Operation Salaam
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Operation Salam was a 1942
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
military operation organised by the ''
Abwehr The (German language, German for ''resistance'' or ''defence'', though the word usually means ''counterintelligence'' in a military context) ) was the German military intelligence , military-intelligence service for the ''Reichswehr'' and the ...
'' under the command of the Hungarian desert explorer
László Almásy László Adolf Ede György Mária Almásy de Zsadány et Törökszentmiklós (; ; 22 August/3 November 1895 – 22 March 1951) was a Hungarian Aristocracy (class), aristocrat, motorist, desert exploration, desert explorer, aviator, Scouting, ...
. The mission was conceived in order to assist Panzer Army Africa by delivering two German spies into British-held
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
.


Operation codename

While the name of the operation appears to derive from the
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
"Salaam" (peace, also used as a common greeting), which is usually transcribed in most languages using the
Latin alphabet The Latin alphabet, also known as the Roman alphabet, is the collection of letters originally used by the Ancient Rome, ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered except several letters splitting—i.e. from , and from â ...
with two "a"-s, the codename of the operation (used interchangeably in wireless transmissions both for the operation, and its leader, Almásy) was consistently "Salam", with one "a", in all related historical documents – or rather "SALAM", in keeping with the convention to render code names in
all caps In typography, text or font in all caps (short for "all capitals") contains capital letters without any lowercase letters. For example: All-caps text can be seen in legal documents, advertisements, newspaper headlines, and the titles on book co ...
. It has been suggested (but never proved) that the origin of the code name could be a partial
anagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into the phrase "nag a ram"; which ...
of Almásy. Hence the operation should be correctly referred to as "(Operation) Salam" (or "SALAM"). Once the two spies were delivered by SALAM in
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
, they were referred to as Operation CONDOR.Gross, Kuno, Michael Rolke and András Zboray,
Operation SALAM – László Almásy's most daring mission in the Desert War
', Belleville, München 2013


