On his many reconnaissance missions in Europe and the Far East, the
young Bogarde experienced the terror of enemy attack and the horror of
its aftermath, together with the intense camaraderie and bitter humour
of the battlefield. He also had, like countless others, a feeling of
utter hopelessness at the war's end, when, as suddenly as the fighting
had stopped, these youthful, but hardened comrades-in-arms were
dispersed to find their feet in a traumatised world.
Less than a year after demob no one could have been more astonished to
find himself starring in his third feature film with car and chauffeur
and a five-storey house in Chester Row. He had somehow 'arrived' in the
movies.