Giovedi’ 11 marzo 2004 conferenza stampa alle ore 11 con
la troupe inglese di “Discovery Channel” a Canne della Battaglia:
personalità e strategie di Annibale e Alessandro Magno
a confronto con due Generali veterani della Guerra del Golfo 1991
nel documentario che ricostruisce la disfatta di Roma del 216 a.C.

Giovedì 11 Marzo la troupe inglese della casa di produzione televisiva Shine Ltd di Londra girerà a Canne della Battaglia un documentario della durata complessiva di circa un’ora destinato alla tv satellitare Discovery Channel per la nuova serie “Clash of the Generals”. Importante presenza giornalistica internazionale resa possibile grazie all’impegno congiunto dell’Amministrazione Comunale di Barletta e della Direzione di Alberobello Puglia Film Commission, in stretta collaborazione fra l’Authority Comunale per Canne della Battaglia ed il Comitato Italiano Pro Canne della Battaglia. La troupe giungerà in Italia da Cartagine.

La ricostruzione della famosa disfatta di Roma dell’agosto 216 avanti Cristo, argomento di grande attualità nell’arte militare di tutto il mondo, sarà affidata alle interviste esclusive di due famosi generali veterani della Guerra del Golfo 1991, invitati appositamente a Canne della Battaglia per la particolare circostanza dal regista e sceneggiatore Mike Ibeji, già professore di storia romana antica alla University of Birmingham ed attualmente realizzatore di documentari storici a tema in collaborazione con la ricercatrice Lorna Sutton.

Si tratta del generale inglese Sir Peter de la Billiere, pluridecorato cavaliere dell’Impero britannico e veterano anche della Guerra delle Falkland, che in Iraq comandava un corpo di élite, le truppe speciali di assalto SAS, e del generale americano Charles A. “Chuck” Corner, capo delle forze aeree statunitensi nell’operazione “Desert Storm”, entrambi massimi collaboratori del comandante in capo delle truppe anglo-americane Gen. Norman Schwarzkop che inflisse a Saddam Husseim la prima sconfitta sotto il governo del Presidente Bush senior replicando la tattica cosiddetta “a tenaglia” applicata da Annibale contro l’esercito romano a Canne della Battaglia. In allegato le biografie complete.

Per la prima volta nella realizzazione di un simile documentario, sarà impiegato un elicottero della Polizia di Stato ( 9° Reparto Volo di Bari) : le riprese aeree dimostreranno l’ampiezza della manovra di Annibale nella Valle dell’Ofanto, lo schieramento dei due poderosi eserciti in campo, la visione strategica del comandante cartaginese posta a confronto con un altro genio militare dell’antichità, Alessandro Magno.

Conferenza-stampa nella pausa delle riprese alle ore 11 con l’intervento delle Autorità.

COMITATO ITALIANO PRO CANNE DELLA BATTAGLIA – BARLETTA
Il Presidente del Consiglio di Amministrazione - Rag. Vitantonio Vinella

General Sir Peter de la Billiere

Sir Peter de la Billiere was born in 1934 to Surgeon Lieutenant Commander Denis de La Billiere and Kitty Lawley. He was educated at Harrow, the Army Staff College in Camberley and the Royal College of Defence Studies in London.

Sir Peter’s career has taken him from the bottom rank to the very top. He joined the army as a regular private soldier, but was quickly selected for officer training then commissioned into the Durham Light Infantry (DLI).

His first tour began in Japan, in preparation to act as reinforcement to the regiments in Korea. In 1953, aged just 19 he was sent to Korea for a three month tour.

Having passed the rigorous testing in the UK and Malaya, he was accepted into the elite SAS and commanded troops in the jungles of Singapore and the desert of Oman before returning to UK.

For much of the first half of the 1960s, Sir Peter deployed on various tours including Aden and Borneo, where he was awarded a bar to his Military Cross. After four years as second-in-command of 22 SAS in Oman, he assumed the post of Commanding Officer 22 SAS.

Here followed detailed work developing a counter-terrorist team within the SAS and various training posts including running the British Army Training team in Khartoum. He returned to the UK in 1978 and, aged 44, took on the post of Director, SAS group. During his tour in this post Peter managed problems in Northern Ireland, the Iranian Embassy Siege and the Falklands War. This led to his appointment, in 1984, as Military Commissioner and Commander of British Forces in the Falkland Islands. At this point as a Lieutenant General he had command of the largest United Kingdom district command at that time, directing some 90,000 military and civilian personnel. This culminated with his appointment as British Forces Commander Middle east, in 1990. He commanded all three services throughout the preparation, lead-up to the Gulf war and throughout the Gulf war itself and carried out Operation Desert Storm in conjunction with General Norman Schwarzkopf, based to a large extent on the strategies developed by Hannibal.

