Home Page: American Air Museum in Britian

A couple of nights ago, I started a random story which, from the outset, had no background behind it. I had an American airman standing on an airfield somewhere in England at twilight in 1944, shivering in the cold air, surveying the runway, thinking about home. In a short time, as that idea surfaced, and a larger story behind it- what U.S. airmen went through punishing German forces, factories, and cities in their work to end the European war- I realized to give it any credence, I would need to do some research- which is not my strong point. But still, the question bubbled up in my mind: how would you do this? How would you tell this story?

A few years ago, a story circulated that Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks were going to “round out” their WWII mini series offerings- Band of Brothers and The Pacific- with a third project that would focus on the air war in Europe, and the experiences of the American service people stationed over there as U.S. missions over France and Germany intensified in 1944 1n 1945. I’ve seen a few articles since that have said the project was on, or the project was off, and I don’t know which is right. Whatever its status, the series idea does provoke, for me, the question: how would you write these?

Both Band of Brothers and The Pacific followed two specific U.S. ground units through campaigns in both theaters of the war, and both series arced over 10 one-hour episodes, following a handful of characters as they experienced the war. A series on the air war would follow the same formula: 10 one-hour episodes to try and convey the size, scope, specifics and sufferings of being a crewman or ground staff of a heavy bomber in the U.S. Army Air Force at that time.

Since I don’t know where the series is in development or production, I want to try and answer the question of how to write the story as if I was writing for the Hanks/Spielberg projects.

10 stories. 10 hours.

I thought I might do some “live” research and development here, on the blog, to carry me ahead.

We’ll see how it goes.

Ant least my initial web research gave me a good place to start: the American Air Museum in Britian.