SEPTEMBER 1942: Allied special forces launch
commando operations against several Axis facilities deep behind the
lines in Libya, during the
build-up to the second battle of El Alamein. Most successful is a
swashbuckling, damaging raid on the Italian-held Barce airfield and town, by Kiwi
and British members of the Long Range Desert Group.
This is an anatomy of that raid, pieced together
by LRDG authority Brendan O’Carroll from interviews with participants,
official records from both sides in the conflict, and published
accounts.
"It will read like a Boys
Own ripping yarn, but that's just how it happened." (Barce raid
veteran Merlyn Craw, interviewed for the book.)
Brendan O'Carroll's other books about the LRDG are
Kiwi Scorpions (2000) and Bearded Brigands
(2002).
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“A
well-told story of a fascinating group of men who performed incredible
feats…adds greatly to the story of New Zealanders at war.” (Major
Lindsay Amer in New Zealand Army News.)
“Brendan O’Carroll has done it again. Just when you think that an author
has done his best work on a subject – The Kiwi Scorpions and
Bearded Brigands – he pulls another rabbit out of his hat.” (Jack
Valenti, www.lrdg.org)
"Well
expressed, attractively presented and lavishly illustrated...a heroic
story of daring and endurance." (Ron Tyrrell in the Otago Daily
Times)
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