Above Us the Waves

Above Us the Waves
Original UK poster
Directed by	Ralph Thomas
Produced by	William MacQuitty
Screenplay by	Robin Estridge
Based on	Above Us the Waves by C. E. T. Warren & James Benson
Starring	John Mills John Gregson Donald Sinden
Music by	Arthur Benjamin
Cinematography	Ernest Steward
Edited by	Gerald Thomas
Production company	London Independent Producers
Distributed by	GFD (UK)
Release dates	29 March 1955 (1955-03-29) (UK)
Running time	99 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Above Us the Waves is a 1955 British war film directed by Ralph Thomas, about human torpedo and midget submarine attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz. It is based on two true-life attacks on the Tirpitz by British commando frogmen, first using Chariot manned torpedoes in Operation Title in 1942, and then X-Craft midget submarines in Operation Source in 1943. Some of the original equipment was used in the film.

Plot

The Royal Navy is concerned about constant attacks on convoys by German submarines and having to keep "half the fleet" watching for the German battleship Tirpitz. The Tirpitz is 60 miles from the sea inside a Norwegian fjord and attempts by the Royal Air Force to sink her have failed. Commander Fraser (Mills) is determined to prove that an attack by human torpedoes is practical, despite scepticism from the higher echelons that such an operation would be feasible.

Fraser assembles and trains a force of British commando frogmen officers and ratings to use the Mk I Human Torpedo manned torpedoes (Chariots) at their Scottish base. After receiving a refusal to allow the operation to go ahead from an admiral, the team use dummy mines to attack the admiral's own ship using the Chariots.

An attack is authorised on the Tirpitz with the initial operation using the Chariots. The attack fails and the crew are forced to abandon ship and land in Norway. They walk to neutral Sweden from where they are returned to Scotland.

For the next operation the crews are trained to use three small X-Craft submarines: X1, X2 and X3. They are initially towed by conventional submarines and are then left to penetrate the area where the Tirpitz is anchored.

They manage to approach the ship under their own power to lay their "side-cargoes", each containing 2 tons of amatol, under the ship's hull undetected. Two crews then scuttle the submarines and are picked up by the crew of Tirpitz, to be taken away as prisoners of war. The third (X2) is too badly damaged to re-surface and the crew decide to stay on board to prevent "giving the game away".

The mines explode as planned, badly damaging the Tirpitz. Meanwhile, X2's side cargoes have flooded. The flooding causes them to spontaneously explode, destroying X2 and killing her crew.

Main cast

• John Mills as Commander Fraser
• John Gregson as Lieutenant Alec Duffy
• Donald Sinden as Lieutenant Tom Corbett
• James Robertson Justice as Admiral Ryder
• Michael Medwin as Steward Smart
• James Kenney as Abercrombie
• O. E. Hasse as Captain of the Tirpitz
• Lee Patterson as Cox
• William Russell as Ramsey
• Theodore Bikel as German officer
• Harry Towb as McCleery
• Cyril Chamberlain as Chief Petty Officer Chubb
• Anthony Wager as George
• Leslie Weston as Winley
• Lyndon Brook as Diver navigator, X2
• Thomas Heathcote as Hutchins
• Anthony Newley as Engineer, X2
• John Horsley as Lieutenant Anderson
• William Franklyn as No. 1, X2
• Guido Lorraine as Officer interpreter
• Raymond Francis as Officer on towing submarine
• Walter Gotell as German officer on Tirpitz (uncredited)

Production notes

The screenplay was based on the book Above Us the Waves by C. E. T. Warren and James Benson. Events in the film had minor differences, for example, the boat Arthur that carried the Chariot human torpedoes was named Ingebord in the film, and the X-class submarines used in Operation Source in 1943 were numbered X-5, X-6 and X-7, and X-5 was the craft that was lost.

The score was by Arthur Benjamin and performed under the direction of Muir Mathieson.

Commander Donald Cameron, who commanded X-6 as a lieutenant and won the Victoria Cross during the operation, was an adviser to the film. Filming started September 1954 in Guernsey.

Donald Sinden's character was based on the true-life exploits of Sub-Lieutenant Robert Aitken, who died a few weeks after Sinden. In his first autobiography, A Touch of the Memoirs, Sinden said "I had to re-enact a deed originally performed by Commander Donald Cameron. While his X Craft was being towed across the North Sea, the cable picked up a floating mine which then moved along the cable and made straight for his midget. Cameron rushed forward and, lowering himself over the prow of his craft, managed gingerly to push the mine clear with his feet. Donald was our advisor on the film and told me modestly, "I couldn't think of anything else to do." He was awarded the VC. I wasn't because we used a dummy. But Donald could swim!"

Reception

The film was the sixth most popular film at the British box office that year.

External links

• Above Us the Waves in the British Film Institute's "Explore film..." database
• Above Us the Waves at IMDb
• Bute at War The role of the Isle of Bute in "Operation Source". A comprehensive account of the audacious X-Craft raid on the Tirpitz, planned and executed from the naval on-shore base HMS Varbel in Port Bannatyne.