''Patrol'' is a 1927

war novel A war novel or military fiction is a novel about war. It is a novel in which the primary action takes place on a battlefield, or in a civilian setting (or home front), where the characters are preoccupied with the preparations for, suffering th ...

by the British writer Philip MacDonald. It is set in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, focusing on the psychological strain on a patrol of British soldiers when they become lost in the

desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...

and surrounded by the enemy. It is sometimes known as ''Lost Patrol''.

Adaptations

The novel was directly adapted into films on two occasions: a 1929 British silent film '' Lost Patrol'' directed by

Walter Summers Walter Summers (1892–1973) was a British film director and screenwriter. Biography Born in Barnstaple to a family of actors, Walter Summers began his career in the family trade; his first contact with filmmaking was as an assistant to America ...

and starring

Cyril McLaglen Cyril McLaglen (9 September 1899 – 11 July 1987) was a British actor who appeared in a variety of films between 1920 and 1951. He was born in London in 1899 and made his film debut in the 1920 film '' The Call of the Road''. He was the youn ...

,Low p.402 and a 1934 American film ''

The Lost Patrol The Lost Patrol is an American rock band whose music falls into the categories of experimental, gothic, post-punk, dark wave, ethereal wave, folk, alternative country, shoegazing, Spaghetti Western and " surf-a-billy". The band uses electric gu ...

'' directed by

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), better known as John Ford, was an American film director and producer. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and w ...

and starring

Victor McLaglen Victor Andrew de Bier Everleigh McLaglen (10 December 1886 – 7 November 1959) was a British-American actor and boxer.Obituary '' Variety'', 11 November 1959, page 79. His film career spanned from the early 1920s through the 1950s, initially ...

Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), known professionally as Boris Karloff () and occasionally billed as Karloff the Uncanny, was a British actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film ''Frankenstei ...

and Reginald Denny. The 1943 American film ''

Sahara The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

'' was based partly on ''Patrol'', but also on an incident in the similar 1936 Soviet film '' The Thirteen''. ''Sahara'' was remade as ''

Last of the Comanches ''Last of the Comanches'' is a 1953 American Western film directed by Andre de Toth and starring Broderick Crawford, Barbara Hale, Johnny Stewart and Lloyd Bridges. The film is a remake of the 1943 World War II film ''Sahara'', starring Hump ...

'' in 1953 and the American-Australian ''

'' in 1995.

References

Bibliography

* Low, Rachael. ''The History of the British Film, 1918-1929''. George Allen & Unwin, 1971.

External links

Full text of ''Patrol'' at HathiTrust Digital Library
1927 British novels British novels adapted into films Novels by Philip MacDonald Novels set in Iraq Novels set during World War I William Collins, Sons books Harper & Brothers books {{1920s-WWI-novel-stub