Posted By Fred Preller on October 29, 2006 at 17:06:08:
In Reply to: Looking for any single mission stories from the 8th... posted by Chuck on October 29, 2006 at 12:03:01:
: I am a filmmaker and a WWII buff. I'm considering doing a short film (Under 20 minutes) & would like to do it on a mission of the 8th or 15th Airforce. I want it to be based on truth & NOT take creative liberty's to alter the heroism of these great flyers.
: I'm looking for a single mission story that is intense, has drama, life-or-death scenarios, but where the 'Fort' makes it back to England.
: I'd cut in Luftwaffe gun camera footage with what I would shoot as well as other films shot by any of the crews of the B-17's.
: I want to do this not only because of my admiration of these warbirds & the brave men who flew them, but also for my father who was drafted into the US Army and served as part of the occupying forces in Italy in January 1946 (He just missed being old enough to see actual combat).
: If anyone here can email me links to any untold stories online or share some with me, I would be appreciative. I have to get the script written, THEN the hard part of finding a B-17 I can shoot in for a few days.
: chuckgramling1975@yahoo.com
Chuck,
You could do a lot worse that the 13 April 1944 mission to Schweinfurt, and the experiences of the Dewayne "Ben" Bennett crew. The story of "The Last Man Standing" (the link below)is a good intro. Bennett is alive and feisty as ever in Tucson, AZ. Another is the Oberpfaffenhofen mission on 24 April 1944 - especially if you want to explore the burden and actions of command (http://384thbombgroup.com/Story/SMOKESTACK-BLUE-LEADER.pdf has some details).
Please feel free to call on me to assist.
Regards,
f3