Air War Series - Old Segundo Productions https://www.oldsegundo.com Historical Documentary Films and Books Mon, 26 Aug 2024 20:28:31 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.5 https://www.oldsegundo.com/wp-content/uploads/cropped-oldsegundo-icon-32x32.png Air War Series - Old Segundo Productions https://www.oldsegundo.com 32 32 Wethersfield at War https://www.oldsegundo.com/product/wethersfield-at-war/ https://www.oldsegundo.com/product/wethersfield-at-war/#respond Mon, 09 Jan 2023 17:45:30 +0000 https://www.oldsegundo.com/?post_type=product&p=1820 Available Now!

From World War II to the Cold War:  An Essex Story of Service, Determination, and the Anglo-American Spirit

RAF Wethersfield is a significant place, an important airfield during World War II where its service to Britain and the United States stretched on into the future for the duration of the Cold War.

With hundreds of old airfields and ruins scattered across East Anglia and west into the Midlands, RAF Wethersfield remains unique with runways and buildings standing testament to generations of Americans and their commitment to the British and the American people.

Today no light wartime bombers are heard along the runways or jet fighters streaking across the skies, but the lingering memory of pilots, ground crew, and countless thousands of others remain in the hearts and minds of the British people today.

Since the early 1950s, thousands of American families came to live at RAF Wethersfield and the surrounding communities.  It proved to be a special time, a special place, never to be forgotten.

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WWII Wethersfield began a half century of service to Britain, the United States, and the free world .  The history that played out at RAF Wethersfield and the surrounding communities stretches from 1941  and  across the twentieth century.  That history defines the people who grew up there, those who lived out their lives there, and those who came to serve there.

RAF Wethersfield has a unique heritage that demonstrates the Anglo-American spirit across generations of Essex communities, military families, and RAF and U.S. air and ground forces.

Today the airfield is consecrated ground, a place from which many made the ultimate sacrifice, a place of remembrance for generations who made a difference in the world.  Many of the buildings remain scattered across this pleasant meadow land.  History lingers here and whispers to us of a time when courage and valor played out from this place.

The runways stretch far into the distance and stand as silent reminders of a time when the future of the world was held in the balance, when stalwart men and women answered the call to serve something larger than themselves. This is their story.

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]]> https://www.oldsegundo.com/product/wethersfield-at-war/feed/ 0 From Ozark to Fortress Europe https://www.oldsegundo.com/product/flight-surgeon/ https://www.oldsegundo.com/product/flight-surgeon/#respond Sat, 05 Sep 2020 15:36:54 +0000 https://www.oldsegundo.com/?post_type=product&p=1044 Flight Surgeon Thurman Shuller, War, Medicine, and a Life of Service

Born in 1914, Thurman Shuller grew up on a modest farm near Ozark, Arkansas.

Through hard work and a commitment to education, all six of the Shuller brothers earned a college education that led each to a life of success in career and family away from the farm .

Thurman pursued a medical degree at the University of Arkansas and later served a two-year internship at Charity Hospital in New Orleans.

With war clouds on the horizons, Dr. Thurman Shuller volunteered for active service in the Army as a surgeon at the Las Vegas Gunnery School and later attended the Military Aviation Medicine course Randolph Air Field in Texas to become a flight surgeon.

Lt. Shuller is assigned as squadron surgeon in the 369th Bomb Squadron, 306th Bomb Group at Wendover, Utah.  Soon he is elevated as the Group Surgeon and begins his historic journey as he and the rest of the Bomb Group departs for Thurleigh, England and combat in the European Theater of Operations.

First as Group Surgeon in the 306th, and later as the Chief Surgeon of the 1st Air Division, Lt. Colonel Shuller rises quickly as he influences policies at higher headquarters involving aircrew survival, tour limits, and improving conditions arising out of the Maximum Effort missions.

The flight surgeon in the motion picture, Twelve O'Clock High is based on Shuller during his time as Group Surgeon at the 306th Bomb Group at Thurleigh.  He ended the war as a full colonel, going from 1st Lieutenant to Colonel in just four years.

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Thurman Shuller was born in 1914 on a farm near Ozark, Arkansas.  Nothing in his growing up years gave a clue to his future as a flight surgeon in World War II, one who would make a difference in the lives of thousands of men who crewed the heavy bombers over Nazi-occupied Europe.  In those early days on the farm, young Thurman learned the value of hard work and acquired the discipline of meeting new challenges head on.  Surrounded by his parents and five older brothers, Thurman grew up in a family committed to a profound work ethic and to education that would lead each brother to significant achievement and success in life.

This documentary film traces the story of Colonel Thurman Shuller that begins on a modest farm near Ozark, Arkansas and leads the young Thurman on a journey to a future in medicine and war. Along the way, he rises in the ranks of Army Air Force medical leadership and influences policies at Eighth Air Force headquarters involving aircrew survival, tour limits, and improving conditions arising out of the Maximum Effort missions.   This is his story.

