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Posted on Feb 17, 2007 in Front Page Features, Stuff We Like

Armchair General – Behind the Scenes

By Simon Delaney

Just in time for breakfast, Richard Underwood arrived with stacks of German clothing from his shop. We had been allocated a block of changing rooms on the nearby sports pitches so Richard took one room for the German re-enactors to change in, and we took the other for the British kit. We noticed later that the ‘German’ changing room was marked ‘Visitors’ on the door, and our room was marked ‘Home Team’! That seemed about right.

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Our vast wardrobe – as authentic as one can get!

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This is not what you’d normally expect to see in a
Cricketers’ changing room

Setting the Scene 

The scenario for the magazine articles was this: A Royal Signals Corporal and his driver are hit by an unseen enemy anti-tank gun whilst reconnoitering a lane in Normandy. The driver is killed and the Corporal jumps out, and using the now useless vehicle as cover, he searches for the enemy gun position as he tries to recover his composure and bearings. He realises that the gun is firing from a concrete bunker at very close range and that the seemingly empty road was in fact effectively covered by this weapon.

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Ready for action!

 He then sees the Churchill approaching down the lane and, realising that it will come into visual range of the German gun, races down the road to warn the crew of their impending danger. When he reaches the tank, he tries to make the commander understand the situation but is suffering from shock and cannot easily get the message across to the tank’s officer. 

Ultimately the tankers understand the situation and put a couple of mortar rounds through the bunker causing the Germans to evacuate the position and are last seen by the dragon’s teeth tank traps.

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"Have we won the war yet?"

The day’s filming involved myself and another ‘Tommy’ in the Dingo, with the Churchill manned by a driver and the Commander and three Germans, including an officer, for the gun crew.

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"Any chance of a cup of tea?"

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The German Army invades England –
more than 60 years too late

[continued on next page]

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1 Comment

  1. Hi i just look at your web page i see you are making dragons teeth i would like to no if i can get the measurement so i build sum for my
    re-enacting group if help me out

    yours david smith