Sons, daughters, and grandchildren of the greatest generation travel to England to uncover the history of a disappearing World War II airbase.
This film came about because of the tightly knit group of families who had fathers or grandfathers or grandmothers who served with the 93rd Bomb Unit that was based at Hardwick Airfield in England. The Unit was well known for the contributions of its members as they conducted raid after raid over Hitler’s Europe. Veterans from the unit and descendants formed a group many years ago which met both here and in England, collecting and contributing photos and other mementos from the war. This group wanted to have a “world-class film” assembled to both honor the memory of the members of the 93rd as well as increase awareness of the details of the war.
Director Michael Sellers had attended many of the reunions of the 93rd group with his grandfather and is a fan of the style of documentaries by Ken Burns. He decided to film a trip by a group of 30 to Hardwick and concentrate especially on three members. One had lost an uncle in a crash on the base and had returned again and again to piece together information regarding that crash. Another member’s father was in the 93rd and came home after the war but died when his son was only 15 and the son had never really had an opportunity to talk to his father about the war. And the third, a woman whose mother and father met serving in the 93rd and married there, was able to fill out in a lovely way more and more details of that courtship and marriage.
Sellers spent a long time editing footage from the filming with interviews of group members, photos of memorabilia, and talks with locals living now near the old airbase who have formed their own group to keep the memories alive. There is a museum there which is staffed by them to memorialize the 93rd. The resulting 73-minute documentary is rich with information that is personalized in such a way as to keep the viewer totally involved and at the conclusion, wanting to find out more. The past and present are absolutely seamlessly woven together in Seller’s editing.
The 93rd unit was much decorated and even appeared on the cover of Life Magazine. Two members were awarded Medals of Honor and the group flew the most missions of any in the 8th Air Force. Sellers’ hope is that the film will not only honor the 93rd and their work and sacrifice but also encourage people to look back at their own ancestors and their possible contributions to WWII. That will certainly be accomplished by this very touching documentary.
Available on Digital HD June 9th