 Length 60 minutes

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]]> https://www.oldsegundo.com/product/flight-surgeon/feed/ 0 Rendezvous Over Berlin https://www.oldsegundo.com/product/rendezvous-over-berlin/ https://www.oldsegundo.com/product/rendezvous-over-berlin/#respond Fri, 24 May 2019 18:14:56 +0000 https://www.oldsegundo.com/?post_type=product&p=905 Rendezvous Over Berlin:  A Texas Cowboy Finds His Destiny Over the Skies of Nazi Germany, 1942-1943

This new historical documentary explores Davis’ service in the Canadian Royal Air Force The film follows his training in Canada, and his journey to England where he joined British RAF Squadron 100 at RAF Grimsby in the north of England. This film reveals the story of their final mission to Berlin. On the evening of September 3, 1943, the crew took off for the last time. Over Berlin they would make a final, desperate approach to target. The crew would never return to base, and details of that final mission has remained a mystery until now. This is their story.

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AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER SOON

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On September 3, 1939 Britain declared war on Germany, and World War II began in Europe. In Canada, military authorities accelerated efforts to recruit forces for the war effort.

Before the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, nearly 9,000 American citizens had joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. One of these men was Fred H. Davis, a cowboy from a ranching family in Throckmorton, Texas.

This new historical documentary explores Davis’ service in the Canadian Royal Air Force The film follows his training in Canada, and his journey to England where he joined British RAF Squadron
100 at RAF Grimsby in the north of England. This film reveals the story of their final mission to Berlin. On the evening of September 3, 1943, the crew took off for the last time. Over Berlin. they would make a final, desperate approach to target. The crew would never return to base, and details of that final mission has remained a mystery until now. This is their story.

Length 30 minutes

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]]> https://www.oldsegundo.com/product/rendezvous-over-berlin/feed/ 0 Fortress for Freedom https://www.oldsegundo.com/product/fortress-for-freedom/ https://www.oldsegundo.com/product/fortress-for-freedom/#respond Tue, 11 Dec 2018 05:28:09 +0000 https://www.oldsegundo.com/?post_type=product&p=164 The 388th Bomb Group (H) and the Air War in Wartime Suffolk, 1943-1945

Training at Wendover, Utah with commander Colonel William B. David, as the bomb group organized its ground and air units for combat.

Blitz Week cost the bomb group nine of its original forty planes and crews.

A glimpse at life in and around the villages near the base at Knettishall as the Yanks were welcomed and became a part of life there.

London offered escape from the rigors of missions and life on the air front at Knettishall.

The Red Cross at Knettishall==the Aero Club, classes, and home away from home.

Disaster at Poltava in Russia and the story of missions as the war winds down.

“This was a very, very quiet place when suddenly when all these trucks and aircraft turned up. It was phenomenal--it was just like going from a small village to a town-- suddenly the pubs are absolutely filled up.”

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Fortress for Freedom traces the story of the 388th Bomb Group (H) from activation and training in the United States to combat operations in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. Based at Knettishall, east of Cambridge in wartime England, the men of the 388th took the war to German-ocuppied Europe. Beginning on July 17, 1943, the 388th flew 314 missions during three years of active operations. During the war, the Group suffered 91 aircraft lost, 524 men killed in action, 801 taken prisoner, and 2 missing. Supported by British families in the surrounding villages and towns, these young men of the 388th made a difference in the victory won in the skies over Europe. A unique look at the men who spear- headed the air war against Germany and the price that they had to pay.

Length 58 minutes

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]]> https://www.oldsegundo.com/product/fortress-for-freedom/feed/ 0 Target for Today https://www.oldsegundo.com/product/target-for-today/ https://www.oldsegundo.com/product/target-for-today/#respond Tue, 11 Dec 2018 05:14:49 +0000 https://www.oldsegundo.com/?post_type=product&p=159 A Newly Remastered Digital Presentation from the Original Film Stock

A typical mission laid out by an Army Air Corps film crew, that was designed to be shown in movie theaters to the American public.

Traces the air crew from wake up call and early morning routine and breakfast.

Demonstrates what the ground crew does in the early morning hours as they prepare the aircraft for the mission.

Shows the actual briefing as various bomb group crews across East Anglia receive mission details.

Shows the actual briefing as various bomb group crews across East Anglia receive mission details.

Takes the audience on an actual mission over Europe.

This is a typical public relations film designed to inform the public how the air war is carried out and the risks that are taken every day.

“In dispersal areas, ground crews are getting their planes in condition to fly their mission. The normal work for keeping an airplane fit for operation is enormous, even in peacetime. When you add to this already great job, the element of battle damage, the problem becomes gigantic.”

