AFS volunteers swimming naked near Alexandria, Egypt (1) | Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs

AFS volunteers swimming naked near Alexandria, Egypt (1)

October-November 1942

Arthur Howe, Jr. served with the British 8th Army in the Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October–11 November 1942). After the fighting was over and the battlefield was cleaned up, Arthur Howe, Jr. and his exhausted crew decided to head for the Mediterranean, which was not far away, to cool off, clean up and relax a little. When they got to the coast, however, they found themselves on a cliff, but fortunately there was a trail down to a beach below. Art and the other men hiked down to the beach, stripped down and dove into the Mediterranean naked. The cliff was pockmarked with caves, and as they swam, they looked up and saw a man emerge from one of the caves waving a white flag. It was an Italian soldier in full battle dress with a rifle on his shoulder; he asked if he could surrender. A few minutes later a couple more soldiers, similarly armed, emerged from the cave with a similar request. As a result, these naked ambulance drivers accepted the surrender of several fully armed Italian soldiers.

Also available as high-resolution TIFF and JPEG files. Original: 2 1/2"x3 1/2" Photograph.

2_006_1B_134

Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs

Arthur Howe, Jr. Collection, 1914-2014 Series 1: World War II, 1940-2009 (bulk 1940-1945) Subseries 1B: Photographs, 1941-1943 Box 4-5 Group 3: Middle East and North Africa

Scanned by staff at the Center for Jewish History in New York, NY in 2017.

The holder of copyright for this image is AFS Intercultural Programs. This image cannot be reproduced outside the guidelines of United States Fair Use (17 U.S.C., Section 107) without the advance permission of the Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs.  In the event that this digital image becomes a source for publication, a credit line indicating the Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs is required.  Please contact us if you would like to purchase a high-resolution digital copy of the image.