Background

In 1942, after numerous advances back and forth in the
North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...
n desert, German and Italian forces had pushed
Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...
forces into a retreat that ended at El Alamein. This position was an excellent site for defence of the
Nile Delta The Nile Delta (, or simply , ) is the River delta, delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's larger deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Port Said in the eas ...
, and preparations had been ordered by General
Claude Auchinleck Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck ( ) (21 June 1884 – 23 March 1981), was a British Indian Army commander who saw active service during the world wars. A career soldier who spent much of his militar ...
months previously. The area is bordered on the north by the
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
and a huge salt pan, the impassable
Qattara Depression The Qattara Depression () is a depression (geology), depression in northwestern Egypt, specifically in the Matruh Governorate. The depression is part of the Western Desert (Egypt), Western Desert of Egypt. The Qattara Depression lies below sea ...
, to the south. It is debatable whether
Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
had serious designs on the conquest of Egypt for he viewed the
Mediterranean and Middle East Theatre The Mediterranean and Middle East theatre was a major theatre of operations during the Second World War. The vast size of the Mediterranean and Middle East theatre saw interconnected land, naval, and air campaigns fought for control of the Med ...
as a sideshow and at the time of Operation SALAM he was very much concentrated on the recently launched
Case Blue Case Blue (German: ''Fall Blau'') was the ''Wehrmacht'' plan for the 1942 strategic summer offensive in southern Russia between 28 June and 24 November 1942, during World War II. The objective was to capture the oil fields of Baku ( Azerb ...
. The
Afrika Korps The German Africa Corps (, ; DAK), commonly known as Afrika Korps, was the German expeditionary force in Africa during the North African campaign of World War II. First sent as a holding force to shore up the Italian defense of its Africa ...
which had been sent to support the Italians in North Africa, had demoralised the Allied forces with the fall of
Tobruk Tobruk ( ; ; ) is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District (formerly Tobruk District) and has a population of 120,000 (2011 est.)."Tobruk" (history), ''Encyclopà ...
and the
Battle of Gazala The Battle of Gazala, also the Gazala Offensive (Italian language, Italian: ''Battaglia di Ain el-Gazala'') was fought near the village of Gazala during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War, west of the port of Tobruk in Libya, f ...
. The
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was months away from participation in the Desert war and the Axis commander
Erwin Rommel Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel (; 15 November 1891 â€“ 14 October 1944), popularly known as The Desert Fox (, ), was a German '' Generalfeldmarschall'' (field marshal) during World War II. He served in the ''Wehrmacht'' (armed forces) of ...
had plans for capturing Egypt which would have put the Allies in a very precarious situation with the
Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...
under enemy control. Although the Germans had intelligence coups such as the Black code/
Bonner Fellers Brigadier general (United States), Brigadier General Bonner Frank Fellers (February 7, 1896 – October 7, 1973) was a United States Army officer who served during World War II as a military attaché and director of psychological warfare. He is n ...
intercepts, they had few agents in Egypt. Operation SALAM was intended to provide them eyes and ears in
Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
where the British authorities and community were in crisis over the Axis advance, with a citywide
curfew A curfew is an order that imposes certain regulations during specified hours. Typically, curfews order all people affected by them to remain indoors during the evening and nighttime hours. Such an order is most often issued by public authorit ...
in the months before June 1942 and many Europeans fleeing to
Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
. Two spies would be delivered via a route taken far south of the Qattara Depression where the enormous expanses of open desert would lessen the risks of being captured.
László Almásy László Adolf Ede György Mária Almásy de Zsadány et Törökszentmiklós (; ; 22 August/3 November 1895 – 22 March 1951) was a Hungarian Aristocracy (class), aristocrat, motorist, desert exploration, desert explorer, aviator, Scouting, ...
was an experienced
desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...
explorer, motorist and
aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they a ...
. He had already explored the Libyan and Egyptian deserts in the 1920s and 30s with other Europeans such as Ralph Bagnold (founder of the
Long Range Desert Group The Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) was a reconnaissance and raiding unit of the British Army during the Second World War. Originally called the Long Range Patrol (LRP), the unit was founded in Egypt in June 1940 by Major Ralph Alger Bagnold, ...
) and Patrick Clayton who were now working for the British
Middle East Command Middle East Command, later Middle East Land Forces, was a British Army Command established prior to the Second World War in Egypt. Its primary role was to command British land forces and co-ordinate with the relevant naval and air commands to ...
. When
Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
had entered the war on the side of the Axis, Almásy was recruited by the
Abwehr The (German language, German for ''resistance'' or ''defence'', though the word usually means ''counterintelligence'' in a military context) ) was the German military intelligence , military-intelligence service for the ''Reichswehr'' and the ...
(German military intelligence), initially to aid in the preparation of maps and the description of desert terrain. Subsequently, he was assigned to an Abwehr commando operating in Libya under the command of Major Nikolaus Ritter. After Ritter was injured in the first airborne attempt to deliver two spies to Egypt (the first
Operation Condor Operation Condor (; ) was a campaign of political repression by the right-wing dictatorships of the Southern Cone of South America, involving intelligence operations, coups, and assassinations of left-wing sympathizers in South America which fo ...
), Almásy assumed command of the unit. Planning for what eventually became Operation SALAM started in earnest in the fall of 1941.


The route

The initial plan was to enter Egypt by crossing the desert south of
Siwa Oasis The Siwa Oasis ( ) is an urban oasis in Egypt. It is situated between the Qattara Depression and the Great Sand Sea in the Western Desert (Egypt), Western Desert, east of the Egypt–Libya border and from the Egyptian capital city of Cairo. I ...
, starting from the Italian held Jalo Oasis using captured British CMP Ford trucks and patrol cars, delivering the two agents, Johannes Eppler and Hans Gerd Sandstede. Planning and preparations took several months, and the start was delayed several times due to the changing situation on the front. Finally Operation SALAM was ready to start from Tripoli on 29 April 1942. Reaching Jalo oasis in
Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...
they started out towards the east where Italian maps suggested a firm flat (a hard surfaced gravel desert) but they soon encountered an impassable range of low dunes unmarked on the map. After several members fell sick and one of the cars was abandoned in the dunes with a broken axle, the party returned to Jalo oasis to make an aerial reconnaissance of the route. Starting out a second time they encountered the same difficulties and Almásy devised a new plan: with fewer cars and members they would go south towards enemy occupied Kufra oasis and then across the along a route known to Almásy from his explorations there ten years earlier. From this point onwards the account of Operation SALAM is narrated by Almásy, in his diary of the operation. After crossing the they bluffed their way through Kharga Oasis and then dropped Eppler and Sandstede off at the edge of the desert escarpment near
Asyut AsyutAlso spelled ''Assiout'' or ''Assiut''. ( ' ) is the capital of the modern Asyut Governorate in Egypt. It was built close to the ancient city of the same name, which is situated nearby. The modern city is located at , while the ancient city i ...
. Operation SALAM now became Operation CONDOR with the two spies on their way to Cairo, while Almásy and his convoy of vehicles returned into Axis-held Libya. He was awarded the
Iron Cross The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire (1871–1918), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the in ...
(first class) and promoted to the rank of
major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...
by the commander of the Afrika Korps, Erwin Rommel.Kelly, Saul, ''The Hunt for Zerzura'', John Murray, London, 2002.


