THE WAR IN THE WESTERN DESERT BEGAN AS A SIDESHOW but 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 Afrka 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....
The first challenges to British authority in Egypt were made by the Italians in the winter of 1940-1941. After an initially successful invasion bid, they were comprehensively crushed in a surprise attack by the British Western Desert Force. British Forces then swept West to seize the fortified ports of Bardia, Tobruk and Benghazi. As the Italian 10th Army began to surrender en masse, a more serious challenge was disembarking in Tripoli. The German Afrika Korps had arrived....
Now the British were driven back, Tobruk came under siege - but the line held. Then, strengthened by reinforcements, a second offensive by Rommel rolled the British back to El Alamein where his weary troops were finally checked. Now Montgomery took charge of the British 8th Army and the scene was set for a clash of epic proportions between two of the greatest commanders of the Second World War with Rommel eventually being pushed out of North Africa.
This is the definitive film record of the war in the Western Desert focusing on the battles and campaigns fought by British and Commonwealth forces from 1940 to the fall of Tunis and comprising almost entirely of front line footage recorded by combat cameramen. Apart from rare captured Italian and German film, also included are film 'rushes' and Movietone newsreel outtakes which have never been shown before. The entire land campaign is covered in considerable detail, along with the air war and Mediterranean convoys. Fascinating 'then and now' footage reveals the battlefields as they are today and there are detailed comparisons of the armour and weaponry used by all sides. There are also exclusive interviews with surviving British veterans, filmed on the battlefield, as well as Viscount David Montgomery and Manfred Rommel, the sons of the legendary commanders, expert analysis by Brigadier Frank Steer MBE (Commander, Supply for the British Forces in the Gulf War) coverage of the last visit of the 'Desert Rats' to Tobruk in 2001 and much more.¿