El Alamein battlefield: visiting the Italian and Commonwealth cemeteries in Egypt

[@Ekatjam]

At 3:59 you can see the brown Italian mess kit. My grandfather was a German soldier fighting in Russia from the first week until listed as MIA in East Prussia. He was allowed to come home during Christmas 1944 because he had three sons and left the same kit at home. After unification it was found in the basement with his name engraved on it. Knowing it was not German, I contacted an expert who told me after Italy quit the war, the Germans sent tons of Italian equipment to the Eastern Front.

[@CrocodileTear]

Indeed, the Germans were very meticulous at not wasting, and recycling military gear.

[@Jin-uu5he]

I'm happy that someone is going to visit the Italian fallen. You should know that the construction of the sanctuary was not the work of the Italian state but was the work of the surviving veterans who searched for the fallen in the desert and had the cemetery built with their own savings. The same thing happened in Italy: it was the veterans who collected the fallen and built the cemeteries with their own savings (Campo della Memoria). For the Italian state, our fallen are worth nothing, only those who changed sides from one day to the next are worth it. We are the only country that despises its own history and that is why we will never be respected from abroad.

[@CrocodileTear]

Please watch this video, one of the soldiers is an Italian accidentally buried in a German cemetery, and I tried to get the Italian authorities to care, with no success: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sHqXnZiBo9-WhNU

[@Jin-uu5he]

@@CrocodileTear of course they won't, feel lucky that they responded to you. The Italian authorities are incompetent: just think that in 2019 the remains of 27 Italians mass*cred in Croatia were found, they were soldiers who fought alongside the Germans in the Italian and Yugoslav campaigns, these fallen were taken to the Bari cemetery instead of the one of the fallen of the RSI (the latter too small). The forests of Slovenia and Croatia are littered with Italian dead (some fallen in combat, others in mass graves), to this day I still don't understand why the procedures for collecting the fallen are so slow on the part of the Italian authorities. It is said that 70 Italian soldiers who fell against the Yugoslavs in 1945 are buried inside a cave on Mount Kozlov in Tolmin; This story has been going on for 50 years and still no one has gone to make sure that they were there and that they were brought to light. It just seems that the state has no interest in collecting them. The collection of the fallen would force the construction of a military cemetery (given the lack) but to do so the state must spend money and not all citizens agree (🧠->🚮). Given this premise, the Italian state and institutions think that leaving their fallen where they are is more convenient than finding a solution and taking responsibility. It is no coincidence that many war dead are simply buried in civilian cemeteries. Still others are buried in German cemeteries (and there are many). In the huge German cemetery of Futa it seems that there are some Italians who fought alongside the Germans buried there, for example: "Marcello Rubini, soldier of the San Marco division who fell on 15 March 1945". I want to recommend to you this YT channel which has several contacts with Italian veterans associations: "Icunowlibra".

[@CrocodileTear]

@@Jin-uu5he It is very clear that Italy and France have no interest in their war dead, and Germany does minimal quality work to find its war dead. Considering the numbers and costs involved, it can be understood, but they could at least be honnest about it.

[@johnallen7807]

Unfortunately the UK is going the same way, schools, universities and even the BBC seem to despise our history. They forget that the only reason they have the freedom to do this is because millions died for that freedom!

[@CrocodileTear]

@@johnallen7807 I have contacted the CWGC several times with totaly random and obscure questions, and they always reply promptly and helpfully. Check out my video about the French Resisance fighters Tonner and Bergia at Draguignan, and you will see how disgraceful the French are: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gqmlgHmmi6enh9U As for BBC, there is a reason is means what it means on the internet ;)

[@fkafka64]

"Mancò la fortuna, non il valore!" - thank you for the video, Sir.

[@davekreitzer4358]

Very interesting and informative video , Thanks for sharing and again for what you do !

[@egnbigdave]

My Grandad was in North africa 1942 till the end of the war - I have up on the wall a picture of El Alamein cemetery taken before 1945 by him when he was visiting a pilot friend of his's grave). At the time it was just wooden crosses .in the desert.

[@CrocodileTear]

Hi. I would be interested if you can email me a copy of the photo.

[@egnbigdave]

@@CrocodileTear just sent

[@redrooster1908]

Thank you for the tour!

[@832performance2]

Thank you for showing the East Kent Regiment graves. My grandfather was in the 1st Buffs and was taken POW in Dec 1941 at Alem Hamza

[@toonverberg1313]

Thanks for showing us these impressive and also serene places.

