The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: History vs. Hollywood

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare true story is compared to the Guy Ritchie WW2 movie about Operation Postmaster, a mission carried out by the British Army's No. 62 Commando, also known as the Small Scale Raiding Force (SSRF). The Small Scale Raiding Force operated as part of Winston Churchill's broader covert division, the Special Operations Executive (SOE). Led by Major Gus March-Phillips, who is portrayed by Henry Cavill in Guy Ritchie's Operation Postmaster movie, the British special ops team attempts to steal three axis-aligned ships from the harbor of Santa Isabel on the island of Fernando Po off of West Africa. Does The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare's real story resemble the version of history in this Operation Postmaster movie?
In this fact-check, we answer numerous questions regarding this Guy Ritchie WW2 movie's historical accuracy. For example, did Anders Lassen (portrayed by Alan Ritchson) use a bow and arrows in combat? Which of The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare's characters are based on real people? Was Marjorie Stewart (Eiza González) a part of Operation Postmaster? In the true story, did the mission result in that high of a body count? Finally, the Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare's ending is explained, including whether Prime Minister Winston Churchill thanked them by serving them lobster.
To read our full fact vs. fiction analysis of this Guy Ritchie war film, check out our History vs. Hollywood article here: www.historyvshollywood.com/re...

[@deefective1100]

After the release of the movie Argo, it was criticized for it's accuracy. Ron Howard said " if you want the facts don't look to Hollywood"

[@christophersanders3252]

What a terrible attitude for a director to have. The true story of this operation would have been a good movie.

[@namelastname1085]

The film does mention at the end that Gus March-Phillipps most likely inspired Ian Fleming's James Bond.

[@pescatorioso]

Brian lett KC in his excellent book,reckons that 007 was a mixture of March-Phillips 001 ,Appleyard 002, Hayes 003 and Lassen. At Kew the record gives their 00 codes and even states them as " licenced to Kill" There is no doubt about the James Bond Link.

[@tooslow4065]

@@pescatorioso also, ian fleming also did spy stuff too. some of oo7 was based on his own experiences.

[@PhilipBurton-dn3ce]

And Gus got the woman

[@ethanweeter2732]

@@pescatoriosoThe story is mentioned in multiple documentaries as the inspiration for Bond, I believe.

[@ethanweeter2732]

@@tooslow4065He was a spy during WWII and was involved with Operation Postmaster.

[@1SciFiGeek508]

As a history buff, this movie is the equivalent of watching Speed Racer to learn about nascar.

[@Colin-Fenix]

I didn’t watch it as a history lesson!

[@1SciFiGeek508]

@@Colin-Fenix it's too bad it wasn't more accurate. The reality was much more intense than that slap stick pie fight they dropped on the public

[@geronimo5537]

For a modern post 2000 hollywood movie. They did a fairly accurate job. The intro of cleared out a boarding party in front of german ship watching would have never left them alive. But the rest was quite possible. Overall the people involved were respected and the risks known. One could say they had done this easy mode. However sometimes the impossible is far easier than it seems. Which is why the British got away with so many little operations like this against the odds. Because no one expected someone could.

[@AGoodJoe]

Cool video. Hope no one really thought this was gonna be Saving Private Ryan or Dunkirk. Just a super fun Ritchie film and I'm here for it.

[@ethanweeter2732]

It was a good movie. Never seen the other 2, but I liked it a lot.

[@bepinkfloyd814]

​@@ethanweeter2732 you never saw saving private Ryan and dunkirk? Those 2 are the best imo war movies. I would add 1917 and everything quiet on the western front.

[@ewjiml]

I don’t think this movie was going for historical accuracy…..I mean the Nazi commander literally dealing with a black African businessman is kind of absurd….

[@brianjones1151]

Making the movie closer to the truth would have been better. Having read about and studied the real men of this operation and many others like it, i can't help but feel slightly sick that their names and legacies have been basterdised ! I know it's only a movie 'as they say' , but kids and the uninformed always think its true to life.

