The War Against Rommel's Supply Lines, 1942-43 (Stackpole Military History Series) [Paperback]

Alan J. Levine (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 10, 2008

This is an exciting account of a little known, yet vital part of World War II: the Allied effort to blockade Axis forces in North Africa with a relatively small number of planes and submarines. Erwin Rommel's campaign in Tunisia relied on sea and air supply lines across the Mediterranean, and the Allies ultimately successful attempts to cut these lines produced some of the war s fiercest air battles and one of only two successful submarine campaigns ever fought.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Scholarly, compelling and definitive…Levine fills an important gap in the history of the war. --World War II magazine

About the Author

Alan J. Levine is a historian specializing in World War II. His other books include D-Day to Berlin (9780811733861) and The Strategic Bombing of Germany (9780275943196).

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Stackpole Books (March 10, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811734587
• ISBN-13: 978-0811734585
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,021,297 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well Written Narrative of a Largely Ignored Campaign, July 3, 2008

By 

Michael L. Shakespeare (Kansas City, MO USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The War Against Rommel's Supply Lines, 1942-43 (Stackpole Military History Series) (Paperback)

Was the solid battlefield performance of General George Patton and General Bernard Montegomery the greatest factor in defeating the Axis in North Africa? Alan J. Levine, also author of Stalin's Last War: Korea And The Approach To World War III, reveals for us a more likely reason for Allied victory in North Africa -- winning the war of logistics.

We should welcome fresh analysis of "the efforts of Allied air and naval forces in the Mediterranean to cut off the supplies of the Axis forces in Northwest Africa during 1942 and 1943."

Mr. Levine has made himself intimately familiar with the subject and has skillfully captured the war against Rommel's supply lines in six chapters:

The War in the Mediterranean, 1940-42,
Planning the Invasion of North Africa and the Twelfth Air Force,
The Invasion of North Africa and the Race for Tunis,
Attacking the Tunisian Buildup Nov-Dec 1942,
Reorganization, Sea Sweeps, Land Defeats: Jan-Feb 1943,
Victory: March-May 1943.

"The War Against Rommel's Supply Lines" is not light reading or a page-turner, but a densely written narrative of the North African campaign. Mr. Levine has made an exhaustive study of Allied and Axis records to correctly justify claims of air kills and sunk ships.

The author reveals how a captured ENIGMA machine and ULTRA gave the Allies an intelligence boost. To be sure, Mr. Levine has respect for the Italian Navy -- they were not the clowns portrayed in other works -- but were skilled in decoding Allied transmissions as well as expertly carrying out underwater demolitions.

The author skillfully weaves in a series of well-written snapshots such as Malta's Beaufighters scouring the moonlit seas and mauling heavily escorted Italian shipping -- P-38 Lightnings bedeviling formations of heavily-loaded German Ju-52 transports inbound from Sicily -- and Italian sailors unselfishly rescuing British submariners they had just sunk.

Later, far-ranging American B-17, B-24, B-25 and B-26 bombers attacked ports and airfields across Sicily, Italy, and Tunisia, with spotty success. Not surprisingly, aircraft struggled with desert conditions -- dry sand contaminating equipment, and the deep mud wrecking aircraft trying to land.

Despite the notorious reputation the Mediterranean Sea has for undersea operations, Mr. Levine points out that this was only one of two successful submarine campaigns ever fought. Surprisingly, Allied surface ships did not fair well overall. Both sides suffered greatly from the unseen menace of underwater mines.

Slowly, the Allies were able to overwhelm the Axis with superior numbers on the sea, land, and in the air. The author argues the successful campaign to cut the Axis's lines of support "led to a relatively cheap triumph over a large enemy force on land, with a major impact on the subsequent campaigns in Europe."

