Yes, it does. It's set at Bletchley Park (one of the stations where code-breaking work was done, and the very place where the first computer was built and used, a few years before the first American one).

It's worth googling Bletchley - I went there on an open day, and have been very interested in what went on there, plus the top secret nature of it all - so much so that even when it was 40+ years afterwards, and legal to talk about it, lots of the staff wouldn't. All the machinery and paperwork had been destroyed at the end of the war.

Coracle: thanks for the info! It does sound interesting, doesn't it? I came across a book [historical fiction?] about two brothers, one who fought with the Nazis and the other with the Allies. Somehow, all this info was supposed to be top secret, because after the war all the documents on these brothers were destroyed.

Shadowlander: it's okay. Just check a few of these movies out of a library when you get the chance. I forgot about Atonement. Too graphic and violent for me. I'll never watch it again. And I actually like McAvoy as an actor. I did like Becoming Jane, though.

Okay, what about these movies? Yanks [with Richard Gere], Uprising [Warsaw ghetto], The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler [Hallmark movie on Warsaw ghetto], Haven [about Jewish immigrants to upstate NY, with Natasha Richardson], The Dirty Dozen, Von Ryan's Express [with Frank Sinatra--I watched it twice ], The Eagle has Landed [strange movie about an assassination attempt on Churchill], The Sound of Music

Surely everyone has seen, or at least heard the music from Sound of music, based on the real story of the Von Trapp family. Julie Andrews did that role well, but the movie musical does not relate the real story. I've also read Maria Von Trapp's account of how she got married, how the family got out of Austria and the establishment of their family in America. As well as the original seven children, Maria also added three other children. Gale Von Trapp died some time ago, from lung cancer, whilst Maria lived to a good age.

I deliberately didn't see Von Ryan's express as I feared it would be much too like Operation Crossbow or, more especially, the Eagle has landed, a bit too full of over-the-top male heroics. I'd be happy to read the books if necessary or about the facts of the incidents on which they were based, but I find watching these movies a bit too hard.

For similar reasons I haven't seen Spielberg's take on D-Day - can't remember the name of the movie. It's bad enough having seen the site and knowing that my eldest brother-in-law actually took part, helping to ferry the troops over to France. On the other hand, I have no difficulty with watching The Dam Busters, or Battle of Britain, both reasonably factual accounts of those events, even if the characters playing are fictitional.

On the Pacific front, has anyone seen Paradise Road or Empire of the Sun? The first film is the story of women interned in one of the Japanese POW camps. Perhaps many have seen the relatively recent movie Pearl Harbour but has anyone seen A town like Alice, a fairly old movie?

wagga: thanks for sharing about the Von Trapps. I didn't know much of the real story, even though I've visited their lodge in Stowe, Vermont.

I deliberately didn't see Von Ryan's express as I feared it would be much too like Operation Crossbow or, more especially, the Eagle has landed, a bit too full of over-the-top male heroics. I'd be happy to read the books if necessary or about the facts of the incidents on which they were based, but I find watching these movies a bit too hard.

The Eagle has landed was definitely over the top, but I thought Von Ryan's Express was an excellent movie. And I've seen dozens and dozens of WWII movies!

On the Pacific front, has anyone seen Paradise Road or Empire of the Sun? The first film is the story of women interned in one of the Japanese POW camps. Perhaps many have seen the relatively recent movie Pearl Harbour but has anyone seen A town like Alice, a fairly old movie?

I forgot Paradise Road when I was making my movie list. I really liked it. Didn't I mention Empire of the Sun on pg 1 of this thread? It's a really beautiful movie: cinematography, script, acting, music. I saw Pearl Harbor. Once was enough. A Town like Alice? Yes, I've seen it! It was pretty good too. Are they in China or Singapore in the first part of the film? I know the rest takes place in the Australian outback.

I haven't seen the film version of A Town Like Alice, but enjoyed reading Nevil Shute's original novel.

