Desert Rats - John Parker

The Desert Rats are famous for their part in helping to turn the tide of German dominance during the North African campaign in World War II. Under Field Marshal Montgomery and his 8th Army, they underpinned epic campaigns culminating in El Alamein, where Rommel’s much-vaunted Afrika Corps was poised to begin the final rout of the British in 1942. But they met unimagined resistance from an army spearheaded by the formidable Desert Rats.

Not limited to desert operations, they fought on through Italy and into France for the D-Day landings, battling their way through Holland for the final push to Berlin. Post-war, they re-emerged in Germany as part of NATO’s forces and in other major deployments such as the 1991 Gulf War and the Balkans conflict. More recently in Iraq, the Desert Rats were immediately engaged in some of the fiercest early fighting, ultimately securing Basra for the Coalition.

In this updated edition, John Parker brings the Iraq situation right up to date to complete the Desert Rats’ story – one that is a seminal part of modern military history.