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 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.

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"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...

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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."

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#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 "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.

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🪖 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 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.

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🪖 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...

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🧵 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.

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🪖 HARDY - 20th July 1944

Until June 1944, the rich farmland of #Normandy had been relatively untouched by war. #DDay changed that and, as Bert Hardy recorded #OTD 80 years ago, soldiers and farmers sometimes lived side by side...

🧵1/8 AFPUinNWE #WW2 #Photojournalism 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.

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🪖 HARDY - 18th July 1944

In June 1944, war came to #Normandy, exerting a high cost on the civilian population. #OTD in 1944 photographer Bert Hardy joined a family returning to their shattered home.

Join me for a powerful piece of #photojournalism...

🧵 1/12 #AFPUinNWE #WW2 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.

As the Le Du family would discover 10 days later, the fighting had left once familiar streets devastated.

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#OTD in 1944, Sgt John Goddard was in the ruins of Caen.

In #Normandy to film the war, he'd soon be dismissed from AFPU in a downfall which, via the #BritishFilm industry, ended in an appointment with the hangman.

Join me for a #WW2 thread that turns to #TrueCrime...

🧵 1/11 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.

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80 years ago, the overarching #DDay deception campaign, Operation BODYGUARD, was in full swing.

Designed to mislead German intelligence ahead of the landings, these initiatives have proved fertile ground for filmmakers.

A thread of big screen deceptions and daring do... 🧵 1/9





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.

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OTD in 1944, the real "#GreatEscape" was launched.

In time, it inspired a Hollywood epic, but while #TheGreatEscape (1963) is a heavily fictionalised look at the break out of Stalag Luft III, some of those involved knew something of the reality behind their portrayal...

🧵 1/12 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.

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It's 65 years since the first "Carry On" film, CARRY ON SERGEANT (1958), was released.

The film that spawned an iconic franchise drew on the then familiar experience of national service. Indeed, many of the cast had their own military backgrounds. A thread... 👇

🧵 1/11 The film's star, Bob Monkhouse (Pte Sage), received his call-up papers in 1948, completing his national service with the RAF.

But he wasn't the only former airman to where army khaki for the film...

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OTD 75 years ago, the killing of three plantation managers led to the declaration of a state of emergency in #Malaya.

Often overlooked now, the "#MalayanEmergency" was a major event and inspired a number of big screen features.

A thread on those often forgotten films...

🧵 1/9 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).

A morally unambiguous take on the conflict, the film was nonetheless popular with the public.

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80 years ago today, WE DIVE AT DAWN hit UK cinemas. A look at HM Submarines at war, this put British submariners centre stage, but it isn't the only depiction of the silent service on the silver screen...

🧵 1/11 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.

He wanted to know what it felt like when a submarine crash-dived for real. He got his wish, turning green in the process.

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On this day in 1945, 1st Bn Manchester Regiment was in action outside Rethem. It was, according to their CO, "an ideal Machine Gunners battle" and AFPU cameramen were there to capture it...

🧵 1/6 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.

He positioned #VickersMG and mortar platoons on the west bank of the River Aller.

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I WAS MONTY’S DOUBLE (1958) gave M E Clifton James the opportunity to re-live his wartime experiences on the big screen. But what if his co-stars had done the same, and who were their movie doubles? A thread...

🧵 1/13 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...

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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.

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