"9. April" - Danish movie on the invasion 1940

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B Hellqvist
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"9. April" - Danish movie on the invasion 1940

#1

Post by B Hellqvist » 06 Dec 2014, 11:26

A Danish movie on the German invasion in 1940 will premiere in Denmark in March next year. It concentrates on an infantry unit at the Danish-German border, and the hopeless odds of the small Danish army. Whether there will be an international release remains to be seen.


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Christian Ankerstjerne
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Re: "9. April" - Danish movie on the invasion 1940

#2

Post by Christian Ankerstjerne » 07 Dec 2014, 19:52

Looks like they've painted the tanks grey-only. Oh, the huge manatee...

It'll be interesting to see if this will start some discussion over the decision not to take full-scale action against the German army.


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B Hellqvist
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Re: "9. April" - Danish movie on the invasion 1940

#3

Post by B Hellqvist » 01 Jul 2017, 02:53

I finally got around to watch this one. Good movie on a seldom seen subject. Good early war skirmishes, with credible Pz IIs and Sdkfz 222s against a Danish bike-riding infantry platoon. It basically covers less than 24 hours, and is very much trough the eyes of the men on the ground, so don't expect sweeping strategy. Recommended.


Sid Guttridge
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Re: "9. April" - Danish movie on the invasion 1940

#4

Post by Sid Guttridge » 01 Jul 2017, 09:04

This looks like a promising film. I shall certainly give it a viewing.

As for taking full scale action against the Germans - this would have been pointless, as even Winston Churchill agreed.

The indefensibility of Denmark was down to long term, interwar reductions in the armed forces by virtually pacifist politicians. Having gained territory after WWI, even though it had not fought, Danish Goevernments should have realized that they would be a potential target for German revanchism. Instead, they inflicted their own Versaille-type reductions on their army, in particular, and never really responded to the growing gerneral security threat in the late 1930s by rearming proportionally.

So, by April 1940, there was never really scope for much more than token resistance anyway.

Cheers,

Sid.

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Re: "9. April" - Danish movie on the invasion 1940

#5

Post by sjashford » 08 Aug 2017, 21:13

This film is not a cultural masterpiece; it is, however, an excellent piece of "documentary" history.
The title refers to the defence of Denmark against the aggression of the Third Reich in 1940. This invasion was something of a "by the way" action, on the way to the invasion of Norway.
The Wehrmacht crossed the border at 0415 and the Danish Government capitulated about 0600. Prior to the invasion the danish authorities had restricted military action to avoid allegations of provocation.
The film starts with a group of danish troops returning to barracks from leave, we then see the humdrum of training exercises (changing the tyres on their bikes!).
The film then ramps up to the alert and deployment of the troops in the early hours. It follows the initial actions of a bicycle platoon engaging the invaders then falling back, and through to their final actions and eventual capture.
I suspect that many people (outside Denmark) are unaware that there was any combat there. I was aware, and had done some limited research on the events.
Overall I believe this to be an excellent piece of reconstructional cinema (OK there are apparently a couple of anachronisms which I had not noticed) but I believe the accuracy to be superb.
I noticed a shot in the film which appeared to reflect an historic photo. Having compared a screen capture from the film with the photo I can only describe it as a "loving recreation" which term, I think sums the film up fully.
If you are interested in the Second World War then you should view it.

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