[@Punisher9419]

Really nice cemetary, shame about all the construction going on. I would think it will be surrounded by buildings one day. I think it would have looked great if it was in the middle of a desert like you said it used to be. The shrubs in the Commonwealth graveyard is a really nice touch, esspecially the ones with colour.

[@KevinSmith-yh6tl]

Thank you for taking us along. Much appreciated Sir.

[@d.g.n9392]

Thank you, very respectful and well done comments and filming

[@OCDadal]

Just discovered this channel, it's really really awesome!!!!!

[@CrocodileTear]

Thanks and welcome 😄

[@juslitor]

Thank you for this video, had no idea the italians had such a beautiful place for their fallen soldiers.

[@simosimo63]

❤ grazie per ricordare anche tutti questi ragazzi... Morti invano per mano della follia dei potenti.. 😢

[@Katze5335]

Thank you so much for all you do, I love your videos and am a huge ww2 nerd that respects your work immensely

[@Themodellingguy-v4v]

Im a south african army veteran my great grandfather fought in north africa against the germans and italians as part of the commonwealth many south africans surrendered at tobruk and ended up as italian pows im a soldier and all soldiers rightfully respect each other i salute the italian soldiers and fallen in north africa your soldiers have my respect and recognition ❤❤❤

[@justinreilly6619]

Wonderful cemetery, beautiful layout. Respectful memorial to those who have passed whilst in service to their countries. Thank you for your tour.

[@paulday-lh5mx]

Very informative, i did not know about the cemeteries. Thank you for your research and stories.

[@steelhelmetstan7305]

Great video, the italian memorial is very moving....as was the rest of the cemetery....lest we forget 😔😔😔

[@oliverbund9642]

Thank you for sharing your impressions. 👍

[@vinylvishrecords]

@5:02 10 guys buried together. Wow, R.I.P.

[@CrocodileTear]

Indeed, 10 and not 5 as I said while filming.

[@workingguy-OU812]

Very powerful. I would like to visit someday. Thank you.

[@Num-563]

C’est bien de perpétuer le devoir de mémoire 🙏 mes amitiés

[@redr1150r]

I visited the Battlefield, cemetery and museum in 1978 while in the US Navy.

[@luistilli2328]

My Italian grandfather was from Savona, and was injured in Tobruk.

[@rogerphelps1798]

I was there in '99. It's terrible to see what has become of the area.

[@dmeinhertzhagen8764]

Wow, I didn’t know Italians made such beautiful monuments to honour their dead soldiers. Merci beaucoup Jean-Loup

[@thierryloop4039]

Merci pour cette intéressante et impressionnante vidéo, bonne continuation à vous.

[@tobias4918]

Wow. And thank you.

[@stevehermann1415]

Another great presentation, (long time viewer). I stopped last year at the same cemeteries to pay my respect. Were you not able to visit the German cemetery which is a short distance away or is that for another video?

[@CrocodileTear]

The German cemetery is a mass grave like many of the German cemeteries in the east.

[@james5796]

I love your content and videos - but is your title "Crocodile Tear" appropriate and of relevant meaning. For a person like you Sir has so much empathy and care as to return info and personal items to family members its hard to reconcile

[@CrocodileTear]

The day I opened my youtube account, I chose a random name that was not taken yet... and the rest is history

[@pit_stop77]

Crocodile tears aptly describes the politicians who happily send young innocents to die for their causes. They don't really care.

[@Chiller11]

The Italian cemetery was a stunning building.

[@eisenbahneisenbahn520]

Hvala za video..🙏

[@MichaelLeBlanc-p4f]

Just names of the dead but all had a mother and father at the very least. Each grave is a tripple tragedy in the human experience of misery no matter the fancy dressing of stones. God bless them all if he was unkind to them in life . . .

[@Mr.Peroxidus2386]

3:09 I don't know why, but every time I visit a military museum and there are relics from real battles, my head immediately starts working and thinking about the fact that every single object has a story 3:31 (even these signs). Since it was made, it has been issued and finally lost. 3:38 But when I saw the real Italian insignia, in truth I was sad when I started to think about the fate of those soldiers who wore them and what actually happened to them. Also, when I see a weapon (cannon, machine gun, rifle or), I immediately start to think that actually every weapon had someone who used it and maybe died. You understand, every thing has its own unique story that many times we will never know. If these things could talk...

