Martin Whincup Profile picture
Jan 23, 2023 16 tweets 13 min read Read on X
The battle of #RorkesDrift ended 144 years ago today. A distant battle in a long gone war, its place in popular history relies as much on a film as it does the gallantry rewarded with 11 VCs.

But there's more to the story of the #VictoriaCross and cinema. A thread.

THREAD 1/14
The idea for ZULU (1964) came when Cy Endfield picked up a copy of Lilliput. John Prebble's article "Slaughter in the Sun" became #Zulu a few years later - recounting an underdog action which yielded 11 VCs and launched the career of a cinema great along the way.

THREAD 2/14
ZULU DAWN (1979) sought to cash in on the success of its predecessor by depicting the Battle of #Isandlwana. Some big names make up a strong ensemble cast, share the story of two more VCs (Melvill and Coghill), and put the events at #RorkesDrift into wider context.

THREAD 3/14
Context is key too in THE DAM BUSTERS (1955), depicting the last in a series of operations that would win Guy Gibson the #VictoriaCross.

As much about technical ingenuity and teamwork as individual valour, #Dambusters showcases the remarkable men of #617Squadron.

THREAD 4/14
Playing a small part in a much bigger story is the raid which earned Geoffrey Keyes a posthumous VC. THE DESERT FOX (1951) names neither Operation Flipper nor the commando commander of its opening engagement as Holywood does its bit to push the #Rommel myth.

THREAD 5/14
John Baskeyfield gets full billing in the independently made short BASKEYFIELD VC (1969). Filmed over three years, Bill Townley accurately depicts the determination of a brave NCO during the Battle of Arnhem.

THREAD 6/14
Not all VC winners are so unambiguously depicted. Staying in Arnhem, the epic A BRIDGE TOO FAR (1977) gives us Major Carlyle. Presented as an umbrella wielding eccentric, he is an amalgamation of two real officers - Digby Tatham-Warter and VC winner, John Grayburn.

THREAD 8/14
THE GIFT HORSE (1952) goes further. It gives HMS Campbeltown a new name and replaces skipper Stephen Beattie with Trevor Howard's Fraser. While the scriptwriters enjoyed licence with their fictitious crew, the events that won Beattie his VC at St Nazaire remain.

THREAD 9/14
Donald Cameron is another naval VC who'd be forgiven for not recognising himself on screen. John Mills' ABOVE US THE WAVES (1955) and James Caan's SUBMARINE X-1 (1968) loosely use his operation as their source material.

THREAD 9/14
Fictional VC portrayals give filmmakers liberty to explore different issues. In RYAN'S DAUGHTER (1970), David Lean uses the shell-shocked Maj Doryan VC to remind viewers that medal winners are human and that conspicuous gallantry takes place amid the horrors of war.

THREAD 10/14
THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP (1943) gives a depiction of the way a VC and the unwanted "celebrity" it can bring can change people's expectations and attitudes - "You're Candy!" exclaims an otherwise dismissive officer upon seeing the medal.

THREAD 11/14
Reverence, honour, and even jealousy are all responses explored in CARRINGTON VC (1954), a court room drama in which - in keeping with theatrical tradition that fake decorations should not be worn - David Niven is seen wearing the VC won by Arthur Cross in 1918.

THREAD 12/14
Perhaps surprisingly, given the drama involved with winning a Victoria Cross, cinema isn't awash with depictions.

Maybe there's a degree of reverence towards those who have shown gallantry of the highest order - something picked up in CONDUCT UNBECOMING (1975)

THREAD 13/14
Perhaps, though it's that those who win the VC are often "ordinary" men, with otherwise uncinematic lives, but who have shown the capacity for extraordinary valour.

At least one - Daniel Laidlaw VC - got the chance show why he wasn't ordinary in THE GUNS OF LOOS (1928).

THREAD
Interested in #Zulu? Well worth having a listen to @almurray and @James1940 share some thoughts on @WeHaveWaysPod

#WeHaveWays #WNTL

open.spotify.com/episode/3edFxB…
Want to know more about Baskeyfield VC? Don't miss @RM_Mili_History and @historicfirearm on @FightingOnFilm #FOF

open.spotify.com/episode/4vfpU0…

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More from @whincupm

Jan 25
#OTD 70 years ago, prisoner of war drama, THE COLDITZ STORY (1955) was released.

Packed with pluck and boys own adventure, it cemented an image of that iconic Oflag that's been repeated ever since, but it's not where that popular image began (or ended)...

🧵 1/9 #WW2 #Film Image
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THE COLDITZ STORY draws on the smash hit memoir of the film's technical advisor - escaper turned author Major Pat Reid.

Released in 1952, this classic account remains in print, though Reid himself acknowledged it (and his outlook) owe much to another formative influence.