Life is Beautiful was mentioned earlier. I've seen both the Italian-language version and the English dub. For me, the former had a much bigger impact (perhaps, in part, because I saw it first). It just seemed more authentic, if that makes any sense. (Sometimes I find reading subtitles a distraction, but not in this case).

What do you love [or hate, even] about World War II?

Battles and events? What happened in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska is very interesting to me because I live there. All over and around the town I live in are bunkers, pill boxes, ruins, and other stuff left from the war. I lived in a WWII cabin that had been remodeled for several years of my life.

Books? I just recently bought a book entitled American Women and World War II. It was very interesting. I highly reccomend it. Another one I reccomend is "The Thousand Mile War" which tells about what happened in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska during WWII.

The Aleutians were where the US captured a mostly intact Japanese Zero fighter which had apparently soft landed in a field after a raid on Dutch Harbor. It was a real intelligence coup because it was after the aircraft was rigorously tested that they ultimately designed the F6F Hellcat, which really turned the tables of the air war in the Pacific. I believe they had captured another Zero in the Far East (I want to say China) but they were having trouble getting it from point A to point B, given the long, circuitous paths one had to travel to get around Axis coverage areas.

Von Ryan's Express I haven't seen since I was very young but I remember that it was an excellent film with a very sad ending...

Spoiler

I seem to recall the titular character of Von Ryan (played by Sinatra...I think, it's been a while) has everyone on the train and they're going to get away and Von Ryan is running after the train trying to catch up and gets shot in the back by the Germans. It was...very sad.

Along the same lines another great movie in somewhat the same genre is The Great Escape with Steve McQueen, which is based on a true story. The amount of work the POW's perform to get away and the great lengths they went to in preparing for said escape is really incredible.

The Eagle Has Landed is very over the top, I will readily agree .

I always had a soft spot for The Battle of the Bulge with Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, and Robert Shaw. It's not completely accurate to the actual events but captures the spirit of the battle and highlights especially the havoc wreaked by the German spies (dressed as US soldiers) and the German's primary weakness; fuel, or lack thereof. And Telly Savalas + Tank = Automatic Win. Go Kojak!

I also very much enjoyed Sink the Bismarck!. I always get a chuckle out of watching the British Navy commanders shouting "Shoot!" instead of "Fire!" when the big guns are lit up. It's ironic that Bismarck probably would have gotten away except for the intervention of some antiquated Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers from Ark-Royal. The Brits sure do give their ships some mighty fine names, I must admit; Ark-Royal, Illustrious, Formidable, etc. Truly an almost epic game of cat and mouse that battle was.

A clip from Dogfights on the History Channel covered the battle using CG graphics. Here's Bismarck's scuffle with HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales and the tragic end result of that encounter. The British got them back good, though.

Ah yes, I love The Great Escape. Apparently, the details of the escape itself are accurate although the characters are fictional.

I recently watched Where Eagles Dare starring Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood. I would have to say that it has no accurate account of anything. It is a movie based in WWII and about spies in WWII, but you don't learn anything significant about WWII. All the same, if you like a good old shoot'em-up and the tension and intrigue that spy movies usually entail, then it isn't a half bad watch.

A book that I would very much like to recommend, even though it is somewhat of a children's book, is Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. It is set in Denmark when the Nazis had invaded and, from the perspective of a young girl, circles around the persecution of the Jews.

Yes, the Great escape is a good yarn about Stalag Luft III. Did you ever see a movie aboutThe Wooden Horse?. I studied this novel at school, whilst one of my children later studied a book called Mischling Second Degree written by Ilse Koehn.

A Town like Alice? Yes, I've seen it! It was pretty good too. Are they in China or Singapore in the first part of the film? I know the rest takes place in the Australian outback.

No, the movie initially takes place in Malaya. Most of the action involving Japanese captivity happened around Singapore, Thailand (during the building of the Thai-Burma railway) and Indonesia, in places like Sumatra or Sandakan on the island of Borneo. The rest of the novel takes place in a place called Willstown, somewhere similar to the Channel Country town of Burketown.

