Striking a blow

Aftermath of Dieppe

As the summer of 42 waned, Axis armies and navies were on the march from the Steppes of Russia and the deserts of North Africa to the jungles of Southeast Asia and islands of the South Pacific.

A bitter struggle was under way in the waters off Guadalcanal and ashore in its steaming jungle. German panzers were racing towards Stalingrad. Soviet strongman Stalin darkly hinted that if he didn't get a "Second Front" soon against the Germans then the Allies might not like the consequences.

But as the Dieppe Raid on August 19th demonstrated, the Allies were ill-prepared to force their way onto the European continent in the face of German resistance.

This was the strategic context that led to Operation Torch in 1942, the invasion of North Africa and the first step in the long road to Rome and Berlin.

This blog will look at the campaign on its 70th anniversary over the next few months from the perspective of a military history buff and wargamer. Welcome.