After the Gulf Sir Peter was promoted to General and appointed KBE (Knight of the British Empire). He became military adviser to the British Government, spending 12 months advising on defence policies. He retired from the army in 1992.

Gen. Charles A. "Chuck" Horner

General Chuck Horner was born in Davenport, Iowa, in 1936. He grew up in Iowa, went to high school in Des Moines and then enrolled in the University of Iowa in 1954. After a time in the Reserve Officer Training Corps, he joined United States Air Force. He earned a degree and a commission in 1958 and then trained at Spence AFB, Georgia, and Laredo AFB, Texas. He was awarded pilot wings in 1959 and, following combat crew training, joined the 492nd Tactical Fighter Squadron in England. Three years later he returned to the US. He volunteered for combat duty in Southeast Asia, and was deployed to Thailand. After six months, he returned to the States and became an instructor. In May 1967, Horner returned to Thailand and flew 70 missions attacking enemy surface-to-air missile sites. He then returned as an instructor and liaison officer at the Air Force Tactical Fighter Weapons School.
Between October 1969 and August 1975, he was a staff officer at Tactical Air Command (TAC) Headquarters and Headquarters USAF and then attended the National War College. He went on to lead two tactical fighter wings, two air divisions, and the Air Defense Weapons Center. In 1987, he took command of Ninth Air Force and U.S. Central Command Air Forces. When the Gulf War began in 1990, General Horner accompanied General Norman Schwarzkopf to brief President Bush, and then went on to Saudi Arabia. Operation DESERT SHIELD began and Horner became the architect of air operations. He was promoted at the end of the Gulf War and completed a distinguished career leading the North American Aerospace Defense Command and the Air Force Space Command. General Horner retired in 1994 with more than 5,300 flying hours in a variety of fighters, including 111 combat missions over North Vietnam. He now lives near Eglin AFB, Florida, with his wife, Mary Jo.

Mike Ibeji – Series Producer

Mike Ibeji is a television producer who specialises in making history documentaries. He began his career as a Lecturer in Ancient History, specialising in the Roman Army, and taught history at the University of Birmingham between 1990-1994.

In 1994, he joined the BBC. There, he entered the BBC History Unit, where he helped to create Simon Schama’s History of Britain, and was a Producer on the first two series of that Landmark documentary programme. He left the BBC in 2001 to become a freelance Series Producer, and since then has worked on a variety of history projects for the BBC, Channel 4 and the Discovery Channel.

Mike’s interest in Hannibal and the Battle of Cannae began at an early age. When he was 12 years old, he read a book about Hannibal, and was so impressed with the genius of this man that he decided to become an historian. He continued his love of Hannibal when he was a student, following the route of Hannibal through Italy and visiting the site of Canne della Battaglia in 1985. Now, 19 years later, he is fulfilling an ambition to come back and tell the world how Hannibal won against all the odds at the Battle of Cannae.

Lorna Sutton - Researcher

Lorna Sutton was born in London but grew up in Belgium and Japan, completing her education with French Baccalaureat. Having auditioned for and been accepted at the London Studio Centre, she trained as a professional dancer and was awarded a diploma in Musical Theatre. Her dance career having been cut short through injury, Lorna read Law with French Law at University College London, which included a year spent studying Law at university in Aix-en-Provence, France. Whilst at university, she joined the University Officer Training Corps, a branch of the Territorial Army. On graduation, she successfully applied for the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and was commissioned a year later into the Army Air Corps.

During her five years in the Army, she trained as a pilot on both fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft before transferring to the Royal Army Medical Corps. As a Medical Support Officer, she planned, equipped and commanded isolated Field Hospitals in Bosnia, Kosovo and Oman, as well as serving as the UK/US liaison officer in Kosovo and representing the British Army with senior dignitaries both in the UK and abroad. Lorna played polo for the Academy, was selected to represent the Army at basketball and enjoys a variety of sports.

In July 2002, Lorna left the Army and decided to return to her roots in entertainment and forge a career in television. After the requisite unpaid work, and having reached the final of a BBC competition, she successfully obtained work as a researcher on a historical documentary and has continued to build on her experience ever since. Having travelled and lived abroad, Lorna is bilingual in French, has conversational Japanese and Italian and speaks basic German. In her spare time, she works as a volunteer on Hospital Radio Stations, is a fitness fanatic and enjoys travelling and the theatre.