"The Lost King" WW2 Documentary

Hello all,
I’ve put this up for you all to watch and share as you please.

My name is Rob King, I’m a television producer / director, in Dublin, Ireland.
I’m the great grand nephew of C.S.M. Patrick Joseph King of the King’s Own Royal Regiment, Lancaster.

Although Irish born, my uncle Pat spent the majority of his life serving with the British army,
At the break out of war in Europe, Pat and his family where torn between loyalty and duty,
and following a bitter family dispute, Pat returned to the battle fields, never to be seen again...

For over 70 years the mystery of his disappearence has remained unsolved, until now...
but what really happened to him?...
Did he cut all contact with his family and disappear to foreign lands,
or was he one of the many thousand "unknown soldiers" who perished during the war....

Our documentary follows me, on my quest for the truth about my uncle,
who he was, why he left, and most importantly, what became of him
...in my search, for "The Lost King"


I truly hope you enjoy the documentary as much as I did making it,
and I’d love to hear you thoughts and comments,

Thank you for your time, and enjoy.
Rob King

"The Lost King" Part 1
World War 2 Documentary (Part 1) The Lost King - YouTube


"The Lost King" Part 2
World War 2 Documentary (Part 2) The Lost King - YouTube


"The Lost King" Part 3
World War 2 Documentary (Part 3) The Lost King - YouTube




Or Check out our website:
The Lost King - Toastie Television Productions

 

Rob, that was really nice, thank you.

 

Rob, that was most beautifully done.
A most fitting tribute.
Michael

 

Hi Guys!

Thanks so much for all the comments and views,
I'm really really glad you like it

The entire production was done as a 60th Birthday present to my father who has spent decades trying to find Patrick...

Please feel free to share the video as we'd love more people to see it and hear what they thought...

If you haven't watched it yet, please do take a look and enjoy,


Rob

 

Nicely made Rob, well done.
As Pat was a Warrant Officer when married in 1941 I am a bit surprised the Kings Own Royal Regt were unable (or unwilling) to provide you with more information on his service. This may have something to do with there being less than 25 years passing after his death (although they might not know that).
If you can get authorisation from the next of kin you can still request a copy of his service record. This should help to fill in the whole army (1930 - 1950?) period of Pat's life.
service records army

I noticed the pews in the church where they married were made by the famous 'mouseman'.

Mike

 

Hi Mike,
Thank you do very much for your message.

Unfortunately despite having prior arrangements with the KORR
Before arriving, the curator decided he wanted nothing to do with the production
and would not provide any further information.

While waiting to be told that he wanted nothing to do with it we filmed the museum and despite traveling to Lancaster for that purpose alone, we left and where forced to make the most out of the footage we had taken in the museum...

However I think we managed to make the best of a bad situation...
And thankfully shortly after the production complete, Pats service record arrived from the MOD

 

Rob, did the service record tell you much?
I would be interested to see a copy posted here if possible.

Mike

 

Rob

Just watched your films today. Beautifully done. A lovely tribute.
Anyone who has been researching lost relatives would know how emotional it was for you, it certainly brought a few tears to my eyes.

Lesley

 

Very nice.

Great job.

 

Superbly done, thanks for sharing.

 

An absolute joy to watch, very well done Rob

 

Rob, did the service record tell you much?
I would be interested to see a copy posted here if possible.

Mike

Dear Mike,

I'll see what I can do about uploading any of it,
There was alot of paperwork that arrived (around 60 pages worth)
that took us 2 days to go through, but I'd love to put some of it up if I can for you all to see and get your thoughts on it.

As a Company Sergeant Major, Patrick had quite a long enough service record.
It also detailed his time after the war with the BETLOR operations, that he overseen with the King's Own Royal.

Obviously there is so much small bits and pieces about his career that we either couldn't fit into the documentary or didn't receive until after the documentary was produced.

