Hollywood at War: Stars Who Served (Part V)

On December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy led a surprise military strike against the American naval base stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Commencing at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian Time, the attack was carried out by 353 Japanese fighter planes, bombers and torpedo planes in two waves, launching from six aircraft carriers. All eight U.S. Navy battleships stationed at the base were damaged, with four sunk. All but the USS Arizona, which exploded beyond repair after being hit by four armour-piercing bombs, were later raised, and six were returned to service for the remainder of the war. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship, and one minelayer. In addition, 188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed, 2,430 Americans were killed, and 1,178 others were wounded. The following day, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared war against Japan, which fully plunged the United States into World War II.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, thousands of American men enlisted in the various branches of the armed forces to help their country in the fight against the Axis Powers. Some of these men were established Hollywood actors, while others became recognizable movie (and television) stars in the post-war period. Here are five (more) male actors who served in World War II before or after they became famous.

 

John Howard (1913-1995) | United States Navy, 1942-1945 

Widely known for playing adventurer Bulldog Drummond in a series of «B» movies produced by Paramount in the 1930s, as well as Katharine Hepburn's fiancé in The Philadelphia Story (1940), Howard enlisted in the United States Navy in 1942. Commissioned as a lieutenant, he served as an executive officer abroad the minesweeper USS YMS-24, which was assigned to the Italian Campaign of World War II. Howard and the crew of the YMS-24 initially participated in landing operations during the Allied invasion of Sicily, in July and August 1943, as part of Operation Husky. The following month, they saw action during the invasion of mainland Italy, and later took part in the Battle of Anzio, between January and June 1944. In August, they were called to support the invasion of southern France during Operation Dragoon. On the second day of battle, the YMS-24 was severely damaged by a sea mine, resulting in the death of Howard's commanding officer. Howard then took charge of the ship and jumped in the water several times to save crew members who were trapped or had fallen overboard. For his actions during the war, he was awarded the Navy Cross and the French Croix de Guerre. Howard was discharged from military service at the end of the war, in 1945.

 

LEFT: John Howard in his Navy uniform. RIGHT: Part of the invasion fleet of Operation Dragoon, off the French Mediterranean coast, in August 1944. RIGHT: American troops landing in Saint Tropez during Operation Dragoon.

James Doohan (1920-2005) | Canadian Army, 1938-1945

Best known for his role as Montgomery «Scotty» Scott in the hugely popular Star Trek franchise, Doohan enrolled in the Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps in 1938. At the onset of war, he joined the Royal Canadian Artillery and was assigned as a gunner to the 14th Field Battery of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division. Later, he was transferred to the 22nd Field Battery of the 13th Field Regiment of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division. In 1940, having risen to the rank of lieutenant, he was put in charge of an entire battery of field guns.

 

James Doohan in his Canadian Army uniform during the war.

As the Allies were preparing for the invasion of Normandy as part of Operation Overlord, Doohan was sent to Britain to train for the assault. Early in the morning of June 6, 1944, which became known as D-Day, he and the 22nd Battery landed on the Mike sector of Juno Beach in support of the Royal Winnipeg Riffles and the Canadian Scottish Regiment. Taking Juno was the responsibility of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division and the 2nd Canadian Armored Brigade, under the command of the British Second Army led by Lieutenant-General Miles Dempsey. After being pinned down by enemy machine-gun fire, Doohan's battery secured the beach and advanced towards the village of Banville, where they established defensive positions. That night, while returning to his post following a cigarette break, Doohan was hit by machine-gun fire, opened by a nervous Canadian sentry who mistook him for the enemy. Four rounds hit his leg, one passed through his right middle finger, and one hit him in the chest, but the bullet was deflected by a cigarette case given to his by his brother. His finger had to be amputated, an injury he would try to conceal throughout his career.

 

LEFT: The Royal Winnipeg Rifles heading towards Juno Beach. RIGHT: Canadian soldiers landing at Juno Beach, on the outskirts of the village of Bernières.

After a period of convalescence in England, Doohan trained as an air observation pilot and flew Taylorcraft Auster Mark V aircraft for No. 666 Squadron RCAF. Stationed in the city of Apeldoorn, Holland, in the summer of 1945, the unit was manned mainly by Royal Canadian Artillery and Royal Canadian Air Force personnel. Doohan's job was to perform dangerous low-level flights over enemy positions so that artillery officers could photograph, observe and direct fire from the air. Although he was never a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force, he was once called the «craziest pilot in the Canadian Air Force» due to his daring aerial displays. Doohan was demobilized upon the war's end, in 1945.

