Desert Rats
Publié le 22/02/2012
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The nickname Desert Rats was applied to at least
three British army organizations that were instrumental
in the North African Campaigns against
the Italians and Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps.
The name derives from the jerboa, a nocturnal
rodent native to North Africa, which hops like a
kangaroo.
The 4th Armoured Brigade, which was formed
in Egypt in 1938, before the outbreak of war but
after the Munich Conference and Agreement, has
traditionally claimed to be the first British unit to
have adopted the sobriquet Desert Rats. However,
the 7th Armoured Division appropriated the name
and preceded the 4th Armoured Brigade back to
England in preparation for the Normandy landings
(D-day). The 4th Armoured Brigade left North
Africa and participated in the fighting in Italy
before returning to England prior to the D-day
invasion. When the 4th reached England, it discovered
that the 7th was not only calling itself the
Desert Rats, but had created a divisional badge featuring
an image of a jerboa. Thus spurred, the 4th
Armoured Brigade created its own jerboa badge.
Finally, the nickname the Desert Rats was also often
applied generally to the entire Eighth British Army
to honor its combat success against the Axis forces
in North Africa.
Liens utiles
- CASSE-NOISETTE ET LE ROI DES RATS (Le ) (résumé & analyse)
- BATRAGHOMYOMACHIE (La) ou Combat des rats et des grenouilles - Homère (résumé & analyse)
- Le retour au desert compte rendu
- L'homme aux rats
- LE RETOUR AU DESERT Bernard-Marie Koltès