- 1 day ago
Desert Victory – Heroes of the Wasteland brings you into an epic journey across vast deserts, showcasing courage, strategy, and unforgettable battles. Watch as heroes navigate treacherous sands, overcome challenges, and achieve victory against all odds. Perfect for fans of adventure, classic cinema, and epic storytelling.
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00:00The End
00:00:30The End
00:01:00The Western Desert is a place fit only for war.
00:01:30Thousands of square miles are nothing but sand and stone.
00:01:35A compass is as necessary once off the road as it is to a sailor at sea.
00:01:41Water doesn't exist until you bore deep into the earth.
00:01:45You bath in your shaving mug.
00:01:48Flies have the tenacity of bulldogs.
00:01:51Boozes readily turn to desert storms.
00:01:54Days that are very hot can be followed by nights of bitter cold.
00:02:01When the hot camps in wind brings its sandstorms, life can be intolerable.
00:02:07The Arabs say that after five days of it, murder can be excused.
00:02:17The tide of this war in the desert has ebbed and flowed.
00:02:21But as Rommel advanced after we lost to Brook, never had our backs been so close to the Suez Wall.
00:02:27We had lost 80,000 men and much booty.
00:02:31There were earlier lines of defense on which General Orkin Meck might have seen a Burrani or Mercer Matroux, for example.
00:02:57But he was deliberately falling back on El Alamein, no more than 60 miles from Alexandria.
00:03:06To Rommel, advancing at considerable speed.
00:03:10Egypt, with the Nile Delta, which gives it life.
00:03:14Cairo, British General Headquarters and Africa's principal city.
00:03:18Alexandria, Egypt's chief port and base of our Mediterranean fleet.
00:03:24And Suez, gateway to the Far East.
00:03:28All these must have seemed dazzlingly near.
00:03:31As near as a mirage.
00:03:34And as it proved, as much an illusion.
00:03:38It was a wise decision of General Orkin Meck to come back to another man.
00:03:42Much the strongest natural line of defense between the Libyan frontier and the Delta.
00:03:48Moreover, Rommel's lines of supply were here stretched to the limit.
00:03:53On the right, our flank rested on the sea.
00:03:57On the left, it approached the Quartada Depression.
00:04:00A trough the size of Wales.
00:04:03One third of its salt marsh.
00:04:04And all of it territory that no vehicle can cross.
00:04:07On this 40 miles front, General Orkin Meck took personal command.
00:04:30Here's the total responsibility.
00:04:32Not another yard back were we going.
00:04:34His much-depleted army dug, blasted, and wired itself in.
00:04:40And laid protective mines.
00:04:43Our front was one of discontinuous belts of minefields with strong points.
00:04:48And machine gun and anti-tank gun emplacements.
00:04:51But it was as yet extremely slender.
00:05:04Here, General Orkin Meck waited.
00:05:08And with him, men who had fought at Ghazana in Sidi Rezegh.
00:05:13Others who had been twice to Benghazi.
00:05:16Others who had escaped from Bir Hakim and Tobruk.
00:05:19The Eighth Army had made a fighting retreat of 400 miles.
00:05:26And the battle which approached in its importance, the Battle of Britain was now at hand.
00:05:33The Middle East, humans, and infinitely more, was at stake.
00:05:39The crucial days had come.
00:05:41The Battle of Britain
00:06:01The End
00:06:31The line held.
00:06:38After several days of attack and counter-attack, the British, Australians, Indians and South Africans were still there, fighting as dogged as our infantry at Waterloo.
00:06:49The immediate crisis was past, but anxiety remained.
00:07:01Into this situation stepped Mr. Churchill, bringing his own inspiration and vigor.
00:07:16He brought good news of reinforcement both in men and supplies which had already rounded the Cape.
00:07:22For five days he visited the Army and the Air Force, explaining the task and its importance.
00:07:31And most dramatic of all, he brought new commanders, General Alexander and General Montgomery.
00:07:38Alexander, one of the last men out of Dunkirk, and whose small army withdrew the Japanese the whole length of Burma.
00:07:45And Montgomery, who took over the Eighth Army.
00:07:48A man who lived as firmly as a crumbly, and who is as much a part of his modern iron style.
00:07:54A man who lived as a glaciar.
00:08:03A man who lived as berry.
00:08:04A man who lived as fever.
00:08:05A man who lived as a seems a great artist.
00:08:07A man who lived as an גם guy.
00:08:23Battles swallow up weapons faster than you can build them.
00:08:36At home in Britain, the machinery of war poured from the bankers.