What about The Bridge on the River Kwai? I believe it was very famous, though it doesn't mention the Australians much or the contempt it seems many of them felt for some in authority when they got back. Authors like Russell Braddon or doctors like Weary Dunlop for instance.

What did you think of the recent Tom Cruise movie Valkyrie, about Von Stauffenberg who plotted against Hitler? And to be fair, what about Nicole Kidman, the star of Australia, which also deals with the Darwin bombings? (Or do you, like me, prefer the Sunday Rose/Roast?)

-Heroes, generals, and other public figures? -
One of my own all time heros is General Dougals Mcarther, reason why? Because he got the job done, ignored many suggestions from captial hill, and when he said "I will return!" he meant it.

-Battles and events? -
Midway of course, I'm going to shock everyone here and say: The battle of Stalingraud. The Russian citizens and soldiers represnted what us Americans would do if an enemy army made it to our capital or any of our city's and I love the patriotism that the Soviets show. In one of the most horrible battles of the war: Russian's with their back against the wall; they tighten their belts and drive the Germans back.

narnianerd: I like your thoughts on Stalingrad. Thanks.

wagga: thanks for refreshing my memory. I saw A Town Like Alice only once, and that in 2002 or 2003. I saw Von Ryan's Express much later ... last year. Bridge on the river Kwai? It was so depressing, and seemed pointless! Of course, they accomplished their mission, didn't they? But they all died in the process. Something about it seemed fatalist. I don't know what word I'm looking for. I haven't seen Valkyrie, but the previews I did see made me wonder "why Tom Cruise"? Except for Far and Away, he just doesn't seem like a period actor. I don't want the 1940s through 2000s eyes. I haven't seen Australia either. I don't go to theatres much. I wait for HBO and network TV.

The Great Escape: another sad ending! I thought they weren't very bright for being so visible so recently after a mass escape. They couldn't stay away from mass transit, or travel only at night?

stargazer: I prefer the Italian version [La vita e bella] too. I don't have a problem with subtitles. I've been watching and enjoying foreign language films for at least 15 years now.

I'm a WWII geek but I only know about civilians. Does that even count? I've been reading about the Blitz, the Holocaust, resistance movements, etc for a long while now, but don't know anything about the major battles more than their names and who won.^^

Favourite WWII films--Valkyrie and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas weren't bad. Empire of the Sun and Life is Beautiful are my favourite WWII films ever. Hope and Glory is my least favourite WWII film ever.

And let's not forget Foyle's War on PBS! Its portrayal of wartime Britain is certainly interesting, and a bit scary.

I love Foyle's War! "Interesting and a bit scary," how so? Obviously the mystery parts are fiction, yeah... They went to great lengths to make sure all the details were exactly accurate, though, which is one of the reasons I like it so much. I haven't seen all of the episodes, but my attempts to find mistakes in the ones I did see failed utterly. It was awesome.

Books--where to begin. Enemy Brothers, The Borrowed House, Piet Prins' books (though the English translations are horrible), Hitler's Daughter, Milkweed, Number the Stars, The Book Thief sort of, and about half a million nonfiction books. I started listing them but the list grew massive, so I won't

People--The White Rose, the SS-5, Bonhoeffer, Raoul Wallenberg, Corrie ten Boom, Irena Sendler, Kim Malthe-Bruun...do you see a trend? Oh, and Archibald Macindoe!

I'm a WWII geek but I only know about civilians. Does that even count?

Of course it does! WWII affected practically everyone in the world to one degree or another, some more directly than others. And the troops at the front could not have endured without the incredible amount of work going on at home to provide them with the tools they needed to survive and ultimately win. My Mom was around 5 years old when WW2 started and 9 when it ended, and she sometimes tells us about what it was like growing up in Brooklyn, NY during the war years. She says they would have citywide blackouts to prevent German U-boats from being able to navigate using city landmark's lights, as well as to deter nighttime bombing raids. She also said that towards the beginning when they were expecting air raids by the Germans (which seems far-fetched now, but they were taking no chances back then) the civil authorities handed out little plastic "dogtags" for all the children. She says they were colored (green or blue, I can't remember) and were marked in some fashion. She thought it was cool to be receiving a sort of kiddy piece of jewelry, but in fact they were meant to identify bodies in case bombs or shells hit buildings with children in them. She said she kept hers for a number of years but lost it somehow over time.

