Sometimes known as 'Men of Arnhem', the film was the first made about the Battle of Arnhem and remained the highest-grossing war film for almost a decade.
The shooting of ‘Theirs is the Glory’ took place in the original battle-scarred streets of Arnhem. The actors were men who had seen action during Operation Market Garden. Each received £3 per day during filming. As well as re-enactments, the film-makers also made use of real footage of the battle as it had unfolded in September 1944.
Public Domain Photo: Filming on the set of 'Theirs is the Glory' at the entrance to the Sint Elisabeth Gasthuis, Arnhem in January 1945.
Northern Ireland Involvement
Belfast-born Brian Desmond Hurst directed the 1946 feature. He had fought with the Royal Irish Rifles, surviving Gallipoli in the First World War. Help with the script came from Terence Young who would one day direct James Bond movies but in 1944 was a member of a tank crew at Arnhem with the Irish Guards.
Sergeant Jack Bateman from Co. Down served in 10th Battalion The Parachute Regiment. His Ulster accent comes through strongly towards the beginning of the movie as he addresses the 10 men in the Nissen hut. Jack’s nephew Colin Bateman would go on to become one of Northern Ireland’s most successful authors.
Private Tommy Scullion from Ballymena, Co. Antrim served in 21st Independent Company The Parachute Regiment. His Irish charm led him to have an important role in the film. The Germans may have “got” the Co. Antrim man in ‘Theirs is the Glory’ but less than a year before filming, Tommy was swimming a 200m stretch of the Rhine to safety beneath a hail of machine gunfire.
Legacy
The prolific Hurst spoke fondly of this particular film.
The film is my favourite because of the wonderful experience of working with soldiers, and because it is a true documentary reconstruction of the event. I say without modesty it is one of the best war films ever made.
Brian Desmond Hurst.
The success of ‘Theirs is the Glory’ allowed Arthur Rank of the Rank Organisation to raise funds for the Airborne Forces Security Fund. Alongside the showing of the film, the United Kingdom showed an enthusiasm for raffles, parades, and fundraising events. Arthur Rank was able to present Earl Mountbatten with a cheque for £50,000 for the fund.
They have written in letters of fire an immortal page of history. Their manner of passing shall be carried like a banner borne high by all those who shall come after. Their story will be told wherever men cherish deeds of good report. The story of those filthy, grimy, wonderful gentlemen who drop from the clouds and fight where they stand. Just Ordinary Men.