war had trashed their lands;
one of us who understands
trades and shakes their hands
Near Misurata, Tripolitania | March 1943
Near Misurata, Tripolitania
We had plenty of tea in our British Army rations. This photo of Jay Nierenberg trading tea for eggs near Misurata shows how we paid for fresh eggs. The locals would appear in the desert, as if out of a mirage, holding up eggs. I never saw a living hen. They were wise to keep them with their women, safely hidden in an oasis like this one, or in their goat-hair Bedouin-style tents that blended into the desert landscape.