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Now for the first time Target for Today is available in a remastered DVD produced from the original film stock in the National Archives. Our digital artists have spent countless hours repairing and producing a new version of the World War II epic. Using the newest technology, Old Segundo has produced a version of Target for Today that is sharper and closer to the original than ever before. The clarity of the video and audio combine to bring back the drama of an Eighth Air Force mission, directed by William Keighley and his film crew in 1943 at bases across East Anglia and in combat over Europe. The film was released to American theaters in 1944.

Length 92 minutes

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]]> https://www.oldsegundo.com/product/target-for-today/feed/ 0 Thurleigh at War https://www.oldsegundo.com/product/thurleigh-at-war/ https://www.oldsegundo.com/product/thurleigh-at-war/#respond Tue, 11 Dec 2018 05:09:45 +0000 https://www.oldsegundo.com/?post_type=product&p=158 Bedfordshire and the Anglo-American Struggle for Victory in World War II

The beginning of the war for England and the Prime Minister speaks to the nation about what is ahead.

Memories of the German air attacks and of London buring night after night.

The Women’s Land Army and seven women’s experiences on the farms and the lives that they lived in wartime Bedfordshire.

Evacuation of the children from the cities to the rural countryside.

Glenn Miller brought the glamour and the excitement of the big band to Britain and along with it came the jitterbug.

Memories of D-Day and the beginning of the end had come.

“During the war the men at Thurleigh in the 306th Bomb Group decided they wanted to host an orphan from London as their mascot. They wanted a young boy, but when they approached an orphanage with their request, they were informed that only girls were available. Undaunted by this problem, they selected Maureen Eason, nicknamed Sweet Pea by her new Yank friends.”

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In September 1939 Hitler invaded Poland and triggered World War II in Europe. The British gathered around their radios as they listened to the Prime Minister tell them that Britain was at war with Germany. In Bedford and throughout the surrounding villages and towns of Bedfordshire, British families listened soberly as the news sank in. Bedfordshire mobilized to do her part in those dark days leading to the Battle of Britain and Dunkirk, with the threat of invasion always present as each day brought renewed crisis. Soon the Yanks would come to Bedfordshire and, together with their British neighbors, they would fight the air war from those pleasant meadowlands spread across the countryside. This is the story of British families and young Americans in Bedfordshire who joined together in the struggle for victory in World War II.

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]]> https://www.oldsegundo.com/product/thurleigh-at-war/feed/ 0 Deopham at War https://www.oldsegundo.com/product/deopham-at-war/ https://www.oldsegundo.com/product/deopham-at-war/#respond Tue, 11 Dec 2018 04:56:29 +0000 https://www.oldsegundo.com/?post_type=product&p=156 The Anglo-American Experience in Wartime Norfolk, 1939-1945

Impact of Hitler’s invasion of Poland on the people of Britain and how World War II in Europe begins in September 1939.

Changes in the British Isles as the war comes to London and war construction begins everywhere.

The coming of the Yanks at Deopham Green and how that arrival changes life in the villages in the area.

The American relationship with children and how the military treated British families during the war.

The Air Cadets go flying aboard the B-17s at Deopham Green.

The air war brought life-changing experiences for families living in the rural areas of East Anglia.

“These British families lived on the battleline, a war front that never receded into the distance, that remained around their homes for the duration.”

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World War II in Europe began in September 1939. In the villages near Attleborough and throughout the surrounding towns in County Norfolk, British families turned to wartime footing as their young men went to the forces, and each community struggled to transition to rationing, war work, and the constant threat of German attack from the air and from the sea.

In 1942 the first Yanks arrived in Britain, and they soon came to Norfolk where the American airfields rapidly appeared across the landscape and brought the Allied air war to hearth and home. This is the story of British families and young Americans in Norfolk who lived together on the battleline of the emerging air war. Together they formed a sense of community and place as each day brought new challenges of war.

Length 58 minutes

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]]> https://www.oldsegundo.com/product/deopham-at-war/feed/ 0 Deenethorpe https://www.oldsegundo.com/product/deenethorpe/ https://www.oldsegundo.com/product/deenethorpe/#respond Tue, 11 Dec 2018 04:52:38 +0000 https://www.oldsegundo.com/?post_type=product&p=155 The 401st Bomb Group (H) and the Quest for Peace, 1943-1945

Training in the United States and soon the bomb group begins movement to Deenethorpe and combat on the air front.

Living conditions at Deenethorpe was difficult at first for the Yanks as the 401st begins operations.

From the earliest days at Deenethorpe, the men of the 401st had a special relationship with the children and their families in the villages and towns nearby.

Changes in mission success as new long-range fighter escorts bring protection for bombers all the way to target.

