Danish movie on the resistance in WWII

[Eyemo]

My kind of movie... looking forward to seeing this.

 

[Kassia]

Kassia- I think you're preaching to the choir now- quite a few Danes here.


B
T

I wasn't trying to peach to anyone i was only relaying what my in laws have told me.. I have known them for 26 years and have heard the stories many times...
There sure were air raids in Aalborg cause it was my mother in laws job to sound the sirens..
I only said i hoped that it was not a romanticized movie about a horrific time...

 

[Spitfire]

I can assure you, there is nothing romanticized in this movie.
Everything is pretty rough/natural and straight forward. (Except the final scene - which - to my liking - is pretty theatrical)

About airraids in Denmark - please remember that every time the allied bombed somewhere in Germany, they often flew in- or out - via Denmark. And everytime the sirens sounded. And people went into the shelters or basement.
Which is not the same as Denmark was bombed by RAF or USAF.

Edit:
Just checked it out: Aalborg Airfield - not town - was bombed several times in april 1940 and again in august 1940.
Besides that, there were only two airraids on danish targets - one at 31 october 1944 against the gestapo HQ in Aarhus and one at 21 march 1945 against the gestapo HQ in Copenhagen.
In between there were only "Gardening operations" - minelaying in danish waters.

This site gives a lot of information on the Airwar in Denmark: http://www.flensted.eu.com/
Very interesting - and in english!

Second edit: And my good friend Speedster just reminded me of anothe airaid against B&W shipyards in the center of Copenhagen. I went almost well - besides a huge sugarfactory situated next to the shipyard got bombed too.
But I still think it was a fantastic thing they did, when they bombed the Shellbuilding in Copenhagen - then used as gestapo HQ.
They did it with Mosquitoes - and they had to fly very low - among the houses to get it right.
There was however a huge tragedy involved, when one of the planes in the first wave hit a lightmast (that's how low they went) and chrashed into a school. The next planes comming in believed the fire of the chrashed airplane to be the target and bombed the school. A lot of children and teachers died that morning too.

 

[Kassia]

I can assure you, there is nothing romanticized in this movie.
Everything is pretty rough/natural and straight forward. (Except the final scene - which - to my liking - is pretty theatrical)

About airraids in Denmark - please remember that every time the allied bombed somewhere in Germany, they often flew in- or out - via Denmark. And everytime the sirens sounded. And people went into the shelters or basement.
Which is not the same as Denmark was bombed by RAF or USAF.

Edit:
Just checked it out: Aalborg Airfield - not town - was bombed several times in april 1940 and again in august 1940.
Besides that, there were only two airraids on danish targets - one at 31 october 1944 against the gestapo HQ in Aarhus and one at 21 march 1945 against the gestapo HQ in Copenhagen.
In between there were only "Gardening operations" - minelaying in danish waters.

This site gives a lot of information on the Airwar in Denmark: http://www.flensted.eu.com/
Very interesting - and in english!

How odd i'll have to ask her about it next time i talk to her..
My father in law was born and raised in Norsunby so that's near Aalborg, right?

 

[BellyTank]

I used to live in Aarhus(6 years), Rosensgade, by Domkirken, which is pretty much the middle of town, or maybe the middle of Downtown.
Across the road from my place was the Museum of the Occupation, Besættelsesmuseet, which was the early Gestapo HQ- it must have been the first site, then moved to somewhere a little further away- I can't imagine if that site was bombed, there's only a few metres between the museum and Domkirken, Aarhus' Cathedral.
That museum is very, very interesting-
the Danish people definitely did have it pretty rough under the German occupation- you can tell when you see shoes made from fish skin and childrens' sweaters re-sewn from maybe 5 old, worn out ones. The prison/interrogation cell inside the museum is very atmospheric indeed.
As it was just across the road from me, I was a regular visitor- I miss Aarhus Copenhagen and Denmark now.


B
T

 

[Spitfire]

How odd i'll have to ask her about it next time i talk to her..
My father in law was born and raised in Norsunby so that's near Aalborg, right?

Nørre Sundby is north of Aalborg - and even closer to the airfield than Aalborg.
So he might have been pretty close to the action.

 

[Kassia]

Nørre Sundby is north of Aalborg - and even closer to the airfield than Aalborg.
So he might have been pretty close to the action.

Sorry about the bad spelling..
One story my mother in law has told many times was about the air raid sirens.. She had the job of flipping ALL the switches.. They are across a wall and as high as she could reach...

 

[Spitfire]

Being not-danish your spelling was excelent. :eusa_clap
Close enough for me for not being in doubt of what you meant.

 

[Spitfire]

A DVD version should be introduced end of september, I am told.
(Don't know about english subtitles though.)

 

[Woland]

Bought in on DVD.
Wonderful film.
Have not seen Mads Mikkelsen so good for years.
Heartbreaking scene where his character "Citronen" robbes the renegade shopkeeper.
Loved it...

It will be released with English subtitles in late June: www.play.com

 

[matrioshka]

Spitfire,

You mentioned the Shell building raid. My friend's grandfather died in that. He lived in a house next to the school that was hit with part of the Mosquito that crashed.

Interesting fellow. He recieved some sort of award from the French government for rescuing the crew of a wrecked ship.

M

 

[Spitfire]

A picture taken from one of the attacking planes.
The Shell House is the building smokin at the right, just after the first bombs hit.
You get a very good understanding of how low and precise the RAF pilots had to fly, when you see the plane to the left.
They were litterally flying down the streets.

