Above Us the Waves prt 9 0f9

[patp464]

Great movie --- quite exciting. However, weren't there 5 X-craft? Anyway, thanks for sharing a great movie.

[whiskeyify]

Always liked watching these films when I was young...the British films are more serious than our US war movies I guess. There's some fine actors here as well.

[tedjinla]

I did indeed enjoy this movie, one of the finest WW2 films ever made, and one of my favorites when I was a kid. The producers took artistic license with the facts but what else is new? Using this plot line, they captured the determination, bravery and self-sacrifice of the crew of the X2 to highlight the pathos of war. You never forget Duffy's hand organ floating on the waves at the end.

Thanks for posting.

[tedjinla]

X3, not X2 was trapped under Tirpitz. Duffy's X2 simply stopped because they were blind after the periscope and the "side cargo" were damaged. You can see that Duffy's sub was not trapped underneath because when the charges do go off, they are hundreds of feet away while John Mills and the other survivors watch in horror.

Brave men's lives are not to be wasted unless impossible to avoid. In reality, X2 (really X-5) was sunk by depth charges from a German picket boat.

[videomonkey2009]

@tedjinla oops! My error. Watch Danger UXB on my channel. You may like that if you like WWII stories. Hope you enjoyed film anyway. :)

[tedjinla]

So why didn't Duffy, realizing that he could no longer press home an attack on Tirpitz, simply DROP his slowly flooding "side cargoes" and then move away from them while continuing to wait it out on the bottom?

Or should I just suspend my disbelief?

[videomonkey2009]

@tedjinla If Im right about what your saying then as the tide went out the tirpitz settled on the little sub and trapped it. They had to wait until the tirpitz rose again so they could get away. I would have freaked myself being trapped under Tirpiz and knowing other were also trying to blow her up while trapped there.

[12ock]

awesome invention of those submarine.... but i wish they have come back....home on the sub..

[crzxr]

Thank you for this. I was fortunate enough to meet one of those who took part in the operation, Rear Admiral Place,VC. He presented prizes and spoke at our school speech day in 1981.

[videomonkey2009]

@crzxr Im rather jealous of you now. You lucky sod, I would have loved to meet one of them and bend his ear for a while. I did know the private sec to RJ Mitchel (Spitfire designer) who spent years with him. She was a lovely woman.

[crzxr]

@videomonkey2009 Yes, I am lucky indeed. I imagine, given your own good fortune in knowing Mitchell's secretary, you are a devotee of 'The First of the Few' , the biopic of R.J.Mitchell? - Another inspiring film (with a great score by William Walton!) Thanks again.

[videomonkey2009]

@crzxr The first of the few. Ahh good film in my that is in my collection. Mitchels Priv Sec had loads of stuff she showed me that she'd brought back from Buckingham palace after a visit she's made for some award. It was great to hear stories of the the little things about MItchel (He wasnt a man you would give a lot of lip and a stickler for doing the job the best way he knew ) He based the Spits wing on the peregrin falcon for speed. Fond memorys

[terfle1106]

Videomonkey2009 : Thanks, i saw this film in London England, when i was only 9 years old, it marked me then, and it still does... what a memory refresher ! Thanks for the post !

[videomonkey2009]

@terfle1106 Your Very Welcome :)

[MrsJosephMerrick]

Thanks for this. - very interesting &thrilling.Cant imagine how terrifying it must have been in those tiny subs.

[videomonkey2009]

@MrsJosephMerrick Thanx 4 comment. In truth one of the guys got the VC after his sub got trapped under the ship until the tide came back in & realesed the crushing weight of the Tirpitz of there tiny sub. Glad you enjoyed

[videomonkey2009]

@MrsJosephMerrick Sorrry VC (Victora Cross = to medal of honour)