Battlefields - Bomber
One episode in a four part series about decisive battles of the Second World War, hosted by Professor Richard Holmes.
Historical Advice:
Historical Adviser: Taff Gillingham
The brief was to act as Historical Adviser and advise on all aspects of a Bomber airfield during the 1944/45 period, and especially the duties of the aircrew of a Lancaster Bomber. As a real Lancaster was to be used it was essential to check all the facts and then demonstrate a full knowledge of the workings of the aircraft as well as briefing the actors who had been cast as the aircrew.
Props:
There are very few 'props' to be found on a wartime bomber, but we did supply all the equipment for the navigator's table, including original maps (and reproduction ones for marking courses on), specialist instruments, RAF coffee flasks and even chocolate bars in period wrapping.
Costume:
Providing all the uniforms for a complete bomber crew of the 1944/45 period was always going to be extremely difficult. There had been virtually no films or dramas depicting bomber crews for many years and consequently all the usual sources were unable to help with anything but the most basic uniform items.
With a great deal of hard work we were able to track down just enough sets of flying kit to make up the whole crew, including the correct parachute harnesses - probably the first time this had been achieved on this scale since the 1950s.