Just watched the film "Operation Daybreak" for the umpteen time but I never tire of watching it a typical war movie with the extra of being based on a true story.
Now "Operation Daybreak" tells the tale of a group of Czech soldiers in Exile who parachute in to Czechoslovakia on a mission to assassinate SS-General Reinhard Heydrich, (Anton Diffring) the Reich Protector of Czechoslovakia. Heydrich was one of the main architects of the final solution the mass murder of all Jews in Germany and occupied territories he did such a good job planning it not many Jews escaped.
What follows is their meeting with the local resistance, their planning and after one failed attempt to kill Heydrich. He is recalled to Berlin to take up a new job so there could be one more chance to assassinate him. This time with little time to prepare this attempt, which would mean the assassins Kubis (Timothy Bottoms) and Gabcík (Anthony Andrews), would be in the open and in great danger.
Lucky for them Heydrich was separated from his escort and has he entered the ambush, Gabcik stun gun jammed so he threw a hand grenade, which fatally wounded the Reichsprotektor who died days later via blood poisoning. The assassination had drastic consequences. The Nazis' desire for revenge would catch up with both Kubis and Gabcik along with countless others. Thousands of men, women, and children were killed in the weeks that followed.
Curda who was dropped with Kubis and Gabcik betrayed the group and their resistance helpers who were rounded up and we see what happen to the main characters that the end of the film. Before the end, we see the group of Czech soldiers who are now together hiding in a church are found and battle it out with the Germans where they are all killed. There is a cruel ending for Kubis and Gabcik.
I am no historian but when I first saw the film I when to the library to search the truth sparked me into wanting to know more, the truth of the assassination attempt and what followed and it is fascinating. What is also fascinating is that whilst "Operation Daybreak" unsurprisingly takes some poetic licence with the facts the basic storyline is true to what happened, following closer to the truth than many movies.
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