Death or Glory

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Duration: 50 minutes

First transmitted in 1968, this documentary shows life in the British Army of the Rhine as seen through the eyes of one of its regiments, the 17th/21st Lancers, as they complete a tour of duty. It reveals how they manage their routine whilst guarding the Cold War East German front and how they try to live a normal life with their families in a foreign and sometimes alien environment.

  • BBC Four Army Collection

    BBC Four Army Collection

    This programme is part of Army: A Very British Institution, a collection of classic BBC programmes about the British Armed Forces available online to watch in full.

    Go to the BBC Four Army Collection

  • More about this programme

    "Death or Glory" is the motto of the Queen's Royal Lancers, but in this particular case, life is mostly about boredom and maintaining discipline for the troops patrolling the Cold War border between East and West Berlin.

  • About BBC Four Collection programmes

    Programmes are selected, in part, for their historical context and reflect the broadcast standards and attitudes of their time, which may not accord to some current BBC editorial guidelines. We aim to select programmes which can be shown in their entirety but in some cases edits are required. In these cases, edits are kept to a minimum and are made only for technical reasons.

Credits

Narrator
Malcolm Brown
Producer
Malcolm Brown

Broadcasts

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