Expert is the driving force behind new film

All the military vehicles in the new film Captain Corelli's Mandolin have been organised by David Carson, from Alton Barnes, near Marlborough.

The film, based on the best selling novel by Louis de Bernieres is set on the Greek island of Cephalonia during the Second World War. It stars Nicolas Cage, John Hurt, Patrick Malahide and David Morrissey.

Mr Carson, a captain in the Territorial Army, has been involved in film making since 1985 after a stint working with London theatrical costumiers Maurice Angel.

He set himself up as a freelance military adviser and has worked on Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where he was in charge of setting up the scene at a Nazi rally when Jones meets Adolf Hitler. He was also involved in the TV mini-series Rules of Engagement.

Closer to home, he organised the celebrations to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Wiltshire Yeomanry which took place in Devizes in 1993.

Mr Carson flew out to Cephalonia in May this year.

The film company had already arranged for his own vehicles, a German tank destroyer, a Volkswagen Jeep and a German half-track armoured personnel carrier, to be shipped over.

He found himself not only in charge of making sure vehicles were in the right place at the right time in working condition but was also called upon to drive them.

The cast and crew kept up an exhausting schedule working a six-day week, often for more than 12 hours a day. The local extras missed their daily siesta as temperatures soared.

Mr Carson said: "We were working in temperatures of up to 42 degrees Celcius inside these metal vehicles and perspiring freely.

"We were soon soaked through but they kept us well supplied with fluids."

He said there was great camaraderie among cast and crew, helped by John Hurt holding parties for everyone at his villa.

Press reports of bad blood between the British and Greek crew were grossly exaggerated, says Mr Carson.

"We had one British man who was out to cause trouble in a nasty, racist way," he said. "But he was sent home,"

Despite the gruelling shooting schedule he was able to do some sightseeing. "Cephalonia is a very strange place. It was devastated by an earthquake in 1953 and most of the inhabitants left," he said.

"There are still houses that are exactly as they were when the earthquake struck because they are owned by people now living in America or other parts of Europe who are unlikely to come back."

He was also shown the wells at the centre of the island's dark war history, which forms the film's core story.

Cephalonia was invaded by the Italians, who were soon joined by a small garrison of German troops. When Italy capitulated to the Allies in 1943, the two armies found themselves on opposite sides.

Instead of evacuating their troops, the Italian generals dithered until Hitler gave the order to eradicate their former allies. Italian soldiers found themselves in front of firing squads composed of their former friends.

David Carson, dressed as a German military driver, watched a chillingly realistic re-enactment of the execution of Captain Corelli's unit.

"It suddenly made me realise what it must have been like, not just to be shot by your friends, but to have to do such a revolting thing," he said.

The Germans tried to burn the corpses of their victims but without success so they left their disposal to the islanders who dropped the bodies down two disused wells, which still exist today. In all, 5,000 Italian troops were killed.

Mr Carson was on the island for just over two months, making him less than popular with his 11-year-old son William with whom he spends most weekends.

He said: "I had thought of bringing William over to see some of the filming but the weather was too hot and there really isn't that much for an 11-year-old boy to do in Cephalonia."

Instead he treated him to a trip to Disneyland Paris.

Captain Corelli's Mandolin, directed by John Madden, is due for release early in the new year.