Love Letters from a Desert Rat 'Alex and Nan'

by MacIntyre, Liz

• ISBN13: 9780752447063
• ISBN10: 0752447068
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-03-01
• Publisher: Tempus
• More Book Details

Summary

When Liz Macintyre's mother died she found a collection of 300 letters from her father Alex, spanning his service in Italy and Egypt in World War II. His career began in 1940 sailing down the west coast of Africa, then up to Egypt, and the next few years were spent chasing Rommel and the Afrika Corps all over North Africa. By 1943 he was in mainland Italy, where he spent the rest of the war. Beautifully written, Alex's letters offer an intimate account of war from a regular "desert rat" and cover such daily matters as football, insects, and sandstorms alongside accounts of survival in the Italian mountains, escape during the retreat at Tobruk, and leave in Cairo and Palestine. Nan wrote as many letters to Alex as he wrote to her, but he had a ritual of burning the letters as he went so that he would not have to carry them with him and sadly none have survived. However, Alex's letters often answer her questions point by point so the reader can easily envisage Nan's feelings as well as following Alex's personal account of war.

Author Biography

Liz Macintyre's father Alex died of a heart attack in 1961, when Liz herself was only six, and so she never really knew him; the letters she uncovered among her mother's things enabled her to get to know her father. A teacher, she lives in Glasgow.

Table of Contents

Map	p. 7
Introduction	p. 9
1940	p. 11
Romance
Journey to war
New surroundings
Marriage proposal
Nan's reply
1941	p. 24
News of embarkation
Brief reunion in Glasgow
Durban, South Africa
First impressions of Cairo
Hospital, leg trouble
Wedding anniversary
Sandstorm
1942	p. 44
His 'wee fire'
Being a 'Desert Rat'
Foot rot
Leave in Cairo
Sandfly fever
Leave to Jerusalem and Palestine
'Tale of Woe', Tobruk story
Change of work, now a Gunner
Story of his Christmas and the 276 Battery
1943	p. 85
Back to the desert
The 'angry' letter
Rumours of home leave
End of land fighting, North Africa
Not coming home
Trip to Tunis and Carthage
Story of westward attack, Egypt to Tunisia
August, Central Mediterranean Forces (Sicily)
Stage debut
October in Italy
Turkey meal
Bandaged hands
Wedding anniversary
Xmas day boss, Captain Macintyre!
1944	p. 160
Electric light!
Trip to Bari
Hospital and another leg operation
Rome trip
Disbanding of the 276 Battery
Pompeii
Posted to new unit
Radio course
Rumours of leave
Wedding anniversary
1945	p. 217
'Our wee corner' at home
Florence trips
Teeth trouble
News of a boat, perhaps!
Back to lorries
Venice/war in Europe over
His papers arrive
At Rome
At 'X' Special Transit Camp, Naples
Postscript	p. 251
Index	p. 255
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.