Entry of Mussolini into Egypt
Harold Rupert Leofric George Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis (1891 - 1969)
Category
Coins and medals
Date
9 Feb 1943
Materials
Bronze, Paper
Measurements
216 x 151 x 70 mm
Order this imageCollection
Chartwell, Kent
NT 1101208
Summary
Bronze medal issued by the 2nd Blackshirt Division, commemorating the triumphal entry of Mussolini into Egypt, mounted and framed with a letter from General Alexander to WSC as P.M. 9 Feb. 1943. Formerly part of the Heirloom Collection.
Full description
The letter on the reverse reads; “My dear Prime Minister, Here is the medal which I promised you and which they forgot to put with your things before you left us. We all enjoyed your visit immensely – what a tremendous amount of good it does the troops. I shall try to give you more good news as soon as I can. With every best wish, Yours sincerely, R. Alexander” General Sir Harold Alexander had been appointed deputy commander-in-chief to General Eisenhower, with command over all the forces actually fighting the enemy at the Casablanca Conference in January 1943 but officially assumed command on 20 February. On 2 Feb. The Times reported that the Eighth Army had occupied the port of Zuara half-way from Tripoli to the Tunisian border and by the 4th they were almost in sight of the border. Churchill spent the 3-4 Feb. in Tripoli reviewing the Eighth Army and arrived back in London on the 7th. Charles Wilson noted, “PM was in his element when he addressed the troops, no one can do this sort of thing so well”. (Gilbert Vol. VII p.330).
Provenance
General Harold Alexander (1891 - 1969) was Allied Commander in Egypt in 1943
Makers and roles
Harold Rupert Leofric George Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis (1891 - 1969), writer