“I liked the idea of making sort of little fictional films.” I would have been about eight years old when it arrived in the house.”
#Warplane.org warfare 1917 movie
“My parents got a Super 8 movie camera to make home movies. Peter says: “I grew up surrounded by veterans of two world wars and listened to the conversations that happened in our house when Dad had friends over and I just got an interest. William died in 1940 and never got to meet his grandson. On the first day of the Battle of the Somme in France in July 1916, William was injured by machine gun fire and brought home to England to recover. In 1915, William, aged 23, was posted to Gallipoli, Turkey - scene of one of the bloodiest battles of the war - where he won the Distinguished Conduct Medal for “conspicuous gallantry”, leading his soldiers forward to re-occupy an advance post. Peter’s grandfather, also called William, joined the South Wales Borderers in 1910, and four years later was serving in China when war broke out. He says: “My mum worked in the de Havilland factory building Mosquitos and my dad was in the Royal Ordnance Corp during the siege of Malta for two years and went on to Italy after that.”īut rather than telling his son about his own wartime experience, William preferred to tell young Peter tales of his own father’s adventures in many of the key battles of World War One. His father, William, served in the Army and mum Joan worked in a Hertfordshire aircraft factory during World War Two. Peter’s lifelong interest in the Great War was sparked by his British parents. “Once you’re in a movie, you’re in it 100 per cent and it can consume you and sometimes at night just going and looking at some stuff or reading books is a good escape.” What I value about the planes, aircraft and collecting artefacts and things is it is a hobby that is something I can do that gets my head out of the film stuff. “Some people might say it’s got out of control - I’d say it’s evolved. I keep my eye out and if there’s something interesting, I try to buy it. Peter says of his collection: “I don’t know how big it is. On the wall is a fabric German cross that Australian troops cut from von Richthofen’s downed Fokker tri-plane when he was killed on April 21, 1918.
He even owns a silk handkerchief that belonged to German fighter pilot ace Manfred von Richthofen, aka The Red Baron. In the same building he also stores thousands of other items used in the 1914-18 conflict, from uniforms to flame-throwers. “You strap yourself into one of these planes and take off and, at that point, nothing else in the world matters.” I get excited, I say, ‘Oh my gosh look at that. I come in here and see these planes and I momentarily forget they belong to me. Peter says: “Because of my day job making films, I ended up with the resources to be able to do this.
In a documentary to be shown on Monday, Peter is shown in the workshop with his team of plane builders, many of whom started out as set designers on Lord Of The Rings, The Hobbit and King Kong. But the director gave a film crew from Britain’s Forces News exclusive access.
What goes on in his factory has been hidden until now.
#Warplane.org warfare 1917 series
Lord Of The Rings director Peter Jackson with his world-leading collection of WWI fighter planesįrom his first movies shot on 8mm film, New Zealander Jackson - now Sir Peter - went on to make some of the greatest fantasy films ever, grossing more than £6billion at the box office with the likes of The Hobbit series and King Kong.īut a new documentary by Forces News reveals how his childhood fascination with World War One became an obsession he has poured millions into.Īt a secret location in the pretty suburbs of New Zealand’s capital Wellington is a factory where Peter, employs a team of 60 craftsmen and mechanics to renovate or recreate the world’s biggest collection of fighter planes from the conflict.Īt the last count he owns an astonishing 70 planes that were used by Britain’s Royal Flying Corps - the former air arm of the Army - the RAF and the Germans.Īnd many of them are not just museum pieces - they take to the skies to recreate dogfights between British and German forces.Īll nine of the Royal Flying Corps and RAF World War One planes in our historic photo, far right, are owned by Peter, 60, whose personal wealth is more than £300million.
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