GB
2002
1hr 49mins
Dir: John Henderson
Starring: Kenneth Cranham and Leo Bill
A pair of Royal Army Dental Corps soldiers sneak off on their own personal invasion of France
This wartime drama, based on a true World War II story from Raymond Foxall’s book Amateur Commandos, features some good railway scenes as the two soldiers head from Aldershot to Plymouth by train. Filmed on the Bluebell Railway, Sheffield Park doubled as ‘Aldershot’ and Horsted Keynes as ‘Plymouth’, and the train was hauled by Bulleid ‘West Country’ Class 4-6-2 No.21C123 Blackmoor Vale (a loco not built until 1946). When in France, the two men derail an ammunition train by getting into a signal box. These scenes were filmed on the Mid-Hants Railway at Ropley, with a train hauled by Maunsell N Class 2-6-0 No.31874 disguised for filming as it was running as No.5 James from Thomas the Tank Engine at the time! Unlike the Bulleid ‘Pacific’, this loco is more appropriate for a film set in the Second World War as it was built in 1925. The wreckage after the crash was filmed using models.