00:08:42And British women worked alongside men on the shells, the ships, the tanks, the aircraft, the explosives.
00:08:49In no country are women so thoroughly organized for war.
00:09:19In the United States, bigger and more powerful tanks were coming off the assembly line.
00:09:36The Shermans, for instance, with their 75mm gun, an all-round travel, going to Egypt for the first time.
00:09:44Although American material used at LLMN was but a small proportion of the whole, it was vital to our success.
00:09:54The 8th Army had the longest lines of supplies that the history of war has ever known.
00:10:12There are two main routes to the Middle East from Britain and America.
00:10:17The first by sea round the Cape, 12,000 miles menaced by U-bugs,
00:10:23which nothing but the resolution of our merchant seamen and the mailing guard over them has kept open.
00:10:30And the second by air across the middle of Africa, over the Niger, and then north along the Nile's area.
00:10:37Landing grounds have been kept from the jungle.
00:10:51On this route, fly aircraft brought by ship to ports on the west coast and they're assembled.
00:10:59The work has its own problems, among them malaria.
00:11:02els are carried out by ship to port.
00:11:08There are animals есть and there are animals that have thrown at the beach.
00:11:12There are animals that have been thrown at sea, and there have been a million miles on Paradise Lakes what has been there in the sea lane.
00:11:14You've governed by蒯 each other, find the licensingário at the circus station,
00:11:21the outer oy świat?
00:11:23It's sujet.
00:11:25The future is roadsidey simply going on.
00:11:29That's what he needs, неправ Oxline sido.
00:11:31I have been right here...
00:11:32Behind the line, great reinforcement.
00:11:40In the line, Rommel had come for this again.
00:11:43It was two months later.
00:11:46He told his troops that on this day, they were going to Cairo.
00:11:51But five days afterwards, he withdrew.
00:11:55He left nearly 300 tanks behind to prove his generalship.
00:12:25In two or three months, we recreated and greatly enlarged the Eighth Army.
00:12:37Into Middle East ports came men from the United Kingdom, India, and South Africa.
00:12:43The 44th Home Counties Division and the 51st Highlands Division had actually left Britain in May and June.
00:12:50And it was at the time to Brookville that President Roosevelt, who had Mr. Churchill with him at the time,
00:12:56ordered the first German tanks to Egypt.
00:12:59Long-range planning was yielding its reward.
00:13:03The Air Force kept gone.
00:13:25The Air Force kept gone.
00:13:28Rommel, with a supply line one-tenth the length of ours, was himself building up his supplies as hard as he could go.
00:13:51Well, but for a considerable proportion of them, there was no future.
00:13:58Our United Air Forces go on to that.
00:14:21We lost the value in our domestic mentally.
00:14:28A North Pole was six to seven.
00:14:30Our next Step Car was in the Mah witch's magic.
00:14:35Black Mountain, who fell to eight.
00:14:36What's up on that novel?
00:14:38sunflower 당 Aleppo, man, a Caesar.
00:14:40Ach alma of the ground.
00:14:42It was all a bird.
00:14:44What does that mean right?
00:14:46Emma Moses Krank муж, yes.
00:14:48The Royal Navy and Fleet Air Arms also were busy destroying robot convoys.
00:15:05Within a few weeks, our Mediterranean submarine sank or damaged 24 enemy ships.
00:15:11In August and March, of all that was shipped to him, 80% went to the bottom.
00:15:18Meanwhile, the Eighth Army trained to the last hunt.
00:15:39The physical fitness and hardness of an army is one of the biggest battle-winning factors in war.
00:15:45When two first-star fighters meet, he who's fixed it longest wins in the end.
00:15:50This has been proved time and time again and applies to all ranks, from general officers to private soldiers.
00:15:58And this includes all branches of the army, whatever their job and wherever they be.
00:16:05Fighting fit and fit to fight.
00:16:12The End
00:16:21The End
00:16:25The End
00:16:26The End
00:16:30The End
00:16:31The End
00:16:32The End
00:16:33The End
00:16:34The End
00:16:35The End
00:16:36The End
00:16:37The End
00:16:38The End
00:16:39The End
00:16:40The End
00:16:44The End
00:16:45The End
00:16:46The End
00:16:47The End
00:16:48The End
00:16:51The End
00:16:52The End
00:16:53The End
00:16:54The End
00:16:55The End
00:16:56The End
00:16:57The End
00:16:58The End
00:16:59The End
00:17:00The End
00:17:01The End
00:17:02The End
00:17:03The End
00:17:04The End
00:17:05The End
00:17:06The End
00:17:07The End
00:17:08The End
00:17:09The End
00:17:10The End
00:17:11The End
00:17:12The End
00:17:13The End
00:17:14The End
00:17:15The End
00:17:16The End
00:17:17The End
00:17:18The End
00:17:19The End
00:17:20The End
00:17:21The End
00:17:22The End
00:17:23The End
00:17:24The End
00:17:25with his German infantry.
