Desert Warfare: Did you mean...?

A 1942 photograph showing British soldiers in greatcoats keeping warm in the freezing desert night in North Africa during the Western Desert Campaigns of the Second World War (1939-45). (Imperial War Museums)

A July 1941 photograph showing a South African desert patrol in North Africa during the Western Desert Campaigns of the Second World War (1939-45). (Imperial War Museums)

The shoulder flash of the British 7th Armoured Division showing a jerboa, a small rodent with a long tail that is native to the deserts of North Africa and Asia. The badge gave the division its lasting nickname, the 'Desert Rats'. The division...

A 1942 photograph of a British tank regiment soldier shaving in the desert in North Africa during the Western Desert Campaigns of the Second World War (1939-45). (Imperial War Museums)

A map of the principal locations involved in the Western Desert Campaigns of the Second World War (1939-45).

A Messerschmitt Bf 109 (ME-109), the principal German fighter plane of the Second World War (1939-45). Shown with desert camouflage. Taken at the Flying Legends airshow in 2015.

A photograph taken in January 1943 showing Corporal John Henderson of the Scots Guards during the Western Desert Campaigns in North Africa in the second World War (1939-45). (Imperial War Museums)

A 1941 photograph of a British soldier giving a haircut to a comrade in North Africa during the Western Desert Campaigns of the Second World War (1939-45). (Imperial War Museums)

Artist's impression of camel riders in the desert. The camel was a common mode of transport in Africa and the Middle East during ancient, medieval and early modern times.

Assembly in the Desert, painting by Jeanne Lombard, 1934.