The Story
Battlin’ Baby is a documentary film about an American solder in WWII. Frank Thomas was a radio operator on a B-24, who was shot down, held prisoner, escaped, survived behind enemy lines, and successfully returned home. Seventy five years later, his grandsons complete his mission by telling his story and returning pieces of the plane to the same airfield where the mission began.
Production
After months of preparation, filming began in July 2019 in Seething, England. The production crew traveled to the base where the story of Battlin’ Baby and Frank Thomas begins… see blog post
The People We Will Never Forget
The Battlin Baby project is a remembrance of the the men who fought in WWII, specifically the 448th Bombardment Group which was constituted on April 6,1943, and activated twenty-five days later at Gowen Field, Boise, ldaho. The first Group Commander was Colonel James McK. Thompson, who later gave his life during a bombing mission over Ludwigshaven, Germany on April 1, 1944.
From December 22, 1943 through April 25, 1945, the members of the 448th flew a total of 262 missions. Almost 70% of these missions were flown over targets in Germany, about 30% were flown over targets in France, and about 2% were flown over targets in Belgium and Holland. The targets included, but were not limited to, manufacturing centers, railroads, enemy airfields, aircraft manufacturing plants, missile launching sites, synthetic oil plants, enemy coastal gun and military installations, buzz-bomb assembly plants, and tank manufacturing plants. The 448th dropped 15,286 tons of bombs and destroyed 47 enemy aircraft.
While the accomplishments of the 448th were great, the supreme sacrifices made by the members of the 448th were also great. A total of 85 men were killed in action. Another 119 men were either injured or died of wounds. Another 875 men were listed as missing in action.
A total of 146 aircraft were lost, with 98 aircraft missing in action, 17 abandoned on the continent, and 31 lost by salvage.
Dailies from the Seething, England shoot…
Dailies from the Switzerland shoot…
More info…
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