Frederick Burger is second from the right side,
without a hat.
En.wikipedia.org :World War II (WWII or WW2), also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted
from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the
world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military
alliances: the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved
more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. In a state of "total war", the major participants
threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, erasing the
distinction between civilian and military resources.
Military contributions and casualties in World War II[edit]
South Africa and its military forces contributed in many theaters of war. South Africa's contribution
consisted mainly of supplying troops, airmen and material for the North African campaign (the
Desert War) and the Italian Campaign as well as to Allied ships that docked at its crucial ports
adjoining the Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean that converge at the tip of Southern Africa. Numerous
volunteers also flew for the Royal Air Force.
1. The South African Army and Air Force played a major role in defeating the Italian forces
of Benito Mussolini during the 1940/1941 East African Campaign. The converted Junkers Ju
86s of 12 Squadron, South African Air Force, carried out the first bombing raid of the
campaign on a concentration of tanks at Moyale at 8am on 11 June 1940, mere hours after
Italy's declaration of war.
2. Another important victory that the South Africans participated in was the liberation of
Malagasy (now known as Madagascar) from the control of the Vichy French who were allies of
the Nazis. British troops aided by South African soldiers, staged their attack from South
Africa, landing on the strategic island on 4 May 1942 to preclude its seizure by the
Japanese.
3. The South African 1st Infantry Division took part in several actions in North Africa in 1941 and
1942, including the Battle of El Alamein, before being withdrawn to South Africa to be reconstituted as an armoured division.
4. The South African 2nd Infantry Division also took part in a number of actions in North Africa
during 1942, but on 21 June 1942 two complete infantry brigades of the division as well as
most of the supporting units were captured at the fall of Tobruk.
5. The South African 3rd Infantry Division never took an active part in any battles but instead
organised and trained the South African home defence forces, performed garrison duties
and supplied replacements for the South African 1st Infantry Division and the South African
2nd Infantry Division. However, one of this division's constituent brigades — 7 SA Motorised
Brigade — did take part in the invasion of Madagascar in 1942.
6. The South African 6th Armoured Division fought in numerous actions in Italy in 1944–1945.
7. The South African Air Force (SAAF) made a significant contribution to the air war in East
Africa, North Africa, Sicily, Italy, the Balkans and even as far east as bombing missions
aimed at the Romanian oilfields in Ploiești, supply missions in support of the Warsaw
uprising[5] and reconnaissance missions ahead of the Russian advances in the LvovCracow area.[6]
8. Numerous South African airmen also volunteered service to the RAF, some serving with
distinction.
9. South Africa contributed to the war effort against Japan, supplying men and manning ships in
naval engagements against the Japanese.[7]
Of the 334,000 men volunteered for full-time service in the South African Army during the war
(including some 211,000 whites, 77,000 blacks and 46,000 coloureds and Indians), nearly 9,000
were killed in action.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has records of 11,023 known South African war
dead during World War II.
Cairo (Egypt, Africa) is a famous tourist city. People come from all over the world to see the
Great Pyramid of Giza, the Sphinx, and the Temples of Karnak.
Notes from encyclopedia.com:
Located on the banks of the Nile River, Cairo is Africa's largest city, as well as the largest city in
the Arab world. In the course of its thousand-year history it has been the capital of the great
Egyptian dynasties of the Middle Ages, a British colonial enclave, and a modern industrialized
city. Today it is a teeming, vibrant national capital with one of the world's highest population
densities per square mile. Even as the city struggles with the social and environmental effects of
overcrowding, it dominates Egypt politically, economically, and culturally and remains a prime
tourist destination in spite of a campaign of terrorist activity by Islamic extremists seeking to
destabilize the country's government.
The first settlement in the region of present-day Cairo was al-Fustat, founded in A. D. 641 as a
military encampment by the Arabic commander 'Amr ibn al-'As. Under the dynasties that ruled
Egypt over the following centuries, the town grew into a major port city. In A. D. 969 Jawhar,
the leader of an Islamic sect called the Fatimids, founded a new city near al-Fustat, initially
naming it al-Mansuriyah (its name was later changed to al-Qahirah, or Cairo). When the
Fatimids became the rulers of Egypt, founding a dynasty that lasted for two centuries, Cairo
became their capital.
