The Beginning of the End: North Africa to Cassino (v. 1 of Reader's Digests Great Battles of World War II, North Africa and Western Europe) 1987
Distributed by IVN Entertainment, Inc., 1390 Willow Pass Road, Ste. 900, Concord, CA 94520; 925-688-0833
Produced by Reader's Digest Association
Director n/a
VHS, color and b&, 89 min.
Adult
History
Date Entered: 11/09/2018
Reviewed by Brad Eden, Ph.D., Head, Web and Digitization Services, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las VegasThis video is an in-depth film history of the North African/Italian campaign by the Allied Forces during World War II. The film is divided into three parts: "In Pursuit of the Desert Fox", which focuses on Rommel's advances in Libya and Egypt, and his eventual defeat by British forces; "From Sicily to Naples", which highlights the Allied advance into southern Italy; and "Naples to Cassino", which follows the Allied forces from southern Italy to northern Italy.
Part I tells the history of Mussolini's attempts in 1940 to take over Northern Africa, especially Egypt. Although outnumbering the British 5 to 1, the Italians made many mistakes and were ill much of the time. The British were able to stem the tide of Italian advance in neighboring Libya. Hitler then sent Rommel to take control of the invasion. Rommel was able to immediately regain all lost territory, and was on the verge of taking over Egypt when Churchill had Montgomery take over British forces in North Africa. Montgomery was able to stop Rommel, which allowed the Allied Forces to plan a huge invasion of North Africa from the west. They were able to accomplish this feat by mid-1943.
Part II relates how the Allied Forces then decided to cross the Mediterranean, take the island of Sicily, and begin an invasion of southern Italy. The first goal of this invasion was to capture Naples, as it afforded an excellent harbor with which to push northward into Germany. After extreme fighting and heavy casualities, the Allies were able to capture Naples.
Part III continues the invasion of the Italian peninsula, moving towards Cassino and then on to Rome. Month by month accounts of troop movements, successes and failures, is done magnificently in the video. The bombing of the 6th century monastery at Cassino ends this portion of the filmography.
This program is highly informative, with excellent and historical film footage of World War II. The music accompanying the film was well chosen. Highly recommend for anyone involved in World War II studies.