Chapter Overview

The futility of the Western Front convinces Indy to request transfer to Africa, where he hopes the war has more meaning and movement. Once in Africa, the familiarities of trenches have no time to sink in as Indy is sent on a mission to find the elusive and destructive Phantom Train of Doom. To accomplish his mission, Indy teams up with some of the allies, older, but wilier leaders in this fast-paced adventure that takes Indy and his cohorts all over East Africa. In true Indy fashion the group slips behind enemy lines to fire off the Phantom Train one last time.
Elusive targets seem to be a forte for Indy as he is quickly sent off to track down and capture the foxy German General, Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck. Whether by carriage, hot air balloon, or on foot, Indy manages to overcome the harsh African terrain to capture the General, only to face giant termites, lions, natives… and his father?

People and Topics

Documentary Previews

Below you will find information about each documentary that supplements Phantom Train of Doom.

Chasing the Phantom: Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck	The war in East Africa was far different from the hell of the Western Front. The stories that emerged there had a human dimension, where individuals could actually put their imprint on this war. One of the most memorable and notable legends to emerge was German Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, who led his German troops in a game of cat and mouse against the British over hundreds of miles of harsh African terrain, a game von Lettow had nearly always won. Produced and written by Karena O'Riordan. Running Time: (0:24:53) Exclusive Documentary Preview! No video? Watch in Flash!
Dreaming of Africa: The Life of Frederick Selous	Frederick Selous was a hunter, explorer, and celebrated author. Most of all, he was the envy of thrill-seekers everywhere, who coveted his life of mystery and danger. So large a figure was he that no less than Theodore Roosevelt considered him a hero. But when Selous first set foot in Africa decades earlier, he was a lost teenager with a big dream of finding adventure on the African continent. He had no idea what lay ahead. Produced and written by Karena O'Riordan. Running Time: (0:25:06) Exclusive Documentary Preview! No video? Watch in Flash!
At Home and Abroad: The Two Faces of Jan Smuts	As the only man to sign both the Treaty of Versailles at the end of World War I and the Paris Peace Treaty that brought an end to World War II, Jan Christiaan Smuts was a voice for democracy and freedom. He also helped draft the charter of the United Nations. But back in his native South Africa, Smuts' policies were anything but forward-thinking. This man gifted with insight and charisma did not use these talents to push for a more inclusive racial vision, which could have saved the country decades of trauma and strife. Produced by Adam Sternberg. Written by Adam Sternberg and Lisa Clark. Running Time: (0:32:16) Exclusive Documentary Preview! No video? Watch in Flash!

Indy Connections: Phantom Train of Doom

Below are current event articles that relate to events, topics, and people found in Phantom Train of Doom.

Rare World War I Images Found Inside Antique Camera By Photographer Anton Orlov

huffingtonpost.com

1/11/2013

A blogger passionate about historic photography techniques serendipitously found some old photos inside his newly-purchased camera. As in, World War I old. Last week, Anton Orlov of the Photo Palace blog was cleaning the Jumelle Belllieni stereoscopic camera that he'd bought at an antique store a few days prior, and found the images completely by accident. According to his blog, he opened the film chamber and saw the negatives on a stack of glass plates.

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Document Deep Dive: What Did the Zimmermann Telegram Say?

Smithsonian.com

8/21/2012

On January 17, 1917, British code breakers in Room 40, the cryptoanalysis office of Great Britain’s Naval Intelligence, intercepted a telegram from Germany. At first, they suspected the coded message was a routine communication. But, soon enough, the cryptologists found that what they held in their hands was a top-secret missive that would shift the tides of World War I. Chances are that you have studied the Zimmermann Telegram in a history class, but have you ever actually seen the coded message? German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann sent the diplomatic message to Heinrich von Eckardt, the German ambassador in Mexico City, instructing him to speak to the president of Mexico. He proposed that the two nations strike an alliance; if Mexico waged war against the United States, thereby distracting Americans from the conflict in Europe, Germany would lend support and help Mexico reclaim Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.

