Pressure film props on show at The D-Day Story

If you have caught the new war film Pressure and want to see the real things behind the screen, there is a reason to head down to Southsea. The D-Day Story has put together a display of original props from the movie, and the best part is that it is included in normal admission, so there is no extra charge to see it. It stays in place until the end of December, which gives you plenty of time to fit it in.

The film itself is a British-French drama directed by Anthony Maras, adapted from David Haig's play, and it focuses on a part of D-Day that does not get much screen time: the weather. Andrew Scott plays Group Captain James Martin Stagg, the Scottish meteorologist whose forecasts decided when the Allied invasion of Normandy would actually happen. Brendan Fraser is General Eisenhower, Kerry Condon plays Lieutenant Kay Summersby, Chris Messina is the American forecaster Colonel Irving P. Krick, and Damian Lewis takes on General Bernard Montgomery. It is a cast that pulls in a lot of weight for what is essentially a movie about forecasting.

The connection to Portsmouth is the real draw here. Much of the film is set in and around Southwick House, only about five miles north of the city, where the Allied commanders met to weigh up the weather before D-Day. The story follows the 72 hours leading up to the landings, and the tension comes from the pressure put on Stagg and Eisenhower as they decided whether to go ahead. The original plan was 5 June, but Stagg warned of a dangerous storm and argued for a 24-hour delay, a call that was not without opposition. Eisenhower eventually postponed the operation to 6 June, and that is the decision the film builds towards.

What you actually get to see on display is a collection of the small, personal items that flesh out the characters. There is a Fortitude deception plan, the identification cards of both Krick and Stagg, Stagg's briefcase, wallet and identity card, and Eisenhower's briefcase along with his messages and a magnifier. There is even a replica of the handwritten note that was meant to be read over the radio if D-Day had failed. It is a modest set of objects, but they tie the film's production directly to the real events of Operation Overlord.

For anyone who has not been before, The D-Day Story is worth the visit on its own. It is the only museum in the UK dedicated to the events of June 1944, and it is a big one, with galleries covering the preparation, the battle and the legacy, plus the 83-metre Overlord Embroidery and a reconstruction of the Southwick House operations room. Admission also gets you onto LCT 7074, the last surviving Landing Craft Tank to take part in the Normandy campaign, which you can walk around and explore. It is open daily from 10am, closing at 5.30pm in summer and 5pm from October, with a shop and a café on site. If you have seen Pressure and want to see the real history it is based on, this is a natural place to combine the two.