Hello AvCanadians,
My brother-in-law is a filmmaker. He is developing a script for a feature wherein one of the characters will fly a World War II-era bomber. He is leaning towards a Halifax or a Lancaster at this point.
He has asked me to suggest film titles wherein the operation, flights, and crewing of the aircraft are as accurate as possible.
Documentary titles are welcome, as are the names of film series, television series, etc.
All I can think of so far are "The Dam Busters" and a film (I can't remember the name) about a crew flying a large bomber doing runs over the hump.
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.
John
WWII/Vintage Bombers or Large Transport movies
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Driving Rain
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Re: WWII/Vintage Bombers or Large Transport movies
http://www.spitcrazy.com/andrewmynarskistory.htm
How about Forever Young. This is a real true Friday the 13th story.
Andrew Charles Mynarski was born the second son to recent Polish immigrants in Winnipeg, Manitoba on October 14, 1916. He was a quiet person, although his ready humor would come out after you got to know him. He enjoyed working with his hands, especially woodworking. Before the war, he was employed as a cutter at a local furrier where his craftsmanship was highly valued. On his own, he loved to design and build furniture.
After a brief stay in the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force shortly before his 25th birthday. He became an Air Gunner. His first operational posting was with Number 9 Squadron in October, 1943. In March, 1944, he replaced another mid upper gunner in 419 (Moose) Squadron and joined the crew with whom his name would be forever linked.
On the crew's ninth mission together, (June fifth, 1944...D-Day minus 1) they were assigned a brand new Canadian built Lancaster X....KB726.
A week later, on the night of June 12, they were to take off on the Lanc's fourth mission, their target: the rail marshalling yards at Cambrai, France. It would be the crew's 13th sortie. They would be over the target on Friday the thirteenth. While waiting to go, the crew couldn't help but think of these omens. Andy found a four leaf clover in the grass by the planes. He insisted that his closest buddy in the crew, tail gunner Pat Brophy, should take it.
Shortly after crossing the French coast, the Lancaster was briefly coned by enemy searchlights. After some evasive maneuvers, they were in the safety of darkness again. They began descending to the level of their planned attack when a Ju88 came in from astern. Its cannons blazed from below. Three explosions tore the aircraft. Both port engines were knocked out and began to flame. Hydraulic lines to the rear turret were severed and the fluid ignited, turning the rear of the fuselage into an inferno. The captain, Art de Bryne gave the order to bail out.
Warrant officer Mynarski left his post at the mid upper turret and began to make his way to the rear escape door. Through the fierce flames, he could see his friend Pat Brophy, desperately trying to escape from the immobilized rear turret. Pat was trapped. The turret had jammed in a position where the doors to escape didn't line up and, in his frantic attempts to free himself, he had broken the manual back-up system as well. By now, all of the other crew members had made their escapes from the stricken aircraft.
In complete disregard for his own safety, Andrew crawled through the flames to assist his fellow gunner. Not noticing that his own flight suit and parachute had caught fire, he fought heroically to free the turret, but all his efforts were in vain. Brophy signaled that there was nothing more he could do and that he should bail out and save himself. Reluctantly, Mynarski complied. Backing through the flames to the escape hatch, he stood up and, before jumping, he saluted his doomed comrade.
French witnesses saw him plunge earthward in flames but when they found him, he was so severely burned that he died within hours.
Ironically, Pat Brophy survived, unhurt. When the Lancaster crashed at a shallow angle, two of its twenty bombs immediately exploded, throwing the tail gunner clear. His watch stopped at 2:13 a.m., Friday, June 13, 1944.
Posthumously, with the rank of Pilot Officer, Andrew Charles Mynarski was awarded the Victoria Cross, the British Commonwealth's highest award for bravery.
The remainder of this encounter is best left up to Pat Brophy himself:
"(...) Then I saw Andy. He had slid down from the mid-upper turret and made his way back to the rear escape hatch, about 15 feet from me, having received the same P signal to bail out from the skipper.
