British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and a group of military officials hatch a daring plan to neutralize Hitler’s fleet of German U-boats during World War II. Made up of a motley crew of rogues and mavericks, the top-secret combat unit uses unconventional techniques to battle the Nazis and change the course of the war.

The film is inspired by true events and based on the declassified files of the British War Department, ‘The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. AKA the SOE and small-scale raiding force (SSRF).

The film is very loosely based on the book of the same name by war journalist Damien Lewis that narrates the recently declassified history of Winston Churchills top-secret department the SOE tasked with developing a fighting force trained in irregular warfare tactics to operate behind German lines and confuse, disrupt, terrorize, exhaust, and demoralize Hitler and his thugs.

Their methodology included all sorts of ungentlemanly things one really isn’t supposed to do in war: assassinations, black operations, bribery, corruption, money laundering, and much more.

For its own tactical inspiration, the SOE and one of its naval officers, Ian Fleming, pilfered lessons-learned from a range of then non-traditional warlords such as T.E. Lawerence, Michael Collins, and Al Capone. This was war with the gloves off.

Their audacious approach changed the course of the war and laid the foundation for the British SAS and modern Black Ops warfare.

Co-written and directed by Guy Ritchie, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare has a stellar cast including Henry Cavill, Eiza González, Alan Ritchson, Alex Pettyfer, Henry Golding, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, and Cary Elwes.

The real operation, Operation Postmaster, was very different to what’s portrayed on screen as I mentioned in Timeout

Obviously, the ‘Official’ post operation report on Postmaster recorded no enemy kills. The report is then buried and only surfaced in 2014, and a war movie with no kills is going to play more like a documentary, which would not be as entertaining for the majority. And movies are made for everyone to enjoy!

So, to the behind the scenes drama of filmmaking and the military advisor providing military solutions to theatrical problems.

Day raid over, night raid.

The background to this scene.

Originally scripted and planned to be a night shoot, but for logistical reasons out of the productions control, the scenes could only be shot during the day.
The MA is summoned to the director for a military solution to the problem.

I suggested two options.

A. The SOE are conducting a close target recce with the intention of a night raid.
Then they see members of the SS turn up, which mean the prisoner is either going to be relocated or shot, so they have to conduct a daylight raid.

B. The majority of the soldiers get on a truck to go to the local town after a bomb, planted by the team goes off as a diversionary tactic, so the camp is not fully maned, and so a daylight raid at that point would be a good idea.

The director went with solution A because he wanted loads of soldiers to get the good news when things got noisy.

I also managed to get Fillyourboots – FYBUK a quick mention.

The 007 draw.

During the fight choreography in the bunker scene, I went into the background of the fighting techniques used by the SOE with the stunt co-ordinator and cast.

As per the teachings of SOE instructor .fairbairn and sykes I encouraged Allan Richardson to use the instinctive one hand, three, quarter hip draw.

Did you know?

The first actor to play James Bond on Dr. No. Sean Connery and his stunt double were trained in preparation for the role by weapons expert Geoffrey Boothroyd, who used the same training manuals

Cooking the Grenade.

Grenades have a second safety feature, which is a lever on the side of the main body, called the striker leaver or spoon, that is held in place by the pin. This spoon holds back a striker.

When you hold a grenade and pull the pin,, you do so in a way that keeps the spoon held down. When the spoon is released, the spring-loaded hammer strikes a primer and lights the fuse. The grenade then has an *approximate* 4–5 second fuse before the grenade detonates.

“Cooking” the grenade involves releasing the spoon, but holding onto the activated grenade for a few seconds, letting the fuse burn before throwing it, to limit the opportunity for an enemy to react to it or even throw it back.

Allan liked it!

Hollywood Magazines

One of my pet hates and something I will pester the cast to remember. Always try to get a magazine change during dialogue. Otherwise, the editor might squeeze it out to cut the time down.