War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 535: A Shooting Prop With Unusual Origins

On the desolate desert under the scorching sun, a black off-road vehicle and a gun-gray armored pickup were speeding between the sand dunes at a distance of tens of meters from each other.

In the compartments of the two cars, Jima and Wei Ran are responsible for the driving respectively. In the off-road vehicle of the former, all the actors who are about to participate in the filming are sitting. In the pickup truck of the latter, apart from Teacher Karp and Teacher Anna , and the enthusiastic Mr. Charlotte, as well as Matt who can only sit on the car refrigerator at this time.

And behind these two vehicles, separated by a distance of [-] meters, there are two Ural trucks following in the distance. Not only are canvas sheds added to the tops of the cargo compartments of these two trucks, but one of them also has a Holding a solid PKM machine gun wrapped in a blanket.

As for the cargo bucket, there are either old men sitting with weapons or coconuts in their hands, or studio workers with cameras or coconuts in their hands.

In the cab of the armored pickup truck, Wei Ran glanced at the black off-road vehicle that easily charged up the dunes not far away, turned the steering wheel angrily, and went around.

It wasn't until this time that he realized why even the off-road vehicle was confiscated when Hongqi Forest Farm fired him, and it was handed over to Jima, not to mention, and brought to this ghost place even thousands of miles away.

Of course, the armored pickup truck given to me with various excuses was much stronger than the previous off-road vehicle in terms of power, top speed, price and protection ability, but at the same time, it was also much heavier.

Correspondingly, the former can not only be used as a boat on the water, but also can easily rush up the sand dunes and even stay in the air for a short period of time with its light weight and thick tires. Even the speed can be easily achieved on this soft sand. Soaring to seventy or eighty is not a problem.

But the heavy pickup truck I drove has no problem running in the desert, after all, the off-road performance is there.But wanting to rush to the top of the soft sand dunes tens of meters high with one kick of the accelerator like Ji Ma, is definitely a daydream.

It's not that he hasn't tried it, but he was stuck on the halfway of the sand dune twice in a row, and then spun the tires to lift the sand and slipped down. What he got in return was only the unscrupulous ridicule of Jima on the radio.

Of course, they didn't come here to play in the sand, but to familiarize themselves with the route for the last time before shooting.

When the filming officially started, the actors who played the role of the Italian tanker would drive the three-wheeled motorcycle to start a desperate journey in the desert.

At the same time, filming began, as well as the German journalist Pell, played by Zimmer, who captured the British soldier Harry in another scene and fled in the Italian truck that was said to be borrowed from a rich man's private museum.

All in all, the film is a story of two threads that start out and end up as one, struggling to survive and build friendships together.

It's just that some Russians filmed a story about the North African battlefield of World War II. This reality always made him feel a little unspeakably magical.

"The rocky mountain in front of us is where Carlo and the British captive Harry took a rest on their way to find water."

On the radio channel, Jima introduced familiarly, while speaking, he also slightly reduced the speed of the car.

Turning around this not too high stone mountain, Jima speeded up again, changed direction and continued to drive until the mountain behind him was completely blocked by continuous sand dunes. Stopping near the wreckage, he continued to introduce, "The water well is not far from the wreckage of the plane."

"Mr. Anna, where did the wreckage come from?"

Wei Ran asked curiously. Although he didn't get out of the car, he could still see that the wreckage of the plane was definitely not a fake one, but a real wreckage.

"Speaking of the wreckage of the plane, I would like to thank Mr. Alexander."

It was Karp who answered Wei Ran's question, "According to him, the wreckage of this plane was found by the diggers from the mud near Murmansk a few years ago. After he bought it, it has been kept in the warehouse. , this time I heard that we need a fighter wreckage, so I lent it to us very generously."

"Can I go down and have a look?"

Wei Ran continued to ask, although he didn't have much contact with Mr. Alexander, he also knew that he was a very picky guy. Even if it was just a wreckage of an airplane, there must be some special reasons for him to include it in his collection. piqued his curiosity.

"Of course." Anna said with a smile, "We asked you to come here this time to see if there are any flaws."

Hearing this, Wei Ran immediately wrapped up the Arabian scarf he got when he first came to Egypt, and sprayed another layer of sunscreen on his bare skin before getting out of the car, and then pushed open the heavy car door.

"This little guy's life is really exquisite." Karp shook his head helplessly, and also pushed open the car door, and followed Wei Ran in no particular order with Charlotte and Matt.

Anna, who was sitting in the co-pilot, rolled her eyes, reached out to pick up the sunscreen spray that Wei Ran had just put down, and sprayed it from head to toe, before finally pushing open the car door.

