Tag: Arnhem

Fighting On Film: The Forgotten Battle (2021)

We are zipping up our Denisons, checking our Rifle No.4s and climbing aboard our Horsa Glider for this week’s look at the brand new Dutch war film ‘The Forgotten Battle‘, directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. it boasts the second largest budget ever for for a Dutch film at around €14 million. With a cast of British and Dutch actors ‘The Forgotten Battle’ is sett during the the Battle of the Scheldt in 1944.

The film is an ambitious attempt to combine three storylines into a film just over 2 hours long. Competently made with some decent performances and a real eye for Mise-en-scène and atmosphere. The Forgotten Battle attempts to cram in too much and largely forgets the ‘Forgotten Battle‘ of the title. While the film brings us three engaging and potentially fascinating story lines that tackle the moral choices that faced soldiers and civilians alike during war, however, there is not enough time or space for them to all develop and ‘The Forgotten Battle’ may have been better adapted as a limited series. We explore all this in this week’s episode!

The episode is also available on all other podcast platforms, you can find them here.

Here are some stills from the film:

If you enjoy the podcast then please check out our Patreon here. Be sure to follow Fighting On Film on Twitter @FightingOnFilm, on Facebook and don’t forget to check out www.fightingonfilm.com.

Thanks for listening!

A PIAT from Arnhem

Last weekend at the We Have Ways podcast’s history festival the Airborne Assault Museum brought along a very interesting piece of history – a PIAT with Arnhem provenance. The PIAT had allegedly been dropped during Operation Market Garden but not used. At some point after the battle it was discovered by locals and handed into the Doorwerth Castle Museum, the original airborne museum before it moved to the Hartenstein, and was subsequently gifted the the UK’s Airborne Assault Museum in the 1950s.

Discussing the PIAT with Ramsay of the Airborne Assault Museum (Matthew Moss)

The museum believes the PIAT has much of its original paint and in general the weapon is in excellent shape. It has the earlier rear sight with two apertures for 70 and 100 yards, the later design had three – with a maximum range of 110 yards. This PIAT’s monopod could still be raised and lowered, to elevate the weapon upto 40-degrees for indirect firing.

A close up of the PIAT (Mattthew Moss)

The indirect fire quadrant sight is in good condition – complete with its spirit level. The weapon also appears to have its original white indirect fire aiming line along the top of its body and almost pristine webbing – though the butt cover is frayed which isn’t uncommon. Sadly the weapon has been deactivated so we couldn’t open up the action or cock the weapon. It seems to have been welded at the front and rear of the body.

The PIAT is in great shape, albeit deactivated, and it was a pleasure to take a look at a weapon which could be traced back to the battle. Thank you to Ramsay, Ben and Allen of the Airborne Assault Museum for allowing me to examine and film the PIAT, check out the museum’s website here.

Click here for more articles and videos on the PIAT.

If you enjoyed this video and article please consider supporting our work here. We have some great perks available for Patreon Supporters. You can pick up a ‘Bring Up The PIAT’ shirt here. Thank you for your support!

Fighting On Film: Baskeyfield VC

In the last of this month’s Market Garden specials we bring you a very special look at an amateur feature from the 1960s.

‘Baskeyfield VC‘ tells the incredible story of the actions of John Baskeyfield who was the only Stoke-born recipient of the Victoria Cross during the Second World War. Produced, written and directed by Bill Townley over 3 years, this film is a hidden gem within the war movie genre.

From showing the exploits of Lonsdale force dug in around Oosterbeek Church to Baskeyfield’s VC action itself. The film is a feat of what a driven and passionate film maker can achieve on a micro-budget!

The film was lovingly restored by Ray Johnson of the Staffordshire Film Archive, we talk to Ray about this process during the episode. The film is available to buy here.

Here are some stills from the film:

If you enjoy the podcast then please check out our Patreon here. Be sure to follow Fighting On Film on Twitter @FightingOnFilm, on Facebook and don’t forget to check out www.fightingonfilm.com.

Thanks for listening!

NEW PIAT Posters!

Our fantastic new PIAT posters were designed by the brilliant illustrator who put together our Advanced Combat Rifle colouring book last year! They feature a custom illustrations of the PIAT, the first has the immortal words “Bring up the PIAT” from the film A Bridge Too Far, while the second poster features a unique design featuring art influenced by the PIAT’s original manual – which has the caption – ‘Cocking the PIAT in the standing position’.

The posters are A3 art prints which are printed on 300gsm premium textured paper, which is great for framing. A3 dimensions are: 29.7cm x 42cm or 11.4in x 16.5in. Each poster will be numbered as these will be a pretty limited run! Both posters are available for £12 / $15.50 (plus shipping costs). 

These are a great way to help support our work and I hope that you like the designs. Thanks guys! 

Order here