RATS OF TOBRUK

Today the news is all about the capture and execution of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi as the revolutionary forces finally take full control of Libya following many months of bloody civil war. A French Air Force sortie allegedly stopped the convoy of vehicles Gaddaffi was fleeing his home town of Sirte in and the ousted dictator took cover in a drain. It was here, clutching a gold plated 9mm pistol he was found and captured by revolutionary ground forces.

Watching the war on television brought back memories of that other campaign in Libya, the one in the western Desert between 1940 and 1942 where the Allies and the Axis forces fought back and forth along those very same roads from Benghazi to Tripoli and either side. One report spoke of a siege of revolutionary forces by the government in the city of Tobruk and immediately one’s mind races back to 1941 and the gallant stand of the 8th Army.

Of course this latest conflict, and WW2 are not the only wars this region has endured. We can go back into the pages of history to the Romans and before, the Carthaginians, Ancient Egyptians and other ancient peoples who fought and died in this sun scorched land. Perhaps the only sure, yet sad fact is that this will not be the last time blood is spilt in these sands.

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