[@Tharindu_LK]

If the real life events are this different it should not have said based on a true story. It should have said inspired by a true story and went on with different names

[@pescatorioso]

I agree.

[@abiesdewet6910]

DEI Bullshit...

[@alexanderhorvath8822]

I do agree aswell, however I think that as he said in the video. If the film was being more truthful about the whole event I wonder if so many people would care to watch it. I see it as a way of spreading the word and getting people to want to learn more about WW2 and its heroes. Just like me I just watched it and immediately wanted to know if those things really happened. Also I think that making the characters nearly invincible is not that bad for the film itself. I see it as a way of thanking them for their service, although they should have included their sacrifices in the credits. As I said real life heroes. ❤And maybe juuuuuust maybe I liked the film that much because I just love seeing Nazis bite the dust 😂 greetings from 🇦🇹!

[@owtnerdy1331]

I think the original mission is more than exciting, in the hands of the right director it could've been done.

[@gafortheloveofgamenfilm1159]

Love it ,cause Henry gets to play the man who inspired James bond so Henry gets to be the real james bond so cool

[@jonnyh9388]

Regarding the use of a bow and arrow, I'd recommend reading up on another legendary British soldier - Lieutenant Colonel John Malcolm Thorpe Fleming Churchill.

[@madade27]

Mad Jack. My old man served in the same unit early in the war.

[@CEngelbrecht]

Extra trivia: Anders Lassen joined the Allied war effort on April 9th, 1940, the day of Nazi Germany's invasion of both his native Denmark and Norway. April 9th is a mythical date in both those countries. Lassen was KIA exactly five years later in Northern Italy, on April 9th, 1945. Denmark was liberated by British forces on May 5th, less than a month after Lassen's death.

[@madshansen8612]

I thought it was a Canadian force who went to free Denmark. But Canada is under the British Empire.

[@CEngelbrecht]

​@@madshansen8612 No, I don't know of specifically Canadian troops liberating Denmark. You might be thinking of the story of how a Canadian battalion managed to reach Lübeck on the Baltic coast before the Red Army did, which then blocked the Soviets from advancing onward to Denmark, which they probably would have. (The headline is "How A Small Group Of Canadian Paratroopers Saved Denmark From Soviet Occupation".) The summary of the end of hostilities in Denmark is that she was specifically relieved of German rule on the morning of May 5th, 1945, when mechanised British units under Bernard Law Montgomery crossed the border into Southern Jutland. Remaining German forces in the Netherlands, North-Western Germany and Denmark had formally surrendered to Montgomery the evening before at Lüneburg Heath South of Hamburg in Northern Germany. A small Danish contingent who had trained in exile in neutral Sweden also disembarked in Elsinore north of Copenhagen, and they along with the Danish resistance actually had a bunch of shooting skirmishes on May 5th around the Copenhagen area, not with German forces who had officially surrendered, but with armed Danish groups that had collaborated with the Germans during the occupation. Internal showdowns. More people actually got killed on the day of liberation than during Germany's six hour long invasion of the country five years earlier. The one exception was the Eastern Danish island Bornholm out in the Baltic Sea, which was sort-of-liberated by the Red Army on May 9th, who then decided to stick around for another year, seemingly because Stalin was trying to hawk that strategic island for himself at the conference table. Which failed, 'cause by then Denmark had been officially declared one of the victors of the war.

[@geronimo5537]

then the war ended May 1945. he almost lived the entire thing. impressive on its own right given his close engagement.

[@CEngelbrecht]

@@geronimo5537 Technicality, the war in _Europe_ ended in May '45. It carried on in the Pacific until the two atom bombs were dropped on Japan in August.

[@Pharoyar]

This is the KZbin CHANNEL i needed ... thank you

[@magnopedro3756]

Interesting fact, I literally realized today that I was able to listen perfectly in English for the first time, thanks man, your content is really good

[@GINsCinema]

The analysis of character development in this video is spot on. It really highlights how important well-written characters are to a movie's success.

[@jschudel777]

Loved this movie. Surprisingly fresh.

[@hldvoyeur4709]

Oh God, you're dumb.

