Martin Philip Padua worked as a driver prior to enlistment. However with the outbreak of the Second World War he joined up in Cape Town on 17 April 1941. Perhaps due to his pre-war work he was posted to the Cape Corps, a non-combatant support service. He is noted as having worked for an ammunition company during this time and going’absent without leave’ in August 1943, about a week after the death of his wife. WW2 Africa 8th army Driver Padua South African Ordnance Cape Corp medal group. WW2 Africa 8th Army Cape Corps South Africa group of 5 medals. South African 8th Army Group of five, 1939-45 Star; Africa Star, clasp, 8th Army, official impressed C284774 M. Padua”; Defence and War Medals 1939-45 “C284774 M. Padua”; Africa Service Medal 1939-45 “C284774 M. Padua, IMO very fine, see pictures for condition Martin Philip Padua worked as a driver prior to enlistment. El Alamein 1942 – Afrika Corps Germans in Panzer IV surrender to British Tommies. The situation in North Africa was already turbulent long before Monty and Rommel turned up. In June 1940, Benito Mussolini – after years of blustering, strutting and procrastinating – finally joined the war. With Hitler apparently winning in Europe, Mussolini thought this the perfect time to expand his existing colonies in Africa, such as Italian Libya. Unfortunately for Il Duce, the task he set in Africa was easier said than done. Just across the border of Italian Libya lay Egypt, which was effectively controlled and protected by the Allies. They zealously guarded the Suez Canal, a crucial pathway for supplies and communications to the Middle East. The Brits in Egypt boldly invaded Italian Libya first, setting into motion a tug-of-war with the Italians counter-attacking and pushing into Egypt, and the British then counter-counter-attacking with maximum force, eventually crushing the Italian 10th Army. The Germans had to be called in to bail the Italians out. Field marshal Rommel arrived in Libya to lead the newly-formed Afrika Korps against the Allies. Impulsive and aggressive, he instigated the Siege of Tobruk in 1941 – an attempt to take the fortified port city of Tobruk which lasted 241 hellish days. The Allied garrison held out in Tobruk, despite the squalid, sticky, flea-infested conditions, proudly calling themselves the’Rats of Tobruk’. The siege was finally relieved by Operation Crusader, in which Rommel’s forces were pushed back by the Eighth Army – a diverse new force which included soldiers from Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and India. Monty and Rommel’s most decisive confrontation was the Second Battle of El Alamein in Egypt, which ran from October through to November of 1942. In one skirmish alone during the battle, more than 15 enemy tanks were destroyed by these guns. All in all, the Allies had a huge trump card in the form of their intact supply route, while Rommel had over-extended his supply lines and was feeling the pinch. El Alamein was an inferno, beginning with an almighty, WW1-style artillery bombardment by Monty which one soldier described as turning the entire horizon into a’fount of orange and blood-red flame, stabbing at the sky’. Out of the horror, came a victory for the Eighth Army that changed the face of the North Africa campaign. Churchill famously said,’Before Alamein, we never had a victory. After Alamein, we never had a defeat’. Though Rommel retreated to battle on in Tunisia, this was the watershed moment for the Allies and a huge morale boost for the Allies. Create your brand with Auctiva’s. Track Page Views With. Auctiva’s FREE Counter. This item is in the category “Collectables\Militaria\World War II (1939-1945)\Medals/ Ribbons”. The seller is “theonlineauctionsale” and is located in this country: GB. This item can be shipped worldwide.
- Type: Medals & Ribbons
- Issued/ Not-Issued: Issued
- Conflict: World War II (1939-1945)
- Era: 1914-1945
- Country/ Organization: Great Britain
- Theme: Militaria
- Service: Army
- Featured Refinements: Medal Group
- Country/Region of Manufacture: United Kingdom
