The SAS Behind Enemy Lines in North Africa, 1942 - Animated

on the night of july the 7th 1942 el detachment of the special air service sas led by major david sterling is once again raiding enemy airfields far behind enemy lines the sas is a fairly new unit formed by sterling as rommel's african corps pushed british forces back into egypt threatening the suez canal the vital supply line to the far eastern theaters the assay as his primary task is to destroy as many enemy aircraft on the ground as possible to the luftwaffe and hinder the crucial air transport of supplies for the axis ground forces in north africa in tonight's operation five raiding groups each in three jeeps will approach three separate german and italian airfields infiltrate onto the flight line attach lewis incendiary bombs to as many aircraft as possible and then slip away into the desert night sterling and his force dismount their vehicles at a safe distance from bagoosh airfield and move out the major waits back while the raiding party led by his second-in-command captain paddy main proceeds on foot towards the airstrip they sneak along the lines of parked aircraft carefully fitting lewis bonds to over 30 italian cr-42 biplane fighters before retreating back into the darkness fused to explode after the party is clear 22 of the cr-42 falcos erupt in flames however jubilation is cut short among the british soldiers watching from their rendezvous at least a dozen of the bombs have failed to detonate a dejected paddy main despairs at the number of aircraft left undamaged but sterling has an idea the sas men mount up their two willy's jeeps and sterling's personal chevrolet staff car nicknamed the blitz buggy have been heavily modified with pairs of vickers-k machine guns borrowed without permission from a warehouse in alexandria like many good ideas sterling seems the obvious thing to do destroy the remaining planes by gunfire the three vehicles trundle over the desert and onto the airbase once again with the attack seemingly over the italian and german base personnel do not expect another venture by the sas the jeeps sneak through the perimeter in the darkness and spot the intact enemy aircraft silhouetted by the flames from nearby destroyed aircraft major sterling chevrolet pulls up onto the flight line with the other jeeps close behind loading and checking their lewis and vickers k machine guns they jostle over the tarmac at 15 miles an hour and at close range opened fire the chattering fusillade of machine gun fire splits the knight the sas gunners aim low at the fuselage of the aircraft to hit important components like the fuel tanks with their blistering fire rate and the combined weight of fire from all of the vehicles the up guns jeeps make short work of the remaining dozen italian cr-42s with the gunners having ample time to riddle each fighter as the vehicles roll past with all of the enemy aircraft raised the british raiders accelerate again pulling off the taxiway and making a b-line for the perimeter sterling leads his group off the airfield avoiding 20 millimeter fire from the base's anti-aircraft guns and small arms fire from the now alerted defenders escaping into the night once more they make for the rendezvous with the rest of the sas force and their escort from the long range desert group during the eventful desert journey back to their forward operating base at beer alcazar the idea of mounted rays on enemy airfields with their jeeps is one that takes hold in sterling's mind after a handful of less successful and aborted raids over the next few days the bulk of the combined lrdg and sas force returns to cairo for supplies and equipment leaving 23 men to hold the forward operating base arriving back at the 8th army's headquarters sterling collects 20 new willy's jeeps again modified with vickers k and browning machine guns however the major feels that his unit and the capabilities of a jeep mounted raiding force are not fully appreciated by the regular army staff officers at eighth army headquarters and such he sets out to prove the worth of the special air service returning to the beer el-khazaire base on the 23rd the sas spent the next few days in preparation discussing the plan of the attack formations and procedures and they conduct a live fire exercise to rehearse their target will be the axis airfield at city hanes as the sun begins to set on the evening of the 26th the long column of lrdg and sas vehicles move out into the desert along the beginning of a 50-mile voyage to their target eighteen willy's jeeps make up the primary strike force with david sterling leading the way through the shifting sands three of the eighteen jeeps are crewed not by brits but by three frenchmen after hours of treacherous going negotiating wadi's cliffs sand dunes and an abandoned battlefield sterling brings the force to a halt and consults with lieutenant mike sadler the major asks his new chief navigator where they are feeling that they should be nearly at the airfield by now lieutenant saddler's skills have been pushed to the limit navigating the jeeps by the stars and unable to use his compass properly due to the magnetism of their metal vehicles he replies i reckon it's two miles ahead and as if to miraculously prove him right the base's runway lights come on to guide in a returning german bomber illuminating the entire airfield before them sadler with classic understatement describes this as a bit of a relief as the saf steadily advanced towards the airfield under darkness one of the jeeps inadvertently drives into an anti-tank ditch and is too stuck to be removed the force comes to a halt not far from the airfield perimeter the men transfer to other jeeps weapons are checked and then the assault begins sas trooper stephen hastings recalls first one tentative burst then the full ear splitting cacophony roaring and spitting streams of red and white colour shot through the darkness struck the ground and cascaded upwards in a thousand crazy arcs crisscrossing each other on the receiving end of the furious salvo the german defenses are taken completely off guard left reeling and desperately trying to retreat from the storm of lead with a green flare to signal the advance sterling and his men move out forming their heavily armed jeeps into two columns and steadily moving through the dust and acrid smoke onto the airfield at just two miles per hour the jeep stream onto the runway the sas gunners let rip with their combined 68 thicker's caves each spitting out up to 1200 rounds per minute pouring fire on the german aircraft scattered around the airfield the incendiary ammunition rips the aircraft to shreds and sets the fuel tanks alight recovering from the initial shock the italian and german defenders resist tenaciously taking to the flight line to try and stop the sas onslaught they use the heaviest weapons they can muster their breeder anti-aircraft guns in direct fire and they mortar their own airfield to try to break up the attack with 20 millimeter shells from the a guns whipping overhead the procession of brits and frenchmen keep up the barrage loosing off streams of rounds at the silhouettes of axis troops and hosing down defensive positions in a chaotic melee of explosions and machine gun fire with a deafening clang sterling's jeep grinds to a halt spewing oil after taking a round from the a gun straight to the engine narrowly avoiding its passengers using a horn to signal major sterling orders the sas into the next phase of the attack as the column pauses briefly and sterling and his men clamber aboard another jeep paddy mayne leaps from his vehicle with little regard for his own personal safety and fits a lewis incendiary bomb to one of the few unharmed junckers ju-52 transports pressing on through the searing heat of the exploding junckers l detachment swings around at the end of the airfield passing back down its far side to cause yet more destruction clattering away with the last of their ammunition suppressing yet more defensive positions inflicting more casualties on the guards and shooting up more of the vital ju-52 transports after 15 minutes of mayhem sterling fires off a red flare signalling the withdrawal disappearing in a column through a gap in the perimeter fence the sas make their escape leaving city hanas in a burning mess despite the intense return fire from the defenders lance bombardier john robson is the only casualty killed during the initial attack to try to evade any enemy response the saf split up into packets of two or three jeeps each and drive until sunrise then camouflage their vehicles to remain hidden through the day anticipating that the survivors of their raid would be out for vengeance as expected at the crack of dawn the stuka dive bombers are out searching for the raiders patrolling the likely escape routes and strafing anything that moves despite the luftwaffe's efforts the only further loss is french sas trooper andre zanell and by the 29th of july all of the remaining special air service personnel make it back to safety to the operating base at beer alcazai the sas have destroyed 37 aircraft including many of the ju52 transports on which rommel's supply lines so heavily depend this success silences the doubters in the british headquarters at cairo and cement the sas's reputation as a highly effective fighting force paving the way for the successes and heroism to come and the elite special air service as we know it today [Music] you

