This
was in a sense a project that spanned ten years; from the initial idea to
the making of the film. The project combined my interest in filmmaking with
my interest in World War two history.
After years of research and talking to veterans, sadly some of whom have passed away, I feel that there are some stories to be told that are darker than the ones that have been made into films before and I wanted to illustrate a side of war that is not often shown.
The original script was two and a half hours long but I knew that I had to cut this down to just over an hour, an hour and a half maximum. I had written some large-scale scenes but always knew that these would be hard to film as it would be difficult to attract the number of extras required without offering any money.
I did not try to get funding for this project as I wanted to keep it under my own control and I wanted to show that I could make a very good low budget war film for next to nothing. I could have attracted a small amount of funding but probably not enough to make a sufficient difference to the project, so I felt it best to show what I could do without funding.
After putting off making the film for a couple of years, I realized that the setting I always had in mind to use had dramatically changed and that I had to make the film now or it would never be made. Because of these changes, such as the renovation of farm buildings and the sale of a German Tiger Tank, I was forced to make major changes to the end of the script in the space of a couple of months.
I am very proud of what myself and the cast and crew have achieved with the budget available.
I would like make a special thanks to Peter Bluck, Ray Warby, Richard Morris, Christopher Page and Lee Money who made thisproduction possible.
Rick Roberts
Director and Producer
Fire In The Hole Productions
Film premiere and release date 30th September 2006
Original premiere 75minutes
TV and official release 55minutes
Cut short for promotion and festivals 30minutes
