Foreword by General Montgomery and is a first edition from 1944. These are verses by members of Eighth Army and the book was published by George G. Harrap & Co., Ltd., London. Twenty six of the twenty seven poems which go to the making of this collection are those considered the best entries received in a poetry competition organised by Eighth Army's Education Officer. The competition was announced in the Christmas 1942 number of the ' Crusader ', Eighth Army's own weekly paper. It was open to all the members of the Eighth Army but only poems actually written in the Western Desert were to be submitted. Closing date for entries was Feb. 28th 1943 by which time 403 poems from 280 different competitors had been submitted. This, at a time that ' The Desert Army was wholly engaged in hitting Rommel and all his forces right out of Africa for six ' - these are Montgomery's words. The twenty seventh poem has a unique history. Written on a scrap of paper, it fluttered into the hands of a soldier sheltering in a slit trench, during the battle of El Agheila.