Channel: The Operations Room

Views: 466,913

Rating: 4.9746809 out of 5

Keywords: ww2, history, time-lapse, animated, time lapse, second world war, documentary, SAS, special forces, north africa, david stirling

Id: qYodJ69iXnc

Length: 10min 36sec (636 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 17 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/carnizzle]

The SAS inventors of the Drive by.

[u/mikes6x]

The LRDG do not get enough credit for helping the SAS get up and running. Stirling's first SAS sortie was assault from the air by parachutists which failed miserably.

It was the LRDG's Prendergast who suggested to Stirling that the SAS use vehicles. The LRDG were principally an observation and reporting unit, although not above causing their own bit of mayhem when the opportunity presented itself.

As experts in the North African deserts, they were massively helpful to other special forces units, not just the SAS, but others like Popski's Private Army.

https://www.historyextra.com/period/second-world-war/desert-raiders-the-long-range-desert-group-in-the-second-world-war/

[u/Linktank]

Narrator: "Column"

Artist: "Line?"

Narrator: "COLUMN"

Artist: "Line."

[u/Gerry_Hatrick]

Blair Mayne "Colonel Paddy" needs to have a movie made about him. Shame Liam Neeson is now too old, he'd have been perfect for the role.

[u/oddstandsfor]

That was the most exciting boring thing I’ve ever seen.

Thought I would snooze through it - but I thinked wrong

[u/chewee133]

Why is war such a discussed topic?