Posts from — July 2009

Wings Clipped

A short film about Rudy Gabrys, a bombardier in the 448th who was shot down over enemy territory.

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8th Air Force Archive Film

Here’s some nice original footage including glimpses of bases in England and Liberators in the air and over the target. 448th B-24s are identified by an all-yellow tail section with a black diagonal stripe.

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On the Wing

Trailer for a documentary on the 15th Air force.

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Great Planes: The B-24 Liberator

This is an interesting and informative look at the history of the Liberator. Possibly from a late 80s VHS judging by the (amazing) soundtrack.

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Liberator Nose Art

A cool little video collection of painted nose art from the documentary “The Liberator and Its Crew.” Also features “5 Grand” the 5000th plane off of the production line that was signed by all the workers at the factory.

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Is there a family member or a friend who served in the USAAF that you would like to pay tribute to? Maybe your father or grandfather served during World War II?  Perhaps you served yourself and would like a friend to be remembered.

As part of a future Happy Warriors DVD release we are asking for biography submissions that will appear on the disc as extras material, a gallery of collected memories and stories.

You can submit up to 200 words along with 1-2 images by emailing happywarriorsfilm@gmail.com

By using a telephone call recording service I have been able to interview 448th and USAAF veterans from the comfort of my living room. Ideally I would have liked to travel the States filming on-camera interviews in their living rooms but since we’re on a small (micro) budget telephone interviews it is.

As a positive I like the poor sound quality on the telephone, it adds character and this way I can afford to do several follow up interviews when new questions or areas of interest come to mind. I wonder too whether the telephone puts the interviewee at ease and leads to better material, it’s definitely more intimate than turning up at someone’s house with lights, cameras and cables trailing everywhere.

Here is an extract from an interview with 448th veteran Larry Taylor.

Horrors of the Air War