When I grew up in the 50s and 60s, and even today, the contribution of the Italian armed forces in North Africa were/are the butt of many jokes. Nothing’s changed today as far as I can tell. But let me surprise you now with some of the remarkable feats of arms performed by the Italian armoured divisions serving under Rommel.

Although it’s not part of the story of the supply nightmare that confronted the Axis forces in North Africa, it’s a story that has been mostly neglected and misunderstood. So I thought I should slip something in this series about the underrated/ignored performance of these Italian armoured divisions in North Africa.

Tag words: Field Marshall Erwin Rommel; Ian Walker; Iron Hulls, Iron Hearts; Ariete Division; General Gambier-Parry; 7th British Armoured Division; General Bastico; 22nd British Armoured Brigade; Bir el Gubi; Sidi Rezegh; General Gastone Gambara; General Mario Balotta; The Lozenge; M13/40 tanks; Bersaglieri; Crusader tanks; 25pdr guns; 2nd Royal Gloucestershire Hussars; 3rd County of London Yeomanry; Deutsche Afrika Korp