[Image] Fleecing the Saffas

21st July, 1942. El Alamein, Egypt.

9th Div troops play cards with the South Africans

These two 9th Division Machine Gunners pass the time in their weapons pit, between engagements, with a game of cards with two members of the South African Army.

The British War Photographer who stumbled across this scene must have had a good laugh at the sight of dominion troops so engaged in gambling that they haven't even noticed they are being photographed. This is a great photo to demonstrate the different, yet distinct, styles of head wear in service with dominion troops at Alamein. The slouch hat and the pith helmet, symbols of their respective armies, and both being quite practical in the Western Desert. I suppose Aussies and Saffas know a thing or two about the desert. There are no deserts in England, Italy or Germany.

image E14671 Imperial War Museum.

[Image] A letter home from Alamein

10th September, 1942. El Alamein, Egypt.

A precious letter home.

This unidentified Digger of the 9th Division enjoys a few hours out of the front lines in organised relaxation at the Alamein beachfront. Rather than go for a much deserved swim this soldier prefers to write a letter home but ponders what to write.

In typical Australian fashion this soldier is shirtless, yet still wears the very practical slouch hat. The leather thong of his identity discs are visible around his neck and this lucky soldier writes with a fountain pen and appears to have a ready supply of proper writing paper. Both pens and paper were always in short supply for Diggers in the Western Desert. Letters would often be written home on any kind of scrap paper available. It was not uncommon for Aussies to write letters home on paper that they had captured from Italian or German troops.

Troops of the 9th Division always enjoyed their brief stints at the Alamein beach front. Often the swim in the ocean would be the only wash the troops would get for weeks on end and one wonders how much the trips to the beach were motivated by a genuine concern for the men's welfare or more an opportunity for the officers to rid their men of the horrible smell that accompanied them where ever they went.

image 042004 Australian War Memorial.

[Image] Crocodile Dundee of Tobruk

26th September, 1941. Tobruk, Libya.

SX1417 Pvt. V.J. Fuller models the new look slouch hat

Pvt. Victor John Fuller of the 2/3rd Field Company, Royal Australian Engineers, finds a new way to accessorise with a belt of captured Italian Breda Model 37 8mm machine gun bullets making a nice hat band for his weathered slouch hat.

I think Paul Hogan has a lot of explaining to do after seeing this photo. Crocodile Dundee anyone?

image 020644 Australian War Memorial.

[Image] "Monty" and THAT Slouch Hat.

Lieutenant General B.L. Montgomery, CB DSO

Commander of the Eighth British Army

Tel el Eisa, Egypt. 21st August,1942.

When Lieutenant General Bernard Law Montgomery CB DSO paid the forward positions of the 9th Division at Tel el Eisa a visit on 14th August 1942 he is reported to have requested an Australian slouch hat to wear.

Members of Headquarters, 24th Infantry Brigade quickly found "Monty" his requested hat and from that point forward Montgomery chose to wear the Slouch Hat as a part of his standard field uniform.

In the photo above Montgomery is photographed with a rare smile on his face a week after being presented with the hat. By this time word had spread that the Commander of the British Eighth Army had taken to wearing Dominion head wear as standard dress. This caused a mixed reaction amongst members of the Eighth Army.

Here Montgomery is seen wearing the hat at Tel el Eisa after having toured the forward positions for himself. As he inspected his lines he passed through positions held by different forces under his command. At each opportunity Montgomery collected the hat badges of the units and attached them to his slouch hat. A good collection of them can be seen above.

Reactions to Montgomery's choice of hat varied. Members of the Royal Australian Artillery stated that he looked like a "prize galah", whilst members of the Infantry saw it as an honour that out of all the different nationalities and units under his command that he chose an Australian Slouch Hat. In spite of all the inherent practicalities of such a hat in the Western Desert it was a real morale boost for members of the 9th Division to see Monty in their hat.

Others however were not convinced as to the suitability of their General wearing this hat and members of the Royal Tank Regiment saw to it that they presented Monty with a black beret in the hope that he would restore order and wear appropriate head dress. Someone must have had a quiet word to the General as he gave up his adored slouch hat and wore the Royal Tank Regiment's beret for the rest of the Western Desert campaign.

Lieutenant General Bernard Law Montgomery CB, DSO's slouch hat is currently in the collection of the Australian War Memorial at Canberra, Australia.

images 041980, 044866 and RELAWM30701 Australian War Memorial.

[Image] Meet the 9th's latest Reo's

Nuseirat, Palestine, October 9th, 1942.

The first mess parade of the 2/48th's latest.

The latest "Reo's", Army slang for reinforcements, arrive at their staging camp at Palestine. These men have arrived and are queuing up for their first mess parade in their new temporary home.

Considering that this photo was taken a mere three weeks before the 2nd Battle of El Alamein in late October one wonders how many of the men in the above photo met their ends on that bloody battlefield like so many of their mates.

