This short newsreel was made for propaganda purposes during WWII by the German newsreel company Degeto Weltspiegel and sold to the home market in Germany. This film, “The War on the El Alamein Front” shows the activities of the Afrika Korps at the First Battle of El Alamein (July 1-27, 1942). This was a battle fought on the northern coast of Egypt between Axis forces of the Panzer Army Africa commanded by Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, and Allied forces of the British Eighth Army commanded by General Claude Auchinleck. The battle, although a stalemate, halted a second advance by the Axis forces into Egypt. However, an Axis presence near El-Alamein only 66 miles from Alexandria, was too dangerously close to major population centers and the Suez Canal for the Allied forces to allow the status quo to remain; a Second Battle of El-Alamein would be required to drive the Axis armies out of Egypt for good.

The film starts with a map of North Africa and the Mediterranean, and then shows German trucks (one of them hauling a tank) during the advance. At :36, sappers retrieve land mines from the road. At :51, artillery fires against British positions, allowing tanks and infantry to advance (1:22). A lone British survivor emerges from the smoke and burning wreckage at 1:42, followed by large numbers of prisoners.

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com