[@No-One-of-Consequence]

The pre-closing credits sequence does actually mention March Phillios as the model for 007.

[@anniez14]

Read the book. Watched this docu-drama for it's entertainment value. Enjoyed the drama. It is my home when the younger generations see this & other films like it, they will go on to read & learn more about our history. LEST WE FORGET!

[@JohnDerbyshire-ns2up]

Mad jack churchill was a British soldier who actually used a longbow in battle and had several confirmed kills with it. He also carried a Scottish claymore sword and bagpipes into battle.

[@johnkraus457]

It is a great story about brave and resourceful warriors risking their lives for their country. The movie was a cartoonish affront to the memory of those men.

[@translunar1]

Great video and first of yours I have seen so will checkout more. In relation to the movie, it was a shame it came out such a box office failure as it deserved better support, but it was the Lock Stop and Two Smoking barrels version of Operation Postmaster and a bit too jokey for me. Also I note that a really similar version of the forming of the Special Air Service was made in the UK in 2022, written by Steven Knight and though that sticks more closely to the origins of 1st SAS Regiment in North Africa, a bit like this movie it had a quiet childish and cartoony feel to me and I was putoff by the music of ACDC being played by Stirlings jeeps were being driven through the desert. But one positive thing I will say as a British Amateur military historian and military veteran myself it is always good to see real stories re told, even if in a slightly unbelievable way as it does educate the young people about WW2 which has to be a good thing!

[@michaeltalbot8242]

Ca I suggest you read and comment on the book which is a brilliant bit of work and has so many other stories that need to be pictured

[@gertandersen3609]

@HistoryvsHollywoodOfficial I have read everything in Danish about and in English on Anders Lassen. He was once in SOE training tasked with providing extra food, for his team and hunted a deer with only a knife and that was why he was selected for Op Postmaster. His cousin was a German, von dem Busche and he was originally tasked with planting a bomb next to Hitler in 1943, but his führer moment was cancelled due to an allied bombardment. Von dem Bussche was scheduled to show some new officers uniforms to AH

[@Rendell001]

Yep, Axel Von Dem Busche volunteered to be a suicide bomber with a pair of hand grenades under his coat. Hitler decided to cancel the appointment shortly beforehand (Allegedly having had a bad feeling about it) and Von Dem Busche had to excuse himself and disarm the grenades with a minute to spare...

[@user-vj7el2wg9b]

I enjoyed your video, but one niggly little criticism: " . . . the HMS Violet . . ." Please do not use an article when a ship name is preceded by the abbreviation HMS, which stands for His/Her Majesty's Ship.

[@mfactor88]

very entertaining movie!

[@HellYeahAmerca]

The dirty dozen, which is based on the fithy 13, was a great older movie.

[@MP14562]

Still a good movie tbh shit was entertaining as a "movie" should be

[@geronimo5537]

For a modern post 2000 hollywood movie. They did a fairly accurate job. The intro of cleared out a boarding party in front of german ship watching would have never left them alive. But the rest was quite possible. Overall the people involved were respected and the risks known. One could say they had done this easy mode. However sometimes the impossible is far easier than it seems. Which is why the British got away with so many little operations like this against the odds. Because no one expected someone could.

[@jdrancho1864]

Elsa Gonzalez' character being Jewish not German?? WTH? Jewish is not a nationality. She can be German, or French, or Polish, or Russian, or any other nationality and ALSO be Jewish. Jewish is also not a language.

[@MrEd8846]

basically. from the start of the movie i kinda knew it was going to be an overexaggeration of Operation Postmaster. but even then. i had a lot of fun with this film. end of the day the movie is entertainment and not a documentary. i think people forget that when they watch movies about events. general audiences dont like Tora Tora Tora or Midway because.... well... its boring. war history nerds do because its pretty close to what happened. and you know what? entertainment is what got me into history and learning about the real stories anyway. you brought up saving private ryan and the d-day landings. a sequence that can be picked and picked and picked apart for its inaccuracies. but the authenticity and chaos is there. but then you get the whole movie and its ridiculous concept of 1 group of rangers trying to find 1 person. but we need a story instead of "oh its a inspired by a guy named Niland who heard his brothers died then got shipped home when he arrived at Division". so we got a good movie even with its flaws, ridiculous concept, and inaccuracies.