[@CrocodileTear]

Sometimes the relics can talk. You should take a look at some of my videos about WWII helmets and ID tags, such as my second last video Enemy Brothers.

[@paulbradford8240]

Jean- Loup, That was very interesting thank you. Do you know how the Italians were buried before the more formal cemetery was designed? Also, are bodies still being found in the region?

[@CrocodileTear]

Before the building was erected, the bodies were simply buried in the sand. There are occasionaly bodies found.

[@loosehandle1]

Im amazed they buried those guys that fought together, together.

[@joelmonkley6177]

Been here 1100 new Zealanders are buried here which was a lot for a country of just over a millon in the 1940s

[@CrocodileTear]

I should have mentioned in the video that the cemetery contains Brits, NZ, Aussies, South Africans, French, Indians, Poles, Canadians, and I think I forgot a few.

[@string-bag]

Bless those young men.

[@rolfagten857]

Whats the name from the building (bow) at the German-Italian medal?!

[@CrocodileTear]

The Marble Arch, also Arch of the Philaeni en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marble_Arch_(Libya)

[@rolfagten857]

Yes, Thanks. It''s also on a medal. @@CrocodileTear

[@brendonelton]

Really interesting to see "The Buffs" which I first thought was the Welsh Dragon, but after a quick search, it belongs to the East Kent Regiment.

[@1089maul]

Very interesting video. For anyone interested, I recommend the book, ‘Alamein, an Italian story’ by Paolo Caccia Dominioni. It gives an Italian perspective of the North African campaign and includes the authors work of collecting bodies of all nations after the war. His statue was partially seen in the video. Grazie!

[@CrocodileTear]

I agree, great book, and for once an Italian account that is availlable in English as well.

[@HansLasser]

Maybe the Indians buried towards the East were muslims and thus faces Mecca. Hindus were cremated.

[@Gabikah233]

Very nice and sad place. You can see there what the war do. We need keep it for the new generation to see nobody needs wars. I hope we never again had a big war... So many dead guys in my age and they died for a nothing in a desert...

[@earlthepearl3922]

5:06…that’s not five markets for five soldiers, its five markers for ten soldiers. There’s two names per marker.

[@CrocodileTear]

Indeed. I must have been too busy filming to look close enough

[@cristinawilligs]

i missed you

[@davideclerici511]

Fra le sabbie non più deserte 😢... Folgore!

[@TellySavalas-or5hf]

Was there also a DAK monument?!

[@CrocodileTear]

There is also a German cemetery, yes, but I perfered not to film it

[@Ken-OATHH]

Lest we forget 🇳🇿

[@bigGaza1]

3:27 It's a Platypus, 9th Division Australian Infantry. Does anybody know what the 62 would be?

[@CrocodileTear]

I cant find any match...

[@otdosa]

all those lives wasted. for what? greed/insanity of the leaders?

[@dmeinhertzhagen8764]

I’m entitled to get a commonwealth tombstone since I served almost three decades in the Canadian Army. I still don’t know if I want to be buried or cremated.

[@legobatman8353]

We’re a lot of the gravestones damaged a few years ago?

[@CrocodileTear]

No, I think you are confusing with what happened in a cemetery in Lybia during the revolution there.

[@legobatman8353]

@@CrocodileTear ah, yes. Thank you for replying.

[@stevencox1651]

Were they all cremated?

[@CrocodileTear]

The Italians? No, they are put in those sort of small shelves as by the time the cemetery was built, only bones remained.

[@radicalradioOz]

Any Australians buried there?

[@CrocodileTear]

Yes, a large number are Australian.

[@MobileGifte]

Someone with my name is their scottish reg 😢😢

[@Jerry_S.]

What a beautiful columbarium!

[@CrocodileTear]

It is actualy not a columbarium, as it is bones that are preserved inside, and not ashes.

[@Jerry_S.]

@@CrocodileTear Ahhh, so more like an ossuary then! Thanks for clearing it up!

[@tancreddehauteville764]

What a waste of young lives 😞

[@floydikus]

Hahaha😂 this guy cannot go a minute without hating on the urban expansion

[@CrocodileTear]

It is painfull to see a pristine desert untouched since the dawn of time, be changed into a sea of low quality mass produced identical buildings used for speculation and as summer homes, within a few years time.

[@floydikus]

@@CrocodileTear yes i agree