00:17:27The center was left deliberately weak,
00:17:30held by a single Italian division, the Bologna,
00:17:33holding a front of 16 miles.
00:17:36Behind the infantry in the north were two armored divisions,
00:17:39one German and one Italian, and similarly in the south.
00:17:44The British line began in the north with the 9th Australians,
00:17:48and below them, the 1st South Africans.
00:17:51The 33rd Highland Division, who had St. Valerie to avenge,
00:17:55and the 4th Indian Division, veterans of Abyssinia
00:17:57and the Western Desert, held the center.
00:18:01In the south were the 50th Division from the Tees and Tyne,
00:18:04with the fighting French of Bia Hakim and contingents of Greeks.
00:18:09The tactical reserve was found by the 44th Division
00:18:12from counties close to London.
00:18:14Our armored divisions were three, all United Kingdom men,
00:18:19some veterans of a score of desert battles,
00:18:21others new to the work.
00:18:24One division, the famous 7th, held the extreme south.
00:18:28The other two were in close support in the north,
00:18:30with the 2nd New Zealand Infantry Division alongside.
00:18:34Rommel was full of confidence.
00:18:42He was saying to journalists in Berlin,
00:18:46you may rely on our holding fast to what we have got.
00:18:50We hold the gateway to Egypt with the full intention to act.
00:18:53...
00:19:03Hitler was experiencing one of his historic intuitions.
00:19:07Hitler was experiencing one of his historic intuitions.
00:19:13He saw before him the destined conqueror of Egypt.
00:19:18And on him, he bestowed the baton of feud-martial.
00:19:23Rommel hoped that if we attacked first, we should strike at his center.
00:19:28That hope we deliberately encouraged by the disposition of our forces.
00:19:31Having allowed our armor to break through, he saw himself destroying it by attacks from both planes.
00:19:39That done, his own offensive would be launched.
00:19:48General Alexander, Admiral Harwood and Air Marshal Tedder planned our men together.
00:19:54It was to be a joint operation.
00:19:57Unity of command had become a reality.
00:20:02In the desert itself, General Montgomery and Air Vice Marshal Cunningham lived cheap by jowl.
00:20:08There was no divided command, said General Montgomery.
00:20:11There was only one command.
00:20:18General Montgomery, realizing that a citizen army fights best when it knows exactly what's going on and what it is going to do,
00:20:26saw to it that the plan of battle was known to everybody from general to private soldier.
00:20:33And it came down from one rank to another till the chain was complete.
00:20:38So that senior officers fighting in their third desert winter shared the knowledge with troopers going into action for the first time.
00:20:47The battle was against fixed lines.
00:20:51And against fixed lines, General Alexander said, the tactics are just like breaking down a wall with a crowbar.
00:20:58You drive it in as far as possible and then lever this way and that to make a small hole.
00:21:06Then you enlarge it.
00:21:08As soon as you have made a hole large enough, your armored divisions go through to wreck the enemy's artillery and lines of communication.
00:21:16As for General Montgomery, he said his intention was to hit the enemy for six right out of Africa.
00:21:25The final preparations began.
00:21:29The final preparations began.
00:21:59The final battle is about the test.
00:22:02The final battle is to hit the enemy in the airaları area.
00:22:09The final battle is against the Chelsea.
00:22:13The final battle is about the place.
00:22:15The final battle is about the nation during the war.
00:22:19The final battle is about the night of two jets.
00:22:24It was the last battle.
00:22:27And now that all knew what was to be done, and all was made ready,
00:22:53there were final moments of normal desert life,
00:22:56of rest, of washing clothes, of a swim in the sea for those near the coast,
00:23:03of cooking the evening meal.
00:23:11The coming of dawn over the Mediterranean,
00:23:15the sunset with a touch of green in the horizon,
00:23:19the mirage turning sand into water,
00:23:22and sprinkling that water with the sails of small ships.
00:23:26Many a soldier saw these things, perhaps for the first time,
00:23:31and he wrote his letters home, and smoked, and talked things over,
00:23:37or lay silent as he listened to the pipes, saying island ladders.