Changes in mission success as new long-range fighter escorts bring protection for bombers all the way to target.

“Those Model F’s that first arrived, had no protective gun stations in the waist, but there was just open windows with minus 60 degree weather coming in. They had no chin turret on board so fighter attacks from 12 o’clock was devastating. . .”

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A sneak preview trailer for Deenethorpe, the World War II story of the 401st Bomb Group, 8th Air Force.  The film is currently available in its original full screen version.  During spring 2022, a new widescreen version will be released.

Deenethorpe traces the story of the 401st Bomb Group (H) from activation and training in the United States to combat operations in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. Based at Deenethorpe, west of Cambridge in wartime England, the men of the 401st took the war to Germany. During combat operations, the 401st flew 254 missions and compiled the best bombing accuracy record for all B-17 bomb groups in the Eighth Air Force.

Together with British families in the surrounding villages and towns, these young Americans shared a common commitment to defeat the Nazi threat to mother England and free peoples everywhere. A unique look at the men who spearheaded the air war against Germany and the price that they had to pay.

Length 58 minutes

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]]> https://www.oldsegundo.com/product/deenethorpe/feed/ 0 Liberators Over East Anglia https://www.oldsegundo.com/product/liberators-over-east-anglia/ https://www.oldsegundo.com/product/liberators-over-east-anglia/#respond Tue, 11 Dec 2018 04:47:55 +0000 https://www.oldsegundo.com/?post_type=product&p=153 The Second Air Division in World War II

The Second Air Division was the only division in the Eighth Air Force to use B-24 Liberator heavy bombers from bases in England.

There were fourteen Liberator bomb groups in the Second Air Division.

Living conditions, Niesen huts, and life across the Second Air Division in East Anglia during the war.

Flak, fighter opposition, and tense missions over occupied Europe.

Jimmy Stuart and his leadership during the worst of times in the Second Air Division.

The Kasel mission, night of the intruders, and other mission stories from air crews who lived to tell about it.

“We went back to targets that we had already destroyed once, but they had rebuilt them. They had millions of slave labor so they would use them to rebuild whatever we had knocked out. But they ran out of time, they ran out of fuel, they ran out of ballbearings.”

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The Second Air Division began operations in England with the arrival of the 93rd Bomb Group in 1942. Soon more B-24 bomb groups arrived as the Second Air Division began to establish its credentials at Ploesti and in the air war across German-held Europe. This documentary traces the story of the fourteen Liberator bomb groups in the Second Air Division. During the war the Liberators made their mark upon history, and today the victory won in the skies over Europe remains a significant part of the legacy left behind by the men of the Second Air Division.

Personal interviews, newly discovered photographs and archival footage tell the story of the Liberators and the men who flew them. A unique look back at life on their bases, their British neighbors, and the mission history of the Second Air Division in World War II.

Length 58 minutes

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]]> https://www.oldsegundo.com/product/liberators-over-east-anglia/feed/ 0 Hell’s Angels https://www.oldsegundo.com/product/hells-angels/ https://www.oldsegundo.com/product/hells-angels/#respond Tue, 11 Dec 2018 04:43:12 +0000 https://www.oldsegundo.com/?post_type=product&p=150 The 303rd Bomb Group (H) in the Battle for Europe

Newly remastered widescreen version now available.  New footage, new graphics, enhanced images, and new segment on Germans in Schweinfurt below.  Order now.

Training in the United States, how a bomb group is organized, and follow the training necessary to prepare for combat in Europe.

Living conditions at Molesworth, England and routine life during combat.

A look at combat missions with ground crews working through the night and the rigors of combat over occuppied Europe.

British children and the Yanks, Clark Gable, and the lighter side of war.

Big Week, D-Day, and the coming of air supremacy in the skies over Europe.

The Royal family at Molesworth and the legacy of the 303rd Bomb Group.

“The Regensburg group had already bombed their target and were on their way to North Africa. The German fighters were transferred back to the Schweinfurt route, and we got hit pretty heavily.”

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The first ground and air elements of the 303rd Bomb Group arrived at Molesworth, England in October 1942–in time to begin air operations during the early stages of the Eighth Air Force’s campaign against Germany. High losses and the lack of fighter cover made the Hell’s Angels’ early missions a treacherous prelude for one of the most successful bomb groups in the Eighth Air Force.

This documentary traces the group’s early training in the United States and documents the remarkable record the group compiled on the air front against Germany. The film includes valuable eye witness accounts taken from the extraordinary oral history interviews recorded by the East Anglia Air War Project over two decades. Many of these air crews and ground personnel tell us their stories with clarity and drama as they take us back to their air war against Germany. With astonishing archival footage that brings the story of the Hell’s Angels back to life, this story of the air war delivers a new dimension to the American experience in World War II.

Length 58 minutes

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