COUNT LASZLO EDE ALMASY

Almasy with is Afrika Korps uniform. Note the Iron Cross

Count Laszlo Almasy was the most compelling of all in that mysterious time and place; it is his story that inspired Michael Ondaatje's romantic novel, and the subsequent film, The English Patient.
He was a pionnier of the desert's exploration, and was hired by Rommel in 1941. He was given the rank of Luftwaffe Hauptmann, though he was not german, but hungarian. He was at the head of a special unit. His most famous action was the Operation Salaam, which took place in 1942.

The new history of the desert war uncovers the full story. When the Hungarian arrived in North Africa in 1926 he was 31 and penniless, a bitter survivor of World War I in which he had served with the defeated Austro-Hungarian air force.