Bomber Boys: the Fighting Lancaster - Season 1

Series: Bomber Boys: The Fighting Lancaster

(1)

Episodes

Rating

TVPG

Year

2005

Language

English

Publisher

Monarch Films, Inc.

About

As seen on PBS stations around the US comes a new "living history" series reliving the early days of World War II. Using a unique blend of living history elements, CGI, first-person interviews and never-before-seen W.W.II footage. This dramatic four-part documentary series"Bomber Boys: The Fighting Lancaster" follows a new generation of "Bomber Boys" as they train to become a Lancaster Bomber crew.

Related Subjects

Episodes

1. The Lucky H

47m

Episode one introduces the new recruits. All are descendants of British, Australian, American and Canadian airmen, and while these new recruits struggle to come to terms with 1940s discipline and values. The new recurits are broken up into two flight crews testing themselves against the original training regime of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Up at dawn, marching, saluting, cleaning, polishing, in classrooms and period planes, struggling to see whether they are the men their grandfathers once were.

2. Baker Flight

47m

In Episode two we follow the trials of Baker Flight as they struggle to adapt to the discipline of military life. Their instructors, real-life drill sergeants, are determined the boys will measure up...no matter how much humiliation and discomfort they must endure. The sole American recruit, in particular, chafes under the constant scrutiny of the drill sergeants. After countless hours on the drill square the recruits are finally given hands-on training with the Lee Enfield .303. Most of the boys have never fired a gun before and the Lee Enfield will be their introduction to the feel and sounds of battle - and the bruises the kick of a rifle can leave.

3. Combat

47m

In Episode three Baker Flight recurits get to spend time in the sky as they begin hands-on training in a Tiger Moth. After the flights, the recruits are ordered to prepare their barracks for a surprise VIP inspection by none other than the original Lucky H crew. Three generations after their training began, this group of Second World War vets gets a chance to see if the young men measure up.

4. Reunion

47m

In Episode four both generations "Bomber Boys", the old and the new, experience the rare opportunity to fly in one of the world's only operating Lancasters. After their momentous flight, they cross the Atlantic to visit the places the original Lucky H crew first visited when they were young. The new recruits of Baker Flight follow them on an emotional journey through Europe as they step through the looking glass to see the world through the old men's eyes. At the Adagem aircrew cemetery in Belgium, one member of the crew from both generations Joe English and his grandson, Mathew, discover the grave of a long-lost family member while the boys discover most graves are filled with airmen their own age. And as a sad but poignant testament to the dwindling numbers of the fine men of WWII who fought for freedom, one of the original Lucky H crew passes on. The series ends as we see how much the young recruits have bonded with their grandfathers, and how much they have learned.

Extended Details

SeriesBomber Boys: The Fighting Lancaster

Closed CaptionsNo

Artists

Don YoungDirector

Daniel CroweActor

Matthew EnglishActor

Christopher GottfriedActor