Purveyor of tweets, apparently. Mainly history. Member, @RoyalHistSoc. Current research: 1st Bn Manchester Regt in N W Europe (1944-45).
Though Healey had volunteered for the army the day war broke out, he had time to complete his degree and join the Home Guard "to protect Ilkley Moor from attacks from German paratroopers" before he recieved orders to report for basic training.
Giles may have spent the final months of the war in Europe in uniform, but his battledress was a recent addition.
Harden (seated, second left) was one of a number of liaison officers employed by Field Marshal Montgomery with the brief to get out, gather information and report back to the Tactical Headquarters of 21st Army Group.
THE COLDITZ STORY draws on the smash hit memoir of the film's technical advisor - escaper turned author Major Pat Reid.
Donald Pleasence (Blythe) knew first hand the lot of a prisoner of war. 
Edwards had joined the RAF from Oxford, eventually flying with 271 Squadron in Transport Command.
"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.
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.
When AFPU photographer Sgt Bert Hardy visited M. Bekarot's farm at St Manvieu, he discovered some temporary inhabitants - men of 530 Battery, 190 Field Regiment, Royal Artillery. Part of 15th (Scottish) Division, they'd been in #France for a little under a month.
Located to the north west of Caen, the village of Buron had been liberated by men of the 3rd Canadian Division on 8th July 1944.
A far cry from Korda's 1939 technicolor epic THE FOUR FEATHERS - a film on which Goddard cut his teeth as a clapper loader - the scenes shot on 10th July 1944 give a vivid rendering of the realities of a city ravaged by war.
Still technically subject to the Official Secrets Act when it was made, I WAS MONTY’S DOUBLE (1958) gave M E Clifton James the chance to re-live his experiences impersonating General Montgomery in the weeks leading up to #DDay.
Donald Pleasence (Blythe) knew first hand the lot of a prisoner of war. 
The film's star, Bob Monkhouse (Pte Sage), received his call-up papers in 1948, completing his national service with the RAF.
To depict the plight of planters defending their rubber crop from Communist rebels, Rank enlisted Jack Hawkins and Claudette Colbert for THE PLANTER'S WIFE (1952).
WE DIVE AT DAWN (1943) includes scenes of domestic life and boys' own adventure, but it was nautical realism that mattered to star John Mills. 
Rather than being with the infantry brigades and battalions of 53rd (Welsh) Division, their usual practice, the Manchesters were under direct command of their own CO, Lt Col Bill Crozier.
Great War veteran, Clifton James, was serving with the Royal Army Pay Corps when, in 1944, he received a call from David Niven, which led him to Operation Copperhead. The Hollywood star didn't appear in the film. Instead, John Mills was Niven's (almost) double...
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.