A group of people strolled to the edge of the wreckage of the fighter jet. Wei Ran also noticed that on the other side that was originally blocked by the wreckage, there was an Ural truck parked under the sand dunes, and a sun stick stuck in the rear of the car. umbrella.

Under the sun umbrella, not only were there two people sitting on a deck chair looking at him from a distance, but there was even a plate of watermelon and two AK rifles on the table between them.

Pretending not to see those two people, Wei Ran turned his attention back to the wreckage of the plane covered with canvas.

Compared with the wreckage of the original Hurricane fighter that was seen near the dry well in the North African desert, this borrowed aircraft is in much better condition, except that one wing is missing.

Therefore, he could easily tell from the tropical radiator under the nose that this Hurricane is an IIB tropical.

In addition, when he lifted the canvas, the painting on the fuselage made his eyes widen, and he also understood the significance of it being worthy of collection.

In addition to a remnant red five-pointed star and a faintly discernible serial number on this plane, the left side of the five-pointed star seems to have been polished by sandpaper, revealing a silver-white uppercase "F" that was originally covered by paint. .

"This is really a treasure!" Wei Ran sighed sincerely.

"At that time, Alexander specifically reminded that it doesn't matter even if the other wing is removed, but try not to damage the painting on the fuselage."

Culp, Charlotte, and the old man named Matt walked towards Wei Ran and asked, "Victor, is there anything special about these paint job?"

"The most valuable thing about this plane is probably its livery"

Wei Ran completely opened the canvas, pointed to the "F" that had been sanded out, and said, "There should be another letter and a set of numbers behind this letter, but just from this F, it can be roughly judged that he is history."

"Very special?" Teacher Anna who came later asked curiously.

"Mr. Alexander said that the wreckage of the plane came from Murmansk?" Wei Ran did not rush to answer the question, but reconfirmed.

"That's what he said," Karp responded with great interest. While he was talking, Jima and Maya rushed over with the rest of the actors.

"In this case, it is basically certain that this aircraft first served in the 151st Wing of the British Air Force, and even through this F, it can be traced back to the 151st Squadron under the 81st Wing."

Speaking of this, Wei Ran's finger also moved to the red five-pointed star, "The 151st Regiment was stationed in Murmansk as a British aid force in September 1941. At that time, the Germans were uniting with Finland and Norway. The puppet army surrounded Murmansk together. Even according to historical records, even the earliest special forces, the Brandenburg troops, participated in the siege battle that was no less than that of Leningrad."

"and after?"

Maya, who is also a graduate student of war history in name, asked that although the origin of this plane has nothing to do with this shooting, it does not affect everyone's interest in listening to the story. The man under the translation listened with great interest.

"This British Air Force Wing began to participate in the battle shortly after its arrival. It was also responsible for the training of Soviet pilots. It even lost a sergeant named Smith in the battle. He was also the only one of the British Air Force on the Eastern Front. dead pilot."

Wei Ran paused, recalled the historical knowledge he had learned, and continued to say, "At the beginning of November 1941, all the fighters of the British 11st Wing were handed over to the Soviet Air Force after emergency training, and formed The 151th Aviation Regiment of the Soviet Union. At the same time, the soldiers of the 78st Wing also returned to the UK to continue to fight.”

Speaking of this, Wei Ran tapped the red five-pointed star on the fuselage lightly with his finger, "This five-pointed star painting comes from the 78th Aviation Regiment of the Soviet Union. In other words, this Hurricane fighter once served in two countries air force, and that's what it's worth."

"So how should this painting be changed?"

Culp frowned and asked, he is an outdated KGB, but this does not affect his lack of professional knowledge in the field of history.

“It was very simple”

Wei Ran spread his hands, "Just use double-sided tape to stick a layer of kitchen tin foil, and then use paint to repaint the British Air Force camouflage. Later, I will find you a photo of the British Air Force unit that participated in the North African battlefield. Just put it on like that."

"Don't you need to move the others?" Teacher Anna asked with a smile.

"I don't need anything else," Wei Ran said, and with the help of Ji Ma, he had refastened the canvas used to cover the fuselage.

"I believe this movie will become a classic," said Charlotte, who had just been listening to the story, in English. "Culp, you have a very good historical consultant."

Hearing this, Wei Ran reacted so quickly that a look of bewilderment appeared on his face, and he looked at Karp with this expression.

"Mr Charlotte is complimenting you"

Karp responded casually, "Let's go, let's go to the well and have a look. If there is no problem, we can start the official shooting."

(End of this chapter)