[@ethanweeter2732]

Hacksaw Ridge was a great movie.

[@TheGoproGuy]

Yes this movie doesn’t accurately represent history, but then again, who said this was a documentary? This is a film for purely entertainment purposes. And I freakin loved it

[@davidm3118]

Rambo and Chuck Norris films have much to answer for - there were very few WW2 Special Forces types that resembled these characters - consider the actor David Niven, who actually was a real life WW2 Commando, and apparently capable of some fairly cold blooded actions - he doesn't really fit the Rambo mold, does he?

[@geoffhoutman1557]

Christopher Lee too. According to Christopher Lee at least

[@bureaucraticconsequences4828]

Very entertaining movie. Although, as someone who read the book. They couldve made a tv series about the reat of the amazing feats they accomplished.

[@Scurvybilgerat10]

you could say this about every single war film to come out of Hollywood ffs

[@geeianna7708]

Good point but when Hollywood gets even wrong the title ( Krakatoa East of... ) it's needed

[@MarkARhodie]

The worst being U-571, claiming the Americans capturing the Enigma machine, not the British. I think the British PM complained at the time. lol

[@danielkubin3878]

Operation Anthropoid is not ideal example of operation SOE as you mention. It was Czechoslovak army operation, more likely Czechoslovak goverment in-exile operation as active proof for british government in order that czechoslovak people actively fighting against nazies. Gabcik and Kubis, others members from their group were just prepared and trained by SOE. "Brain" of the operation was Frantisek Moravec, head of the Czechoslovak intelligence services and it was approved by Edvard Beneš, head of Czechoslovak goverment in-exile.

[@dubdub2527]

Inglorious Bastards is loosely based on British Troop X, an all Jewish commando group in WW2.

[@MarkARhodie]

I've heard of an all Jewish Commando unit, according to Google it's 10 Commando.

[@jasminerigdon2916]

I think of it like the movie: the death of Stalin. Love it

[@mosab643]

I wouldn't have minded watching a movie based on the actual events.

[@ajandrew4197]

It's called a movie. Enjoy. 😉😉😉😉

[@crusignatioutremer791]

Nice video. I didn't hear you discuss another aspect of this film, after pointing out that there waa no females, as well as digging as far as the possible female being hispanic to explain the casting, and that is the casting of "roids' in two of the key male roles. Your historic photos show men that were no where near as big as several of the modern actors. It is too bad Christopher Lee isn't around to give us his thoughts on this new release.😜

[@iwanttocomplain]

You might not know this. but 'gubbins' means 'bits and pieces'. There are infinite unusual words that are not used when addressing foreign people.

[@HistoryvsHollywoodOfficial]

Interesting. Guess that’s why he was called M instead.

[@iwanttocomplain]

@@HistoryvsHollywoodOfficial I'm not sure why he's called M but Gubbins is obviously a pseudonym

[@zen4men]

@@iwanttocomplain Incorrect - Gubbins was his name.

[@zen4men]

I knew Brigadier Beyts, who was Gubbin's second in command at SOE, and I have met Gubbins' great-nephew, so I can tell you that Major-General Sir Colin McVean Gubbins, KCMG, DSO, MC definitely existed. The Gubbins came from France, and were then first recorded in Ireland. / My mother was part of French Section of SOE, but never spoke of her war, which I discovered through deduction after her death. She was an Ensign in FANY, and knew the Beaulieu area very well. / Another point. The German officer on the train was not wearing an SS cap - looked rather Wehrmacht to me. /

[@iwanttocomplain]

@@zen4men well it's true there are about 500 words only british people know what the meaning is.

[@jdrancho1864]

"....that is exactly what Churchill would have done" - which makes it a factual truth in some people's eyes today. that it never happened is irrelevant.

