The Desert Rats

Of all the units that marched with the Desert Army, none was more famous than the 7th Armoured Division, the most renowned British fighting force of the Second World War: 'The Desert Rats'. This Division fought in all the great battles of the Desert War - at Sidi Rezegh against the full might of Rommel's Afrika Korps; at Alamein, Tripoli and Tunis. And when the Axis was pushed out of Africa they moved on to Italy, France, Belgium and finally, triumphantly, to Berlin itself, the heart of the Nazi empire. Robin Neillands tells the story of the Desert Rats largely in the words of the soldiers themselves. From commanding general to tank gunner, artillery man and most junior squaddie, these men bring history to life in all its horror and glory.