He opened the door and was just about to jump when he glanced around and spotted me through the plexiglass part of my turret. One look told him I was trapped.
Instantly, he turned away from the hatch - his doorway to safety - and started towards me. All this time the airplane was lurching drunkenly as Art tried to keep it on an even keel without instruments. Andy had to climb over the Elsan chemical toilet and crawl over the tailplane spar, as there is no room at that part of the fuselage. These cramped conditions forced him to crawl on his hands and knees - straight through the blazing hydraulic oil. By the time he reached my position in the tail, his uniform and parachute were on fire. I shook my head; it was hopeless. 'Don't try!' I shouted, and waved him away.
"Andy didn't seem to notice. Completely ignoring his own condition in the flames, he grabbed a fire axe and tried to smash the turret free. It gave slightly, but not enough. Wild with desperation and pain, he tore at the doors with his bare hands. By now he was a mass of flames below the waist. Seeing him like that,
I forgot everything else. Over the roar of the wind and the whine of our two remaining engines, I screamed, 'Go back, Andy! Get out!'
"Finally, with time running out, he realized that he could do nothing to help me. When I waved him away again, he hung his head and nodded, as though he was ashamed to leave - ashamed that sheer heart and courage hadn't been enough. As there was no way to turn around in the confined quarters, Andy had to crawl backwards through the flaming hydraulic fluid fire again, never taking his eyes off me.
On his face was a look of mute anguish.
"When Andy reached the escape hatch, he stood up. Slowly, as he'd often done before in happier times together, he came to attention. Standing there in his flaming clothes, a grimly magnificent figure, he saluted me! At the same time, just before he jumped, he said something. And even though I couldn't hear,
I knew it was 'Good night, Sir'. (...)"
http://www.spitcrazy.com/mynarskimemoriallancaster.htm
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-134162896.html
How about Forever Young. This is a real true Friday the 13th story.
Andrew Charles Mynarski was born the second son to recent Polish immigrants in Winnipeg, Manitoba on October 14, 1916. He was a quiet person, although his ready humor would come out after you got to know him. He enjoyed working with his hands, especially woodworking. Before the war, he was employed as a cutter at a local furrier where his craftsmanship was highly valued. On his own, he loved to design and build furniture.
After a brief stay in the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force shortly before his 25th birthday. He became an Air Gunner. His first operational posting was with Number 9 Squadron in October, 1943. In March, 1944, he replaced another mid upper gunner in 419 (Moose) Squadron and joined the crew with whom his name would be forever linked.
On the crew's ninth mission together, (June fifth, 1944...D-Day minus 1) they were assigned a brand new Canadian built Lancaster X....KB726.
A week later, on the night of June 12, they were to take off on the Lanc's fourth mission, their target: the rail marshalling yards at Cambrai, France. It would be the crew's 13th sortie. They would be over the target on Friday the thirteenth. While waiting to go, the crew couldn't help but think of these omens. Andy found a four leaf clover in the grass by the planes. He insisted that his closest buddy in the crew, tail gunner Pat Brophy, should take it.
Shortly after crossing the French coast, the Lancaster was briefly coned by enemy searchlights. After some evasive maneuvers, they were in the safety of darkness again. They began descending to the level of their planned attack when a Ju88 came in from astern. Its cannons blazed from below. Three explosions tore the aircraft. Both port engines were knocked out and began to flame. Hydraulic lines to the rear turret were severed and the fluid ignited, turning the rear of the fuselage into an inferno. The captain, Art de Bryne gave the order to bail out.
Warrant officer Mynarski left his post at the mid upper turret and began to make his way to the rear escape door. Through the fierce flames, he could see his friend Pat Brophy, desperately trying to escape from the immobilized rear turret. Pat was trapped. The turret had jammed in a position where the doors to escape didn't line up and, in his frantic attempts to free himself, he had broken the manual back-up system as well. By now, all of the other crew members had made their escapes from the stricken aircraft.