No other book, with the exception of Mediterranean and Middle East 2004: v. IV: The Destruction of the Axis Forces in Africa: History of the Second World War: United Kingdom Military Series: Official Campaign History, so effectively chronicle's the struggle in North Africa from this perspective -- the logistics war. This otherwise excellent Stackpole Military History Series book may be passed over because of an uninspired title and ho-hum cover photograph. Inside there are only two maps and 27 snapshots.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Research Effort With Minor Presentation Issues, July 9, 2008

By 

Andreas Biermann (Paris, France) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The War Against Rommel's Supply Lines, 1942-43 (Stackpole Military History Series) (Paperback)

This is a very good book providing an in-depth analysis into the battle raging against the umbilical cord tying the Axis forces in North Africa to their base in Italy. In my opinion, no student of the war in the Mediterranean will be able to ignore it.
The book covers the whole of the supply struggle waged in the Mediterranean, but focuses on the period following the Alamein battles and the invasion of North Africa by US and British forces, when it became imperative for Allied planners to prevent a permanent lodging of Axis forces in Tunisia, to the surrender of Axis forces in May 1943. Five out of six chapters are devoted to this effort, while the first chapter provides a concise, yet highly informative and well-researched summary of what went on during 1940-42.
The focus chapters deal with the planning of the invasion of French North Africa, and in particular the role and establishment of 12th Air Force. The author describes well the troubles this formation went through when it was first established, and the very difficult command arrangements at the start of the campaign in Tunisia. The following chapters discuss the invasion, the attack against the build-up of Axis forces in Tunisia, which is rightly described in a very critical manner, the re-organisation of the forces engaged in the logistical battle from January 1943 onwards, and their contribution to the eventual victory. The book gives time to both US and British forces engaged in the battle, and is quite (and justly) complimentary to the Italian effort in keeping the Axis forces in Tunisia supplied.
The author manages well to weave a narrative integrating theatre strategy and individual actions, although at times the information packed into single sentences or paragraphs can become overwhelming. I am also not convinced about the need for as much detail as is sometimes provided and editing could maybe have parsed the text a bit more of unnecessary detail.
The book is very well-researched, going through archival material such as unit records of air formations engaged in the battle, or patrol reports of submarines, and it makes very good use of official histories, of both sides. This is a particularly outstanding feature of the book - where possible, the author made the effort of trying to verify claims made by Allied forces against air and sea targets, by checking the Axis records. While this is no doubt a thankless task, and often a wild goose chase, it is one that cannot be lauded enough. The author has also gone to good length in providing a background on the technical capabilities of the Allied weapons available for the task, highlighting the planes and submarines in particular.
The book sports an index, an extensive literature list, and a good set of endnotes - in other words, it is a serious research work. What is missing is a list of maps, although since there are only two, so maybe that was not considered necessary. Which leads me to: sufficient in number and detail maps are missing, so I recommend having an Atlas of WW2 handy while reading it, unless you have a North Africa map in your head. The selection of pictures is appropriate to the topic, and the quality is acceptable, especially considering the price. What I really would have liked to see are diagrams of air-sea attack formations. These are described verbally, but a picture would help very much in understanding the roles of the various planes engaging shipping targets. But that is really the only major gripe I can think of.
Thanks go to Stackpole for not only publishing a book that is clearly dealing with a somewhat esoteric topic (why bother with logistics - when you could have the umpteenth 750-page colour book about Waffen SS-Tigers?), but making the effort to create a very attractive presentation, and pricing it very reasonably. Highly recommended.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars US Air Interdiction in North Africa, September 2, 2011

By 

Timmothy J. Stone (Laveen, Arizona, US) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The War Against Rommel's Supply Lines, 1942-43 (Stackpole Military History Series) (Paperback)

While the book is well written and does have a good overview of the efforts against the Axis supply routes throughout the North African Campaign it is not a report of military action against Rommel's supply lines; but rather, it recounts primarily U.S. Army Air Force efforts to interdict Axis supply efforts to Tunisia. The book also recounts how this effort is supported by British Air and submarine actiions in the waters around Tunisia, Sicily, and Southern Italy. Again, well written but a misleading title.