Short history of the South African Tank Corps which was eventually absorbed by the South African Armoured Corps in 1943, and its part in the war of 1939-1945.

Rugby was played constantly during World War II by service teams. Whenever soldiers met or gathered, sport and games developed. Rugby in the armed forces was often an exuberant reaction from the stern reality of war. It was played with knee-pads on the dusty, gritty sand of the desert and on grass beside the Nile river. This is the story of rugby matches played by the 6th South African Armoured Division in Egypt, Italy and their tour of Europe.

Rugby was played constantly during World War II by service teams. Whenever soldiers met or gathered, sport and games developed. Rugby in the armed forces was often an exuberant reaction from the stern reality of war. It was played with knee-pads on the dusty, gritty sand of the desert and on grass beside the Nile river. This is the story of rugby matches played by the 6th South African Armoured Division in Egypt, Italy and their tour of Europe.

It also changed the way the British Army fought, using concentrated artillery on a scale not seen since 1918 to break through Axis defences built in depth."--BOOK JACKET.

After bitter debate, South Africa, a dominion of the British Empire at the time, declared war on Germany five days after the invasion of Poland in September 1939. Thrust by the British into the campaign against Erwin Rommel’s German Afrika Korps in North Africa, the South Africans fought a see-saw war of defeats followed by successes, culminating in the Battle of El Alamein, where South African soldiers made a significant contribution to halting the Desert Fox’s advance into Egypt. This is the story of an army committed somewhat reluctantly to a war it didn’t fully support, ill-prepared for the battles it was tasked with fighting, and sent into action on the orders of its senior alliance partner. At its heart, however, this is the story of men at war.