In complete disregard for his own safety, Andrew crawled through the flames to assist his fellow gunner. Not noticing that his own flight suit and parachute had caught fire, he fought heroically to free the turret, but all his efforts were in vain. Brophy signaled that there was nothing more he could do and that he should bail out and save himself. Reluctantly, Mynarski complied. Backing through the flames to the escape hatch, he stood up and, before jumping, he saluted his doomed comrade.
French witnesses saw him plunge earthward in flames but when they found him, he was so severely burned that he died within hours.
Ironically, Pat Brophy survived, unhurt. When the Lancaster crashed at a shallow angle, two of its twenty bombs immediately exploded, throwing the tail gunner clear. His watch stopped at 2:13 a.m., Friday, June 13, 1944.
Posthumously, with the rank of Pilot Officer, Andrew Charles Mynarski was awarded the Victoria Cross, the British Commonwealth's highest award for bravery.
The remainder of this encounter is best left up to Pat Brophy himself:
"(...) Then I saw Andy. He had slid down from the mid-upper turret and made his way back to the rear escape hatch, about 15 feet from me, having received the same P signal to bail out from the skipper.
He opened the door and was just about to jump when he glanced around and spotted me through the plexiglass part of my turret. One look told him I was trapped.
Instantly, he turned away from the hatch - his doorway to safety - and started towards me. All this time the airplane was lurching drunkenly as Art tried to keep it on an even keel without instruments. Andy had to climb over the Elsan chemical toilet and crawl over the tailplane spar, as there is no room at that part of the fuselage. These cramped conditions forced him to crawl on his hands and knees - straight through the blazing hydraulic oil. By the time he reached my position in the tail, his uniform and parachute were on fire. I shook my head; it was hopeless. 'Don't try!' I shouted, and waved him away.
"Andy didn't seem to notice. Completely ignoring his own condition in the flames, he grabbed a fire axe and tried to smash the turret free. It gave slightly, but not enough. Wild with desperation and pain, he tore at the doors with his bare hands. By now he was a mass of flames below the waist. Seeing him like that,
I forgot everything else. Over the roar of the wind and the whine of our two remaining engines, I screamed, 'Go back, Andy! Get out!'
"Finally, with time running out, he realized that he could do nothing to help me. When I waved him away again, he hung his head and nodded, as though he was ashamed to leave - ashamed that sheer heart and courage hadn't been enough. As there was no way to turn around in the confined quarters, Andy had to crawl backwards through the flaming hydraulic fluid fire again, never taking his eyes off me.
On his face was a look of mute anguish.
"When Andy reached the escape hatch, he stood up. Slowly, as he'd often done before in happier times together, he came to attention. Standing there in his flaming clothes, a grimly magnificent figure, he saluted me! At the same time, just before he jumped, he said something. And even though I couldn't hear,
I knew it was 'Good night, Sir'. (...)"
http://www.spitcrazy.com/mynarskimemoriallancaster.htm
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-134162896.html
Last edited by Driving Rain on Tue Dec 16, 2008 3:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Brantford Beech Boy
- Rank 7
- Posts: 668
- Joined: Tue Feb 17, 2004 9:34 am
- Location: Brantford? Not so much...
Re: WWII/Vintage Bombers or Large Transport movies
Tell your brother-in-law to give the Canadian Warplane Heritage museum in Hamilton a call.
They have one of 2 flying Lancasters left in the world.
Get yer operational info from the horses mouth.
BBB
They have one of 2 flying Lancasters left in the world.
Get yer operational info from the horses mouth.
BBB
"Almost anywhere, almost anytime...worldwide(ish)"
Re: WWII/Vintage Bombers or Large Transport movies
Beach Boy
P.M sent
P.M sent
...isn't he the best pilot you've ever seen?....Yeah he is ....except when I'm shaving.........
