Meet the real driving force behind Brad Pitt’s new Second World War blockbuster, Fury.

Tank mechanics Brian Frost, 39, and Ian ‘Buzz’ Aldridge, 53, were hired to drive the famous Sherman tank the movie is named after for most of the major scenes.

The pair, who work at the Bovington Tank Museum in Dorset, spent six months taking it in turns to operate the 26 ton tank in front of the cameras.

Although the two never appear on screen, every time ‘Fury’ is seen in motion and without actor Michael Pena in the driving seat, Brian or Buzz are at the controls.

The pair also trained Pena the basics of driving the Sherman tank to give the close-up shots of his character Corporal Trini ‘Gordo’ Garcia more legitimacy.

The museum lent the movie’s producers their M4 Sherman tank to act as Fury as well as the services of Brian and Buzz.

They had to operate the Sherman with the hatch down and navigate using a the tank’s periscope, although TV screens were fitted inside to show them the blindspots. The $68m movie follows the battle-hardened crew of a Sherman tank, Fury, who are part of the Allied Forces making a final push into Nazi Germany in April 1945, and stars Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Michael Pena, Jon Bernthal and Logan Lerman.

Buzz said: “Our boss asked us if we would like to spend a couple of months on a film set. The details were a bit sketchy - I thought it would be a documentary.

It was a bit bewildering at the time, but the experience of seeing how things were put together was just awesome.”

Brian said: “We worked with the cast every day. In the first week we kept thinking ‘wow there’s Brad Pitt’ but over time that changed.

“We got to know them on a personal level and see them as individuals.

“They were just really nice people to be around.

“We spent a month training the crew first. Michael Pena plays the tank’s driver so we taught him how to drive a Sherman.

“He took to it like a duck to water.”

Brian has been a workshop mechanic at Bovington for seven years and Buzz for 11.

The M4 Sherman was the primary battle tank used by the Allies in the war. It proved to be a reliable and highly mobile workhorse, despite being outmatched by the heavier German tanks. An exhibition about the film is now being staged at the Bovington Tank Museum.