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The Desert War must have been a popular TV theme. There was also an episode of the Twilight Zone about a B-25 that went down in North Africa. The original air date was 1960, only 15 years after the end of the War.
"King Nine will Not Return"
I keep thinking about that Kittyhawk flown by Flt Sgt Dennis Copping and his fate. Also the Lady Be Good crew. I realize they did not go down as a direct result of combat but thinking about them got me to thinking about the guys Marseille shot down who were able to make it down alive.
That's Doug McClure, from the 60's TV series The Virginian, and many movies.The rigid German officer slapping the Sherman tank festooned with Balkenkreuz and calling it a panzer. The cowardly Troy McLure (you may remember him from such films as....).
Hopping around the dessert in a wounded P-40. Delightfully awful.
I thought I had read the engine had been repaired, not well apparently, and Copping was flying it back from the repair depot when it quit. I might be remembering wrong however.I thought it had flak damage (the P-40) somewhere back by the tail, no? Would it have helped if he set it on fire? Maybe the tires on a calm day, and someone, anyone would see? I wonder...
The Rat Patrol. I loved it as a kid. A Jeep with a .50 cal. My idea of a dune buggy. If it weren't for a satire of the show in Mad Magazine, I wouldn't have known that England participated in that theatre.When I lived in Iran, AFRTS for a short time reran an older series called The Rat Patrol, based on British raiding exploits in the Desert War. According to Wiki, which is probably right about pop-culture stuff, it ran in America for a year. I remember watching a few of them many years later overseas.
Of course, AFRTS was a military network, so there's gotta be some bias in the selection of material to air. They also aired World at War in its entirety.
I had a Rat Patrol lunch box. Wish I still did.The Rat Patrol. I loved it as a kid. A Jeep with a .50 cal. My idea of a dune buggy. If it weren't for a satire of the show in Mad Magazine, I wouldn't have known that England participated in that theatre.
Did you notice each character had a different hat?
Probably worth way more than lunch now.I had a Rat Patrol lunch box. Wish I still did.
I remember talking to someone about the desert campaign and he was stunned when I told him that the Italian army did most of the fighting. He had read a book about Rommel and the Afrika Korp that never mentioned Italy.If it weren't for a satire of the show in Mad Magazine, I wouldn't have known that England participated in that theatre.
Paris - Dakar 1982Margaret Thatcher nearly lost her son Mark in the desert when he went missing on a motor rally during her time as Prime Minister.
Unfortunately someone found him.Margaret Thatcher nearly lost her son Mark in the desert when he went missing on a motor rally during her time as Prime Minister.
Even on the lighter side...On the light side does anyone remember this made for TV movie from '73?
WoW!Saint-Exupery and mechanic-navigator André Prévot survived for 3 days in the Lybian Desert...
And now we have Le Petit Prince.