Benito Mussolini flies to Libya to witness the Italian victory over the British Eighth Army. His arrival is immediately marred by tragedy: the second aircraft collides with a departing bomber, killing three agents and his personal barber, Pietro Sciaretta. Mussolini expects a great victory. Upon arriving in Libya, when he sees trucks carrying British prisoners passing along the Via Balbia, he frowns, grabs a machine gun from an Italian guard, and, juggling it, stands at the side of the road and declares, “If anyone gives me the Victory sign, I’ll shoot them.” The Duce waits another couple of weeks, in vain, but Rommel’s promise to reach Cairo in four days has been shattered by El Alamein.
