WWII veterans walk the red carpet at D-Day film premiere
Five WWII veterans who are supported by the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans enjoyed a very special evening on 1 September, when they attended the European premiere of Pressure, the new film telling the extraordinary story behind the weather decisions that shaped D-Day.
Colin Bell, Mervyn Kersh, Marie Scott, Ruth Barnwell and Dorothea Barron were invited to the premiere, to ensure that veterans who had lived through the events depicted in the film had the opportunity to attend this special occasion.
The veterans were given the full red-carpet treatment, walking in front of the assembled press photographers and posing for photographs as they arrived. They were also interviewed by historian and broadcaster Dan Snow, giving the media the opportunity to hear directly from people who experienced the Second World War and D-Day first-hand.
Pressure, directed by Anthony Maras, focuses on the tense 72 hours before D-Day and the enormous responsibility faced by British meteorologist Group Captain James Stagg. Played by Andrew Scott, Stagg had to persuade General Dwight D Eisenhower, played by Brendan Fraser, that the weather conditions were too dangerous for the invasion to go ahead as originally planned.
With the fate of the Allied invasion hanging in the balance, Stagg’s forecasts ultimately contributed to Eisenhower's decision to delay the landings by 24 hours, a decision widely regarded as crucial to the success of D-Day.
The impressive cast also includes Kerry Condon as Kay Summersby, Chris Messina as American meteorologist Irving Krick and Damian Lewis as Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery.
For Marie Scott, the evening had a particularly personal significance.
As a 17-year-old, serving with the Women's Royal Naval Service, Marie was stationed deep underground at Fort Southwick, near Portsmouth, one of the secret communications centres supporting the D-Day operation. She had originally trained as a switchboard operator and was subsequently trained as a VHF radio operator in preparation for Operation Overlord.
On D-Day, Marie was part of the vital communications network relaying messages between the Allied command centre and the invasion forces in Normandy. From around 100 feet underground, she could hear the sounds coming back from the beaches through her headset – machine-gun fire, cannon fire, explosions and the voices of men shouting and screaming.
Although she was physically in Hampshire, Marie was hearing the invasion unfold almost as it happened.
Her contribution to D-Day was later recognised when she was awarded France's Légion d'Honneur.
It was therefore a particularly memorable moment when Pressure director Anthony Maras spent time talking with Marie at the premiere about her experiences at Fort Southwick in the build-up to, and on, D-Day.
Marie has previously spoken about how the names at the heart of Pressure, including Eisenhower, and the weather decisions surrounding D-Day, were familiar to those working at Fort Southwick.
The presence of the five veterans at the premiere provided a powerful connection between the events portrayed on screen and the people who were actually part of the war.
For Colin, Mervyn, Marie, Ruth and Dorothea, it was a chance to enjoy an evening of glamour and cinema while also helping to ensure that the stories of their generation continue to be heard.
And judging by the number of photographs taken on the red carpet, they certainly made an impression!
