British WWII films based on true events
Land, sea and air British military operations and missions which feature in British movies.
The campaign or codename is listed below each entry.
The campaign or codename is listed below each entry.
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- DirectorAndrew V. McLaglenStarsGregory PeckRoger MooreDavid NivenDuring World War II, British Intelligence brings a crew of ex-soldiers out of retirement, using their age as cover, to take to the seas and pull off an unlikely undercover mission in neutral Goa.OPERATION CREEK British codename for the covert military operation undertaken by Britain's Special Operations Executive in World War II on 9 March 1943. Members of the Calcutta Light Horse and the Calcutta Scottish launch a night attack against a Nazi German merchant ship, the Ehrenfels, which had been transmitting information to U-boats from Mormugao Harbour in neutral Portugal's territory of Goa. The Ehrenfels and three other Axis merchant ships were sunk, stopping the transmissions to the U-boats.
- DirectorJ. Lee ThompsonStarsJohn MillsAnthony QuayleSylvia SymsDuring World War II in North Africa, a medical field unit must cross the desert in their ambulance in order to reach the British lines in Alexandria.OPERATION TORCH. NORTH AFRICAN CAMPAIGN
British name for the series of battles for control of North Africa 1940-43, including the operation of Anglo-American landings in North-West Africa in November 1942.
At stake was control of the Suez Canal, a vital lifeline for Britain's colonial empire, and of the valuable oil reserves of the Middle East - DirectorCharles FrendStarsJack HawkinsDonald SindenJohn StrattonThe World War II adventures of a British convoy escort ship and its officers.BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC
British name for the longest continuous battle of the Second World War and one in which Canada played a central role. The battle began on the opening day of the war in September 1939 and ended almost six years later with Germany's surrender in May 1945 - DirectorRichard AttenboroughStarsSean ConneryRyan O'NealMichael CaineOperation Market Garden, September 1944: The Allies attempt to capture several strategically important bridges in the Netherlands in the hope of breaking the German lines.OPERATION MARKET GARDEN
British codename for the largest Allied operations of the Second World War. It aimed to secure the bridges over the rivers Maas (Meuse), Waal and Rhine in the Netherlands in order to outflank the heavy German defences of the Siegfried Line and to insure a swift advance towards Berlin - DirectorMichael AndersonStarsRichard ToddMichael RedgraveUrsula JeansDrama based on the attempt by the RAF to destroy six dams in Germany during World War II.OPERATION CHASTISE
British codename for the operation in which Wing Commander Guy Gibson led 617 Squadron of the Royal Air Force an audacious bombing raid to destroy three dams in the Ruhr valley, the industrial heartland of Germany 16-17 May 1943. The dams were fiercely protected. - DirectorGuy HamiltonStarsMichael CaineTrevor HowardHarry AndrewsIn 1940, the British Royal Air Force fights a desperate battle to prevent the Luftwaffe from gaining air superiority over the English Channel as a prelude to a possible Axis invasion of the U.K.AIR BATTLE FOR ENGLAND
German/Axis operational codename Adlerangriff ("Eagle Attack") was the operation to destroy Royal Air Force (RAF) Fighter Command across the south of England in four days, then bombing of military and economic targets was to systematically extend up to the Midlands until daylight attacks could proceed unhindered over the whole of Britain, culminating in a major bombing attack on London, aimed to soften up the defences for a future amphibious invasion.
