Summary: A fictional story of the breakout of a British tank trapped behind Italian lines in North Africa.
Description: The main plot is introduced by a sequence in which an RAC Sergeant visiting a tank factory begins to tell the story to illustrate to the workers the importance of their contributions, in this case specifically the radio/intercom system. A 'Crusader' tank, with a crew drawn from all over the Commonwealth, has a skirmish with Italians while on patrol, leaving their front gunner injured and the radio/intercom knocked out. Hiding out in a convenient cave, cautious reconnaissance reveals they are in the middle of a large Italian convoy which seems to be "brewing something up." Using the uniform of a lone Italian they have captured the tank commander steals some petrol from the enemy while the intercom is being fixed ("takes more than an armour piercing bullet to muck up one of these for long"). Next dawn they break out, wreaking chaos single handed on the massed Italians in the name of "the whole British flaming Commonwealth of Nations."
Alternative Title:
Colour:B&W
Digitised:No
Object_Number:COI 105
Sound:Sound
Access Conditions:
Featured Period:1939-1945
Production Date:1941
Production Country: GB
Production Details: Ministry of Information (Production sponsor)
Strand (Production company)
Eldridge, William John18981985 (Production individual)
Shaw, Alexander (Production individual)
Asher, Robert (Production individual)
Osbiston, Alan (Production individual)
Sagovsky, V (Production individual)
Lloyd, A L (Production individual)
Jago, Jo (Production individual)
Melford, Austin (Production individual)
Charpentier, Gaston (Production individual)
Paul, Holmes (Production individual)
King, Harold1896 (Production individual)
Shilton, Len (Production individual)
Williams, Norman1924-12-22 (Production cast)
Rowbottom, Bill (Production cast)
Elliott, Bill (Production cast)
Rossini, Nino (Production cast)
Martin, John (Production cast)
Rodriguez, Jorge Juan (Production cast)
Holliday, Ted (Production cast)
Personalities, Units and Organisations: British Army, Royal Armoured Corps (regiment/service)
Keywords: armour, British - tank: Crusader (object name)
communications, British - electronic: radio (object name)
industry, British - vehicles: tanks (object name)
propaganda, British - inspirational (object name)
GB, England (geography)
North Africa (geography)
Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W
Sound format: Sound
Soundtrack language: English
Title language: English
Subtitle language: None
Technical Details: Format: 35mm
Number of items/reels/tapes: 4
Footage: 3281 ft; Running time: 35 mins