 

Denholm Elliott (1922-1992) | Royal Air Force, 1940-1945

Perhaps better known for his performances in Alfie (1966), A Bridge Too Far (1977), and his Academy Award-nominated role in A Room with a View (1985), Elliott joined the Royal Air Force in 1940. After training as an air gunner and wireless operator, he was assigned to No. 76 Squadron RAF, stationed at RAF Linton-On-Ouse, in North Yorkshire, England, and commanded at the time by Leonard Cheshire. On the night of September 23-24, 1942, Elliott was aboard a Handley Page Halifax DT508 bomber that took part in an air raid on a U-boat pen in Flensburg, Germany. At one point during the attack, the aircraft was struck by flak, causing to crash in the North Sea, near the German island of Sylt. Elliott and four other crew members survived the landing, but were captured by German soldiers and taken as prisoners of war. They were sent to Stalag Luft VIII-B, located in what was then the village of Lamsdorf, Silesia (now Łambinowice, Poland). While imprisoned, Elliott formed a theatre group called the «No Name Players,» performing plays given to them by the Red Cross. Reportedly, the troupe was so successful that it went on to tour other POW camps with William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Elliott was released and demobilized after the Soviet Red Army reached the camp in March 1945.

 

LEFT: Denholm Elliott in military uniform. RIGHT: British prisoners of war in Stalag Luft VIII-B.

Neville Brand (1920-1992) | United States Army, 1939-1945

Recognized for playing a variety of villainous or antagonistic roles in Westerns, crime dramas and film noir, Brand joined the Illinois Army National Guard in October 1939, becoming a private in F Company, 129th Infantry Regiment. By March 1941, he had transferred to the U.S. Army, and later underwent infantry training at Fort Carson, Colorado. In December 1944, he was shipped out to Europe as a member of B Company, 331st Infantry Regiment, 83rd Infantry Division, nicknamed the «Thunderbolt» division. He took part in the Allied effort to stop the German offensive in the Battle of the Bulge, fighting with the 83rd in harsh winter conditions around Rochefort, Belgium, and later saw action in the Rhineland and Central European campaigns.

 

On March 1, 1945, as the 83rd advanced towards the Rhine in Operation Grenade and captured the city of Neuss, Brand and his unit came across a hunting lodge that was being occupied by Germans soldiers, who turned their machine guns on the Americans. Disregarding his own safety, Brand worked his way around to the rear of the lodge, burst in through the back, and single-handedly dispatched those inside. In a 1966 interview, he said, «I must have flipped my lid. I decided to go into that lodge.» Later, on April 7, exactly one month and a day before the official German surrender, Brand was wounded in action along the Weser River. He was shot in the upper right arm and almost bled to death, having been pinned to the ground by enemy fire. He remembered, «I knew I was dying. It was a lovely feeling, like being half-loaded.» After being rescued and treated, he was evacuated to a military hospital and, on September 17, he was shipped back to the United States. In October, he was honorably discharged from active duty at Fort Sheridan, Illinois, having reached the rank of staff sergeant. For his services during the war, Brand was awarded, among others, the Silver Star for «gallantry in action and disregard for personal safety,» the Purple Heart, and the Good Conduct Medal.

 

LEFT: Neville Brand in his Army uniform. MIDDLE: Soldiers of the 83rd Infantry Division during the Battle of the Bulge, in January 1945. RIGHT: Members of the 83rd Infantry Division in the shell-damaged captured city of Neuss, Germany, on March 6, 1945.

Donald Pleasence (1919-1995) | Royal Air Force, 1940-1946 

Widely recognized for playing villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the James Bond film You Only Live Twice (1967), and psychiatrist Dr. Samuel Loomis in Halloween (1978) and four of its sequels, Pleasance initially refused conscription into the British Armed Forces, registering as a conscientious objector in December 1939. However, in the autumn of 1940, after witnessing the destruction caused upon London by the German Luftwaffe, he changed his stance and volunteered for the Royal Air Force. Training as a wireless operator and gunner, he was attached to No. 166 Squadron in Bomber Command, stationed at RAF Kirmington, in Lincolnshire. He flew in nearly 60 raids over occupied Europe, initially aboard Vickers Wellington bombers, and later in Avro Lancasters.

