Deception and Dust-ups - Desert Warfare Tactics - WW2 Special

The beginning of the Western Desert Campaign in June 1940 opens up the North African theatre

to the war and, with it, some unique challenges for both sides.

Conditions

Welcome to a World War Two in realtime special episode, I’m Indy Neidell.

Okay so let’s start off with conditions the opposing forces will be facing in North

Africa.

There are two very general variations of the ‘desert’ in this theatre.

One is the Nile Valley and its oases where much of the Egyptian population live; the

other is the Great Sand Sea – a huge region of primarily sand dunes stretching across

the border of Egypt and Libya.

The first is pretty easy to cross in motorized vehicles, the sand dunes not so much – they’re

nearly impassable.

In Egypt, the oases are separated by sand depressions and stony ridges; in Libya its

mostly stony ground with the odd ridge.

Sand and dust are constant challenges for both Allied and Axis forces.

Particles not only affect the comfort of soldiers but also wreak havoc on their equipment.

The average lifetime of a Volkswagen engine should usually be 50 to 70,000 kilometres

– in the desert, it's only about 12 to 14,000.

Sandstorms also pose a big test, obscuring visibility for both ground and aerial forces,

and completely altering the land's topography.

On the surface of the sand, extreme temperature creates a host of difficulties for the fighting

armies.

It regularly reaches 40°C in the shade and temperatures inside tanks can climb even higher.

The cockpits of aircraft too can become greenhouses, often making the metal equipment inside too

hot to touch.

In the summer months, there are reports of midday reaching as high as 60°C. Such extreme

heat brings further visibility issues with heat haze blurring the horizon so that it's

almost impossible to tell an approaching vehicle from a destroyed one further away than a kilometre

away.

So those are the conditions – how did the Allied and Axis armies deal with it?

Well, it actually forces both of them to make some pretty interesting innovations.

On January 1, 1941, a team of camoufleurs arrive in the desert to help the British Army

in concealing their movements from the enemy.

The team is comprised of filmmaker Geoffrey Barkas and artists John Hutton, P.E. Phillips,

and Blair Hughes-Stanton.

They are later joined by artist Stephen Sykes, scientist Dr Hugh Cott and magician Jasper

Maskelyne.

Commander-in-Chief of Middle East Command, Archie Wavell, will explain the problem his

soldiers are facing in a report: “Possibly because the British man is normally simple