The Iron Fortress

During the Third Battle of Ypres, Captain Richardson leads a group of British heavy tanks across the devastated ground before the German trenches. One machine after another is disabled until tank F41 becomes trapped in mud close to the enemy line. Unable to advance or withdraw, its crew turns the immobilised vehicle into a fortress while German soldiers attempt for days to destroy it or force an entry.

The Iron Fortress is based on the documented ordeal of F41 in August 1917 and uses that episode to explore the experimental character of early armoured warfare. Inside the tank, heat, fumes, mechanical damage and dwindling supplies are as dangerous as artillery and infantry attack. The surrounding battle of Passchendaele appears as a landscape in which new technology remains subordinate to mud, visibility and human endurance.