 

On August 31, 1944, Pleasence and his fellow crewmen took off from Kirmington in a Lancaster III (NE112) to carry out a raid on a V-2 rocket facility in Agenville, northern France. However, the aircraft was hit by flak and crashed near Saint-Riquier, on the main road to Doullens. Two crew members lost their lives, two others escaped, and the remaining four, including Pleasence, were captured by German soldiers and sent to the prisoner-of-war camp Stalag Luft I, near the town of Barth, in north-eastern Germany. While imprisoned, Pleasence produced and acted in plays to keep his fellow captives entertained.

 

LEFT: Donald Pleasence during World War II. MIDDLE: The Avro Lancaster B Mark III «Dante's Daughter» on No. 166 Squadron RAF at Kirmington, following a raid on Berlin in February 1944. RIGHT: Prisoners of war of the 479th Fighter Group of the United States Army Air Forces at Stalag Luft I.

 

On April 30, 1945, in the face of the advancing Soviet Red Army, the German guards left their posts at Stalag Luft I, abandoning the camp to the Americans, led by Colonel Hubert Zemke of the 479th Fighter Group of the United States Army Air Forces. The Soviets arrived the following day, but seemed reluctant to let the Allied prisoners be evacuated. Eventually, Zemke made an arrangement with the U.S. Eighth Air Force to airlift the nearly 9,000 prisoners out of the camp, using modified Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers stripped of their guns. Codenamed «Operation Revival,» the mission took place just after VE Day, when Nazi Germany formalized the unconditional surrender of its armed forces, between May 12 and 14, 1945. The British POWs were flown directly to Britain, while the Americans were sent to Camp Lucky Strike, a temporary U.S. Army camp located near the port of Le Havre, in northern France, before being shipped back to the United States. Upon his return to England, Pleasence was hospitalized for six months for malnourishment. He was discharged from the RAF in 1946, having attained the rank of flight lieutenant.

 

Years later, Pleasence used his experiences as prisoner of war in his role in The Great Escape (1963), which depicted a heavily fictionalised version of the mass breakout by British Commonwealth POWs from the German camp Stalag Luft III, in March 1944. While shooting the film in Bavaria, Germany, he offered technical advice to director John Sturges, but was asked to keep his opinions to himself. However, when Sturges was informed by James Garner, one of the film's stars, that Pleasence had actually been imprisoned in a POW camp for nearly nine months, he apologised and requested his input from that point forward.

 

LEFT: B-17s arriving in France, from where the American POWs from Stalag Luft I would later be returned to the United States. RIGHT: POWs from Stalag Luft I awaiting their flight to freedom aboard B-17s from the 91st Bomb Group flying out of Bassingbourn, England.

 

MORE HOLLYWOOD AT WAR:

• Hollywood at War: Stars Who Served (Part I)
• Hollywood at War: Stars Who Served (Part II) 
• Hollywood at War: Stars Who Served (Part III) 
• Hollywood at War: Stars Who Served (Part IV)
• Hollywood at War: The Hollywood Canteen
• Hollywood at War: The Female Front 

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SOURCES:

«Before Playing a POW in 'The Great Escape,' Donald Pleasence Was One In Real Life» by Samantha Franco at War History Online (April 19, 2023) 

«Brand, Neville, S/SGT» at army.togetherweserved.com 

«Canada in the Second World War - James Doohan» by Jordan Strate at Juno Beach Centre 

«Denholm Elliott Scored His First Acting Gigs While a Prisoner of War» by Rosemary Giles at War History Online (May 19, 2023) 

«Donald Pleasence's remarkable real-life 'Great Escape' experience» by Jordan Porter at Far Out Magazine (November 7, 2023) 

«The 83rd Infantry Division During World War II» at United States Holocaust Memorial Museum 

«Howard, John, LTJG» at navy.togetherweserved.com

«Neville Brand Received the Silver Star for Single-Handedly Taking on Enemy Troops Armed With Machine Guns» by Clare Fitzgerald at War History Online (April 30, 2024)

«Operation Revival: Rescue from Stalag Luft I» by Kim Guise at The National WWII Museum (May 14, 2020)