Film about naval mine disarmers

Discussions on naval-war movies, films and games.
Rontombontom
Junior Member
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Mar 24, 2019 3:37 pm

Film about naval mine disarmers

Post by Rontombontom »

I hope someone can help me find a movie/TV film I saw at least 35, maybe 40 years ago on TV (but was already old by then).

The film was about men trying to disarm German naval mines washed up on a beach, made difficult by some new intricate trigger mechanism as yet unknown to the disposal experts. The first scene is someone blowing himself up while trying. If I remember correctly, the main character is shown as a quiet hero risking his life to save others even if it causes serious conflict with a woman who loves him; there was a film noir feel to the movie. The film was probably British, but I'm not certain, and probably B&W, but that could have been the TV I watched it on.

Does any of that ring a bell? I did several searches & went through long lists of war movies to find this one, to no avail.
Byron Angel
Senior Member
Posts: 1655
Joined: Sun Mar 06, 2011 1:06 am

Re: Film about naval mine disarmers

Post by Byron Angel »

Rontombontom wrote: Sun Mar 24, 2019 3:55 pm I hope someone can help me find a movie/TV film I saw at least 35, maybe 40 years ago on TV (but was already old by then).

The film was about men trying to disarm German naval mines washed up on a beach, made difficult by some new intricate trigger mechanism as yet unknown to the disposal experts. The first scene is someone blowing himself up while trying. If I remember correctly, the main character is shown as a quiet hero risking his life to save others even if it causes serious conflict with a woman who loves him; there was a film noir feel to the movie. The film was probably British, but I'm not certain, and probably B&W, but that could have been the TV I watched it on.

Does any of that ring a bell? I did several searches & went through long lists of war movies to find this one, to no avail.


Sounds like Episode 9 ("17 Seconds to Glory") of the 13 episode BBC series "Danger UXB" from 1979. Actually great TV. Watched them all on PBS back in the day.

Go here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danger_UXB#Episodes - for full details.

Byron
Post Reply