North African Battlefields of World War II

Matthew Arnold | North African Battlefields of World War II

“ For more than half a century, time and weather have purified the ground at El Guettar and Kasserine and Longstop. But the slit trenches remain, and rusty C-ration cans, and shell fragments scattered like seed corn. The lay of the land also remains—the vulnerable low ground, the superior high ground: incessant reminders of how, in battle, topography is fate.”

— Rick Atkinson, An Army at Dawn, The War in North Africa

his project considers the varied landscapes of North Africa that T the Allied soldier of World War II was forced to endure. Thousands of miles from home, largely untraveled and ignorant of lands and peoples outside their home countries, he was dropped onto the shores of what must have seemed to him a dangerous and alien environment—his understanding of the land limited to stereotype, myth and the relevant army field manual. I spent a month in Tunisia in February 2011 and just returned from a month in Libya to photograph these unfamiliar North African landscapes upon which many crucial battles in the North African Campaign were fought. The sites were found using old battle maps to follow the paths that the Allied military units used and hadn’t

been seen and certainly not photographed in over 60 years. I have documented the battlefields as they currently stand in a personal style of landscape photography; impressionistic muted horizons of desert, coastal seascape and grassland, incorporating bunkers, trenches and physical artifacts of the conflict that remain as part of the environment (bully-beef tins, spent cartridges and unexploded ordinances of all kinds) that have been left to the elements for decades. With the 70th anniversary of Al Alamein closely at hand this year as well as the anniversary of the end of the North African Campaign next year, and the current unrest in this region, these images become quite germane.

Pillbox Z97 after a sandstorm, Wadi Zitoune Battlefield, Libya

Artillery placement, Bunker Z84, Wadi Zitoune Battlefield, Libya

Embankment, Kassereen Pass Battlefield, Tunisia

Artillery shell, Sbeitla Battlefield, Tunisia

Tributary, Plage Zouaraa, Tunisia

Defensive position in a sandstorm, Alem Hamza Battlefield

Artillery position, Bir Hachim Battlefield, Libya

Defensive position before a sandstorm, Alem Hamza Battlefield, Libya

Plage Zouaraa, Tunisia

Pillbox, Mareth Line, Tunisia

Path used by British Commandos in the raid on Rommelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s headquarters near Al Bayda, Libya

Camel and defensive position, Sidi Rezegh Battlefield, Libya

Chotte El Jerid after a sandstorm, Tunisia

Valley, Akarit Battlefield, Tunisia

Storm over Raj Rajel Beach, Tunisia

Well of the Pyramids, Bir Hachim Battlefield, Libya

Radio beacon, Sidi Rezegh Airfield, Libya

British â&#x20AC;&#x153;Pineappleâ&#x20AC;? hand grenade, Wadi es Sehel Battlefield, Libya

Tree line above blown German bridge, Wadi al Kouf, Libya

Tank ditch, Akarit Battlefield, Tunisia

Bunker entrance, Wadi es Sehel Battlefield, Libya

Fondouk Gap Battlefield, Tunisia

Thunderstorm and trench near Rommel Road, Gazala Battlefield, Libya

Akarit Battlefield, Tunisia

Line of defensive positions in minefield, Bir Hachim Battlefield, Libya

Wadi, Kassereen Pass Battlefield, Tunisia

Italian â&#x20AC;&#x153;Red Devilâ&#x20AC;? stick grenade, Wadi es Sehel Battlefield, Libya

Blowing grass, Alem Hamza Battlefield, Libya

Bunker Z84 with Tobruk on the horizon behind, Wadi Zitoune Battlefield, Libya

Marsh, Mareth Line, Tunisia

Artillery placement overlooking the sea, Bunker Z87, Wadi Zitoune Battlefield, Libya

Shelled building, Jbel Bou Aoukaz, Tunisia

Grazianiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Fence, (270 kilometer barbed-wire fence), near Jaghbub, Libya

Wadi, Kassereen Pass Battlefield, Tunisia

Artillery Shell, Mareth Line, Tunisia

Goose, Mareth Line, Tunisia

Blowing sand, Chotte El Jerid, Tunisia

Foxhole, Bir Hachim Battlefield, Libya

Defensive position and trench overlooking Alem Hamza Battlefield, Libya

Mateur-Sedjenane Road, Tunisia

Trenches, Mareth Line, Tunisia, WWII

Gun placement, Bunker Z97, after a sandstorm, Wadi Zitoune Battlefield, Libya

Rain, Medjez El Bab Battlefield, Tunisia

Desert flowers, Road to Gabes, Tunisia

Pillbox overlooking wadi, Mareth Line, Tunisia

Plage Zouaraa, Tunisia

Destroyed stone bunker, Sidi Rezegh Airfield, Libya

Watering hole, Wadi Zitoune Battlefield, Libya

Large foxhole in blowing sand, Alem Hamza Battlefield, Libya

German stick grenade, Wadi es Sehel Battlefield, Libya

Fort Auda overlooking Wadi Auda, Libya

Bunker Z87 overlooking Mersa Zitoune, Wadi Zitoune Battlefield, Libya

Foxholes overlooking Commando Beach, Sidi el Moudiad, Tunisia

Allied trenches atop Jbel Bou Aoukaz, Tunisia

Marsh, Mareth Line, Tunisia

Kassereen Pass Battlefield, Tunisia

Bunker, Kassereen Pass Battlefield, Tunisia

Crashing surf below cliffs of Chescem el Chelb (Dog’s Nose), adjacent “Commando Beach”, Libya

Wadi Auda Water Pumping Station below Fort Auda, Libya

Matthew Arnold | North African Battlefields of World War II

For more information about this work or Matthew Arnold Photography: matthew@matthewarnoldphotography.com +1.917.497.5054 317 East 3rd Street, No. 13 New York, NY 10009

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North African Battlefields of World War II

Published on May 21, 2012

Matthew Arnold

This project considers the varied landscapes of North Africa that the Allied soldier of WWII was forced to endure. Far from home, untraveled and ignorant of lands outside his home country, he was dropped onto the shores of what must have seemed to him a dangerous and alien environment—his understanding of the land limited to stereotype, myth and the relevant army field manual.I spent a month in Tunisia last year and just returned from a month in Libya to photograph these unfamiliar North African landscapes upon which many crucial battles of the North African Campaign were fought. Using old battle maps I followed paths that the military units used that hadn't been seen and certainly not photographed in over 60 years. I documented the battlefields as they currently stand in a personal style; muted horizons of desert, coastline and grassland, incorporating bunkers, trenches and artifacts of the conflict that remain as part of the environment and were left to the elements for decades.