British military defence campaign in which the RAF and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended the UK against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force, the Luftwaffe. It was the first major military campaign fought entirely by air forces. - DirectorKen AnnakinAndrew MartonGerd OswaldStarsJohn WayneRobert RyanRichard BurtonThe events of D-Day, told on a grand scale from both the Allied and German points of view.OPERATION OVERLORD
British codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Normandy landings - DirectorRobert WiseStarsRichard BurtonJames MasonRobert NewtonRichard Burton plays a Scottish Army officer put in charge of a disparate band of ANZAC troops on the perimeter of Tobruk with the German Army doing their best to dislodge them.THE WESTERN DESERT CAMPAIGN. BRITISH 7TH ARMOURED DIVISION
- DirectorLeslie NormanStarsJohn MillsRichard AttenboroughBernard LeeA dramatization of the British Expeditionary Force's 1940 retreat to the beaches of France and the extraordinary seaborne evacuation that saved it from utter destruction by Nazi Germany.OPERATION DYNAMO
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsKenneth MoreMuriel PavlowLyndon BrookBiopic of RAF Group Captain Douglas Bader who, after having lost both legs, flew a British fighter plane during WWII.BATTLE OF BRITAIN & COLDITZ P.O.W. ESCAPE ATTEMPT
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsKenneth MoreDana WynterCarl MöhnerThe World War II story of the Royal Navy's effort to defeat Nazi Germany's most powerful warship.BATTLE OF THE DENMARK STRAIT. BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC
- DirectorBrian Desmond HurstStarsAlec GuinnessJack HawkinsAnthony Steel1942 and the island of Malta is battling for survival. The threat of invasion by Axis forces is increasing as air raids wear down its defence. Entering this maelstrom is Flight Lieutenant Peter Ross, an RAF photo-reconnaissance pilot.THE MEDITERRANEAN AND MIDDLE EAST THEATRE. THE SIEGE OF MALTA
- DirectorJosé FerrerStarsJosé FerrerTrevor HowardDora BryanDuring World War II, German ships are "safely" docked upriver at Bordeaux, but the British send a team of kayakers to attack them.OPERATION FRANKTON
- DirectorNoël CowardDavid LeanStarsNoël CowardJohn MillsBernard MilesThis "story of a ship", the British destroyer H.M.S. Torrin, is told in flashbacks by survivors as they cling to a life raft.OPERATION MERCURY.
THE BATTLE OF CRETE. SINKING OF HMS KELLY - DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsJohn GregsonAnthony QuaylePeter FinchIn the first major naval battle of World War II, the British Navy must find and destroy a powerful German warship.BATTLE OF THE RIVER PLATE
- DirectorChristopher NolanStarsFionn WhiteheadBarry KeoghanMark RylanceAllied soldiers from Belgium, the British Commonwealth and Empire, and France are surrounded by the German Army and evacuated during a fierce battle in World War II.OPERATION DYNAMO
- DirectorJohn GuillerminStarsM.E. Clifton JamesJohn MillsCecil ParkerDuring World War II, a British actor impersonates Field Marshal Montgomery in order to confuse German intelligence.OPERATION COPPERHEAD.
OPERATION BODYGUARD - DirectorAdrian VitoriaStarsSean BeanDanny DyerAksel HennieThe true story of the formation of Ian Fleming's 30 Commando unit, a precursor for the elite forces in the U.K.OPERATION TORCH. NO.30 COMMANDO UNIT
- DirectorGuy HamiltonStarsJohn MillsEric PortmanChristopher RhodesAllied prisoners - British, Dutch, French and Polish - pool their resources to plan numerous escapes from the "escape-proof" German P.O.W. camp housed in a Medieval castle known as "Colditz".COLDITZ P.O.W. ESCAPE ATTEMPT. COLDITZ CASTLE.
- DirectorBoris SagalStarsDavid McCallumSuzanne NeveCharles GrayIn World War II, an RAF squadron leader mourns the death of a comrade and receives a bombing mission against a secret German V-2 rocket testing facility in France.OPERATION JERICHO
- DirectorBrian Desmond HurstStarsRichard LonsdaleStanley MaxtedThomas ScullionA re-enactment of the Battle of Arnhem during the Second World War which was later lavishly remade as A Bridge Too Far (1977).OPERATION MARKET GARDEN
- DirectorTerence YoungStarsEdward UnderdownRalph ClantonHelen CherryThe story of men in the Guards Armoured Division in WWII, from basic training through to battle.OPERATION MARKET GARDEN.
GUARDS ARMOURED DIVISION
BATTLE OF THE BULGE - DirectorHerbert WilcoxStarsAnna NeagleTrevor HowardMarius GoringDuring WW2, a French woman living in England volunteers to work for British Intelligence in Nazi-occupied France.SPECIAL OPERATIONS EXECUTIVE FRENCH RESISTANCE ENGAGEMENT MISSION
- DirectorJack LeeIan DalrympleStarsLeo GennDavid TomlinsonAnthony SteelTrue story of three British POWs and their attempt to escape from Nazi Germany.STALAG LUFT III P.O.W. ESCAPE ATTEMPT
- DirectorGeorge More O'FerrallStarsJack HawkinsMichael DenisonAndrew OsbornThe story of an RAF fighter squadron at the height of the Battle of Britain.BATTLE OF BRITAIN