British WWII films based on true events
by shakercoola | created - 17 May 2018 | updated - 2 weeks ago | PublicLand, sea and air British military operations and missions which feature in British movies. The campaign or codename is listed below each entry.
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1. The Sea Wolves (1980)
PG | 120 min | Action, History, War
During 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.
Director: Andrew V. McLaglen | Stars: Gregory Peck, Roger Moore, David Niven, Trevor Howard
Votes: 5,286
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.
2. Ice Cold in Alex (1958)
Approved | 130 min | Adventure, Drama, War
During 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.
Director: J. Lee Thompson | Stars: John Mills, Anthony Quayle, Sylvia Syms, Harry Andrews
Votes: 6,628
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
3. The Cruel Sea (1953)
Approved | 126 min | Drama, War
The World War II adventures of a British convoy escort ship and its officers.
Director: Charles Frend | Stars: Jack Hawkins, Donald Sinden, John Stratton, Denholm Elliott
Votes: 5,412
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
4. A Bridge Too Far (1977)
PG | 175 min | Drama, History, War
Operation Market Garden, September 1944: The Allies attempt to capture several strategically important bridges in the Netherlands in the hope of breaking the German lines.
Director: Richard Attenborough | Stars: Sean Connery, Ryan O'Neal, Michael Caine, Laurence Olivier
Votes: 61,592 | Gross: $50.80M
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
5. The Dam Busters (1955)
Approved | 105 min | Drama, History, War
Drama based on the attempt by the RAF to destroy six dams in Germany during World War II.
Director: Michael Anderson | Stars: Richard Todd, Michael Redgrave, Ursula Jeans, Basil Sydney
Votes: 11,377
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.
6. Battle of Britain (1969)
G | 132 min | Action, Drama, History
In 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.
Director: Guy Hamilton | Stars: Michael Caine, Trevor Howard, Harry Andrews, Curd Jürgens
Votes: 24,534 | Gross: $4.36M
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.
7. The Longest Day (1962)
G | 178 min | Action, Drama, History
The events of D-Day, told on a grand scale from both the Allied and German points of view.
Directors: Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, Gerd Oswald, Bernhard Wicki, Darryl F. Zanuck | Stars: John Wayne, Robert Ryan, Richard Burton, Henry Fonda
Votes: 59,090 | Gross: $39.10M
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
8. The Desert Rats (1953)
Approved | 88 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Richard 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.
Director: Robert Wise | Stars: Richard Burton, James Mason, Robert Newton, Robert Douglas
Votes: 5,304
THE WESTERN DESERT CAMPAIGN. BRITISH 7TH ARMOURED DIVISION
9. Dunkirk (1958)
Approved | 135 min | Action, Drama, History
A 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.
Director: Leslie Norman | Stars: John Mills, Richard Attenborough, Bernard Lee, Robert Urquhart
Votes: 3,525
OPERATION DYNAMO
10. Reach for the Sky (1956)
Approved | 123 min | Biography, Drama, War
Biopic of RAF Group Captain Douglas Bader who, after having lost both legs, flew a British fighter plane during WWII.
Director: Lewis Gilbert | Stars: Kenneth More, Muriel Pavlow, Lyndon Brook, Lee Patterson
Votes: 2,994
BATTLE OF BRITAIN & COLDITZ P.O.W. ESCAPE ATTEMPT
11. Sink the Bismarck! (1960)
Approved | 97 min | Action, Drama, History
The World War II story of the Royal Navy's effort to defeat Nazi Germany's most powerful warship.
Director: Lewis Gilbert | Stars: Kenneth More, Dana Wynter, Carl Möhner, Laurence Naismith
Votes: 8,316 | Gross: $6.54M
BATTLE OF THE DENMARK STRAIT. BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC
12. Malta Story (1953)
97 min | Drama, History, War
1942 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.
Director: Brian Desmond Hurst | Stars: Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Anthony Steel, Muriel Pavlow
Votes: 1,962
THE MEDITERRANEAN AND MIDDLE EAST THEATRE. THE SIEGE OF MALTA
13. The Cockleshell Heroes (1955)
Approved | 97 min | Action, Drama, War
During World War II, German ships are "safely" docked upriver at Bordeaux, but the British send a team of kayakers to attack them.
Director: José Ferrer | Stars: José Ferrer, Trevor Howard, Dora Bryan, Christopher Lee
Votes: 1,997
OPERATION FRANKTON
14. In Which We Serve (1942)
Not Rated | 115 min | Drama, War
This "story of a ship", the British destroyer H.M.S. Torrin, is told in flashbacks by survivors as they cling to a life raft.
Director: Noël Coward | Stars: Noël Coward, John Mills, Bernard Miles, Celia Johnson
Votes: 6,454 | Gross: $0.45M
OPERATION MERCURY. THE BATTLE OF CRETE. SINKING OF HMS KELLY
15. Pursuit of the Graf Spee (1956)
Not Rated | 119 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
In the first major naval battle of World War II, the British Navy must find and destroy a powerful German warship.
Directors: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger | Stars: John Gregson, Anthony Quayle, Peter Finch, Ian Hunter
Votes: 4,867
BATTLE OF THE RIVER PLATE
16. Dunkirk (2017)
PG-13 | 106 min | Action, Drama, History
Allied 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.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Fionn Whitehead, Barry Keoghan, Mark Rylance, Tom Hardy
Votes: 740,730 | Gross: $188.37M
OPERATION DYNAMO
17. Hell, Heaven or Hoboken (1958)
101 min | Drama, History, War
During World War II, a British actor impersonates Field Marshal Montgomery in order to confuse German intelligence.
