Filming has begun and time is running out to fulfill 93-year-old WWII British Navy veteran Patrick Thomas’ dream to finally honor his drowned shipmates.
Our Objective: Find and document the wreck and build a memorial in honor of Patrick's shipmates.
When historian and archaeologist John Henry Phillips made a promise to WWII British Navy veteran Patrick Thomas, he had no idea where the adventure would take them.
From the depths of the National Archives to the murky waters of the D-Day landing beaches, we’ve joined forces with some of the best divers, historians and experts as we zero in on Patrick's vanished shipwreck.
Like most veterans, Patrick came home from the war and got on with his life. He never spoke of the sinking or his later adventures in the Far East until his twilight years, figuring his story and the story of his ship would die with him. John intends to change that.
NOTICE for international contributors, contributions made in foreign currencies will be converted to the equivalency of the perk amount in USD based on current conversation rates.
THE IMPACT
When John told us his story we realized the urgency in getting the project done quickly. Like all WWII veterans, Patrick isn't getting any younger. Every year we lose more of these heroes and with them goes vital history that can never be retold. Living memory is what attracted John to modern conflict archaeology and we feel a duty to attempt to tell this story while Patrick is still here to witness the discovery of his ship and unveil a memorial.
John's relationship with Patrick is key to the story and their time together is touching to watch. Both discovered deeper connection on this journey and we want to capture that in the moment.
As a result of all the above, we decided to jump head first into this adventure and began filming in summer 2017.
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PATRICK'S STORY
June 6th 1944: D-Day. Patrick Thomas, a telegraphist in the Royal Navy boards a craft in Portsmouth as thousands of vessels and tens of thousands of soldiers prepare for the day that changed history. His landing craft would be part of the first wave on Sword Beach before heading offshore to cover communications for land battles. At night, the craft would join others in forming a line to defend from E-Boats and Manned Torpedoes. During the day, the crew were either catching up on sleep or taking part in sea rescues.
June 25th 1944: Patrick’s ship was sunk by an acoustic mine. He recalls regaining consciousness whilst already in the water, bleeding from the head and covered in Battleship Grey paint. He watched the ship turn and sink to the bottom of the England Channel. Most of the crew went with it. With men and machine dropping like flies throughout the Second World War, the ship and its men have largely vanished from history.
Patrick and the families of the crew have no place to honor the fallen who sacrificed so much for our freedom. No one knows where those men ended up. There is no memorial to lay a wreathe. Seven decades later all that will change.
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THE HELP WE NEED
Your generous contribution goes towards the next exciting phases of the expedition;
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The Dive: We've narrowed down the location of Patrick's ship and are mounting the complex campaign to do a multi-dive recording and photogrammetry survey of the suspected craft to confirm its condition. This is no mean task and involves government authorities, sonar teams, days of dive teams under the surface and advanced underwater equipment. We have the best of the best working with us. This includes large teams being transported on land and sea, boats, gas, tanks, air systems, scuba gear rentals, Underwater photography, permits and accommodations.
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Forever in Memory: In our first phase of filming we met with the mayor of the town chosen to be the future home of memorial. John and his colleagues are working on the design and we intend to follow that process until the grand unveiling of it around the D Day celebrations of 2018. Patrick will be at the ceremony and we envision filming the entire team (experts, families, divers, officials, historians) that helped tell this story on that amazing day. This poignant final moment guarantees a successful end to the film regardless of the condition of the wreck.
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Post Production: Hundreds of hours of footage will next be turned into a compelling documentary thanks to your help. We need to hire editors, colourists, composers, sound designers, graphics and animation specialists.
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Distribution: Our goal is to submit this once in a lifetime story to festivals, broadcast and streaming to shine a spotlight on Patrick's story and ensure the memory of the ship and its crew live forever.
In return for your amazing support we have some unique perks! We want to give you a piece of John and Patrick's journey and have carefully crafted the perfect memorabilia to celebrate your gracious involvement.
Your help is critical to the timely success of the project. We're incredibly passionate about this story and plan to complete it even if we only partially reach our fundraising goal.
The Team
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Archeologist / Historian: John Henry Phillips is an archaeologist (BA Hons, PCIfA), historian and writer from the South-East of England. Specializing in 20th century conflict, John has had the honor of travelling the globe in search of both the physical remains and personal stories of past battles before they slip out of living memory.
This has seen him kayak beneath the infamous 'Bridge Over the River Kwai', trek along the Death Railway, escort D-Day veterans back to the beaches they shed blood upon, share tears and laughter with the last men of Dunkirk, crawl through tunnels deep in the Argonne Forest and much, much more.
John is a full time archaeologist and contributes to many publications on the subject of military history. He has taken part in conflict archaeology projects including Operation Walbea, Waterloo Uncovered and Operation Nightingale. He is also an archaeologist with Military History Live. Passionate about preserving stories of the past for future generations, John has interviewed countless Second World War veterans and told their stories to thousands through social media.
Director / Executive Producer: Daniel Oron is an award-winning executive, show-runner, director, and cross platform storyteller. Daniel specializes in seamless idea to screen. As a Director, Daniel has shot all over the globe, winning a Gemini for best direction for Reality Obsessed. Daniel’s fiction films achieved international success at festivals and worldwide distribution. Daniel is also a recovering visual effects supervisor and repressed cinematographer, meaning, more often than not you can find him under a camera.
Writer / Executive Producer: Natasha Ryan is an award-winning writer, director, creative producer, showrunner and story editor. Natasha has traveled the world to put unique stories on screen and is hopelessly devoted to generating entertaining and meaningful media working with real life narratives.
Production Company: Together with extraordinarily talented crews, Go Button Media makes hybrid creative content for all screen sizes. Focusing on charismatic characters, universal stories and smooth delivery the company delivers punchy, addictive content. Projects include Mom vs Matchmaker and the travel series Discovering Routes.
Other Ways You Can Help
PATRICK'S STORY