[@TellySavalas-or5hf]

I hope they make a second part. I loved this WW2 movie. Best 2024 movie untill now.

[@charlescooper4081]

Alan Ritchson vs box office.

[@peterhughes7099]

As usual and American has to knock a story based on true events (all be it with extra gunfire and explosions). Yet Americans are taught that the events of U-571 genuinely happened! It was only after significant backlash that a little note was added that it was fictional and that the Royal Navy captured the Enigma long before the US were in WW2. The MoUW is a film, sit back and enjoy it.

[@mikefordham6546]

It's a movie, it doesn't matter, it never states "here is a history lesson" why do people have to pick apart things if you want facts go to the history channel and stop criticising, I don't understand why someone would make a video like this .

[@MarkARhodie]

The film, They Who Dare is probably more historically correct.

[@minuteman3859]

The photo damian lewis used on the book cover is of the long range desert patrol group somaliland camel corp.on deployment.i do wonder who gave kind permission for the use of said photo?

[@robertwilkinson3990]

The only historically accurate event portrayed in this movie, and in the real life of the characters, was that it took place on planet earth.

[@shagrat47]

Well, a film about historical events does definitely not need to add combat... It can simply add tension and suspense, portraying the actual events. I think the action scenes are great to watch, but they aren't needed per se. Look at great movies based in a world war II timeframe like "The Imitation Game" using character building and emotion instead of violence and gore. It's still a great movie, but it wouldn't be a bad movie, if Ritchie had dialed down the violence in favor for more realism and suspense between the characters. 😎

[@treymoore19823]

Great film

[@jameharris098]

Do you want to sleep over the hole film

[@davidmoore1102]

It was a great film

[@kristallmenschkristallwolf1969]

another Time more is in that Movie more Fiction then Truth and thats sad

[@RiccardoDeRubeis]

My Goooood loose a little bit this is not a docu movie or a docuseries, is a fictional/Action/Adventure/Comedy movie i think that they did what they were task to do To Entertain, that´s it, if you want to know more about history read it and educate yourself

[@petedudson6671]

Then market it as such.

[@brock_edc]

Fair play... this film is insulting to the real men who took served. Read the book if you want a close insight into the individuals who served. This film is pure fiction

[@rolysantos]

Just curious, in brief, how was the movie insulting to them?

[@Shinbusan]

Insulting. How? It's obvious it is comic book poetic, like movie 300 did not insult Leonidas and his Spartans. It makes them heroes from comic books.

[@contentedbuddha]

Of course, the woman and the black man are fictional

[@abiesdewet6910]

DEI Shit !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@contentedbuddha]

Doesn’t matter much, most of the plot is fictional

[@MarkARhodie]

At least she is Jewish, that will piss off the Left. lol

[@nguyenhuynhminhuc7177]

For a chanel whining about movie is not historical accuracy, i don't see any video about Netflix's Black Cleopatra.

[@nunogonzalez4037]

what movie crap! And those actors who just got out of the gym and are supposed to recreate real characters that existed in the 40s! It's no surprise that younger generations have no idea what the Second World War was like.

[@HistoryvsHollywoodOfficial]

That’s a good point I didn’t mention in the video. While the real guys weren’t out of shape, they certainly didn’t have time to spend several hours a day in the gym and they certainly didn’t look like Reacher or Henry Cavill. There were more important things, like a war going on.

[@shanehaines4948]

No different that the Americans pretending they captured the u boat with an enigma machine “U571”

[@tobywiddop4817]

Just nice to have a ww2 film that suggest maybe it wasn't just the usa doing all the fighting. Makes a nice change that.

[@owtnerdy1331]

Guy Ritchie shits all over the UK. At every turn he's made us sound pathetic and weak.

[@jasonstarks3796]

Oh yeah, this was so much better. The British winning the war one masterful commando operation at a time. Total German dead & missing 3.6 million. 2.7 of them fighting the Russians. 900,000 on all other fronts. It's rather obvious who did most of the fighting. Yet not many western movies about the Eastern Front.

