In the British trenches, with field telephone lines cut, two young British lance corporals – William Schofield, a veteran of the Somme, and Tom Blake – are ordered by General Erinmore to carry a message to Colonel Mackenzie of the Second Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment, calling off a scheduled attack the next morning that would jeopardise the lives of 1600 men, including Blake's brother Joseph, a lieutenant.
In our director's cut, both Schofield and Blake fail in their mission to alert the Second Devons. Maybe they are killed by a sniper whilst crossing the canal at Écoust-Saint-Mein, or maybe Colonel Mackenzie chooses to ignore the order to halt. Whatever the outcome, as a result, the British attack is launched at 05:00 hrs.
OPERATION ALBERICH
The fictional scenario
