In response to the posting by Larry Parks about Capt. James Norman Bryan, there is movie footage of Capt. Bryan on the British Pathe web site. The footage runs for just under 20 minutes, and contains many other aircraft and people of the 323rd Bomb Group, so I guess that this movie may be of interest to others too.
I have compiled the information in the table below from whatever I have been able to observe in the movie footage or stills. Aircraft details shown in regular black text are visible, and those shown in red italics are not visible but have been obtained from other sources (cited above) or have been inferred from previous footage. Any details that are not visible and I have not been able to find the missing information from other sources are annotated with a question mark.
British Pathe do not have any information as to where or when the footage was taken. However, after comparing the visible locations against various maps (cited above), I believe that it was taken whilst the 323rd Bomb Group was based at Earls Colne Airfield, Essex, England, and that the locations of two of the targets are Boulogne and Lille Nord, France. The 323rd BG were stationed at Earls Colne from 14th June 1943, and the white tail stripes or bands were not painted on their aircraft until after their transfer to the 9th Air Force on 16th October 1943, so the movie footage must have been taken between these dates. Furthermore, the Group's history shows that Boulogne and Lille Nord were attacked on the 8th September 1943 (and Boulogne again on the 9th September 1943), so I would assume that the movie footage was taken at around these dates.
My intention is to get this information onto B26.COM so that anyone who may be searching for the people, aircraft, and places that appear in this movie will be able to find them. If anyone would like to provide missing information, or has any additions or corrections to the information in the table, these would be most welcome. Please post these to the guestbook or send them to me via B26.COM.
You can watch the movie by clicking on the URL link above or here. Clicking on the links in the "Clip Start" column in the table will open the appropriate still picture from the movie, and from there it is possible to move to the previous or next still picture by clicking on the appropriate link.
Regards,
Steve Sharp
| Clip Start |
Clip End |
Aircraft Tail Number |
Aircraft Serial Number |
Aircraft Fuselage Code |
Aircraft Name |
Comments |
| 00:00:06 |
00:00:16 |
134787 |
41-34787 |
WT-P |
Tootsie |
Aircraft taxiing - viewed from outside eastern T2 hangar at Earls Colne. |
| 00:00:27 |
00:00:29 |
131722 |
41-31722 |
WT-A |
Smokey Joe |
Aircraft taxiing - viewed from outside eastern T2 hangar at Earls Colne. |
| 00:00:39 |
00:00:41 |
?????? |
4?-????? |
RJ-? |
? |
Unknown aircraft (star painted on port side of aircraft nose). |
| 00:00:53 |
00:03:55 |
134742 |
41-34742 |
YU-F |
Utah Game Cock |
Ground crew testing, arming, and loading bombs on aircraft. |
| 00:04:05 |
00:04:58 |
|
|
|
|
Commanding Officers gathered around a "sand table" map of a target. These are (left to right and closest to the table): Unknown Officer, Colonel Glenn C. Nye (322nd C.O.), Colonel Lester J. Maitland (386th C.O.), General Samuel E. Anderson (3rd Bomb Wing C.O.), Colonel Carl R. Storrie (387th C.O.), Colonel Herbert B. Thatcher (322nd C.O.), Unknown Officer. |
| 00:04:59 |
00:05:58 |
|
|
|
|
Air crews gather outside buildings (after briefing ?) and then ride out to aircraft in Jeeps. |