When Saladin, a Sunni Muslim, defeated the Crusaders and founded the Ayyubid dynasty in the
twelfth century, he retained Cairo as his capital, and it became the center of a vast empire. (AlFustat, however, was burned down as part of the "scorched earth" strategy that defeated the
Crusaders.) In the thirteenth century, the Ayyubids were eclipsed by Turkish military conquerors
known as the Mamluks, who ruled Egypt from A. D. 1260 to 1516. During the first hundred
years of Mamluk rule, Cairo experienced its most illustrious period. Al-Azhar University, which
had been founded in the tenth century, became the foremost center of learning in the Islamic
world, and Cairo played a key role in the east-west spice trade. Most of its greatest buildings
were constructed during this period.
The advent of the twentieth century saw advances in bridge building and flood control, which
encouraged riverfront development. By 1927, Cairo's population had reached one million. In the
first half of the century, Cairo was dominated by foreign influences. During World War I (1914–
18), it became the center for British military operations in the region, and British troops were
headquartered in the city. The British military presence in Egypt was curtailed in the 1920s, but
the country was reoccupied by British forces during World War II (1939–1945).
With the Egyptian Revolution in 1952, the colonial presence in Cairo—and throughout the
country—came to an end. Since then, large numbers of Egyptians from other parts of the country
have migrated to the capital, and the government has worked to accommodate a rapidly growing
urban population by creating new, planned suburbs, including Nasr City, Muqattam City, and
Engineers' City.
In recent decades, Cairo has become the nation's industrial, commercial, and cultural center, as
well as the seat of its government.
Selection of photographs from Frederick Hugo Burger whilst he was stationed in North Africa.
Front view of the Sphinx, the pyramid of
Khafra and the pyramid of Menkaura (left)
This photograph provided by: www.theatlantic.com
After the defeat of Axis forces in Northern
Africa, Allied troops prepared to use the
territory to launch attacks on Italy and other
parts of southern Europe. Here, a U.S. Air
Transport Command plane, loaded with war
supplies, flies over the pyramids at Giza,
near Cairo, Egypt, in 1943.
Photo of Mega Fort – Italian Guns
So, the Commonwealth forces entered in southern
Ethiopia conquering on February 18 the fort-city
of Mega. The two South African brigades then
launched a double flanking movement on the area.
After a three-day battle in which many of the South
Africans, equipped for tropical conditions, suffered
from exposure because of the heavy rains and near
freezing temperatures, they captured Mega.
Valleyof the Kings
– Interior of Tomb of King Seti I 3000
B.C.
Photo of interior of King Seti’s tomb
Seti 1
Other spelling: Sety
Luxor temples
Court of Rameses II, Colonnade, Court
of_Amenhotep III
Mummy Statues at Karnak Temple
Temple of Amun-Re and the Hypostyle Hall, Karnak
New Stanley Hotel, Nairobi
Copied from traveltips.usatoday.com:
History of the New Stanley Hotel
An enterprising British settler named Mayence Bent, the wife of a railroad employee, built the first
Stanley Hotel in 1902. The modest wooden building burned down in 1905, and Bent rebuilt it as a threestory, 60-room hotel called the New Stanley. When Nairobi’s strategic position as British East Africa’s
largest city increased in importance, the New Stanley became a favored stop for visiting British royalty.
In 1928, the hotel threw a week-long celebration for the Prince of Wales and Duke of Gloucester.
Princess Elizabeth -- the future Queen -- her husband, Prince Philip, and their entourage stayed there on
their world tour in 1947.
The opulent Stanley Hotel in Nairobi is most likely named for the intrepid journalist Henry Morton
Stanley, the man who located a missing Scottish missionary and uttered the immortal line, “Dr.
Livingstone, I presume?” In its 110-year history, the hotel has played host to royalty of the British and
Hollywood variety, foreign dignitaries and legendary writers. The five-star accommodations offer a
central point from which to explore the Kenyan capital or embark on a wildlife safari. Owned by the
Sarova Group and renamed the Sarova Stanley, the cosmopolitan establishment fuses the politesse of
the Victorian era with the modern amenities world travelers expect.
Indian Mosque in Nairobi
No 4 [S.A.] General Hospital
(WWII Field Hospital for Field Troops.)
Traffic sign – Keep Left, 5 miles per hour
Typical field tent for South African troops in
WWII