The 9th Division suffered disproportionately higher casualties as a result of the dangerous assault that they were tasked with undertaking against the might of Rommel's Panzer Divisions. Large numbers of troops on both sides were killed and wounded by the blanket shelling that both sides launched at each other mercilessly for a period of nearly two weeks in late October to early November, 1942.

image 025099 Australian War Memorial.

[Image] 2/43rd Bren Gunner in Syria

Homs, Syria, 18th June, 1942.

Bren Gun Training for Alamein.

SX11192 Pvt. Frank T. Hardy poses with his Bren Light Machine Gun, in a prone position with the barrel mounted bipod deployed, during training in Syria in June, 1942.

Little would these men know it but in a matter of weeks after this photo was taken they were withdrawn from Syria and rapidly sent to the Western Desert to reinforce Montgomery's 8th Army at the Battle of El Alamein.

Pvt. Hardy is obviously posing for this shot as the Bren gun lacks it's distinctive banana shaped magazine at the top of the gun and is therefore empty and not quite as menacing as he makes it look.

It was training such as this, with the Bren Gun, that allowed WX11519 Pvt. Leslie T. Starcevich V.C. of the 2/43rd to dispose of so many of the enemy in his action that earned him the Victoria Cross in Borneo in 1945. More on Pvt. Starcevich V.C. when this blog moves to the Pacific Campaign in the near future.

image 024411 Australian War Memorial.

[Image] The faces of the 2/32nd at Alamein

El Alamein, Egypt.

Men of the 2/32nd Battalion and their Bren Carrier

Three unidentified members of the 2/32nd Infantry Battalion pose alongside their Bren Gun Carrier at Alamein. They wear three different types of headgear from left to right: slouch hat, woollen beanie and tin hat.

The soldier on the right carries a trophy of war, a German Mauser Kar98 Rifle while the man in the middle wields a machete, a rather unusual choice given the desert location and in all likelihood this was not standard issue equipment for the Western Desert. He also appears to wear some kind of tinted goggles or sunglasses, a rather rare commodity at Alamein.

image p02522.005 Australian War Memorial.

[Image] 2/17th troops try out an Italian flak gun at Alamein

4 Sec, D Coy, 2/17th Infantry Battalion

The Italian Breda Model 35 20mm Anti-Aircraft Gun.

Men of 4 Section, D Coy. have a bit of fun on a captured Italian Breda Model 35 20mm cannon. These flak guns were primarily used in an anti-aircraft capacity however they had some use against soft targets like trucks, cars and infantry.

This photo was taken at Alamein in 1942 by my Grandfather, NX17811 Pvt. L.J. McCarthy of the 2/17th Infantry Battalion. This particular gun was popular amongst troops of the 2/17th for posing on for photos to send home. I have seen a photo of Jack Barber, also of the 2/17th and author of "The War, The Whores and the Afrika Korps", trying out the same gun in the photos within his book.

Click on the image for a high resolution copy.

image from the author's personal collection.

[Image] Sgt. Jones' improvised banjo

Tobruk, Libya, 3rd September, 1941.

Sgt L Jones of the 2/23rd Battalion's improvised banjo.

Made whilst serving in the Red Line of Tobruk's outer perimeter this banjo was constructed by Sgt L. Jones of the 2/23rd Infantry Battalion out of an old kerosene tin and a packing case.

Australian troops in Tobruk faced shortages of most necessities and luxuries were virtually unheard of. Leave it to resourceful Aussie scroungers to make what they cant otherwise have. There was very little in the way of entertainment in the Red Line and the long monotonous times in the front could be made to pass quicker with a musical instrument.

There are numerous accounts that I have read of Australian troops in Tobruk playing musical instruments to the Germans. There was even one account of a soldier from the 2/13th Battalion playing German songs on his trumpet on the Salient causing the Germans to cease firing for as long as he played. Obviously things of small beauty in an ugly place caused even the Afrika Korps to pause for thought.

image 020566 Australian War Memorial.

author's note: In keeping with my policy to try and identify by name and service number as many of the men as possible in photos I'm afraid I am unable at this time to identify the service number of Sgt. L Jones above. There were 323 men with the name L. Jones in the service of the Australian Army during the Second World War. Time permitting I will attempt to positively identify Sgt. Jones in the future.

[Image] 9th Division troops guard Axis prisoners of war at Alamein

Australian troops of the 9th Division guard Axis prisoners of war at Alamein. Note the fixed bayonets on the Lee-Enfield .303's. The German prisoners appear to be in formal battle dress whilst the Italians are much more casually attired.

image Imperial War Museum E2478

[Image] The Alamein Heaven Photo

For me, this is one of the most powerful photos of the Second World War. A lone shirtless Australian soldier of the 9th Division carves the word "Heaven" and an upwards pointing arrow in the soft stone wall of the Alamein railway station with the tip of his bayonet. I've seen the significance of this being explained as "Alamein is a slice of heaven". I like to look on it more as that of a digger taking the piss. If Heaven is above them as the arrow would indicate I think the digger means to liken Alamein to Hell. And he would be right. More on Alamein later.