The Rat Patrol
This article is about the TV show. For the bicycle club, see Rat Patrol.The Rat Patrol was an
American TV program that aired on
ABC during the
1966-
1968 seasons. The show followed the exploits of four (three American and one British)
allied soldiers who were part of a long range
desert patrol group in the
North African campaign during
World War II. The show was inspired by and loosely modelled on the
Long Range Desert Group, which used modified
trucks armed with
machine guns as their transport through the treacherous desert terrain. The title of the program refers to the nicknames given to some of the
British forces in the North African campaign (
Rats of Tobruk or
Desert Rats).
The four members of the allied patrol were:
* Sgt. Sam Troy (
Christopher George)
* Sgt Jack Moffitt (
Gary Raymond), the British member of the patrol
* Pvt. Mark T. Hitchcock (
Lawrence Casey), known as "Hitch"
* Pvt. Tully Pettigrew (
Justin Tarr), known as "Tully"Hauptmann (Captain) Hans Dietrich, a
German officer (as well as a man of honor) and the patrol's opponent, was played by:
*
Eric Braeden (then known by his birthname, Hans Gudegast) For a few episodes during the second season, the storyline required the temporary absence of Tully. Three different characters took turns rounding out the patrol until Tully returned. These characters were:
*Peterson (
Darwin Joston)
*Andy (
Mac McLaughlin)
*Bo Randall (
Bo Hopkins)
* A total of fifty-six 30-minute episodes were produced.
*
The Rat Patrol was the first ABC war program to be broadcast in color.
* Justin Tarr had a successful career as a hairstylist in
Colorado before taking the role of Tully Pettigrew.
* On
January 31,
2006, Season 1 of
The Rat Patrol was released on DVD. The four disc set contains 32 episodes.
* The release date of the Season 2 DVDs has not yet been announced.
*
*
Bigredhair.com Rat Patrol fan site*
Klio.net Rat Patrol fan site*
Sun Compass Rat Patrol fan site