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Hitler postcard found in World War I project

bbc.co.uk

5/2/2012

A previously unknown postcard sent by Adolf Hitler when he was a soldier in World War I has been uncovered in a European history project. Hitler's postcard, sent in 1916 when he was recovering from a war wound, was found in Munich, Germany. Oxford University is providing expert advice to the Europeana 1914-1918 project which runs history roadshows. When the postcard was identified, the university's Dr Stuart Lee said he "felt a shudder run through me". "I found it hard to believe that at a local event to record ordinary people's stories, I was seeing a previously unknown document in Hitler's own hand," said Dr Lee.

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Closing the Pigeon Gap

Smithsonian.com

4/17/2012

At midnight on November 12, 1870, two French balloons, inflated with highly flammable coal gas and manned by desperate volunteers, took off from a site in Monmartre, the highest point in Paris. The balloons rose from a city besieged "the Franco-Prussian War had left Paris isolated, and the city had been hastily encircled by the Prussian Army" and they did so on an unlikely mission. They carried with them several dozen pigeons, gathered from lofts across the city, that were part of a last-ditch attempt to establish two-way communication between the capital and the French provisional government in Tours, 130 miles southwest.

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End of an era as last surviving First World War veteran dies just days before her 111th birthday

dailymail.co.uk

2/8/2012

The world's last surviving First World War veteran has died - marking the end of an era in British history. Florence Green, who joined the war effort in September 1918, when she was aged just 17, passed away in her sleep at a Norfolk care home just two weeks before her 111th birthday. The great-grandmother, who lived through all but 400 days of the 20th century, signed up to the Women's Royal Air Force two months before the end of the First World War. She was the last surviving person to have seen active service in the Great War following the death of British-born sailor Claude Choules in Australia last year.

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Inside the real Birdsong tunnels: Never-before-seen images of the mines dug by British 'clay-kickers' under German lines in First World War

dailymail.co.uk

1/27/2012

Flanders fields today bears little sign of the four years of war that claimed so many thousands of lives and ravaged this small corner of the Western Front. But further down, deep below the surface there remains a constant reminder of the bravery and daring of the men who risked their lives for their country.

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Peace on the Western Front, Goodwill in No Man's Land - The Story of the World War I Christmas Truce

Smithsonian.com

12/23/2011

Even at the distance of a century, no war seems more terrible than World War I. In the four years between 1914 and 1918, it killed or wounded more than 25 million people, peculiarly horribly, and (in popular opinion, at least) for less apparent purpose than did any other war before or since. Yet there were still odd moments of joy and hope in the trenches of Flanders and France, and one of the most remarkable came during the first Christmas of the war, a few brief hours during which men from both sides on the Western Front laid down their arms, emerged from their trenches, and shared food, carols, games and comradeship.

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Remembering Henry Johnson, the Soldier Called "Black Death"

Smithsonian.com

10/25/2011

Like hundreds of thousands of young American men, Henry Johnson returned from World War I and tried to make a life for himself in spite of what he had experienced in a strange and distant land. With dozens of bullet and shrapnel wounds, he knew he was lucky to have survived. His discharge records erroneously made no mention of his injuries, and so Johnson was denied not only a Purple Heart, but a disability allowance as well. Uneducated and in his early twenties, Henry Johnson had no expectations that he could correct the errors in his military record. He simply tried to carry on as well as a black man could in the country he had been willing to give his life for.

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Gavrilo Princip's Sandwich

Smithsonian.com

9/15/2011

It was the great flash point of the 20th century, an act that set off a chain reaction of calamity: two World Wars, 80 million deaths, the Russian Revolution, the rise of Hitler, the atomic bomb. Yet it might never have happened - we're now told had Gavrilo Princip not got hungry for a sandwich.

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WWI underground: Unearthing the hidden tunnel war

bbc.co.uk

6/10/2011

Archaeologists are beginning the most detailed ever study of a Western Front battlefield, an untouched site where 28 British tunnellers lie entombed after dying during brutal underground warfare. For WWI historians, it's the "holy grail". When military historian Jeremy Banning stepped on to a patch of rough scrubland in northern France four months ago, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

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