I was browsing through some threads and I noticed that MEF is always described as (Egypt and Desert). My Great Uncle served in the REME/IEME in the Middle East however I have photos he took on the Lebanese, Syrian border at Chekka Pass (for example). Is there a of map or description that describes the actual territory for MEF?
Middle East Force, was an army formation. The area they occupied enlarged and contracted as time went on, so it is a difficult question to answer. From "the second world war" by Winston Churchill: "My impression is one of enormous jumbles of ration-strength troops in middle east with many half-baked formations" (this would be around Feb 1941) From The (Field Marshal) Alexander Memoirs : "Middle east command extended (from Egypt and Lybia) to Palestine and Trans-Jordan, Syria, Iraq,Sudan and Eritrea" When Libya was conquered after Alamein, Libya became part of MEF, so MEF expanded, later after the Italian invasion, Libya became part of CMF, therefore MEF contracted. So, its like asking how long is a ball of string? Hope this makes sense Actually this and this makes more sense!!
Stephenmyall one of the diffculties in the MID East Command was that there were actualy two of them- Egypt and Desert being MEF and Syria - Irag - Palestine being the PIAF Command.. not sure that Lybia ever became CMF as that was Sicily and Italy and Tunisia and Algeria were BNAF Cheers
not sure that Lybia ever became CMF as that was Sicily and Italy and Tunisia and Algeria were BNAF Cheers True,true, I knew I'd make a b@%ls of it!, should have gone straight to wiki I was trying to provide an example how things can chop and change as time goes on. For example, Allied Armies Italy (AAI) became CMF? and did CMF change back to AAI for a while?
Stephenmyall one of the diffculties in the MID East Command was that there were actualy two of them- Egypt and Desert being MEF and Syria - Irag - Palestine being the PIAF Command.. not sure that Lybia ever became CMF as that was Sicily and Italy and Tunisia and Algeria were BNAF Cheers I found something tied to Areas of the MEF, like Area 15 (Alexandria) and Area 18 (Suez ?). Is there anyone who can explain me what these areas are related to? Many thanks in advance ....
Reme CMF (Italy) became in being during the planning of the Sicily landings - the force was to have been a continuation of the numbers game e.g 1st and 8th Armies became 18th Army Group- in Sicily the 7th US and Brit 8th armies became the 15th Army group- then for Italy the 5th US and Brit 8th Armies became - oops 13th Army group - that was scrubbed and CMF became the norm -BUT- many people didn't knw where that was so it then became AAI - allied armies in Italy - everyone knew where that was and it stayed ! Bersagliere Probably the areas of Alexandra and Cairo were districts for responsibility of different Commanders Cheers
Reme CMF (Italy) became in being during the planning of the Sicily landings - the force was to have been a continuation of the numbers game e.g 1st and 8th Armies became 18th Army Group- in Sicily the 7th US and Brit 8th armies became the 15th Army group- then for Italy the 5th US and Brit 8th Armies became - oops 13th Army group - that was scrubbed and CMF became the norm -BUT- many people didn't knw where that was so it then became AAI - allied armies in Italy - everyone knew where that was and it stayed ! Bersagliere Probably the areas of Alexandra and Cairo were districts for responsibility of different Commanders Cheers Many thx, TOM !