Although on an extremely low budget, we tried to make the documentary as professional a feasibly possible...
The entire documentary took 6mths to research, 7 days to film and a further 5mths to edit.

Although we all work in both the Irish and British Television industries, the whole reason we did the documentary was as a 60th Birthday present to my father Liam,
The Grand Nephew of CSM King, who for the last 40 years had searched for his uncle Patrick.

So in early 2011, after much debate and discussion, the decision was made, come hell or high water we had to find him, for our dad...
Not only because dad always lived to find his uncle, but also because he his a very keen genealogist and historical enthusiast (literally spends every chance he can in front of the History or Discovery Channel)

So I wanted to give produce something he'd watch not just because of his uncle and how personal it was, but because it would interest him.

and although the whole thing was for him, we did agree after we presented it at his 60th Birthday, that the public should get a chance to watch it if they'd like to...

Thank you to all by the way who have watched it and commented on it,
your comments, shares and views are the repayment to those of us who made it, and I'm really thankful for the comments

You're all such nice people, so thank you for your interest and kindness.
As no one has ever made, or ever will make a profit from this documentary,
Please feel free to share it, comment on it etc...

We're always delighted for it to be watched and commented on

Thanks guys
I look forward to hearing your thoughts again,

Rob

 

Rob
As I said previously it was a pleasure to watch it.

60 pages of records-wow that's a lot! I received quite a lot of info on my dad's army records (on my album page). There obviously is so much for you to read, but please DO post them up as I am sure we will all be interested to see them.

Lesley

 

Rob
As I said previously it was a pleasure to watch it.

60 pages of records-wow that's a lot! I received quite a lot of info on my dad's army records (on my album page). There obviously is so much for you to read, but please DO post them up as I am sure we will all be interested to see them.

Lesley

Thank you so much for your message Lesley

I'm truly glad you enjoyed it as much as I did making it.
I'll try my best to get the records up (my scanners on the blink) but will try my best

Rob

 

Thanks to all who've watched the documentary so far!
We've just passed the 2,500 viewers mark

So a huge thank you to all

Please help us spread it around by sharing it online, or with friends who'd be interested in it.

and thank you again for watching and sending your kind messages,

Rob
(Great Grand Nephew of C.S.M. Patrick J King)

The Documentary can be watched at the following links:
THE LOST KING- PART 1 of 3

THE LOST KING- PART 2 of 3

THE LOST KING- PART 3 of 3


or on our website:
www.toastietv.com/thelostking

 

I know you said that no one would make a profit from the documentary, but have you thought about charging a small amount and donating the proceeds to charity, perhaps a veterans charity or something?

Well done on the doc that was a wonderful gift.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed that documentary. It was very well put together with a nice soundtrack that seemed to capture the emotion. Very well done!

The footage near the end with the soldiers singing in the bandstand...what film/program is that from? I notice the actor at the end of that short clip is James McAvoy who is now a very famous established film star who was in Band of Brothers and the aptly names 'last "king" of Scotland'....was it from Foyles War maybe???

 

Only watched part one, will watch the rest tonight, so far, excellent, well done.

lofty

 

I thoroughly enjoyed that documentary. It was very well put together with a nice soundtrack that seemed to capture the emotion. Very well done!

The footage near the end with the soldiers singing in the bandstand...what film/program is that from? I notice the actor at the end of that short clip is James McAvoy who is now a very famous established film star who was in Band of Brothers and the aptly names 'last "king" of Scotland'....was it from Foyles War maybe???

I think you will find that bandstand clip is from the film Atonement, the very impressive Dunkirk evacuation beach scene is as good as it gets, there is also a lovely k2 Ambulance in the film, it was mine at the time of filming.

 

Lofty, you are right - it is from Atonement.
Dale, I like the fact that it is a free to view piece, many people would be put off by having to make even a small donation to view it.
Rob, my congratulations to you and the team for putting together such a production. I would have done it slightly different if I had your skills and rescources but hey - we are all different eh?