Operation Crossbow

Operation Crossbow

59 mins | Documentary, History, TV Movie | May 15, 2011

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.

Operation Crossbow

59 mins | Documentary, History, TV Movie | May 15, 2011

Operation Crossbow
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.
Producers BBC
Original title Operation Crossbow
Directors Tim Dunn
Writers

Cast

Samantha Bond

as Narrator (voice)

Dino A. Brugioni

as Himself - Senior CIA Analyst, Ret.

Elizabeth Hick

as Herself - Photographic Interpreter, RAF Medmenham

Col. Robert S. Ehlers

as Himself - US Air Force Intelligence, Ret.

Jimmy Taylor

as Himself - Reconnaissance Pilot

Allan Williams

as Himself - Researcher. Edinburgh University

Wing Commander Mike Mockford

as Himself - Photo Interpreter

Major Chris Halsall

as Himself - Intelligence Corps, Ret.

John S. Blyth

as Himself - Reconnaissance Pilot

Geoffrey Stone

as Himself - Photographic Interpreter, RAF Medmenham

Col. Roy M. Stanley

as Himself - US Air Force Intelligence, Ret.

Christian Muhldorfer-Vogt

as Himself - Peenemünde Museum

John Bell

as Himself - Bomb Aimer

Eugene Black

as Himself - Mittelbau-Dora Inmate

Margaret Hurley

as Herself - Photographic Interpreter, RAF Medmenham