Director: John Guillermin | Stars: M.E. Clifton James, John Mills, Cecil Parker, Patrick Allen
Votes: 1,643
OPERATION COPPERHEAD. OPERATION BODYGUARD
18. Age of Heroes (2011)
Not Rated | 90 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
The true story of the formation of Ian Fleming's 30 Commando unit, a precursor for the elite forces in the U.K.
Director: Adrian Vitoria | Stars: Sean Bean, Danny Dyer, Aksel Hennie, Izabella Miko
Votes: 10,217
OPERATION TORCH. NO.30 COMMANDO UNIT
19. The Colditz Story (1955)
Not Rated | 94 min | Drama, History, War
Allied 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".
Director: Guy Hamilton | Stars: John Mills, Eric Portman, Christopher Rhodes, Lionel Jeffries
Votes: 3,081
COLDITZ P.O.W. ESCAPE ATTEMPT. COLDITZ CASTLE.
20. Mosquito Squadron (1969)
G | 90 min | Drama, War
In 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.
Director: Boris Sagal | Stars: David McCallum, Suzanne Neve, Charles Gray, David Buck
Votes: 1,686
OPERATION JERICHO
21. Theirs Is the Glory (1946)
Approved | 82 min | Documentary, War
A re-enactment of the Battle of Arnhem during the Second World War which was later lavishly remade as A Bridge Too Far (1977).
Director: Brian Desmond Hurst | Stars: Stanley Maxted, Thomas Scullion, Allan Wood, Hugh Ashmore
Votes: 404
OPERATION MARKET GARDEN
22. They Were Not Divided (1950)
102 min | Drama, War
The story of men in the Guards Armoured Division in WWII, from basic training through to battle.
Director: Terence Young | Stars: Edward Underdown, Ralph Clanton, Helen Cherry, Stella Andrew
Votes: 341
OPERATION MARKET GARDEN. GUARDS ARMOURED DIVISION BATTLE OF THE BULGE
23. Odette (1950)
105 min | Drama, History, War
During WW2, a French woman living in England volunteers to work for British Intelligence in Nazi-occupied France.
Director: Herbert Wilcox | Stars: Anna Neagle, Trevor Howard, Marius Goring, Peter Ustinov
Votes: 1,043
SPECIAL OPERATIONS EXECUTIVE FRENCH RESISTANCE ENGAGEMENT MISSION
24. The Wooden Horse (1950)
101 min | Drama, History, War
True story of three British POWs and their attempt to escape from Nazi Germany.
Directors: Jack Lee, Ian Dalrymple | Stars: Leo Genn, David Tomlinson, Anthony Steel, David Greene
Votes: 1,595
STALAG LUFT III P.O.W. ESCAPE ATTEMPT
25. Angels One Five (1952)
TV-G | 98 min | Drama, War
The story of an RAF fighter squadron at the height of the Battle of Britain.
Director: George More O'Ferrall | Stars: Jack Hawkins, Michael Denison, Andrew Osborn, Cyril Raymond
Votes: 1,276
BATTLE OF BRITAIN
26. Paratrooper (1953)
Approved | 88 min | Drama, War
In 1940, an American claiming to be Canadian volunteers for the British Army's paratroop school.
Director: Terence Young | Stars: Alan Ladd, Leo Genn, Susan Stephen, Harry Andrews
Votes: 802 | Gross: $5.19M
OPERATION BITING
27. They Who Dare (1954)
107 min | Drama, History, War
During World War II, British commandos are sent to destroy a Luftwaffe airfield on a Greek island.
Director: Lewis Milestone | Stars: Dirk Bogarde, Denholm Elliott, Kay Callard, William Russell
Votes: 799
OPERATION ANGLO
28. Above Us the Waves (1955)
Approved | 92 min | Drama, War
The attack by British submarines on the German battleship "Tirpitz" in a Norwegian fjord during World War II.
Director: Ralph Thomas | Stars: John Mills, John Gregson, Donald Sinden, James Robertson Justice
Votes: 1,631
OPERATION TITLE. OPERATION SOURCE
29. The Man Who Never Was (1956)
Approved | 103 min | Drama, War
In order to fool the Germans into thinking the Allied invasion of Sicily will take place elsewhere, British Military Intelligence comes up with a cunning ruse.
Director: Ronald Neame | Stars: Clifton Webb, Gloria Grahame, Robert Flemyng, Josephine Griffin
Votes: 5,786
OPERATION MINCEMEAT
30. The Valiant (1962)
80 min | Action, Drama, War
During World War II, two Italian frogmen, who placed magnetic mines under a British warship, are captured and interrogated by British intelligence about their mission.
Director: Roy Ward Baker | Stars: John Mills, Ettore Manni, Roberto Risso, Robert Shaw
Votes: 109
ATTACK ON HMS VALIANT
31. Glory at Sea (1952)
100 min | Adventure, Drama, War
In 1940, the Captain of an old Royal Navy destroyer struggles with his crew, as well as the Nazis.
Director: Compton Bennett | Stars: Trevor Howard, Richard Attenborough, Sonny Tufts, James Donald
Votes: 756
OPERATION CHARIOT
32. Operation Mincemeat (2021)
PG-13 | 128 min | Drama, War
During WWII, two intelligence officers use a corpse and false papers to outwit German troops.
Director: John Madden | Stars: Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen, Kelly Macdonald, Rufus Wright
Votes: 35,245
OPERATION MINCEMEAT
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