THE ‘ATOMIC’ DESPATCH: FIELD MARSHAL AUCHINLECK, THE FALL OF THE TOBRUK GARRISON AND POST-WAR ANGLO-SOUTH AFRICAN RELATIONS

dc.creator	Andrew Stewart
dc.date	2011-08-01T00:00:00Z
dc.date.accessioned	2015-07-20T20:09:56Z
dc.date.available	2015-07-20T20:09:56Z
dc.identifier	10.5787/36-1-44
dc.identifier	2224-0020
dc.identifier	https://doaj.org/article/0a51874701454a22a24fa5617274330d
dc.identifier.uri	http://evidence.thinkportal.org/handle/123456789/9395
dc.identifier.uri	https://doaj.org/article/0a51874701454a22a24fa5617274330d
dc.description	In January 1948, a despatch written by Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck<br />was published in London. These detailed military operations involving British<br />Commonwealth forces had taken place between November 1941 and August 1942 in<br />the Western Desert of North Africa. Initially submitted to the War Office (WO) five<br />years before, a complex and often bitter political dispute helped ensure that the path<br />of this despatch towards publication would prove a tortuous one. The key reason<br />behind the delay was the South African government’s complaints about references to<br />the Tobruk garrison, which, in June 1942, whilst under the command of a South<br />African general, had been forced to surrender to German forces. The drafting of the<br />despatch had begun almost as soon as the final battles had concluded. As a result of<br />his reverses at the hands of General Erwin Rommel and the latter’s Afrika Korps, the<br />then General Auchinleck had been dismissed by the British Prime Minister Winston<br />Churchill in August 1942, during the so-called ‘Cairo Purge’, to be replaced by<br />General Sir Harold Alexander. Alexander declined the offer of the newly created<br />Persia and Iraq command and departed for India, where he later became<br />Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army, turning his focus to the completion of his<br />account of recent events.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy)
dc.relation	http://scientiamilitaria.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/44
dc.relation	https://doaj.org/toc/2224-0020
dc.source	Scientia Militaria : South African Journal of Military Studies, Vol 36, Iss 1 (2011)
dc.subject	Military Science
dc.subject	U
dc.subject	DOAJ:Military Science
dc.subject	DOAJ:Technology and Engineering
dc.subject	Military Science
dc.subject	U
dc.subject	DOAJ:Military Science
dc.subject	DOAJ:Technology and Engineering
dc.subject	Military Science
dc.subject	U
dc.subject	DOAJ:Military Science
dc.subject	DOAJ:Technology and Engineering
dc.subject	Military Science
dc.subject	U
dc.subject	Military Science
dc.subject	U
dc.subject	Military Science
dc.subject	U
dc.title	THE ‘ATOMIC’ DESPATCH: FIELD MARSHAL AUCHINLECK, THE FALL OF THE TOBRUK GARRISON AND POST-WAR ANGLO-SOUTH AFRICAN RELATIONS
dc.type	Article