Behind the Scenes

When Rob and Graham went to northern France to film the first short films for this story, they had done a lot of research but some of the things they were hoping to find weren't accurately recorded anywhere. They had to go over with the kit, maps, optimism and the best information they could find. They then did quite a lot of walking, carrying the camera equipment, searching for the right locations. They worked hard! I'm happy to say they found what they were looking for and we start editing these films very soon.

Rob Bell and director Graham Cooper at Batterie Todt, which features in our first films about the Atlantic Wall.

Although Rob has an engineering background, this isn't just a story about concrete. We've all become deeply interested in the people behind the story of the Atlantic Wall, be they Nazi policy makers and leaders or the unfortunate souls forced to work on the wall when forced labour became the preferred method of getting it done. During our research Rob learned about a place in northern France where the footprints of Jewish workers and their Nazi masters are still visible, imprinted forever in the Chemin des Juifs (path of the Jews). They set out with a map and anecdotal evidence to find these footprints and you can see them here, in advance of the finished films. In one photo, the imprint of a bare foot is just visible. The other could be a clog or a jackboot - what do you think?

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Selfie from the IWM, where Rob was hoping to discover some German propaganda relating to the Atlantic Wall

An update from Rob after a day spent searching through archives at the Imperial War Museum.