[@billhobbs7077]

Alan Richson cutting a bad guys heart out smells like a great plot point for Reacher season 4

[@dulls8475]

Is there a season 3? Mildly disappointed by season 2 compared to 1.

[@billhobbs7077]

@@dulls8475 season 3 is in the box already to go there's roughly 20 books in print any how, this movie was flagged

[@dulls8475]

@@billhobbs7077 I have read most of the books. Season 2 was not as good as 1 but that is just mu thought.

[@owtnerdy1331]

He was reacher playing reacher on steroids, the real Anders in the book isn't this bloodthirsty, at least at first he does go very dark in later missions when the Germans start reprisals.

[@petedudson6671]

Good for a bit of lighthearted entertainment. Not to be taken seriously.

[@dusty2774]

0:11 I bet they were not this sexy back in the day!

[@theylied1776]

You are making a classic historical mistake. Not all Nazis were true believers in the Nazi cause. After Jesse Owens dominated at the Olympics in 1936, several German Officers called Jesse Ownes the Übermensch.

[@ce3586]

Okay.... I really hate when people try to do a frame-to-frame comparison of the real-life actions of these people. Of course it's sensationalized and abbreviated. It's a movie meant for entertainment. It's not a documentary. "Inglorious Basterds" is based on a real-life US squad. No one thinks it's 100% true-to-life. It's a sensationalized version of actual events. I.e.: BASED on true events. Why do people feel the need to nitpick things like this? Nitpick a documentary. Don't pick apart a fictional movie based on nonfiction events? That comes across as wet blankets wanting to seem superior by pissing on someone else's fire. Stop. Being. A. Killjoy. P.S. NO ONE has EVER confised a Guy Ritchie movie as a documentary. 😂

[@jamoco1]

you need to do your own research

[@nicholacousins8563]

Errm it's a film 😅

[@jdrancho1864]

So the black and female characters are DEI hires to qualify the movie for Academy Award consideration. got it.

[@LessTalkingMoreWalking]

So it is a true event END OFF.

[@csjrogerson2377]

Duh! The film states "Based on a true story". "Based" can mean anything you want, it's a get out of jail free card for making up shit. "Truth" means factually correct in reality. A story has a beginning, a middle and an end with details filing in the gaps. The only truth in this story is that there was a WWII, an operation Postmaster, an island called Fernando Po, the merchant ships, the rest is made up shit. So this is "Based on a true story but is 95% made up shit". END OF, (not END OFF, duh).

[@jacijune]

Dude it was a good action movie. That was the point. Nobody watches Hollywood action for the truth. Get over it.

[@johncrook7705]

I accept we need to be entertained but really? How can you make a true story with a cast that shall we say destroys the real men who ran this operation. USA and British war missions are not a good match for the true stories or even the British brave soldiers who are not gloss actors as shown!

[@etsidan7003]

It has always struck me as odd that the British are criticised for operations conducted in neutral countries such as Fernando Po & the Altmark incident in Norwegian waters, while ignoring the fact the Germans were using the same neutral countries for their benefit & advantage.

[@zaynevanday142]

Gotta have that diversity included women & Black dude 😂

[@csjrogerson2377]

A great deal of unrealistic impossible nonsense. I was expecting a Korean nuclear sub to turn up or a B-52 fly over or someone to have a photon torpedo in his back pocket. A maritime version of the garbage, Sisu.

[@jubbafrubby4561]

i find this movie annoying. you cant take it seriously

[@wargamingchina9174]

This movie is a piss take!!!

[@dontrump9769]

Film was great. This video sucks.

[@zaynevanday142]

So typical Hollywood BS 😂

[@davidx6912]

My GOD, this was a TERRIBLE movie! I couldn't believe the amount of collective talent here putting out such a completely boring mess. Yechhhh! 🤮

[@abiesdewet6910]

Another DEI Shitshow !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Avoid !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@tooslow4065]

stfu. it was a good movie. no dei in it.

[@IanForbes-ct4kc]

Whiner

[@sonsoffalstaff2600]

I agree. I found it childish.