The true story behind The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare

Guy Ritchie is back with a big new action-comedy movie in The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, though it is missing out on UK cinemas yet again. And unlike some of Ritchie's more outlandish cinematic adventures, this one is based on a true story.

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare follows a group of British soldiers on a black ops mission to sabotage an Italian ship helping to supply the Nazis with vital materials for U-boats. At this time, the British navy was being absolutely battered as a result of the threat posed by German submarines.

The film stars Henry Cavill as special ops legend Gus March-Phillipps, alongside Reacher leading man Alan Ritchson and former Alex Rider star Alex Pettyfer. The ensemble cast also includes the likes of Cary Elwes and Henry Golding.

But how much of what happens on screen is actually true? Surprisingly, quite a lot of it.

What is the true story of The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare?

Formed in 1941, the Small Scale Raiding Force was a small unit of around 55 soldiers commanded by Major Gus March-Phillipps. Its first ever field operation was Operation Postmaster, which just so happens to be the inspiration for Ritchie's film, with the screenplay based on author and filmmaker Damien Lewis's book about special forces operations during the Second World War.

Read more: Guy Richie’s The Ministry for Ungentlemanly Warfare is a riot (City AM)

Operation Postmaster involved members of the SSRF travelling to French-speaking parts of Africa, where intelligence suggested German forces were carrying out refuelling and supply work for the U-boats. A five-man crew commanded by March-Phillipps left Poole Harbour in Dorset in a yacht trawler, heading for West Africa.

The crew failed to find submarine bases, but did discover a series of ships that they suspected were secretly carrying arms or ammunition. Eventually, they received approval for a raid that concluded with them towing a German tugboat and an Italian merchant vessel away to Lagos, helping to cut off Nazi supply lines.

In the movie, the original plan is to blow up the boats, but the real operation always aimed to tow them away. As you might be able to guess, it's also the case that the real raid was significantly less bloody than the one portrayed in Ritchie's film. The real unit met comparatively little resistance in stealing the boats.

In reality, it took several months to secure final approval for the operation from the Foreign Office as a result of it involving a journey into Spanish waters around the island of Fernando Po. This was seen as compromising Spain's neutrality in the war.

The movie version of the story sees Winston Churchill — played by Rory Kinnear — personally intervene in favour of the operatives after the operation concludes, recruiting them to the titular Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.

In reality, many of the men were ultimately rewarded, despite the diplomatic uproar that followed. March-Phillipps was killed in action during the SSRF's Operation Aquatint in September 1942. He had previously been awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his work on Operation Postmaster.

Read more: Gary Oldman would like to reprise Sir Winston Churchill role (PA Media)

What is true is that March-Phillipps was a big inspiration on someone else who was serving during the Second World War — Ian Fleming. The author would use March-Phillipps and Operation Postmaster as a major inspiration for his James Bond novels.

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is streaming now on Prime Video.