von Lucke Posted February 11, 2000 Share Posted February 11, 2000 A war story that begs to be told? Frank Luke and the 27th Aero: First modern American war hero (Congressional Medal of Honor!), pilot, young, handsome, outsider-beats-the-odds kinda story. Part of a war (WW1) that's not too familar to most Americans, so curiosity is a big factor in getting people into the theatre.... And best part is, it's a True Story! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Babra Posted February 11, 2000 Share Posted February 11, 2000 Ah, a really good WW1 flying movie with all the stops pulled out... Now I'd pay a few bucks to see that. ------------------ Floreat Jerboa ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDW Posted February 16, 2000 Share Posted February 16, 2000 Everybody - thanks for the replies - there are some good ideas here for a war movie. von Lucke: do you know of a good source for more information on this Frank Luke character? Sosabowski: Do you know of any personal accounts of the action in Poland? Your idea is good, but a little broad - especially for someone who knows little of the war in Poland. you can email me at bdwhitne@pepperdine.edu (or anyone else who has any good ideas) thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Fox Posted February 16, 2000 Share Posted February 16, 2000 Dieppe IMO would be a hopeless subject a tale of futility and woe, incompetence and pointless heroic sacrifice- oh yea great. How about Crete (the WW2 Gallipoli). Elite Commonwealth troops once again wasted on a stupid operation by bumbling moronic British commanders and politicians. Inadequately supported, with insufficient ammo, antiquated weapons especially arty, insufficient small arms to arm all troops. Still coming within a hairsbreadth of victory against an incredibly motivated opponent who gained victory by metaphorically climbing a mountain of their own corpses. Strictly tongue in cheek suggestion of course Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Tom Posted February 16, 2000 Share Posted February 16, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Simon Fox: Dieppe IMO would be a hopeless subject a tale of futility and woe, incompetence and pointless heroic sacrifice- oh yea great. How about Crete (the WW2 Gallipoli). Elite Commonwealth troops once again wasted on a stupid operation by bumbling moronic British commanders and politicians. Inadequately supported, with insufficient ammo, antiquated weapons especially arty, insufficient small arms to arm all troops. Still coming within a hairsbreadth of victory against an incredibly motivated opponent who gained victory by metaphorically climbing a mountain of their own corpses. Strictly tongue in cheek suggestion of course <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> The thing about Crete, is, that most of these troops were refugees from the battle of Greece, there wasn't enough transport to get them from Greece to North Africa, but, there was enough to get them to Crete. There was enough Artillery for 50+ full servicable pieces. The 30,000 men had a full complement of small arms (Rifles, LMG's, HMG's and Mortors) and were only lacking motorized transport and heavy artillery. Yet, the Germans too were lacking heavy weaponry, except for airpower. Crete could have been saved given the tools the troops had, yet, to no fault of themselves they lost the battle. However, most of the Allied troops got away, and they had a Strategic Victory, never again would the German parachute corps be used in such a scale as their casualties were so high. The British High command had nothing availible in which to reinforce, let alone quickly evacuate the troops on Crete. The Island was very strategic, and, since they were there anyway, might as well make a fight out of it. Also, they did sort of make a movie/mini-series dealing with a bit of the invasion of Poland. It was a late 1980's or early 90's mini series, can't remember the name, but, it focused on American's trapped in Poland during the outbreak of war. A movie about Dieppe, as the mini-series that I saw had, would focus on the soldier's lives, and their sacrifice for freedom. Sure, it won't have the SPR happy ending, most of the people in the flick would end up dead or captured, but, there were some interesting stories which should be told. Not every unit didn't make it off the beach. Over 50% of the force managed to penetrate inland, and even on the main beach some troops managed to get into the town of Dieppe. The Commando's were EXTREMELY successful in knocking out the two batteries. A Dieppe movie would be a 2 hour movie of the first 20 minutes of SPR. Just constant action. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Fox Posted February 16, 2000 Share Posted February 16, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>SPR happy ending<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> That's a happy ending? I would think 2hrs the same as the first 20min of SPR would be a bit bizarre for my liking. Everything you have to say about Dieppe doesn't ring completely true to what I remember (eg 50% inland) but I accept there were some successful bits. I wasn't intentionally comparing the two but you are right that overall Crete at least had some redeeming features. <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>The 30,000 men had a full complement of small arms (Rifles, LMG's, HMG's and Mortors) and were only lacking motorized transport and heavy artillery.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Not wanting to, but unable to resist, get into a debate about Crete. Your above statement is completely incorrect, especially with regard to MGs and Mortars. Extensive use was made by the defenders of captured German weapons especially small arms, grenades but also mortars, MGs and in several cases AT guns and light artillery precisely because a significant number didn't have any or they rapidly ran out of ammo. All types of arty were limited and furthermore consisted largely of antiquated French or captured Italian pieces with poor quality ammo. I should also add the almost total absence of AA guns other than AAMG. Even so the most significant deficiency was in radios. With better coordination in all liklehood the defenders would have inflicted a stunning defeat upon the Germans instead of the phyrric victory they gained. [This message has been edited by Simon Fox (edited 02-16-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
von Lucke Posted February 16, 2000 Share Posted February 16, 2000 BDW: Somebody who tried your email sez it didn't go through. But, since this is one of my pet projects, here's a link to the best online source for Frank Luke Jr.: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/7133/index.html I also read somewhere that Fox Studios already has a script in development(it's called "21" -- the age Luke was when he died), but you know how that goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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