Move aside, Leni - "Henry V", produced and directed by the late Lord Olivier, was one of the very greatest propaganda movies of all time and a major artistic achievement in its own right by any standards.

This movie production of Shakespeare's "Henry V" was conceived in 1943, and reached the screen in 1944.  From Olivier's point of view as producer/director/actor, dealing with the studio production elements in the context of wartime Britain was difficult enough - but how to express his vision of the open plains of battle in France ?  The answer - move them to the Curragh of Kildare in the Irish Free State, where horses and riders were readily available.

One problem - Henry V's enemies were French, not German.  Some sensitivity was required here.  As a result, the French are presented (consistently with the play's text) as rather arrogant, but basically decent and honoourable.  The trick worked.

The result of all this was a great movie as well as a very useful propaganda tool, boosting the morale of Britain as the final push of WW2 was imminent.  If you have not seen it - seek it out !  Best regards, JR.

"And gentlemen in England now a-bed"(2)

"Europe against Bolshevism", a poster part of the ongoing campaign of the German authorities to raise enthusiasm and recruits from the populations of occupied western European states for their "crusade in the East".  This example is specifically targeted at the French; variants existed for use in other occupied states.  This call to arms met with a substantial response from anti-Communists in the West.  Substantial numbers of volunteers answered this call, almost always on a purely voluntary basis, almost always subject to a guarantee (always honoured) that these recruits would be employed in fighting the Soviets only.  The situation of "volunteers" to German formations in the East was quite different; there, substantial recourse was had to conscription in various forms, especially when it came to local ethnic Germans, to fill out the ranks of supposedly "volunteer" units.

This "Nazi heritage" is an uncomfortable legacy of the war in a number of west European countries, for understandable reasons.  The discomfort is enhanced for those who are aware of the matter by the fact that several of the "founding fathers" of the present European Union had distinctly spotty records when it came to pro-Nazi wartime activities.  This is not to say that the EU is National Socialist in any direct way; it is, however, approaching the point of becoming a totalitarian "consultative bureaucracy", and recent accessions to the Union, not to mention recent developments in the Ukraine, suggest to some that the EU has an agenda of bringing eastern Europe under its sway by substituting a particular brand of politics and diplomacy for panzers.  One of the people so convinced would appear to be Vladimir Putin and, up to a point at least, it is hard to deny that he may have a point ... Yours from under the desk, JR.

Call for Crusaders.

Not exactly a He-111 H-3 taking part in the Battle of Britain, but a pretty good imitation; a CASA 2.111 taking part in the movie, "Battle of Britain", 1969.

The Construccions Aeronauticas SA (CASA) 2.111 was a Spanish version of the later-war German Heinkel He-16,, built from 1945 by the named Spanish aircraft construction company on the basis of a German license.  Some 130 examples of the type were produced for use by the Spanish Air Force.  These were still in service (albeit arriving at its end) in Spain in the late-1960s.  The producers of the movie, "Battle of Britain" obtained the use of 32 of these aircraft for air and ground sequences, part of a major effort made to achieve the greatest possible authenticity.  In this area, as in others, the result is most successful, though purists will quibble.

One interesting point - the demise of Nazi Germany in 1945 created a problem for CASA, insofar as the intended German engines became unavailable.  The company found an alternative - the Rolls Royce Merlin 500.  As a result (and somewhat ironically) most of the aircraft used in the "Battle of Britain" movie mounted the classic Rolls Royce Merlin engine.

I find the "Battle of Britain" movie a bit of a "curate's egg" in some respects.  The script is rather wooden and "worthy", but bearable.  It certainly takes some liberties with history, but not too many.  After all, composite and "representative" characters are unavoidable in such cases, and it does a much better job in this respect than, for example, the movie, "Battle of the Bulge".  Equipment and period authenticity are to a very high standard, and the cast (especially the British cast) is stellar and on top form.  And as for Susannah York in suspenders .... plug in my pacemaker there, Doc ...  The aerial combat sequences are superbly done.  Then there is the magnificent opening credits - worth watching the movie to see this sequence alone.  I like it more now than I did when I saw it first.  Must be Getting Old ... Best regards, JR.