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LANDSHIP
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General
Landship is a feature film based on the events of F41 Fray Bentos.
Synopsis: Passchendaele 1917. At the spear head of a British offensive, the crew of Battle Tank F41 'Fray Bentos' become bogged down in a shell crater in no-man's-land, yards from the German front line. Over the course of sixty gruelling hours, Captain Donald Richardson struggles to maintain discipline, as the crew come under repeated attack from a fiendish enemy that seemingly appear from nowhere in the dense smog that hangs across the battlefield.
The cast of Landship is:
Vin Hawke - Captain Donald Richardson, David Dobson - Second Lieutenant George Hill, Jack Sherlock - Private William Morrey, Micky David - Private James Binley, Matthew Canny - Sergeant Robert Missen, Sam Dowdy - Private Frederick Arthurs, Ricky Oakley - Private Percy Budd, Nadav Burstein - Private Ernest Braedy, Daniel Cornish - Private Ernest Hayton & Jeffrey Mundell - Captain Henrichsen.
Fray Bentos was the nick name given to F41, a male Mk IV Tank that saw action during the First World War.
On the 22nd of August 1917, as part as the 3rd battle of Ypres, F41 'Fray Bentos' set off across No-Man's Land in support of the 61st Infantry Division. After engaging two enemy positions F41 and her nine man crew became stranded in a shell crater close to an enemy stronghold at Pond Farm.
Instead of abandoning the tank and retreating to Allied lines the crew of F41 held their position for over 60 hours and fought off repeated enemy attacks.
On the 24th of August, with their supplies running low, the crew of F41 finally made their escape back to British lines. All but one member of the crew, Private Ernest Braedy, survived.
For their actions the crew were awarded two Military Crosses, Two Distinguished Conduct Medals and Four Military Medals. Making them the most highly decorated Tank crew of the First World War.
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