Research Catalog

Title

The desert railway : the New Zealand Railway Group in North Africa and the Middle East during the Second World War / Brendon Judd.

Author

Judd, Brendon.

Publication

Auckland, N.Z. : Penguin, 2004.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

328 p. : ill., maps; 20 cm.

Summary

This is the untold story of the hundreds of New Zealand railwaymen - shunters, builders, engine drivers, firemen, engineers - who answered the call to construct and operate a railway network in the Western Desert during the Second World War. Overlooked in other war histories, these men played a significant role in the Allied victory in North Africa. The desert railway became a crucial strategic operation, transporting soldiers, equipment and supplies to the front line, that the Germans were determined to destroy. The various challenges they faced, from relentless bombing, to the dreaded fifty-day-long khamseen winds, to the siege of Tobruk, culminated in the second Battle of El Alamein, during which Field Marshal Montgomery stated, 'Well, now it's the railway versus Rommel.' The Desert Railway is a tribute to the courage and enterprise of these railwaymen who kept the trains running no matter what.

Subject

• New Zealand. Expeditionary Force, 2nd > History
• World War, 1939-1945 > Transportation > Africa, North
• World War, 1939-1945 > Transportation > Egypt

Genre/Form

• History
• History.

Note

• Previous ed.: Railway Book Committee, 2003.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 319-322) and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

The call for volunteers -- Voyage to Egypt -- Training at Maadi Camp -- Into the Western Desert -- El Dabaa and Mersa Matruh -- Burg el Arab -- Locomotive water requirements -- Offensive and counter-offensive -- The Rats of Tobruk -- Tragedy and bravery -- Greece, the Canal Zone and Palestine -- Desert entertainment -- The Desert Railway continues -- How the railway was operated -- The Desert Railway completed -- Wrath of the Luftwaffe -- The retreat of 1942 -- Railway construction in the Levant -- The lull before the storm -- The last advance -- A job well done -- Readjusting to Civvy Street -- Appendix 1 : Boarding lists -- Appendix 2 : Lest we forget -- Appendix 3 : The LMS Stanier 8F Locomotive.

ISBN

0143019155 (pbk.) :

OCLC

156000380

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library