Happy Warriors is a short documentary film about the the 448th Bomb Group of the U.S. 2nd Air Division during the Second World War.
Flying from airfields in East Anglia, they were part of the ‘Mighty’ 8th Air Force and fought in the conflict’s European theatre. By the time of their return to the United States in the summer of 1945, they had contributed decisively to the Allied war effort, piloting B-24 Liberators in dangerous daylight raids against military and industrial targets deep within Germany, France and the Low Countries and supporting ground operations in the wake of D-Day.
Their larger-than-life presence in the towns and villages of rural England left an indelible mark on the histories of such communities. The influx of American GIs was an event without precedent for the people of the area. These friendly ‘invaders’ swiftly took their places in the imaginations of young and old alike. Schoolboys followed them as avidly as they did the frontiersmen of the Saturday morning serials screened in the local picture houses. And they turned the heads of many young women.
Using a mixture of contemporary footage, archive material, and personal testimony the film explores this period in history.
