. It was a remarkable triumph in one of the most dramatic theatres of the Second World War which paved the way for later victories but not immediately  as Rommels Afrika Korps meant Wavell with a now weakened Western Desert Force was ordered to send men to Greece despite his conviction that victory was close. The tide of war was about to turn once more. PRAISE FOR THE CRUCIBLE OF WAR TRILOGY: A magnificent book Barrie Pitt has almost a novelists skill and perception of character. Daily Telegraph Totally readable Mr Pitts study depicts equally well the broad outlines of strategy the confusions and hazards of the battlefield and the personalities of the generals or private soldiers fighting there. Oxford Times Barrie Pitt (1918-2006) was well known as a military historian and editor of Purnells History of the Second World War and History of the First World War. His publications include Coronel and Falkland Churchill and the Generals and The Crucible of War a trilogy covering the North African campaign of the Second World War. He was born in Galway and later lived near Ilminster in Somerset. 
language: None
title: Wavell's Command: The Crucible of War Book 1
publisher: Sharpe Books