ABSTRACT
Churchill arrived in Cairo on 1 August 1942 in a depressurised Liberator bomber, which meant that he had to wear an oxygen mask for the duration of the ten-hour flight. However, as a concession to personal comfort his mask had been specially adapted to permit him to smoke his trademark cigars. Churchill’s visit marked his deep concern about the scale of the German victories in North Africa and the imminent danger of defeat in Egypt. A German victory in Egypt would close the Suez Canal to Allied shipping and threaten Allied oil supplies from the Middle East.
