(THE) COCKLESHELL HEROES

GB
1955
1hr 37mins
Dir: José Ferrer
Starring: Trevor Howard and José Ferrer

A fictionalised account of Operation Frankton, the December 1942 raid by canoe-borne British commandos on shipping in Bordeaux Harbour

Part of the plot of this war drama centres on the Marines undergoing training, including a cross-country ingenuity exercise in which some of the characters get a ride home by train. Featured in this long running montage are quite a number of very good railway scenes that include, in order: an ex-SR S15 Class 4-6-0 on a freight passing beneath Chertsey Road between Addlestone and Chertsey stations in Surrey; some very good shots of the closed Fort Brockhurst station on the Gosport branch with ex-LSWR T9 Class 4-4-0 No.30729 skipping through tender first with a single PMV in tow; a scene looking down on Chertsey station with a 2 BIL EMU arriving in the platform on Headcode 18 (Waterloo-Weybridge via Richmond); a shot of Shepperton station with pre-war Southern coaching stock pulling away; and ex-LNER F5 Class 2-4-2T No.67208 (with yellow smokebox number plate?) on a local passenger service at North Woolwich station in East London. For a film set in World War Two, all the trains that feature are in the BR era, but at least there are some rare colour images. Fort Brockhurst, for instance, had closed to passengers in 1953 two years before filming, and North Woolwich has also now gone, closed to passengers in 2006. Most film posters depict the film title without the definite article.

A mixed freight approaches the Chertsey Road overbridge, between Addlestone and Chertsey in Surrey. The loco is an ex-SR S15 Class 4-6-0.
This is Military Road level crossing at Fort Brockhurst in Hampshire
This fine shot is of the former Fort Brockhurst station on the Gosport branch from Fareham. The loco is Class T9 4-4-0 No.30729 running tender first. This is a very rare glimpse of the station which closed in 1953, even rarer to see it in colour.
Traffic resumes after the passage of the train. This shot shows the former station buildings in a little more clarity.
David Lodge crosses the old Railway Approach bridge in Chertsey, with the station behind. A 2 BIL EMU is arriving into platform 2 on a Headcode 18 service to Weybridge. The bridge was demolished in 1994 when the road was upgraded and diverted.
The forecourt to Shepperton station with a train in the platform on the left
This is the only non-Southern image in the film. North Woolwich station in London’s E16. The locomotive visible behind the toilet block is ex-LNER F5 Class 2-4-2T No.67208 (the smokebox number plate appears to be of a strange yellow hue?!)