A Village Remembers

As a little boy in Norwich during the Blitz David Hastings hung around air bases in East Anglia, England watching the B24 Liberator bombers of the 2nd Air Division 8th USAAF take off and return. Years later David produced films about the 2nd Air Division and he and his wife, Jean, organized reunions in Norwich with veterans of the 2nd Air Division and their British friends.

A Village Remembers is a unique film with rare archival World War II footage and archival footage from the 1980s of old air bases, the 2nd Air Division Memorial Library and city scenes of Norwich. David shot this film on Super 8 so the original quality is much higher than this digitization of a vhs copy. We have been looking for the original film and the raw footage for some time. If we find it, we will re-publish this video.

You will see an extensive amount of footage of B24s, crews and the base of the 467 Bomb Group at Rackheath that was filmed and narrated by Colonel James Mahoney, Deputy Group Commander of the 467th. My father served under Colonel Mahoney. Dad flew five missions as a navigator on the 8th's champion bomber, Witchcraft, pictured in the thumbnail you see here.

Also, you will hear Jordan Uttal, a leader of the 2nd Air Division Association, narrate footage of the old Memorial Library.

At the end of the war in 1945 and in the years since the 2nd Air Division raised funds to create a "living memorial", what is now named the American Library 2nd Air Division Memorial, a place to not only remember those lost, but to also build upon the cultural and enduring ties between the peoples of America and the United Kingdom. The Library, in Norwich, England, has books, events, lectures and an extensive research archives, serving as an important resource for information about a family member who served, about the war and about American culture.

David became a lifetime governor of the Memorial Trust of the 2nd Air Division--the trust with the donations from 2nd Air Division veterans and British friends that created and sustain the American Library Memorial to the 2nd Air Division. This Library is a treasure that is unique to Norwich--no county, state, region or country has anything like it.

We encourage you to become involved, to find out more about how you can connect, research, volunteer or contribute to the American Library 2nd Air Division Memorial:

https://www.americanlibrary.uk