| Original caption: “One member of a knocked out German Panzer III tank crew surrenders as British infantry rush his tank.” Original wartime caption: “The new battle in the Western Desert goes on day and night. Tanks have now come into play, many of the enemy’s have been knocked out. Enemy vehicles, wrecked and abandoned, are being found by our advancing troops. German and Italian dead litter the battlefield; prisoners come in steadily to our lines. Pictures show these phases of the battle. Guns and trucks roll forward towards our new positions, sometimes passing guns that are firing at the enemy.” British infantry charge a Panzerkampfwagen III Sonderkraftfahrzeug 141 during the 2nd Battle of El Alamein. This may be the same Panzer III Turmnummer Zwei (Turret Number 2) photographed the next week with British (or Australian) infantry taking cover as an explosion goes off beyond the tank. Sergeant Leonard “Len” Chetwyn (January 12, 1909 – July 1980) of Number 1 Film and Photo Section, Army Film and Photo Unit (APFU) led a group of Sergeants in the Western Desert, Sicily, and Italy known as “Chet’s Circus.” With their driver, these 4 former Fleet Street photographers were basically given leave to drive around the battlefields making photos. The other members of the group were Sergeants John Herbert (???? – ????), formerly with Kodak, Jim Mapham (May 5, 1909 – July 1968), formerly with the Leicester Mercury, Chris Windows (1919 – 1987), formerly with Paramount and Driver (????) Sampey (???? – ????), formerly a Manchester bus driver. 1 of the more intriguing – and controversial – Army Film and Photographic units operating in North Africa was Chet’s Circus. A team of cameramen led by ex-Fleet Street photographer Sergeant Chetwyn, they ranged over the rear areas producing convincing reconstructions of battle scenes. These well-shot photographs were taken up by the War Office as being excellent material for home consumption. Other photographers working in North Africa had mixed feelings about Chet’s Circus. Sergeant Stanley Gladstone (September 7, 1915 – August 27, 1997) emphasized the distinctions between the ordinary photographer and those from Fleet Street where reconstructions were commonplace: “I regarded it as my job to try and get actual reality on to paper and not dream up what it might have been like.” Although Billy Jordan accepted that there was a place for reconstructions at certain times, largely for continuity reasons in feature films, he didn’t approve of its wholesale use: I never staged a single thing in the desert. Not for any reason of principle but simply that I never had a chance to stage anything. I believe Chetwyn was given a free hand to operate as a mobile unit, staging his various actions where he could, using whatever troops were available. He was using cooks, bottle washers or whoever was back at base, and staging stuff that was reckoned to be real battle material with smoke and a few bangs let off with gun cotton. I think this was wrong as quite a number of members of the Unit were up at the front sticking their necks out trying to get real action pictures, and getting back reports from London asking for better action. Sergeant Peter Hopkinson (June 27, 1920 – June 28, 2007) recalls the pressure on the photographers to come up with exciting material for public consumption and how it affected he way the Unit was run: “[Number One Film and Photo Section General Officer Commanding Major Geoffrey Keating (August 25, 1914 – January 30, 1981)] only went along with re-enactment because I think he was being bombarded by the War Office, saying ‘Where are the pictures of this great war?’ But war isn’t like the Hollywood concept wanted by our lords and masters, never was and never will be.” | |
| Image Filename | wwii0725.jpg |
| Image Size | 912.46 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 5221 x 4291 |
| Photographer | Leonard Chetwyn |
| Photographer Title | Number One United Kingdom Royal Army Film and Photo Section, Army Film and Photographic Unit |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | October 29, 1942 |
| Location | |
| City | El Alamein |
| State or Province | Matrouh |
| Country | Egypt |
| Archive | Imperial War Museum |
| Record Number | E 18654 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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