Movie "The Forgotten Battle" (Slag om de Schelde)

[Hanno Spoelstra]

A Dutch made WW2 movie has been released on a leading streaming service:

"November 1944. On the flooded isle of Walcheren, Zeeland, thousands of Allied soldiers are battling the German army. Three young lives become inextricably connected. A Dutch boy fighting for the Germans, an English glider pilot and a girl from Zeeland connected to the resistance against her will, are forced to make crucial choices that impact both their own freedom and the freedom of others."

https://youtu.be/bGiR5ZiEWkM

[Jordan Baker]

Courtesy of Kim Huvenaars for the pictures taken while on set in February 2020 of the Dutch film The Forgotten Battle. A majority of the vehicles were Canadian which was fantastic to see. The Otter, Lynx and C15ta were all from Dutch Cavalry Museum.

[Jordan Baker]

Courtesy of Kim Huvenaars for the pictures

[Peter Phillips]

Seen this last night and was very impressed at the quality of the video and details put into this movie. And it was nice to see Canadian troops having more than an honorable mention like most WW2 movies do

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Thanks for the photos, Jordan.

I think it is a very good movie. The objective was to make a war movie about three young people and how they experienced the war. The Battle of the Scheldt is the context for the three story lines. Don’t expect a Bridge Too Far like movie portraying a historic battle.

I was particularly pleased to see my son as an extra in this movie. There are a couple of scenes where he can be seen. The one with the CO entering a hangar for the briefing shows him in a frontal view - the pilot with the white sweater sitting on the left when the CO enters and the shot pans to the right.

[Mike Gurr]

I saw this last night on Netflix, so nice to see a film based on Canadian / British rather than the usual American and very good to see the accurate use of vehicles. Only slip I noticed was poor continuity at times. Look to see how often the Glider pilots rifle swaps from being a No4 to an SMLE and back again throughout the film!!

[Lynn Eades]

Seen around the world. My wife and I watched it last night as well.

[Ed Storey]

"The Forgotten Battle" falls in line with other motion pictures of the same genre such as Fury, Dunkirk and 1917; namely lots of kit and equipment, great European settings, numerous technical errors and a nonsensical screenplay. Another waste of resources and sadly a project which had the potential to be ground-breaking. I chock this one up to another two hours of my life that I will never get back. Unfortunately this is a movie best forgotten as it was so bad that even my wife who only has a passing interest in historical details could easily find the holes in the plot.

[Michael Dorosh]

I had hoped for more but suspected as much. The Walcheren Causeway is the "signature" battle of the Calgary Highlanders in the Second World War. The trailer made it look like at least they got the setting right - even the telephone poles looked like the actual battlefield, which I've walked. Ah well.

Originally Posted by edstorey

"The Forgotten Battle" falls in line with other motion pictures of the same genre such as Fury, Dunkirk and 1917; namely lots of kit and equipment, great European settings, numerous technical errors and a nonsensical screenplay. Another waste of resources and sadly a project which had the potential to be ground-breaking. I chock this one up to another two hours of my life that I will never get back. Unfortunately this is a movie best forgotten as it was so bad that even my wife who only has a passing interest in historical details could easily find the holes in the plot.

[Mike Cecil]

Just completed watching this movie. Some nice imagery, lots of good kit and vehicles, but some woeful continuity (the No.4/No.1 Mk.3* SMLE rifles swapping back and forth, as mentioned before) and obvious technical flaws such as an MG42 being loaded with a belt from the right side, then not cocked, and so on.

Were Canadians in Europe even using the No.1 Mk.3* rifle by late 1944?

Despite the stretch in credibility, I mostly enjoyed the story line and filming, but the overall could have easily been improved by the director taking note of some sound technical advice.

Mike

[Mike K]

Originally Posted by Mike Cecil

but the overall could have easily been improved by the director taking note of some sound technical advice.

Having been involved in a TV series with my Jeep and other MV's, in my experience I can tell you the props department will completely ignore any advice relating to vehicles, equipment and the time line of when jeeps first appeared. The response from the props team was " it's in the script so it must be correct "

[Ed Storey]

Originally Posted by Mike Cecil

Just completed watching this movie. Some nice imagery, lots of good kit and vehicles, but some woeful continuity (the No.4/No.1 Mk.3* SMLE rifles swapping back and forth, as mentioned before) and obvious technical flaws such as an MG42 being loaded with a belt from the right side, then not cocked, and so on.

Were Canadians in Europe even using the No.1 Mk.3* rifle by late 1944?

Despite the stretch in credibility, I mostly enjoyed the story line and filming, but the overall could have easily been improved by the director taking note of some sound technical advice.

Mike

Beyond the numerous technical errors in this movie, the screenplay was complete nonsense. For example, a resistance member overtly taking photographs of German troop movements while standing by the side of the road and a Glider Pilot who has been on the run from the Germans and is then somehow absorbed into the Canadian Army; other than the 'interesting kit', there is nothing to recommend to anyone about this motion picture.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by edstorey

there is nothing to recommend to anyone about this motion picture.

I beg to differ; one reason is my son was an extra in this movie