# " DESERT VICTORY " WWII BRITISH DOCUMENTARY BATTLE FOR NORTH AFRICA VS. AFRIKA KORPS PART 1 34034

Produced by the Army Film and Photographic Unit and the Royal Air Force Film Production Unit, this black-and-white film is Part 1 of “Desert Victory,” exploring the Battle for North Africa during World War II. The picture begins on a somber note, with a message at mark 00:23 that “in the making of this film four British cameramen were killed, seven were wounded, and six were captured by the enemy” and that “the scenes of Field Marshal Rommel and of Hitler were filmed by the Germans — but were captured by the British in the rapid advance.” It is dedicated to the “men of the Eight Army … who, on the 23rd October, 1942, left the holes they had scratched for themselves in the rock and sand of the desert and moved forward to destroy the myth of Rommel invincibility … and complete the liberation of the second Roman Empire overseas.” With that, the scene moves to a barren landscape at mark 01:30 and the reminder that “the western desert is a place fit only for war. Thousands of square miles of nothing but sand and stone.” Hot days, frigid night, sandstorms, and a lack of water all contribute to making life intolerable. “The Arabs say after five days of it, murder can be excused.” At mark 04:00, the film takes the viewer to El Alamein, where two decisive battles in 1942 had taken place. We are shown Field Marshal Claude Auchinleck, a British Army commander who was Commander-in-Chief of the Middle East theatre (but later relieved of command during the crucial Alamein campaign). The…

- Kind: Documentary
- Genres: War, Documentary, Industrial and advertising
- Archive: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/34034desertvictorypt1vwr)
- Licence or status: [CC BY-NC-ND 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) (as the archive states it)
- Who can watch: Teens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

Not offered: its uploader states a Creative Commons licence, but that it is the rights holder's is not shown: its record does not date the work from 2002, when the licences were first published, or the work is another's (an older work under a later date, or a video set to another's song), and nothing else the site holds shows where it is free. Unclear is not offered.