🧵 2/9 Image
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Long before he'd set foot inside Colditz, a young Reid had been thrilled by stories of #WW1 POW escapes by the likes of A J Evans.

The one time test cricketer felt "escaping was the greatest sport in the world", an outlook writ large in Reid's chronicals of Colditz.

🧵 3/9 Image
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Read 9 tweets
Dec 21, 2024
For many, watching The Great Escape (1963) over the #Christmas period has become an annual tradition.

But, with real wartime experiences to draw on, for some of those involved in the film, the production inspired more than memories of seasonal cinema...

🧵 1/12 Image
Donald Pleasence (Blythe) knew first hand the lot of a prisoner of war.

A Wireless Operator/Air Gunner in the RAF, he was shot down on a daylight raid over France and, after enduring a long march to the Baltic, found himself in a POW camp alongside American airmen.

🧵 2/12 Image
Richard Attenborough (Bartlett) couldn't draw on the same experience, but he had flown over wartime Europe.

A member of the Royal Air Force Film Production Unit, he flew with Bomber Command and filmed the whirlwind being reaped from the exposed turret of a rear gunner.

🧵 3/12 Image
Read 12 tweets
Sep 21, 2024
"In the end, both my engines weren't fully fine"

#OTD in 1944 Flt Lt Jimmy Edwards climbed into his Dakota on a mission to resupply troops at #Arnhem.

After the war, he became a renowned comedian, but his experiences on 21st Sept were no laughing matter...

🧵 1/12 #Arnhem80
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Edwards had joined the RAF from Oxford, eventually flying with 271 Squadron in Transport Command.

He'd go on to deliver airborne forces into #Normandy on #DDay, of which he'd later say, "although I was part of it, I felt more like a spectator than anything else."

🧵 2/12 Image: IWM (CL 2166)
Edwards had a similar role on the first day of #OperationMarketGarden, towing a glider as part of the vast armada of aircraft heading for Holland.

Though beset by engine troubles, his Dakota (KG444) returned safely to Britain.

A few days later, he wasn't so lucky...

🧵 3/12 Image: IWM (EA 37974)
Read 12 tweets
Aug 25, 2024
#OTD in 1944, a small group of British film makers edged jeeps ladened with cameras and bedecked with the union jack onto the streets of #Paris.

There, they found - and recorded - scenes of euphoria...

🧵 1/5 #AFPUinNWE #WW2 #Paris80 #LiberationofParis #LibérationdeParis Image: IWM (BU 153)
"We were suddenly aware that the crowds were getting bigger and bigger, the cheering was getting louder, the avenue for our passage of jeeps was getting narrower" recalled cameraman, Sgt Ernie Walter.

🧵 2/5 #AFPUinNWE
🎥 IWM A70 137-2
"We were brought to a standstill by these huge crowds, who became quite hysterical" (Walter).

Around them, champagne and kisses were the order of the day - one which Capt Roy Boulting's would assess as "for me, I think, the greatest day of the war".

🧵 3/5 #AFPUinNWE
Read 5 tweets
Aug 10, 2024
🪖 HARDY - 10th August 1944

#OTD in 1944, Sgt Bert Hardy photographed a sniper-clearing party of 1/5 Welch "in action".

The images were staged, but give a fascinating insight into counter-sniper work in #Normandy. Let's follow them on a sniper hunt...

🧵 1/16 #AFPUinNWE #WW2 Image: IWM B 8964
Before setting out, the Intelligence Officer - who, among other duties, was usually in charge of the snipers in his own battalion - briefed the NCOs and men on what to look out for.

🧵 2/16 #AFPUinNWE Image: IWM B 8949
Briefing complete, the men set out, keeping a look out for signs of activity and using what cover was available to them.

🧵 3/16 #AFPUinNWE Image: IWM B 8950
Read 16 tweets
Jul 28, 2024
🪖 LEATHERBARROW & MIDGLEY

#OTD in 1944, the first ATS servicewomen landed in #Normandy and AFPU cameramen were there to capture the scene.

Let's meet five of those stepping onto Juno beach 80 years ago this evening...

🎥 A70 103-4
🧵 1/5 #AFPUinNWE #WW2
Among that first party of 24 members of the Auxiliary Territorial Service was Pte Marjorie Johnstone from Ruislip. She, like many of those landing, likely acted as a clerk in the beachhead, but some would take on other tasks.

🧵 2/5 #AFPUinNWE #WW2 Image: IWM B 8156
Cpl Joyce Collins and L/Cpl Celia Strong would carry out duties with the Corps of Military Police.

They are pictured here speaking to MP L/Cpl Martin, a man who had experienced war in France, something at least one ATS servicewoman shared...

🧵 3/5 #AFPUinNWE Image: IWM B 8154
Read 5 tweets

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