Discovery Channel - Battlefield Series 2 (1994) Part 1 The Battle for North Africa

A comprehensive documentary series about the key battles of World War Two. This sweeping series offers detailed accounts of the key battles, combining extensive use of archival footage with full color 3D animation and a compelling and vivid narrative, complete with main weapon systems used and portraits of the principal leaders and commanders. Strategy and tactics are described in detail with excellent graphics, providing a fascinating analysis of the forces in conflict. A review of the political and military situation prior to battle and an examination of the weaponry and combat-readiness of the men are followed by original archive footage of important phases of the battle, supplemented by Situation Reports and finished off with a summary. Dramatic use of 3-D computer graphics and actual battle footage transport the viewer directly in the thick of the fight. Battlefield is a series that chronicles the decisive events and critical battles that shaped history. Archival footage from several sources includes film from the Moscow central military archives. Watch rare archival footage from vaults around the world!

Part 1 The Battle for North Africa

PRELUDE TO BATTLE In 1942 the tide turned against the Axis powers in Egypt and Libya. Erwin Rommel, Commander-in-Chief of the German Army, was charged with the impossible to use an ill-equipped, badly trained, thoroughly demoralized militia to wipe out Allied strongholds in Northern Africa. Rommel's battlefield cunning earned him a reputation of near invincibility. But Hitler, who thought the North African exercise unimportant, crippled Rommel's forces by inadequately supplying and outfitting them – a fatal error. Pitted against Rommel were General Bernard Montgomery and Dwight Eisenhower, Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Expeditionary Force. Montgomery's earlier successes at Dunkirk and defence of Kent solidified his sterling reputation. A hard taskmaster who nevertheless commanded fierce loyalty among his troops, Montgomery fully understood his mandate to restore the weary Eighth Army to peak fighting condition. Eisenhower's limited battlefield experience was tempered by his brilliant diplomacy and ability to delegate. Those two masterful Allied commanders were facing an awesome Axis foe. At stake vast stretches of priceless land, hundreds of thousands of lives, the fate of nations. THE BATTLE In 1942, battalions culled from every corner of the British Empire assembled on northern Africa's arid wastelands. Englishmen fought side-by-side with South Africans, Australians, New Zealanders and eventually with U.S. and French forces in a stirring display of unity. Their objective to wipe the Axis powers off this continent. Britain's General Montgomery would contest every square yard of territory, advancing and retreating according to the unpredictably savage rhythms of war. In October the British 8th Army launched a heavy attack near the town of El Alamein. Two weeks later, an Anglo-American force landed in Morocco and Algeria. Both territories were under the administration of the French Vichy government. In the course of the following months there were several small battles as the Germans and their Italian allies were surrounded from the east and west. Despite considerable resistance from which the inexperienced American II Corps in particular suffered at Kasserine Pass, they were eventually driven through Tunisia to the coast. Italy's inexperienced and weary troops were dragged into a six-month battle over Egypt and Libya for which they were ill equipped, outnumbered and outfoxed. Hundreds of thousands of Italy's finest servicemen would be sacrificed, and those spared would return as hollow-eyed ghosts – spiritless, dishonored, defeated. Ultimately, a quarter of a million German and Italian soldiers would be bludgeoned into surrender. The Axis defeat in North Africa turned out to be a fatal blow to Italy. Hundreds of thousands of their best young men fell in the course of this retreat. In their efforts to resupply them, the Italian Navy and Air Force were also virtually wiped out. In this way Italy was so weakened that an invasion was possible. The long battle for North Africa paved the way for the eventual reconquest of Europe. It gave the American air, land and sea forces a priceless battlefield experience, sharpening their skills in preparation for more crucial contests in the years to come.

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