Pocket Guide to North Africa, 1943

After the close of the First World War, one of the great strategists of Europe predicted that the next great war would be won in North Africa. He foresaw such a rise in air power as would make the Mediterranean Sea virtually a defile for all shipping. If their enemies were to come into complete possession of the Mediterranean shores, an almost insupportable strain would be put upon the nations dependent on sea power. On the other hand, if the North African coast could be held by
the sea-power nations — Great Britain and the United States — its air and sea bases would become the spring-board to the reconquest of Europe and the final defeat of
the forces dominating that continent.

THREE YEARS OF STRUGGLE

FOR more than three years, events have sustained this prophecy, and the armed forces of the United Nations and of the Axis have been locked in a tremendous struggle for North Africa. One campaign has followed another across its desert spaces. None was finally successful. For a time it seemed as if the whole of the Mediterranean and the land which surrounded it would be lost to our
side…

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Services Guide to Cairo

FOREWORD

This Guide is published by the Co-Ordinating Council for the Welfare of the Troops in Egypt with a view to providing useful information for Officers and men of His Britannic Majesty’s Forces staying in and coming on leave to Cairo, including particulars of Services Clubs, Restaurants and places of entertainment.

The Council wish to express their indebtedness to A. Lucas Esq., for his historical note on Cairo, to the support of the various advertisers, and to those members of the Forces and of the Civilian Community who have assisted in the production of this guide-book.

The General Officer Commanding -in -Chief would like to take this opportunity of expressing his appreciation and thanks to the various Philanthropic organisations and to their representatives in Egypt who have so ably and generously assisted in the work of welfare, to the British Chamber of Commerce for their invaluable assistance in the collection of the British War Fund and also to the numerous members of the Civilian Community who have subscribed to the Fund and have devoted so much tome and energy to the well-being of the troops stationed in this country.

 

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Pocket Guide to Egypt, 1943

“You’re bound for Egypt for just one job: To beat the enemy and help bring conclusive victory for the Allied Nations. To do that, you’ve got to use your brains as well as your body. As an American soldier, you’ll also become a sort of Ambassador for your country. Wherever you go, people are going to judge the United States by you… We’ve got a fairly good reputation in the world at large right now. Don’t spoil it. Make it better… Egypt hasn’t declared war on the Axis: but she is friendly to the United Nations. Dr. Goebbels and every one of his aides is working to switch that friendship. The enemy wants you to make mistakes, and so he is working day and night, with his propaganda. He wants you not to get along with your partners – the soldiers of our Allies who are in Egypt. But most of all, he wants you to make mistakes with the Egyptians. He hopes that, perhaps unwittingly, your manners will offend them, that you’ll trample clumsily on their customs, that you’ll insult their religion, and that you’ll make mistakes about their social attitudes and political beliefs… In order to conduct yourself well in the eyes of the Egyptians, you need to know a little about Egypt, of course. Well, what does an average American know about it? Sure, it has pyramids — and palm trees — and people ride on camels. We’ve all seen travel movies. And the children of Israel fled from Pharaoh across the Red Sea to the Promised Land. We know that much from our Bibles. But that’s hardly enough to equip you as a one-man good-will mission. Thousands of books have been written about Egypt, but no one of them can tell you all about the country. It’s too big and too different from anything Americans know about. So, a different sort of guidebook has been prepared for your information, giving in brief ABC form, a few of the things that may interest you and some of the things you need to know. If you exercise a normal amount of curiosity, you’ll soon find out more about the land of Egypt than is possible to put in any guidebook”

Prepared by Army Information Branch, Army Service Forces, United States Army, 1943

Digitized by Central University Libraries, Southern Methodist University

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