00:23:41The風 sendo of the sea, with the wind to die the sea.
00:23:43Second time, on earth, water with the sea, with the sea, with the sea, with the sea, with the sea, with the sea, with the sea, with the sea.
00:24:17The Battle of El Alamén began in the evening.
00:24:43As light failed, the final rules were made.
00:25:13The Eighth Army watched Rommel's lines, lying in moonlight and shadow.
00:25:33At zero, minus thirty, the barrage begins.
00:25:48At the same moment, the sappers will move forward to clear gaps in the enemy minefields, marking
00:25:57the gaps in white tapes.
00:25:59After thirty minutes, the barrage will lift from the first objective and creep forward.
00:26:09At zero hours, ten o'clock, the infantry will advance.
00:26:15The Battle of El Alamén began in the evening.
00:26:31The Battle of El Alamén began in the evening.
00:26:41The Battle of El Alamén began in the evening.
00:26:48The Battle of El Alamén began in the evening.
00:27:05The Battle of El Alamén began in the evening.
00:27:22The Battle of El Alamén began in the evening.
00:27:37THE END
00:28:07THE END
00:28:37THE END
00:29:07THE END
00:29:37THE END
00:30:07THE END
00:30:37THE END
00:30:38THE END
00:30:39THE END
00:30:40THE END
00:30:41THE END
00:30:42THE END
00:30:46THE END
00:30:47THE END
00:30:51THE END
00:30:52THE END
00:30:53THE END
00:30:54THE END
00:30:55THE END
00:30:56THE END
00:30:57THE END
00:30:58THE END
00:30:59THE END
00:31:00THE END
00:31:04THE END
00:31:05THE END
00:31:09THE END
00:31:10THE END
00:31:15THE END
00:31:16THE END
00:31:17THE END
00:31:21THE END
00:31:22THE END
00:31:27THE END
00:31:28THE END
00:31:29THE END
00:31:30THE END
00:31:31THE END
00:31:32THE END
00:31:33THE END
00:31:34THE END
00:31:35THE END
00:31:36THE END
00:31:39the first enemy minefield. Next day, attacks were made in the center and south. The attacks
00:31:45that Rommel had been expecting and which he thought was a real thing, that they were merely
00:31:50diversion. In fact, our main attack was to be in the north. The 8th Army's crowbar had
00:31:57been driven in and was being levered this way and that.
00:32:09In our salient, the Australians were attacking again and procured a three-mile front running
00:32:28west northbound.
00:32:58Rommel counterattacked repeatedly during these days, but on the ground and in the air.
00:33:19The 8th Army
00:33:49The Air Force was doing a magnificent job. For the Luftwaffe, the skies became a place
00:34:18of deadly peril. And the machines that escaped us there were destroyed on the ground.
00:34:25The 6th Army
00:34:27The Air Force was
00:34:55Ridge was assaulted by troops of the 7th Armored Division. Riflemen, light tanks, and armored
00:35:00cars.
00:35:08Fire!
00:35:25Fire!
00:35:26Fire!
00:35:27Fire!
00:35:28Fire!
00:35:29Fire!
00:35:30Fire!
00:35:31Fire!
00:35:32Fire!
00:35:33Fire!
00:35:34Fire!
00:35:35Fire!
00:35:36Fire!
00:35:37Fire!
00:35:38Fire!
00:35:39Fire!
00:35:40Fire!
00:35:41Fire!
00:35:42Fire!
00:35:43Fire!
00:35:44Fire!
00:35:45Fire!
00:35:46Fire!
00:35:47Fire!
00:35:48Fire!
00:35:49Fire!
00:35:50Fire!
00:35:51Fire!
00:35:52Fire!
00:35:53Fire!
00:35:54Fire!
00:35:55Oh, my God.
00:36:25The ridge was taken.
00:36:32In the meantime, the Australians, backed by British tanks, were exploiting their former
00:36:38Northwood trust and driving a wedge still further into the German forces near the sea.
00:36:55Rommel was now fighting back with little pause and with increasing desperation.
00:37:24Rommel, Rommel, Rommel.
00:37:53Rommel, Rommel.
00:37:55Rommel.
00:37:57Rommel.
00:37:59Rommel.
00:38:31Rommel.
00:38:33Rommel.
00:38:34Rommel.
00:38:35Rommel.
00:38:36Rommel.
00:38:37Rommel.
00:38:38Rommel.
00:38:39Rommel.
00:38:40Rommel.
00:38:41Rommel.
00:38:43Rommel.
00:38:44Rommel.
