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Rommel in Africa

Film | Accession Number: 1995.149.1 | RG Number: RG-60.2351 | Film ID: 947

Shows German tanks, trucks, and motorcyclists advance in Libya; narration mentions Bir Hakeim. General Rommel in a staff car; German 88mm guns and mobile anti-aircraft guns firing against British tanks; Stukas attacking British around Tobruk; a German ace landing and being congratulated on his victories; German antiaircraft guns firing at attacking British planes; flaming wreckage of British bomber; desert sandstorms; Germans banqueting with Arab chiefs; and German troops bathing at an Oasis.


Duration
00:08:06
Date
Event:  1941-1942
Production:  1942
Locale
North Africa
Language
German
Genre/Form
Newsreels.
Credit
Accessed at United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of National Archives & Records Administration

About This Film

B&W / Color
Black & White
Image Quality
Mixed
Time Code
00:01:14:00 to 00:09:20:00
Film Format
  • Master
    • Master 947 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - small
    Master 947 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - small
    Master 947 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - small
    Master 947 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - small
  • Preservation
    • Preservation 947 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - small
    Preservation 947 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - small
    Preservation 947 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - small
    Preservation 947 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - small
Special Collection
Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive

Keywords and Subjects

Administrative History

Legal Status
Permanent Collection
Film Provenance
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum purchased this from the National Archives and Records Administration in October 1995. The footage was obtained as research for the Museum's Learning Center.
Note
The country of original release is Germany. This footage is part of seized enemy records.

Bir Hakeim 31°36'N, 23°29'E (sometimes written Bir Hacheim) is a remote oasis in the Libyan desert, and the former site of a Turkish fort. From May 26 to June 11, 1942, the First Free French Division of General Marie Pierre Koenig defended the site against the Italian and German Afrika Korps of General Erwin Rommel. Resisting for 16 days, the Free French gave the retreating British Eighth Army enough time to reorganize, allowing them to subsequently defeat the Afrika Korps at the First Battle of El Alamein. (Wikipedia)

The Siege of Tobruk was a lengthy confrontation between Axis and Allied forces in North Africa during the Western Desert Campaign of World War II. The siege started on 10 April 1941, when Tobruk was attacked by an Italian-German force under Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel and continued for 240 days, when it was relieved by the Eighth Army during Operation Crusader.

Tobruk marked the first time that the Blitzkrieg of the German Panzers had been successfully brought to a halt. It was also the longest siege in British Imperial military history. Rommel nonetheless captured Tobruk in a new offensive in 1942 after the Battle of Gazala.
Copied From
35mm; b/w
Film Source
United States. National Archives and Records Administration. Motion Picture Reference
File Number
Legacy Database File: 2006
Source Archive Number: 242 MID 610 R2

Rights and Restrictions

Conditions on Access
You do not require further permission from the Museum to access this archival media.
Copyright
Public Domain
Conditions on Use
To the best of the Museum's knowledge, this material is in the public domain. You do not require further permission from the Museum to reproduce or use this material.

 
Record last modified: 2022-07-28 21:56:57
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn1001469