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Wikipedia: The Rat Patrol was an action adventure TV series that aired on ABC for two seasons from 1966 until 1968.

The series followed the daring exploits of a long-range desert patrol group stationed in North Africa during World War II. Their mission was to attack, harass and wreak havoc on Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's vaunted Afrika Korps.

The four members of the rat Patrol were Sgt. Sam Troy, Sgt. Jack Moffit(British), Cpl. Mark T. Hitchcock, Pfc. Tully Pettigrew. They operated in modified military jeeps that were armed with machine guns.

The show's first season was filmed in Almeria, Spain. Difficulties there forced the production to return to the United States for its second season.

Sidebar: I found this to be an entertaining show that was certainly packed with plenty of action. The show was a half-hour in length. I've always been intrigued by dramatic series with only a 30-minute length. In the 1950s & 1960s, the networks produced many a dramatic series that were only a half-hour. Today, only sitcoms are a half-hour, nobody does thirty-minute dramas anymore.

I am impressed as to just how much plot and characterization that the scriptwriters for these half-hour series were able to put into just 22-minutes of screen time, minus credits and commercials. Somehow they managed it and did a fine job of it. One thing was for sure, with that short a running time we rarely had to sit through many slow points where the show would drag.

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Wikipedia: The show was inspired by and loosely modeled on David Stirling's British Special Air Services (S.A.S.), and Popski's Private Army.

The title stems from nicknames given to some of the British Commonwealth Forces.

The leads for the series were 3 Americans and one British actor. As the United States military did not have any such
desert operations as depicting in the show during World War II, and the British, Australians, and New Zealanders did, the viewers from those countries were highly displeased that Americans comprised the Rat Patrol.

Inspired by the 1953 film The Desert Rats.

Season one was filmed in Almeria, Spain. Season two was shot in the U.S.

Dell Comics published 6 issues of The Rat Patrol.

IMDB. On January 4, 1967, lead actor Christopher George (1931~1983) was severely injured while shooting a chase scene for the series. The jeep flipped over and Chris was pinned under it. He had muscle tears to his neck and chest that resulted in a cardiac contusion. Chris died from a heart attack on November 28, 1983 due to his earlier injuries in the accident.

Chris served in the U.S.M.C. Chris was married to actress Lynda Day George (Mission: Impossible).

All the episode titles have the word "Raid" in them.

First World War II TV series made and telecast entirely in color.

[Bud Brewster]

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I was saddened by to learn that Christopher George died at the young age of 52 — twenty-three years younger than I am!

I especially enjoy Mr. Christopher in Chisum, the 1970 John Wayne movie.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

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From the 1966 Fall Preview issue of TV Guide.

The Rat Patrol relights the North African campaign during World War II.

The rodents of the title are four desert commandos ---- Christopher George as Sgt. Sam Troy, the hard-as-nails leader ("When I was a kid, it was all's fair in love and war. On my block it was mostly war."); Gary Raymond as Sgt. Jack Moffit, a quietly competent Englishman ("I wrote my doctor's thesis on the ecological factors of the nomadic tribes."); Justin Tarr as Pvt. Tully Pettigrew, a Kentucky moonshine runner; and Larry Casey as Cpl. Mark Hitchcock, a rambunctious Ivy Leaguer.

They zip about the desert in two jeeps, harassing and demoralizing the Afrika Korps and bugging one Nazi in particular, a desert rat fink played by Hans Gudegast. The traps he sets for the jeepsters are about as effective as those Tom devises for Jerry.

Debut: ABC, Sept. 12.

BTW: Garry Raymond played the evil Acastus in Jason and the Argonauts (1963).

Hans Gudegast changed his name to Eric Braeden, and played Dr. Forbin in Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970).

[Bud Brewster]