00:38:45Rommel.
00:38:46Rommel.
00:38:47Rommel.
00:38:48Rommel.
00:38:49Rommel.
00:38:50Rommel.
00:38:51THE END
00:39:21While the battle in the north was raging, Rommel had been forced to end.
00:39:46We had imposed our will on him.
00:39:48He moved two panzer divisions, the 21st and Ariete, from the south to just below our salient.
00:40:01The air force began the task of preventing them from concentrating.
00:40:05THE END
00:40:17THE END
00:40:29THE END
00:40:41THE END
00:40:53THE END
00:40:54THE END
00:40:55THE END
00:40:56THE END
00:40:57THE END
00:40:58THE END
00:40:59THE END
00:41:00THE END
00:41:01THE END
00:41:02THE END
00:41:03THE END
00:41:04THE END
00:41:05THE END
00:41:06THE END
00:41:07THE END
00:41:08THE END
00:41:09THE END
00:41:10THE END
00:41:11THE END
00:41:12THE END
00:41:13THE END
00:41:14THE END
00:41:15THE END
00:41:16THE END
00:41:17THE END
00:41:18THE END
00:41:19THE END
00:41:20THE END
00:41:21THE END
00:41:22THE END
00:41:23THE END
00:41:24THE END
00:41:25THE END
00:41:26THE END
00:41:27THE END
00:41:28THE END
00:41:29THE END
00:41:30THE END
00:41:31THE END
00:41:32THE END
00:41:33THE END
00:41:34THE END
00:41:35THE END
00:41:36THE END
00:41:37THE END
00:41:38THE END
00:41:39THE END
00:41:40THE END
00:41:41THE END
00:41:42THE END
00:41:43THE END
00:41:44THE END
00:41:45THE END
00:41:46THE END
00:41:47THE END
00:41:48THE END
00:41:49THE END
00:41:50THE END
00:41:51THE END
00:41:52THE END
00:41:53General Montgomery now gathered his entire armor, including his division from the south,
00:42:21ready for the crowbarred final front.
00:42:31The first phase was finished. On November 1st, the ninth day of battle, the 8th Army advanced on its entire front of 40 miles.
00:42:41But the blow we meant to be mortal was struck at the head of the bulge.
00:42:48The End
00:42:58The End
00:43:10The End
00:43:12The End
00:43:16The End
00:43:18The End
00:43:20The End
00:43:22The End
00:43:23The End
00:43:24The End
00:43:25The End
00:43:26The End
00:43:27The End
00:43:28The End
00:43:29The End
00:43:30The End
00:43:32The End
00:43:34The End
00:43:35The End
00:43:36The End
00:43:37THE END
00:44:07It was the breakthrough.
00:44:11Within two hours, our light tanks were 40 miles behind Ronald's line, destroying his transfer.
00:44:18The result was consummation and chaos.
00:44:37The moment that Alexander and Montgomery had been waiting for had come.
00:44:42The entire weight of their armor was in readiness, and like a fleet of ironclad, it sailed through the gap.
00:44:49Its purpose was simple, to destroy Rommel's armor.
00:44:53THE END
00:45:23THE END
00:45:53THE END
00:46:23THE END
00:46:53THE END
00:47:23THE END
00:47:25THE END
00:47:26THE END
00:47:28THE END
00:47:30THE END
00:47:32THE END
00:47:34THE END
00:47:36THE END
00:47:38THE END
00:47:40THE END
00:47:42THE END
00:47:44THE END
00:47:46THE END
00:47:48THE END
00:47:50THE END
00:47:52THE END
00:47:54THE END
00:47:58THE END
00:48:00THE END
00:48:02THE END
00:48:04THE END
00:48:06THE END
00:48:08THE END
00:48:12THE END
00:48:14THE END
00:48:16THE END
00:48:18THE END
00:48:20THE END
00:48:22THE END
00:48:24THE END
00:48:26THE END
00:48:28THE END
00:48:30THE END
00:48:32THE END
00:48:34THE END
00:48:36THE END
00:48:38THE END
00:48:40THE END
00:48:42THE END
00:48:44THE END
00:48:46THE END
00:48:48Now our entire strength pounded an enemy beginning to crash.
00:49:18This is the BBC Home and Forces program. This is Bruce Belbridge. Here's some excellent news which has come during the past hour in the form of a communique to GHQ Cardo.
00:49:37It says the Axis forces in the western desert after 12 days and nights of ceaseless attacks by our land and air forces are now in full retreat.
00:49:52That'll show them. There's plenty more where that came from.
