Signed With Their Honour

A 1942 film script co-written with Terence Rattigan based on the novel of the same name by Australian author James Aldridge.

The story is set in 1941 in Greece just as the Germans begin to make gains in the country. The plot follows the fortunes of a close group of fliers of the 80th squadron and becomes a love story between a young Greek nurse and the pilot of a Gloster Gladiator.

In 1941 a film production unit had been created by the Air Ministry to generate professional quality films to record the RAF’s contribution to the war. Bates’s film review Captains of the Clouds and the essay The Film in War point to his interest in film production around this time.

In 1944 Rank Studios commenced filming in Shropshire with Vernon Sewell as director and Osmond Borradaile as cinematographer. Produced by Paul Sofkin, the cast included Squadron Leader Richard Acworth DFC, Flying Officer Tommy Tinsey DFC, New Zealanders Flight Lieutenant Reg Hyde and Flying Officer Piggott.

Shooting was completed on the aerial scenes, but with three aircraft lost to crashes, filming was halted due to budgetary difficulties. Eventually the film was cancelled.

The screenplay survives in a typescript in the British Library (https://searcharchives.bl.uk/p...).