Although their contribution is generally unsung, as a precentage of it population, Australia suffered amongst the most devastating casualties of both World War I and World War II. However while Gallipoli sometimes gets mentioned, the movie Beneath Hill 60 tries to show there was more to Australia in World War I than a single battle. And we’ve got five copies of the film and the book it’s based on, to give away.
In 1916, mining engineer Oliver Woodward (Brendan Cowell) is made an officer commanding a secret Australian Tunnelling Company. Ordinary miners from all over the country are amazingly given just two weeks military training before being sent to the Western Front. The tunnellers’ task is to defend a labyrinthine and leaking tunnel system that snakes beneath enemy lines at The Messines Ridge with its notorious Hill 60 rumoured to be the bloodiest part of the Western Front. The tunnels hide a deadly secret. Directly beneath strategic sections of the German lines, the allies have crammed the largest amount of explosives ever collected (53,500lbs) in one place.
Disaster looms as the Germans discover the Australians’ underground activity and begin sinking a shaft towards the Hill 60 mine. Woodward learns that being a leader in this dreadful war is not just about commanding and protecting his men, it’s also about being prepared to sacrifice them. And as zero hour approaches, he must make a terrible decision…
As well as the film, the five lucky winner will also get the book Beneath Hill 60 by Will Davies, bestselling editor of Somme Mud, which is available now in paperback. Based on exhaustive research and the diaries of survivors, and featuring original and personal photographs, Beneath Hill 60 is an extraordinary and little-known true story of the cat-and-mouse war waged beneath the trenches of the Western Front.
Beneath hill 60 is released on DVD on 11 October from Momentum Pictures.
To be in with a chance of winning one of five set of the Beneath Hill 60 DVD and book,sign in to the site below (or click here to register) and answer the multiple choice question (see below for more details on how to enter). The competition closes on October 22nd, so get answering and good luck!