00:49:56The African Corps, utterly broken and possessed with no thought but flight, was hotly pursued.
00:50:08But the Eighth Army was not only the thunder behind, but the lightning ahead.
00:50:13From hull-down positions on the road of escape, our guns and tanks knocked out on the first day of retreat over 50 of Rommel's remaining panzers without loss.
00:50:22He had already left 500 tanks behind him on the battlefield.
00:50:28We captured over 1,000 pieces of artillery.
00:50:43Up to 1,000 aircraft, from troop carriers to fighters, were wreckage on the ground.
00:50:52The Italians in the south, abandoned by Rommel with neither food nor water, were swept up by us to the tune of five divisions.
00:51:05In the north, we took thousands of Germans.
00:51:06Among them were Fontoma, commander of the Africa Corps, Bukat, leader of the German parachutists, and eight Italian generals.
00:51:10We buried 20,000 enemy dead.
00:51:11But in rendering our own dead the same final duty, great care had to be used.
00:51:12For the Germans, on several occasions, had attached guns and guns and guns.
00:51:13We took thousands of Germans.
00:51:15We buried 20,000 enemy dead.
00:51:17We buried 20,000 in the back of the German colonists.
00:51:18We buried 20,000 enemy dead.
00:51:19But in rendering our own dead the same final duty, great care had to be used.
00:51:22For the Germans, on several occasions, had attached guns and guns and guns.
00:51:27We buried 20,000 enemy dead.
00:51:32But in rendering our own dead the same final duty, great care had to be used.
00:51:38For the Germans, on several occasions, had attached booby traps to our men's bodies.
00:51:53Pursuit was remorseless.
00:51:55Every enemy column on the coast road or in the desert,
00:51:59sometimes jammed head to tail with bombs, blasted and machine guns.
00:52:04They tested what they'd administered in France and Poland.
00:52:25On the ground, it crushed Rommel's flimsy rear guard.
00:52:40Our armoured forces on the ground had crushed Rommel's flimsy rearguard and were sweeping
00:52:56on.
00:53:01After two days pursuit, rain fell and the chase was much impeded.
00:53:06Stretched a road turned to shallow streams. Aircraft landing grounds were waterlogged.
00:53:14Despite the rains, however, on the fourth day we had taken, after a brief fight, Merzema II,
00:53:20the first of the newly captured ports the Navy used to bring up supplies.
00:53:36The first heavily mined roads were encountered at Hal Fire Pass, where the twisting road rises 700 feet.
00:53:51From then onwards to Benghazi, 450 miles further west, every path had been blown by the enemy,
00:53:59and every mile of road had to be examined and cleared of mines and obstructions.
00:54:05The engineers worked night and day.
00:54:10To Saloum, the Navy brought a million and a half gallons of water and other vital supplies.
00:54:16By the eighth day, the enemy had been cleared out of Egypt.
00:54:26Tobruk, whose name is written deep in our Middle East campaigns,
00:54:31Tobruk, which we held as a fortress behind the enemy line for nine months,
00:54:36and which had already changed hands twice, was ours once more.
00:54:40The date was November the 13th.
00:54:55In Cyrene, the Eighth Army passed from desert to a green countryside,
00:55:00which its Italian colonists had abandoned.
00:55:02And it was no more than a week between our taking Tobruk and entering Benghazi.
00:55:07But Benghazi we paused to replenish our supplies.
00:55:12The harbor, bombed by us for over two years, so regularly that the pilots called it during the mail run,
00:55:18was now littered with sunken ships.
00:55:21Cranes, installations, and most of the keys were demolished.
00:55:26Yet the Navy and engineers worked to such good purpose that before long our ships were unloading.
00:55:33By seeing land, we were soon bringing up three billion gallons of petrol a week,
00:55:38and eight thousand tons of ammunition.
00:55:40While we had been building up our strength, Rommel had been digging in at El Agera.
00:55:56But after remaining three weeks preparing to fight, he changed his mind and withdrew as soon as he felt the full weight of our attack.
00:56:03His indecision achieved nothing except to intensify our new onslaught.
00:56:10From El Agera to Tripoli is 530 miles.
00:56:14It took the Army 41 days to accomplish it.
00:56:18During that time, they fought several actions with Rommel's rearguards,
00:56:22putting down on one occasion a barrage rivaling that of El Agera men.
00:56:27But though we were delayed, our onward sweep was never in doubt.
00:56:32Just before the last stage began, General Montgomery said in an order of the day,
00:56:37Nothing has stopped us since the Battle of Egypt began.
