I know this may sound a bit daft but when thinking about the Desert war I've never realy thought about the urban areas so nice to see what they look like.
If I would have been down there in 1941, I would have tried to find a position somewhere in an Italian staff office in Tripoli; maybe responsible for the watering of a garden around the villa of a high ranking officer (would have been the best chance to get a medal for braverie AND bring it home alive...).
kuno, In your wanders around Tripoli do you think you could find a NOW for this one? Description: A piper of the Gordon Highlanders plays from a Valentine tank as it drives into Tripoli past crowds of cheering locals, 26 January 1943.
Was not aware about the photo but I have a lot of pictures around the castle - so that the chance was quite good to find something that fits ;-)
OK try this one then! Description: Valentine tanks lined up in the main square of Tripoli, 26 January 1943.
That's good enough for me! Thanks for those. If you want to look for a few more have a search here. 61 results for 'tripoli' Imperial War Museum Collections Online Database
...if one of you has other Libyan photos whith a recognizeable background / content, then I would try to do the comparison photo today (better tomorrow ;-))
Was thinking that myself, nice in a way to be able to recognise it as the exact same place, Brilliant pics thanks.
That impression is not correct. The city has really grwon dramatically but its heart remained as t was in quite large parts...
...got another nice then & now today morning, showing the Allied trucks in front of the city gate (taken from LIFE magazine) - will post it as soon as it is prepared...
Libya / Tripoli "Then & Now" 1943 Here a "then & now" for Tripoli. The old photograph - I believe- shows some Chevrolet trucks, but the actual type is not known to me...