April 19, 2013 2:30pm by David Farrar

The forgotten general

An interesting documentary on Prime TV this Sunday at 8.35 pm:

THE FORGOTTEN GENERAL is a documentary which charts the life and career of Major-General Sir Andrew Hamilton Russell, Commander of the NZ Mounted Rifles at Gallipoli and overall Commander of the 20,000 strong NZ Division on the Western Front in World War I (a division which at any one time comprised 20,000 New Zealanders, and over the course of the war was responsible for over 70,000 soldiers). Russell is regarded by some as New Zealand’s one true military genius of the 20^th century, and one of the very best commanders on the Western Front, from any nation. Russell is the one leader who emerged from Gallipoli with his reputation enhanced – not in tatters.

Once a household name, Russell’s life has been lost in the sands of time. Until now.

Based on the best selling book by Jock Vennell, The Forgotten General (New Zealand’s WWI Commander Major-General Sir Andrew Russell) the television documentary takes the viewer into the life and world of Russell as he found himself at the head table of some of most successful and devastating campaigns for New Zealand in WWI.

Using a mixture of interviews with internationally regarded military historians, carefully staged dramatic reconstructions, rarely compiled WWI newsreel footage from archives here in NZ and around the globe, and an amazing array of still photographs, the production brings to life the journey of Russell and his New Zealanders through the First World War.

Starring Colin Moy (Go Girls, Spartacus, In My Father’s Den, (and Peter Webber’s upcoming Emperor ) the dramatic reconstructions take the viewer into Russell’s life in the front line and his journey through the war. Filmed in Auckland, with a talented and award-winning creative crew including Production and Costume Designer Tracey Collins (Bliss – The Katherine Mansfield Story, What Really Happened: The Treaty of Waitangi, This is Not My Life) and Cinematographer Simon Raby (District 9, The Lord of the Rings, Predicament) , reconstructions dramatise some of the key moments faced by Russell and his men. These moments include the brilliant taking of the Gallipoli foothills of Chunuk Bair; the New Zealanders’ spectacular but costly success at the Third Battle of the Somme, the brilliantly executed Battle of Messines; the controversial build up to the horrific Battle of Passchendaele (New Zealand’s worst ever military disaster); and the leading role of Russell and his New Zealanders in the liberation of France. By this stage of the war the New Zealanders were regarded as the crack troops of the Allied Forces, a position many attribute to Russell’s leadership.

Given Russell’s role in all of these battles, his journey is New Zealand’s journey and for the first time this journey is being told through through one hour of television.

The reconstructions also examine Russell’s personal life: his childhood on the family farm in Hawkes Bay, his education at boarding schools in England and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (where he won the Sword of Honour for being top of his class), and too the effects of war on his family life, including his son John who fought in WWII.

This production has had incredible support from local institutions. Commissioned by Prime TV and the NZ On Air Platinum Fund, key support and rare newsreel film has been provided by the The New Zealand Film Archive Ngā Kaitiaki O Ngā Taonga Whitiāhua, the Kippenberger Research Library – National Army Museum, Alexander Turnbull Library and Archives New Zealand. International archives have been sought from the Imperial War Museum, Australian War Memorial and Getty Images. Interviews include key world-class military historians including Dr Christopher Pugsley, Ian McGibbon, Dr Andrew Macdonald and Lt. Col (Ret) Terry Kinloch. Historical Consultant is John Crawford. The documentary is produced and directed by Karl Zohrab for Kingfisher Films