MovieChat Forums > The Canterville Ghost Discussion > movement of the soldiers question

movement of the soldiers question


It seemed as if they came from the States, were sent to the UK, went to Germany, came back to the UK for more training, and I guess were going to be sent back to Germany. I'm confused because unless they are stationed with the RAF why would they come back from Germany after all the effort of getting them there?

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I haven't seen the movie (yet) so I don't know the exact situation that you're asking about. However in WW2 (& most every other war) you pull units off of the front line to rest, fill the empty positions with replacements & then train them all together for a little while to get them functioning as a coherent unit again. You want the troops to do the training in a relatively safe area, which in this case would be back in England. After the D-Day invasion it took several months for the Allied armies to retake enough of western Europe to be safe far enough behind the lines without having to go back to England (which really isn't all that far away to begin with). Back in England you also already had all the training areas set up & ready for use along with all the supply dumps to reequip everyone from. Sending them back there just made the most sense on several levels.

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Great explanation. I understood the concept, but couldn't have put it so well.

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The soldiers were members of a Ranger unit, a sort of special forces unit. Prior to the Normandy Invasion in June of 1944, they conducted quick raids on German coastal installations, and withdrew, after accomplishing the objective on the European mainland. This movie was made before the invasion so the units could not remain on the mainland. Jessica makes it clear this is before the June invasion as she mentions that she will be 7 in May. [Picture was made in early 1944]

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