| 00:05:59 |
00:06:35 |
134742 |
41-34742 |
YU-F |
Utah Game Cock |
Air crew arrive at hard stand in Jeep. |
| 00:06:03 |
00:06:35 |
134733 |
41-34733 |
YU-R |
Tail End Charley |
Air crew arrive at hard stand in Jeep and board aircraft. |
| 00:07:36 |
00:08:20 |
134742 |
41-34742 |
YU-F |
Utah Game Cock |
“Jonny Boy Bryan” painted below pilot's window. |
| 00:08:23 |
00:08:41 |
?34871 |
4?-34871 |
VT-U |
? |
Aircraft turns onto SE-NW runway near eastern T2 hangar for take-off at Earls Colne. |
| 00:08:45 |
00:08:49 |
???705 |
4?-??705 |
? |
? |
No records of any aircraft with similar serial number found ! |
| 00:08:58 |
00:09:05 |
134787 |
41-34787 |
WT-P |
Tootsie |
View from behind aircraft on perimeter track. |
| 00:09:02 |
00:09:11 |
134967 |
41-34967 |
WT-R |
Hell's Belle |
Aircraft turns onto NE-SW runway. |
| 00:09:12 |
00:09:14 |
134742 |
41-34742 |
YU-F |
Utah Game Cock |
View from inside “Utah Game Cock” during take-off. |
| 00:09:48 |
00:09:50 |
134967 |
41-34967 |
WT-R |
Hell's Belle |
Aircraft parked on hard stand – viewed from track to control tower on western perimeter track at Earls Colne. |
| 00:09:48 |
00:09:58 |
135002 |
41-35002 |
RJ-S |
Mad Hatter |
Aircraft taxiing on western perimeter track near track to control tower. |
| 00:09:59 |
00:10:07 |
134702 |
41-34702 |
RJ-Y |
? |
Aircraft taxiing past western T2 hangar at Earls Colne. |
| 00:10:00 |
00:10:05 |
134787 |
41-34787 |
WT-P |
Tootsie |
Aircraft parked on hard stand with ground crew near western T2 hangar. |
| 00:10:04 |
00:10:07 |
134??? |
41-34??? |
WT-M |
Blitz Wagon |
Aircraft parked on hard stand (serial number inconsistent with records – 42-96090 WT-M “Blitz Wagon” !!!). |
| 00:10:08 |
00:10:18 |
134742 |
41-34742 |
YU-F |
Utah Game Cock |
View from aircraft flying low northwards on eastern side of eastern perimeter track at Earls Colne. |
| 00:10:19 |
00:10:28 |
134742 |
41-34742 |
YU-F |
Utah Game Cock |
View from aircraft looking back at tail and other aircraft queueing on perimeter track. |
| 00:10:29 |
00:10:43 |
134742 |
41-34742 |
YU-F |
Utah Game Cock |
View from aircraft looking forwards at other aircraft queueing on perimeter track. |
| 00:10:44 |
00:10:48 |
134742 |
41-34742 |
YU-F |
Utah Game Cock |
View from inside aircraft cockpit during take-off. |
| 00:10:53 |
00:10:58 |
134733 |
41-34733 |
YU-R |
Tail End Charley |
View from below aircraft in flight. |
| 00:13:13 |
00:13:16 |
134955 |
41-34955 |
YU-T |
Mission Belle |
View from alongside aircraft in flight. |
| 00:13:38 |
00:14:16 |
|
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|
|
Operations room ? - women moving markers around large map of Europe on table. |
| 00:14:17 |
00:14:36 |
|
|
|
|
Operations room ? – man chalks up various times on large blackboard on wall marked “Mission Report”. |
| 00:14:37 |
00:15:00 |
|
|
|
|
Operations room ? - officers sitting at desks monitoring proceedings. |
| 00:15:01 |
00:15:11 |
|
|
|
|
Unknown target. |
| 00:15:12 |
00:15:31 |
|
|
|
|
B-26 formation flying south off coast (probably Boulogne). |
| 00:15:33 |
00:15:45 |
|
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|
|
Unknown target. |
| 00:15:46 |
00:16:38 |
|
|
|
|
Bombs hitting target (probably Boulogne) and B-26 formation flying south along coast. |
| 00:17:10 |
00:18:02 |
|
|
|
|
Bombs hitting target (probably Lille Nord). |
| 00:18:03 |
00:18:44 |
|
|
|
|
Unknown target. |
| 00:18:47 |
00:18:59 |
|
|
|
|
Bombs hitting target (probably Lille Nord). |
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