 

[parachutage]

Dutch Resistance...

Can this be found on DVD?

 

[Spitfire]

Can this be found on DVD?

?????
Which one are you talking about???[huh]
"The black box" is about the resistance in Holland.

 

[H.Johnson]

I used to know a lady who had worked as a fancy cake decorator before WW2. She told me that she had volunteered to work in munitions until about the middle of the war, when she was approached in a rather mysterious way and was subsequently drafted into a secret civilian unit that made briefing models of the sites of low-level RAF attacks.

Apparently it had been found that cake decorators could make plaster of Paris models from oblique reconnaisance photos quickly and accurately. Obviously, this work was very secret and she told me that they were never allowed to know what they were modelling. After the war, she found out the location of some of the sites, including France, Denmark and the Netherlands.
I must admit that as a young man I didn't really believe her story, until I read the novel 'Operation Cobra' by Fred. Smith (which, incidentally, describes a fictitious low-level propaganda raid on a celebration of Hitler's birthday in a Danish city) which mentions the role of cake decorators in preparations for such raids. OK, its fiction, but Smith ('633 Squadron') knew what he was writing about.

Has anyone else heard or read of WW2 cake decorators making RAF briefing models? I'd like to find out more...

The point was that the RAF was attempting precision strikes aimed at achieving minimum 'collateral damage' and loss of life due to what we now call 'friendly fire'. Obviously, this wasn't always achieved, which is tragic, but remember that air and sea attacks on Britain and Allied shipping were being launched from airfields and ports from most occupied countries (including Norway) between 1940 and 1945. I think that puts attacks on 'occupied territory' in perspective.

Added later:
From the official RAF history website, mention of two of the raids, mention of the use of models, but not who made them:
http://www.raf.mod.uk/history_old/aarhus.html
http://www.raf.mod.uk/history_old/shell.html

Added even later (and slightly off topic).
I have found this reference to an article on model building: Allied Military Model Making during World War II by Alastair W. Pearson(2002) from Cartography and Geographic Information Science Vol. 29 No. 3. http://www.docstoc.com/docs/419049/allied-military-model-making-during-world-war-II

It refers to the trades from which model makers were recruited (which doesn't include cake decorators) but the Figure 10 in section Precision Bombing Raids on Page 235 shows a model of a target for a low level RAF strike (is this Den Hague?) that definitely looks as if it has been made from wet plaster. It doesn't seem infeasible to me that cake decorators used to working in icing sugar would be good at making models like that shown in the photograph. More information (serious information, please) would be welcome.

 

[ethanedwards]

Has anyone else heard or read of WW2 cake decorators making RAF briefing models? I'd like to find out more...

No, but in 1942 there was a clandestine recruitment of fish fryers who undertook secret work in the development of submarine prototypes. Apparently their familiarity with fish meant they had a natural affinity for building accurate underwater scale models.
This crucial work was eventually abandoned because of the ensuing public outcry - it impacted badly on the opening times of fish and chip shops around the country and the matter was raised in the house in early 1943. It was decided that the drop in civilian morale was an unacceptable tariff and thus the Admiralty's focus then switched to the recruitment of carpet fitters. The V class submarine would never have been successfully launched without their efforts.

 

[H.Johnson]

And you'll provide a credible reference for this information?

No, but in 1942 there was a clandestine recruitment of fish fryers who undertook secret work in the development of submarine prototypes. Apparently their familiarity with fish meant they had a natural affinity for building accurate underwater scale models.
This crucial work was eventually abandoned because of the ensuing public outcry - it impacted badly on the opening times of fish and chip shops around the country and the matter was raised in the house in early 1943. It was decided that the drop in civilian morale was an unacceptable tariff and thus the Admiralty's focus then switched to the recruitment of carpet fitters. The V class submarine would never have been successfully launched without their efforts.

 

[ethanedwards]

More information (serious information, please) would be welcome.[/QUOTE]


Yes, the more serious the better. Please ensure your posts are absolutely 100% serious. What was I thinking.
Cake decorators engaged on important war work is not a subject for levity.
H. Johnson has spoken - heed his words carefully.

 

[H.Johnson]

Well, I doubt if people thought that planning such a raid in WW2 thought it a subject for levity, whatever their previous trade or occupation may have been. Particularly when, as in the case of the raid on Copenhagen, four Mosquito crews were lost, one due to a minor accident in which Wng Cdr Kleboe and Flg Off Halland were killed and a number of innocent civilians were incinerated.

 

[ethanedwards]

Well, I doubt if people thought that planning such a raid in WW2 thought it a subject for levity, whatever their previous trade or occupation may have been. Particularly when, as in the case of the raid on Copenhagen, four Mosquito crews were lost, one due to a minor accident in which Wng Cdr Kleboe and Flg Off Halland were killed and a number of innocent civilians were incinerated.

I think humour does a great deal to help people through times of adversity and stress. Anyone who has read anything I've posted here knows I have nothing other than respect and admiration for those who went into the arena. I enjoy the life I have because of what they did, and I don't need that explaining to me by the likes of you.

Humour can also be enjoyably employed against pompous and overbearing personalities because as you will have noticed, they tend never to 'get it'.

Now I'll leave you alone to get on and dominate the thread in your monotonously supercilious fashion. Don't bother getting into a 'last word' contest with me because I assure you, you already have it - I won't be posting at the Lounge again.