Band of Brothers airfield

[Cat.S]

Anyone know which airfield they used when they were filming the C47s taking off for Normandy in the first episode?

[Tarnished]

I know the sound stage was Hatfield.

[VP8]

North Weald:ok:

VEEPS

[Inverted81]

The C47's did take off from North weald as far as i can remember, the main film set was in Hatfield and the surrounding areas. I remember being woken up by gunfire at 2 in the morning. Steven spielberg and tom hanks returned to hatfield to use the Old BAe site follwing them using it to film saving private ryan there too.

[Cat.S]

Thanks Guys, I thought it had to be one of the still active fields in the South, but couldn't recognise it.

[lsh]

The airfield that they actually launched from on the day is Smeatharpe, Devon.
This is near Dunkeswell, Devon. Home of the only US Navy flying field during the war.
This is near Upottery (Tricky Warren), Devon. Home to the first 2 jets working-up prior to going to Kent to chase the flying bombs.
An interesting area!!

[tonker]

I think the correct airfield for the actual flight on the day was just south of Ramsbury in Wiltshire.

www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?lat=51.4306&lon=-1.6128&scale=25000&icon=x

Able company were based just north of Ramsbury at Aldbourne and have just recently had their hut/shed they lived in moved to the US.

www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?lat=51.4805&lon=-1.6209&scale=5000&icon=x

Just west of Ramsbury at Axford is a large pub with a gravel car park. Go to the bottom of the car park on the right and their is a plaque to a DC3 that crashed very nearby on the river.

www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?lat=51.4291&lon=-1.659&scale=5000&icon=x

Visit this excellent web page for more info on all the history locally and at the airfield. Before looking at the site turn up your computers volume and then visit.......big smile

http://www.ramsburyatwar.com/links.htm

Regards Chris

[Hot Charlie]

I think Ish is right on this one. Indeed they were based at Aldbourne (nice little village - I popped in there a couple of years back), but from everything I've ever read, they departed from Upottery...

I too remember very loud noises in the middle of the night in the vicinity of Hatfield aerodrome during the production of Band of Brothers. The take off scene was indeed shot at North Weald.

[tonker]

I'll have to get reading, thanks. Did you enjoy the website?

regards Chris

[lsh]

My info was based on the "Action Stations" books.
lsh

[Blacksheep]

I too remember very loud noises in the middle of the night in the vicinity of Hatfield aerodrome during the production of Band of Brothers.Not as much fun as when the 'French village' was strafed by Mustangs during the Private Ryan shoot, complete with big bangs and black smoke. The scene of all the action is reduced to Booker warehouses now.

[wiggy]

Just to add.....to get more background to the real drop take a read of David Kenyon Webster's book "Parachute Infantry".
Whilst in the UK the Regiment were based on/near Salisbury plain in and around Aldbourne ( which is indeed a classic English village), however in the invasion build-up they moved (mostly by train) nearly 100 miles South West to their staging area on Smeatharpe/Upottery airfield, about 5 or 6 miles NE of Honiton in Devon.

A lot of the airfield infrastructure is still visible though in a sad state since it returned to agricultural use immediately post WW2. The landowner is not particularly friendly, unfortunately, but since part of the Southern perimeter track is now a public highway you can at least tread on some of the hallowed ground - the contol tower is still there, as are some of old base buildings, dotted around in various fields on the perimeter. It's quite an evocative place - go there on a quiet Summer's evening and you'll end up believing in ghosts..well almost.

Dunkeswell, Smeatharpe's parent field in WW2, is midway between Honiton and Smeatharpe. It still an active airfield and has quite a good. albeit small, museum with lots of US Navy memorabilia.

[EGTE]

Does the opening scene of "Band of Brothers" not have a subtitle at the bottom of the screen that says something similar to "Upottery, England, June 1944"?

[wiggy]

EGTE

Indeed it does, and unlike the many editions of Ambrose's book, on TV it's spelt correctly - for some reason in the book it is spelt "Uppottery".