Operation Crossbow (2011)

Operation Crossbow

2011

Documentary History TV Movie

Synopsis

The heroic tales of World War II are legendary, but Operation Crossbow is a little known story that deserves to join the hall of fame: how the Allies used 3D photos to thwart the Nazis' weapons of mass destruction before they could obliterate Britain. This film brings together the heroic Spitfire pilots who took the photographs and the brilliant minds of RAF Medmenham that made sense of the jigsaw of clues hidden in the photos. Hitler was pumping a fortune into his new-fangled V weapons in the hope they could win him the war. But Medmenham had a secret weapon of its own, a simple stereoscope which brought to life every contour of the enemy landscape in perfect 3D. The devil was truly in the detail and, together with extraordinary personal testimonies, the film uses modern computer graphics on the original wartime photographs to show just how the photo interpreters were able to uncover Hitler's nastiest secrets.

Credits

Director

Tim Dunn

Cast

Allan Williams as Himself - Researcher. Edinburgh University

Col. Robert S. Ehlers as Himself - US Air Force Intelligence, Ret.

Dino A. Brugioni as Himself - Senior CIA Analyst, Ret.

Elizabeth Hick as Herself - Photographic Interpreter, RAF Medmenham

Geoffrey Stone as Himself - Photographic Interpreter, RAF Medmenham

Jimmy Taylor as Himself - Reconnaissance Pilot

John S. Blyth as Himself - Reconnaissance Pilot

Major Chris Halsall as Himself - Intelligence Corps, Ret.