Vintage Military - Part 17

World War II - North Africa

In June, 1940, when France surrendered to Nazi Germany, Italian fascist dictator Mussolini saw which way the wind was blowing and allied with Germany.  Italy declared war on Britain and France.  Mussolini's real aim was not in Europe.  It was to expand his colonies in Africa (Libya and Ethiopia were already Italian colonies) by taking over Egypt, the richest prize in North Africa.

The British, who controlled Egypt, quickly defeated the Italian Army in Libya.  The photo above, dated July 26, 1940, shows Italian prisoners of war in Libya washing themselves.  This photo and the next three are from Britain's Imperial War Museum.

The British continued advancing.  In January, 1941, an Australian division captured the Italian fortress of Bardia, Libya, the first battle of World War II in which the Australian Army took part.  This photo shows two naked Aussies enjoying a swim in the harbor after Bardia had fallen.

As a result of Bardia and other Italian defeats, Hitler sent reinforcements to his ally in the form of the Afrika Korps, commanded by the "desert fox", Erwin Rommel.  For much of 1941 and 1942, Rommel fought the British in Libya and the western part of Egypt, called the Western Desert, with each side alternately pushing back the other.

That was the situation when this photo of a British soldier was taken on Feb. 8, 1942.  The photo is labeled "Western Desert. A wash down in the desert. Making the best of what drop of water he has for a wash."

Life for the troops was not all fighting.  This photo, dated July 5, 1942, is labeled "Palestinian units in the Western Desert. After the football match, a home made shower."  I must say the puppy steals the scene.

In August 1942, LIFE photographer Bob Landry took the photo above as part of a set called "War in the Western Desert."  A British soldier is taking an improvised shower, while the British officers at left are apparently enjoying the view.

In October 1942, the British decisively defeated the Afrika Korps at the battle of El Alamein in Egypt, forcing Rommel back west toward Tunisia.

In November, 1942, American forces landed in Morocco and started working eastward to trap Rommel between the British and American armies.  The photo above is part of a 1943 set called "Desert Logistics" by LIFE photographer Jack Wilkes.  It shows American troops making use of a mobile shower unit.  This time it's a sergeant enjoying the view.

I've previously shown this photo by LIFE photographer Eliot Elisofon of U.S. soldiers in Sened, Tunisia, in a makeshift shower in 1943.  Color war photos from that era are rare.

Elisofon also took black and white photos of the same scene.  This image captured some frontal views.

Here's an enlargement of the previous photo.  The soldiers knew they were being photographed.  Smile for the camera!

By May, 1943, the British and Americans had surrounded the German and Italian armies in Tunisia.  The Axis forces surrendered on May 13, 1943.  275,000 German and Italian soldiers became prisoners of war, a huge blow to the Axis.