Desert War
Desert War is an Australian two-part documentary series portraying segments of the North African Campaign in World War II. The first episode covers the Siege of Tobruk from 10 April to September 1941, when the 9th Australian Division provided the backbone of the defence against attacks by Italian and German forces under Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel. The second episode covers the preparations for the major Allied counter-attack and victory under Bernard Montgomery in the Second Battle of El Alamein. It is demonstrated that extensive and accurate military intelligence, which greatly empowered Rommel for a long period, was gained through the copying of a burgled code book and regular indiscreet radio transmissions from the American embassy in Cairo. When these transmissions were terminated, advantage shifted overwhelmingly to the Allies.
Episodes
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As the Nazis sweep all before them in Europe, the Anglo-Australian garrison in the small town of Tobruk in North Africa inspires the world by resisting the most celebrated German general of the Second World War.
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A brilliant Axis intelligence coup helps Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps sweep forward to threaten Cairo and the Suez Canal. At a tiny railway halt called El Alamein, the Allied Eighth Army draws a line in the sand and fights a battle that will transfix the world and transform the Second World War.
