SEA OF SAND is a trim and effective Brit actioner from 1958, delivering a salute to a British Army unit from WW2, the LRDG—Long Range Desert Group. A rather ‘rum lot’ whose unorthodox tactics and dress gave them a dash & destroy aura, they harassed German and Italian forces during the 1940-43 contest for North Africa. *

1942. As the British 8th Army prepares for a showdown with Rommel in Egypt at El Alamein, a five-vehicle patrol of the LRDG sprints hundreds of miles behind Axis lines into Libya to destroy Afrika Corps fuel dumps. Raider veteran ‘Capt. Cotton’ (Michael Craig) is assisted by newcomer ‘Capt. Williams’ (John Gregson) whose hidebound regular army attitude is at odds with the field-reality of Cotton and his men, who include hardened chaps like ‘Trooper Brody’ (Richard Attenborough).

“There’s a lot to be said for giving someone big and powerful a kick up the arse.”

Accompanied by jaunty scoring from Clifton Parker, the 97 minute affair is tautly directed by Guy Green and bears decent dialogue exchanges in the script written by Robert Westerby (The Adventurers,The Three Lives Of Thomasina, The Fighting Prince Of Donegal), with technical advice provided by Bill Kennedy Shaw, who was the LRDG’s intelligence officer during the war. Shooting was done on location in Libya (baking in 120° heat), and the action scenes are well done, avoiding melodramatic flourishes and keeping tension in steady play.

The actors are fine, with Craig particularly strong, and the three leads are backed by familiar faces Percy Herbert, Vincent Ball, Barry Foster, Andrew Faulds, George Murcell and Martin Benson. Well done all around. With 20 minutes excised it was released in the States three years later as Desert Patrol.

* Some still among the living recall the 1966-68 TV run of The Rat Patrol, 58 episodes of reality-bending action that pilfered from the real exploits of the LRDG and with but a single Englishman in the cast next to three Americans. This glaring disparity understandably pissed Brits enough to cancel it after six episodes. The best thing about the show—which I dutifully watched as a pre-teen raised on Combat and 12 O’Clock High—was the exciting opening sequence bolstered by Dominic Frontiere’s rousing music. I don’t know if the series played in West Germany: no doubt they would have appreciated it even less than the English. In point of fact, the majority of the 350 men who served in the LRDG hailed from New Zealand. They were joined by Brits, Rhodesians and Indians.

Michael Craig, from his autobio “The Smallest Giant: An Actor’s Life: “we drank far too much, slept far too little and misbehaved in every possible way.”

Blood and Sand, WW2 edition—Sahara, The Immortal Sergeant, Play Dirty, Tobruk, Bitter Victory, Patton, The Hill, The Desert Fox, Ice Cold In Alex, The Steel Bayonet, The Big Red One, The English Patient, Five Graves To Cairo, The Desert Rats, No Time To Die.