Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The history of desert war encompasses the new battlegrounds of Basra, Baghdad and Tikrit, the wartime Sahara and the Six Day War, but it has its roots deep in North Africa where the 20th Century detonated its definitive showdown in 1942 between two historical adversaries and it is here that total war was born. Although Britain led in the new science of mobile war, Germany deployed the new thinking while Britain forgot everything it knew. It had to relearn it again in the eye of the conflict during eight months in 1942 while the allies faced defeat in Europe and in every other major battlefield. At that moment four commanders stood between defeat and victory – and carried any hopes of persuading Roosevelt and the US that Britain was a worthy battlefield ally. They took on Rommel at the most dangerous moment in 20th Century battlefield history. This series examines the distinctive psychology of the desert and the back-stories of four soldiers who in desperate straits had to throw away the rule book to engage with the Panzerarmee, and how their controversial strategies swung an advantage that had seesawed across 400 miles of desert sand for two years.
Documentary: Desert Generals EP1
Directed by: Dominic Gallagher
Production: About Face Media (2007)
#documentary #freedocumentary #documentary #historydocumentary #wwii #worldwar2 #northafrica #desertwar #rommel #britisharmy #elalamein #militaryhistory
The history of desert war encompasses the new battlegrounds of Basra, Baghdad and Tikrit, the wartime Sahara and the Six Day War, but it has its roots deep in North Africa where the 20th Century detonated its definitive showdown in 1942 between two historical adversaries and it is here that total war was born. Although Britain led in the new science of mobile war, Germany deployed the new thinking while Britain forgot everything it knew. It had to relearn it again in the eye of the conflict during eight months in 1942 while the allies faced defeat in Europe and in every other major battlefield. At that moment four commanders stood between defeat and victory – and carried any hopes of persuading Roosevelt and the US that Britain was a worthy battlefield ally. They took on Rommel at the most dangerous moment in 20th Century battlefield history. This series examines the distinctive psychology of the desert and the back-stories of four soldiers who in desperate straits had to throw away the rule book to engage with the Panzerarmee, and how their controversial strategies swung an advantage that had seesawed across 400 miles of desert sand for two years.
Documentary: Desert Generals EP1
Directed by: Dominic Gallagher
Production: About Face Media (2007)
#documentary #freedocumentary #documentary #historydocumentary #wwii #worldwar2 #northafrica #desertwar #rommel #britisharmy #elalamein #militaryhistory
