Audrey Chitty was one of many women who stepped up to meet the challenges of the Second World War. She played a key role in establishing the Auxiliary Territorial Service in the Middle East.
From 1798 to 1801, an Anglo-Ottoman alliance competed with the French for control of Egypt. Their victory resulted in French troops withdrawing from the region and also helped safeguard Britain's possessions in India.
Between 2003 and 2009, British troops in Iraq were engaged in a counter-insurgency war. They also helped train local security units, assisted with reconstruction and provided humanitarian aid.
In March 2003, British troops took part in a coalition invasion of Iraq. After a month of combat operations, they overthrew Saddam Hussein's regime and occupied the country.
In 1956, British and French forces invaded Egypt in collusion with Israel. Although the military operation was a success, the political storm it caused led to a humiliating withdrawal.
The struggle against the Turks in Egypt and Palestine began with a test of endurance and engineering in harsh desert terrain. It evolved into a fast-moving mobile campaign, which resulted in Allied victory and the fall of the Ottoman Empire.
During 1914-18, British troops fought the Turks in Mesopotamia. After many setbacks, they finally took Baghdad in March 1917. This marked the high point of a long and tragic campaign fought in a harsh climate.
In June 1916, a British military mission began recruiting a local force in neutral Persia. Its goal was to bolster Allied interests and prevent enemy influence in the region.
In 1918, the British assembled a handpicked unit to carry out a daring secret mission to the Caucasus. Their aim was to unify into an effective force the various anti-Bolshevik and anti-Turkish groups fighting there.
During the First World War, the British position in Egypt was threatened by rebellious Senussi tribesmen. The campaign against them took place in the unforgiving climate of the Western Desert.
Gallipoli was the first major amphibious operation in modern warfare. In 1915, British Empire and French troops landed on the Ottoman-held peninsula in the Dardanelles Straits with disastrous consequences for the Allies.
As the co-founder of the Special Air Service (SAS), Lieutenant ‘Jock’ Lewes played a vital role in establishing the unit’s ethos and high standards of training and discipline.