00:56:41Nothing will stop us now.
00:56:43And nothing did.
00:56:45Eight days later, we were fighting on the outskirts of Tripoli itself.
00:57:15The surrender of Tripoli by the Governor of Libya and the Mayor of the city extinguished the Italian Overseas Empire.
00:57:31Country by country, the British Army had conquered it.
00:57:34Abyssinia, Eritrea, Italian Somaliland, Libya, Tripolitania.
00:57:41Not a single town now remained to them.
00:57:45The End
00:57:46The End
00:57:47The End
00:57:48The End
00:57:49The End
00:57:50The End
00:57:53The End
00:57:54In 80 days, the 8th Army had advanced close on 1,400 miles.
00:58:23A feat unparalleled in military history.
00:58:27Throughout the battle in advance, for every casualty suffered, it had inflicted five on the enemy.
00:58:34In the words of Mr. Churchill, you have altered the face of the war in the most remarkable way.
00:58:43What this must have meant in care and organization of the whole movement and maneuver,
00:58:48what it must have meant in the endurance, tireless endurance and self-denial of the troops
00:58:55and in the fearless leadership in action, can only be appreciated by those who are actually on the spot.
00:59:03But I must tell you that your fame, the fame of the Desert Army, has played throughout the world.
00:59:13I must tell you that your fame, the fame of the Desert Army, has played throughout the world.
00:59:20The End
00:59:27THE END
00:59:57THE END
01:00:27THE END
01:00:57THE END
01:01:05First pictures of the United States offensive against Japanese bases in the Aleutians.
01:01:11September 1942, a large U.S. convoy slips through Aleutian fog to a secret destination called Fireplace in Cove.
01:01:19A harbor close to Kiska, an easy bomber range. The blinker gives the signal. And under cover of fog, well-armed scouts scramble down the landing nets into ready assault boats. First step in America's advance in the Aleutians.
01:01:33Not many bomber miles away, Jap-occupied positions as yet are wholly unaware of this new American threat.
01:01:40Quickly soldiers pour ashore with small arms and ammunition, swarming inward for reconnaissance to make sure the island is uninhabited. And right behind, the first waves of equipment and supplies. Vehicles and heavier guns.
01:01:56The growing stream unloading quickly from Higgins boats, which shuttle back and forth from bulging transports in the harbor.
01:02:04Wave after wave in careful pre-planned schedules. Never stopping, the military cargo ferries bring ashore an endless stream of food and water.
01:02:12Clothing, clothing, ammunition, and some of the vast quantities of fuel necessary to maintain a major landing force.
01:02:26Along the beach, protectors stay alert.
01:02:31Long recognized as important to both offensive and defensive North Pacific strategy,
01:02:35the 1,100-mile Aleutian string of largely uninhabited volcanic islands lies just above the shortest actual route from Seattle to Tokyo.
01:02:44The Great Circle Route.
01:02:46The way a plane would fly.
01:02:49About halfway along the 4,600-mile route is Dutch Harbor.
01:02:53And since 1938, defense outpost for the island chain and for Alaska.
01:02:571,800 sea miles from Seattle, but from Kiska snatched by the Jap in June, only 625 miles for enemy bombers to fly and drain destruction.
01:03:09Once they got away with it. Dutch Harbor was the American frontier then, and in June it suffered severe damage.
01:03:16But now the United States has struck back, hard, ready to avenge Dutch Harbor.
01:03:21Under its commander, General Landrum, the advanced striking base rapidly digs into its new quarters.
01:03:33A permanent camp is laid out quickly on the treeless, inhospitable slopes above the barren island beaches.
01:03:39Protected by anti-aircraft gunners on constant alert.
01:03:43Meantime, communications around the island are promptly established.
01:03:47Landing operations are steady hard work, and toiling troops are all too ready for Chow and what little relaxation the bleak and empty island offers.
01:04:04But not too much time out now.
01:04:20Hour after hour, supplies roll ashore.
01:04:25Hour after hour, supplies roll ashore.
01:04:30A small fleet of sea barges carrying the heavy derricks, cranes and tractors and more supplies is brought into shore to form a dock.
01:04:38And crate upon crate, pile upon pile, jams up the beachhead waiting to be carted off by trucks.
01:04:44More and more ammunition, and rows of U.S. bombs ashore and ready for the air offensive.
01:04:49The big cranes are put ashore. Their unloading job finished, while tractors, bulldozers and graders land to build the airport.
