Signed with Their Honour
{{Short description|Novel by James Aldridge}}
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Signed with Their Honour is a 1942 novel by Australian author James Aldridge. It was set during World War II in Greece.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article42036497 |title=AUSTRALIAN'S GREEK SCENES IN NEW BOOK. |newspaper=The Courier-Mail |location=Brisbane |date=24 July 1943 |accessdate=3 March 2015 |page=4 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11790111 |title="RANDOM HARVEST" OFFERS A CHALLENGE TO "MRS MINIVER". |newspaper=The Argus |location=Melbourne |date=11 December 1943 |accessdate=3 March 2015 |page=6 Supplement: The Argus Week-end Magazine |publisher=National Library of Australia}} The novel is a fictional depiction of the activities of 80 Squadron during the British intervention in Greece. It is dedicated to the Commonwealth Ace of Aces, Pat Pattle, and Squadron Leader Hickey.{{cite book|last1=Aldridge|first1=James|title=Signed with Their Honour|date=1942|publisher=Book League of America|url=https://archive.org/details/signedwiththeirh00aldr|url-access=registration|page=iv|language=en}} The title is derived from a 1933 poem by Stephen Spender titled "The Truly Great."{{cite book|last1=Aldridge|first1=James|title=Signed with Their Honour|date=1942|publisher=Book League of America|url=https://archive.org/details/signedwiththeirh00aldr|url-access=registration|page=ii|language=en}}{{cite web|last1=Stephen|first1=Spender|title=The Truly Great|url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/54715/the-truly-great|website=Poetry Foundation|accessdate=26 April 2018|language=en-us|date=25 April 2018}}
It was much acclaimed in the US on publication.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17798520 |title=NOVEL HIGHLY PRATSED. |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=14 September 1942 |accessdate=3 March 2015 |page=6 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}
Film Version
Producer Paul Sofkin bought film rights in 1943.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11801567 |title=MR MENZIES WARNS ON COMMUNISM. |newspaper=The Argus |location=Melbourne |date=3 July 1943 |accessdate=3 March 2015 |page=4 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} Rank Studios commenced work on the film in 1944 with Vernon Sewell as director and Osmond Borradaile as cinematographer. Filming of the aerial sequences took place in Shrewsbury and at Denham studios, using Gloster Gladiator biplanes (which were featured in the novel). However the production was then cancelled due to budgetary restrictions and the loss of three aircraft in accidental crashes during filming.{{Cite web|url=https://www.expressandstar.com/entertainment/2017/04/03/mystery-of-lost-war-film/|title=Mystery of lost war film|date=3 April 2017 }}Borradaile, Osmond & Hadley, Anita B. Life Through a Lens: Memoirs of a Cinematographer. McGill-Queen's Press 2001. p-148-151 In 1946 Ealing announced they were considering making the movie"British Move In on Aussie Motion Picture Making: Will Have 2 Units There Before 1947" Pope, Quentin. Chicago Daily Tribune (1923-1963) 30 June 1946: e7. but this did not happen.