Intercepted Wireless messages

By early 1941 British code-breakers at
Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and Bletchley Park estate, estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire), that became the principal centre of Allies of World War II, Allied World War II cryptography, code-breaking during the S ...
had managed to decipher the Abwehr hand cypher used by field stations (including SALAM), and by early 1942 had also broken the Enigma machine code which was used for the most-secret communication between German commands. Code named ULTRA, this source of information was considered so vital to the war effort, that it was only de-classified in the early seventies. Almásy's presence in Libya was already known to British intelligence from captured messages by late 1941 but the nature of his activities were not. It was only when Operation SALAM was well underway that a young intelligence analyst, Jean Alington (later Jean Howard) realised that an enemy unit was moving in the Libyan Desert behind British lines. As Rommel's advance was imminent, messages from had priority in deciphering and analysis, and there were several days delay in warning HQ Middle East in Cairo. By the time a search was organised, Almásy was safely back in Jalo.


Operation CONDOR

In Egypt, Eppler went under the name of Hussein Gaffar. He had grown up in
Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
and Cairo after his mother had remarried to a wealthy Egyptian and Eppler had thus acquired this name. Sandstede posed as an American 'Peter Monkaster', since he had worked in the U.S.
petroleum industry The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry, includes the global processes of hydrocarbon exploration, exploration, extraction of petroleum, extraction, oil refinery, refining, Petroleum transport, transportation (often by oil tankers ...
before the war and could pass as a Scandinavian American. After a rail journey to Cairo, the two spies rented a houseboat on the river
Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...
. Sandstede had installed their radio set in a gramophone cabinet in the living room on the boat. This device of furniture was built by Sandstede himself as a masterpiece of carpenter craftsmanship; the radio unit and the gramophone unit (record player) could still be operated while the radio operator was seated inside the cabinet veiled behind a wooden panel unseen and undetectable from the outside and send Morse radio messages while the device played music. Eppler in his book claims that they garnered information on British troop and vehicle movements with help from a nationalist-inclined belly dancer Hekmet Fahmy (Eppler's friend from his younger days), as well as other dancers and escorts in the bars and nightclubs of Cairo – a very lively city during the war and the destination of thousands of Allied service personnel ''on leave''. Eppler claimed to have often posed as a lieutenant in the Rifle Brigade of the
British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
and used forged British and Egyptian banknotes. Using an arranged system of
codes In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communication ch ...
based on
Daphne du Maurier Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning, (; 13 May 1907 – 19 April 1989) was an English novelist, biographer and playwright. Her parents were actor-manager Gerald du Maurier, Sir Gerald du Maurier and his wife, actress Muriel Beaumont. Her gra ...
's book ''
Rebecca Rebecca () appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. According to biblical tradition, Rebecca's father was Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram, also called Aram-Naharaim. Rebecca's brother was Laban (Bi ...
'' he claims to have managed to make temporary radio contact with a German forward radio interception post near Alamein (the nearest to Cairo Axis forces had reached before the Battle of El Alamein). Communication problems forced them to request assistance from the Cairo-based Free Officers Movement, who were nominally pro-Axis in the belief that they would 'liberate' Egypt from the British. A young
Anwar El Sadat Muhammad Anwar es-Sadat (25 December 1918 â€“ 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 O ...
(who much later would become
President of Egypt The president of the Arab Republic of Egypt () is the executive head of state of Egypt and the de facto appointer of the official head of government under the Egyptian Constitution of 2014. Under the various iterations of the History of the Egypt ...
) was sent to help with Eppler and Sandstede's radio equipment. The truth was quite different, as revealed by the interrogation protocols taken after their capture. Eppler and Stanstede never managed to collect any meaningful information, and they never made any contact with a German radio station after they parted with Almásy near Asyut. Unknown to them, communication was impossible as the designated SALAM wireless operators had been captured when Rommel's advance headquarters were overrun near Bir Hakeim on 29 May. Thus in part Rommel was responsible for the failure of CONDOR, as he personally ordered the SALAM operators to join his headquarters as there was a shortage of wireless operators during the battle. Fearful of reprisals in case of Rommel actually reaching Cairo, they started to create fake diaries detailing their supposed intelligence gathering and meeting of various sources. Apparently, all Eppler and Sandstede ever did in Cairo was to spend the considerable sums they had at their disposal on women and a lavish lifestyle. Sadat was extremely critical of them in his book ''Revolt on the Nile''. Sadat's view was that the two Germans deliberately sabotaged their own radio, since they wanted to enjoy themselves and live with two Jewish
prostitutes Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-p ...
. Sadat, Anwar ''Revolt on the Nile''. Reading the British interrogation reports, it is hard to argue with this view. The spies' extravagant lifestyle (and the fact that unknown to them, most of the British pounds they had with them were forgeries), as well as the various other leads picked up by Allied intelligence, led to their hideout being discovered and the houseboat was boarded by British Field Security. Sandstede had started to flood the vessel but they were quickly taken into custody. Sanstede attempted suicide by slashing his wrists but eventually Eppler and Sandstede cooperated with their interrogators and were spared
execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in ...
(the usual fate of spies out of uniform during World War II). Hekmet Fakhmy only received a suspended sentence but later claimed that she provided valuable intelligence to Eppler and that she was imprisoned for two years.


