L8009, YK-I, FO , No.80 Squadron, Sidi Barrani, Egypt, August 1940 - The war in the Western Desert steadily escalated into one of the most important campaigns of the Second World War, with essential oil supplies and the strategically vital Suez Canal at its heart. As the campaign grew in stature, the names of the 8th Army, the Afrika Korps and their respective commanders Montgomery and Rommel became legendary and, at El Alamein in October 1942, the entire course of the war would change. Peter Wykeham-Barnes joined the RAF as an Apprentice in 1932. On completion of his course, he was awarded a cadetship to the RAF College at Cranwell. Graduating in 1937, he was posted to the Middle East to fly Gladiators with No.80 Sq. At that time, one of his fellow pilots was South African Pat Pattle, who would become the Allies highest-scoring fighter pilot before his death in 1941.