Target for Tonight

I saw this film at a cinema in Chertsey, Surrey, England as a 6 year old and it has remained with me for 60 years. Only recently did I find out its title, although the exploits of F for Freddy are vivid in my memory. As a child I was unaware of the fact that it was made by the RAF themselves but I would suggest that it was a more realistic view of WWII than any of its successors. I would love to see it again and would recommend it to anybody who can get hold of a copy.

Much of the British wartime propaganda produced by the GPO Unit and then its successor The Crown Film Unit portrayed the British as doughty, courageous victims of German aggression. This film was rather different in concentrating on Bomber Command of sinister memory, which. for all the tea-drinking, pipe-smoking conviviality. would prove the most aggressive part of the British military machine. In 1941, as shown in the film, Bomber Command still concentrated on military targets but would greatly extend its remit from 1942 onwards to engage in more indiscriminate strategic bombing, causing the death of an estimated half a million civilian by the end of the war and being the first, after the US, to introduce the charming novelty of roasting its victims alive with napalm (invented in the US in 1942).

Although this film was awarded an Oscar, it is not one of the Unit's best. While it follows the policy initiated by Brazilian Alberto Cavalcanti (in charge of the GPO Unit and ten the Crown Film Unit after the departure of John Grierson to Canada in 1937) of using non-actors but Cavalcanti left the Unit in 1941 for Ealing Studios (because of its increasingly propagandist slant, he was required to become a British citizen which he refused to do) and the lack of his very special talent (as supervising producer) with sound and the orchestration of dialogue is apparent here. South African born Ian Dalrymple, who took over, was essentially a scriptwriter without the same technical expertise. A companion piece, Coastal Command, directed by Jack Holmes has music by Vaughan-Williams but suffers from similar defects and a rather unfortunate commentary.

A much better film is Watt's 1940 Squadron 992 about a much less well known aspect of the war (the balloon squadrons), quirky and very Scottish with some superb photography (the cinematographer, Jonas Jones, is the same) and a cracking deadpan commentary written by broadcaster Donald McCullough ("a balloon on the ground looks a bit like an elephant that has had bad news").

I remember seeing this film when I was boy which made me as well as many other youngsters want to join the RAF

I know it was made by the Crown Film Unit and I think it was directed by Harry Watt who was a well known documentary producer and director. The skipper of the crew was Flying Officer Pickard, unfortunately "F" for Freddy was shot down late in the war with the loss of all the crew.

The comment made by most subscribers are very fair, though I cannot agree that the film was "Laughable" as on person put it. I always thought the US war films were more unreal than the UK equivalents. Usually about one man saving an entire army. Example Errol Flynn in the Burmese jungle.

Another good propaganda film was "The Way Ahead" a movie about the Brtish Army which was more fictional than "Target" but based on fact. Has anyone seen it?

I would like to know if a copy of Target for Tonight is available as I would very much like to see it again.

It's a 47-minute documentary about the planning and execution of an air raid by RAF bombers on an oil dump in Germany. The performers are, we are told, the actual personnel who carry out such operations. We watch the slow beginning, as personnel go through their daily routines, maps are examined, checks are performed and the crews selected and briefed. It's not until halfway through that the planes take off, and if you're looking for it, another seven minutes before the cutting rate increases. Up until then, it's a steady 10-15 seconds between edits. At the 30-minute mark, the cutting rates increase; after a couple of minutes, each shot lasts three or four seconds. After the raid, the edits slow down, but the tension is maintained by moving shots.

It's directed by Harry Watts, who co-directed the landmark NIGHT MAIL for the GPO, and did uncredited work on LONDON CAN TAKE IT! Alfred Hitchcock did uncredited editing on it, and it shows a master's hand, punctuating the action with cuts, moving shots and sound effects. Everyone is calm throughout, the British doing-your-job attitude very much in evidence throughout. It's never flashy, but it's enormously effective.

'F for Freddie', OJ-F (P2517) was used as the 'star' aircraft in the Ministry of Information film 'Target for Tonight', piloted by then Squadron Leader 'Percy' Pickard. It served with No. 149 Squadron from November 1940 to September 1941, but never saw actual combat operations (transferred to No. 3 Group Training Flight) (Caption to Photograph p30)

For one month covering the last two weeks in March and the first two weeks in April (1941), No. 149 Squadron's aircraft and crews were used as background for the Ministry of Information film "Target for Tonight" with P C (Charles) Pickard seconded from No. 311 (Czech) Squadron to play the part of the pilot (the only member of the crew not from No. 149) of No. 149 Squadon's Wellington P2517, 'OJ-F' for Freddie' around which the story was written, the film being made at Blackheath Studios in London with Harry Watt as director. The man in the flare-path caravan shown in the film was No. 149 Squadron's Commanding Officer, Wing Commander 'Speedy' Powell. Pickard later rose to Group Captain, but was killed while leading a Mosquito attack on the Amiens prison on 18th February 1944. (p36)

At the time of filming, No. 149 Squadron was based at Mildenhall, Suffolk (12th Apil 1937 - 6th April 1942).

Strong By Night. History and Memories of No. 149 (East India) Squadron Royal Air Force 1018/19 - 1937/56. John Johnston and Nick Carter. An AIR-Britain Publication. www.air-Britain.com