The SALAM diary

The diary of Almásy describing the events from 15 to 29 May 1942 surfaced in Austria in 1949 or 1950, found by Lt. Col. Count Peter de Salis, who was at the time working for the Intelligence Organization, Allied Commission for Austria. Seeing the name of Bagnold mentioned several times in the document, de Salis forwarded the diary to Brigadier
Ralph Alger Bagnold Brigadier Ralph Alger Bagnold, OBE, FRS, (3 April 1896 – 28 May 1990) was an English 20th-century desert explorer, geologist, and soldier. Bagnold served in the First World War as an engineer in the British Army. In 1932, he staged the ...
through intelligence channels. It is not known at what point was the original German text translated into English but two versions remain. One which was passed on by Bagnold to David Lloyd Owen and is kept in the
Imperial War Museum The Imperial War Museum (IWM), currently branded "Imperial War Museums", is a British national museum. It is headquartered in London, with five branches in England. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, it was intended to record the civ ...
. This copy was found by Michael Rolke when doing some unrelated research and formed the basis for the German re-translation that appeared in the re-publication of the German version of Almásy's "Unknown Sahara" in 1987 (Schwimmer in der Wüste, Haymon, Innsbruck). Another version was prepared by Jean Howard (née Alington), who received the English translation from Bagnold in 1978, together with the cover note of Count de Salis and other forwarders. She re-typed the documents, correcting a number of errors and mis-translations based on her superior knowledge of German and making some abbreviations to reduce the task of re-typing. This is also the source of the uncertainty regarding the finding date, as the note of de Salis (as copied by Jean Howard) dates 28 January 1950, while the later forwarding note dates 2 February 1949, obviously one having been copied in error. The original diary is probably still in the unreleased MI5 Personnel File of Almásy. There is no question as to the authenticity of the document, the contents of which are corroborated by many sources including intercepted wireless messages. As it surfaced during Almásy's life, it could have even been with his knowledge that it was passed to Count de Salis. The 2013 book on Operation SALAM contains a merged transcript of the IWM and the Howard copies.


Other long-range operations in the region

Although Operation CONDOR ended in failure, Operation SALAM is notable as one of the few Axis operations that mirrored the important Long Range Desert Group activities in the Libyan Desert during the
North African campaign The North African campaign of World War II took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943, fought between the Allies and the Axis Powers. It included campaigns in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts (Western Desert campaign, Desert Wa ...
. The Italian Auto-Saharan Companies (, a desert patrol group formed on three to five companies, with various vehicles customised for desert operations and integrated air support, and sometimes referred to as ), was a long-lived unit that harassed SAS and LRDG operations up until Allied victory in Libya and
Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...
.