01:05:02And here it is. A long, flat area ideal for planes, except for a mountain stream overrunning its surface and forming many shallow lakes.
01:05:19Right away, the dozers go to work, scraping the volcanic earth into a dike at one side of the field, diverting the stream's course, making the field safe.
01:05:28The moment that engineers declare the soggy field ready for big, heavy flying fortresses, bomber squadrons will be called to go into immediate action.
01:05:44Almost midway between Dutch Harbor and Kiska, new base at fireplace in the Adrianoffs, puts the U.S. Army Air Force within fighter range of Kiska, and easy bomber range of Attu, farther west.
01:06:01And here they are, all ready, poised in battle line on the new airfield, hard to dry.
01:06:08The air arm of the United States forces in the Aleutians. Giant B-24s and B-17s. The liberators and flying fortresses feared the world over, ready for attack when motors and guns have been carefully checked.
01:06:20Bombs fill up the bomb bays of one big plane after another. A message for the Japanese in a language he understands.
01:06:28It's the beginning of America's round now. They've got a base within range of the Jap. They've got equipment, planes and ammunition.
01:06:35They've got men here, skilled veteran friars, who in an hour will be winging their four-motored sky fortresses over Jap-held territory.
01:06:42Welcome target for their bomb sites.
01:06:50In the dim illusion dawn, one plane after another fills with crew, eager and ready for attack.
01:07:07All set. Let's go.
01:07:12Let's go.
01:07:15Let's go.
01:07:22Let's go.
01:07:37Above the clouds of the foggiest area in the world, below island after island of the Aleutian
01:07:49Chain, where for years innocent-looking jet fisher boats lurked in disguise, plotting
01:07:55shoals and reefs for future reference and use.
01:08:00Approaching the island of Kiska, machine gunners poised for action.
01:08:05In the harbor, a Nipponese warship, without deviating from their course to counter-streak the decks.
01:08:15And now they're over the objective, bomb bays open silently, ready for the signal.
01:08:23And there go American bombs hurtling downwards, Japan's first taste of the United States advance
01:08:29in the Aleutians.
01:08:31That's the Jap base at Kiska, with serious fires started by the big bombs.
01:08:42Another load, recorded by slow motion camera, shoots toward the surprised enemy below.
01:08:46A first sample of treatment you can expect, daily from now on.
01:08:58The signs of their thorough handiwork blazing behind them, the American air fleet wings over
01:09:04and heads home.
01:09:10Communicate from the Aleutians.
01:09:12At dawn, a fleet of United States B-17 and B-24 bombers took off from an advanced Aleutian
01:09:18base with Japanese installations at Kiska as objective.
01:09:22Captain enemy fire was encountered.
01:09:24One Japanese warship strained.
01:09:26High-exposure and demolition bombs were dropped with successful objectives, and several fires
01:09:33were observed.
01:09:34All attacking planes returned safely to their base.
01:09:40The air fighters have come back, to fireplace, new notches on their guns.
01:10:00No casualties, despite grim reminders of the enemy's marksmanship.
01:10:04But they'll be going out again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next.
01:10:11America's Aleutian offensive against Japan.
01:10:14An end of the beginning, and beginning of the end.
01:10:17America's Aleutian offensive against Japan.
01:10:18America's Aleutian offensive against Japan.
01:10:19America's Aleutian offensive against Japan.
01:10:20America's Aleutian offensive against Japan.
01:10:21America's Aleutian offensive against Japan.
01:10:22America's Aleutian offensive against Japan.
01:10:23America's Aleutian offensive against Japan.
01:10:24America's Aleutian offensive against Japan.
01:10:25America's Aleutian offensive against Japan.
01:10:26America's Aleutian offensive against Japan.
01:10:27America's Aleutian offensive against Japan.
01:10:28America's Aleutian offensive against Japan.
01:10:29America's Aleutian offensive against Japan.
01:10:30America's Aleutian offensive against Japan.
01:10:31America's Aleutian offensive against Japan.
01:10:32America's Aleutian offensive against Japan.
01:10:33America's Aleutian offensive against Japan.
01:10:34America's Aleutian offensive against Japan.
01:10:35America's Aleutian offensive against Japan.
01:10:36America's Aleutian offensive against Japan.
Recommended
1:20:11
|
Up next
1:04:24
1:42:37
1:20:54
1:36:02
1:41:26
51:12
1:45:49
1:36:26
19:20
2:32
58:01
1:38:39
1:29:40
1:10:30
1:30:00
1:39:38
51:48
2:19:27
1:30:20
1:02:29
Be the first to comment