We had the privelege of living across the street from a Pearl Harbor survivor when we first moved to North Carolina back in 1982. Mr. Hill was on the USS Raleigh, a light cruiser that was parked off of Ford Island not far from Battleship Row and he would tell us stories of that day. She was hit by some torpedos and was sinking and the anti-aircraft gunners still kept on firing away in their batteries while it was happening. He told me he was a gunner and was shooting at this one Japanese aircraft. Said plane was firing directly back at him. Years later at a reunion he told us he came across a lone Japanese pilot and after the two spoke at length he was convinced it was the very same pilot he was exchanging fire with that day. Strange stuff, eh? Sometimes I find it so odd that these kind, gentle old men once sat in the gunnery chairs of 5 inch or 50 caliber anti-aircraft guns, or in the cockpit of a fighter or bomber, and went through so much and still came out ok...it's a difficult thing to grasp.

Of course it does! WWII affected practically everyone in the world to one degree or another, some more directly than others. And the troops at the front could not have endured without the incredible amount of work going on at home to provide them with the tools they needed to survive and ultimately win.

Of course it did. Not only those who were alive at the time, but also Baby Boomers born subsequently, whose Dads and Mums, having survived WW2, were still a bit damaged physically and mentally. Like my Dad, who was caught up in the Timor Relief of mid February 1942, and the subsequent 19 February 1942 bombing of Darwin, they survived wartime traumas and horrors they never dreamed would ever have happened in their lifetimes, and were still affected by their experiences for years afterwards. My own Dad was on the USAT Meigs, as one of the troops.

My Mom was around 5 years old when WW2 started and 9 when it ended, and she sometimes tells us about what it was like growing up in Brooklyn, NY during the war years. She says they would have citywide blackouts to prevent German U-boats from being able to navigate using city landmark's lights, as well as to deter nighttime bombing raids.

Actually your Mum would have been about 3 when WW2 started officially 3rd September 1939. If she was 9 when WW2 finished she would be the same age as my own legally married hubby who was not yet 4 when WW2 broke out, and says he used to be able to see from where he lived in Scotland, how the German fighters were bombing industrial sites near Edinburgh. When UK declared war on Germany in 1939, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, as members of the then British Empire, were also automatically at war with Germany. Someone else might explain why the USA wasn't involved in WW2 prior to 7 December 1941.

As a matter of interest, were there any episodes where the USA was bombed by the Germans?

Actually your Mum would have been about 3 when WW2 started officially 3rd September 1939.

Mom was born in 1937. Hostilities between the US and Axis didn't erupt until 1941, and that is the point of reference my Mom takes, although we both know that the war actually started way back in 1939.

Someone else might explain why the USA wasn't involved in WW2 prior to 7 December 1941.

Well, we've basically already covered this ground, but I'll give it another go . At the time the US was isolationist and the larger portion of the populace considered what was going on in Europe to be more or less a "European affair". There were some, like Franklin Roosevelt, who knew that war was coming and understood we needed to be on the "right" side. We were sending Lend-Lease equipment to the UK for a spell before we officially entered the fray. Surprise attacks tend to shake the stupor off of even the most ardent isolationists, it seems.

As a matter of interest, were there any episodes where the USA was bombed by the Germans?

To my knowledge, no. The Germans would have been hard pressed to do it even in the best of circumstances. Their heaviest bombers might have been able to make the trip to New York City but in order to make a trip that long they'd have to take off from places like the Azores and the bomb load would have been almost negligible due to requiring every ounce of weight for fuel.

The Japanese, however, came up with a funky plan in which they sent up large balloons fitted with incendiary payloads and floated them across the Pacific, the goal being to set large forest fires. There were some that were successful in deploying but the effect was negligible at best.