In popular culture

* A fictional portrayal of
László Almásy László Adolf Ede György Mária Almásy de Zsadány et Törökszentmiklós (; ; 22 August/3 November 1895 – 22 March 1951) was a Hungarian Aristocracy (class), aristocrat, motorist, desert exploration, desert explorer, aviator, Scouting, ...
and Operation SALAM is present in the
Michael Ondaatje Philip Michael Ondaatje (; born 12 September 1943) is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian poet, fiction writer and essayist. Ondaatje's literary career began with his poetry in 1967, publishing ''The Dainty Monsters'', and then in 1970 the critically a ...
novel " The English Patient" and the film based upon it. * The novel '' The Key to Rebecca'' by Ken Follett (1980) is loosely based on Operation SALAM. A TV miniseries based on this book was produced in 1985. * The German film '' Rommel ruft Kairo'' (Rommel Calls Cairo), directed by Wolfgang Schleif in 1959, is based on the book written by John Eppler, although it takes many liberties and does not pretend to be an exact account of the operation. * The 1960 film '' Foxhole in Cairo'' stars Adrian Hoven as Eppler, Neil McCallum as his radio operator, and Peter van Eyck as Almasy, with
Lee Montague Leonard Goldberg (16 October 1927 – 30 March 2025), known professionally as Lee Montague, was an English actor noted for his roles in film and television, usually playing tough guys. Early life Montague was born in Bow, London. His family wa ...
and
Michael Caine Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, 14 March 1933) is a retired English actor. Known for his distinct Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films over Michael Caine filmography, a career that spanned eight decades an ...
appearing as other German operatives taking part in the mission. The film is drawn from the 1958 book by Leonard Mosley, ''The Cat and the Mice''.


See also

*
László Almásy László Adolf Ede György Mária Almásy de Zsadány et Törökszentmiklós (; ; 22 August/3 November 1895 – 22 March 1951) was a Hungarian Aristocracy (class), aristocrat, motorist, desert exploration, desert explorer, aviator, Scouting, ...
* Egypt in World War II *
Afrika Korps The German Africa Corps (, ; DAK), commonly known as Afrika Korps, was the German expeditionary force in Africa during the North African campaign of World War II. First sent as a holding force to shore up the Italian defense of its Africa ...
(Deutsches Afrikakorps) *
Abwehr The (German language, German for ''resistance'' or ''defence'', though the word usually means ''counterintelligence'' in a military context) ) was the German military intelligence , military-intelligence service for the ''Reichswehr'' and the ...
(German intelligence organization) *
Sudan Defence Force The Sudan Defence Force (SDF) was a British Colonial Auxiliary Forces unit raised in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan in 1925 to assist local police in internal security duties and maintain the condominium's territorial integrity. During World War II, ...
*
Western Desert Campaign The Western Desert campaign (Desert War) took place in the Sahara Desert, deserts of Egypt and Libya and was the main Theater (warfare), theatre in the North African campaign of the Second World War. Military operations began in June 1940 with ...
*
North African Campaign The North African campaign of World War II took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943, fought between the Allies and the Axis Powers. It included campaigns in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts (Western Desert campaign, Desert Wa ...
* Desert warfare


References


Further reading

* John Bierman and Colin Smith, ''Alamein – The War Without Hate'', Viking 2002. * John W. Eppler, ''Rommel ruft Kairo'', C.Bertelsmann, Gütersloh (Germany), 1959, German Edition (Book# 1873 59.-68. tsnd) * John Eppler, ''Rommel's Spy'', Macdonald & Jane, London, 1977 * John Eppler, ''Operation Condor: Rommel's Spy'', Futura Publications; New Ed edition 1978 * * John Bierman, ''The Secret Life of Laszlo Almasy: The Real English Patient'', Penguin Books 2005 * Artemis Cooper, ''Cairo in the War, 1939–45'', Hamish Hamilton Ltd 1989 * Kuno Gross, Michael Rolke & András Zboray: László Almásy's most daring Mission in the Desert War, Belleville, München, 2013 * * W. B. Kennedy Shaw, ''Long Range Desert Group'', Greenhill Books 2000 – This book was first published in 1945 soon after the war and names the Abwehr agents as 'Reichert and Vollhardt'. This is probably deliberate misinformation due to the book being published so close to the end of the war.


External links


Hekmat Fahmy – the Egyptian belly dancer-spy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salaam Abwehr operations Anwar Sadat World War II espionage German World War II special forces Western Desert campaign Military operations of World War II involving Germany Egypt in World War II Fascism in the Arab world 1942 in Egypt Conflicts in 1942