Devon at War - 1st-Take Films (presented by Henry Buckton)

Devon at War is written and presented by Henry Buckton and produced on DVD by the 1st-Take film studio. For more information visit www.1st-Take.com or telephone 01454 321614. During the Second World War Devon was reputedly the most militarized county in the country. This was particularly so just before D-Day when every town and village was bursting with American troops preparing to take part in the liberation of occupied Europe. But the story of Devon at War begins long before that and in this new film we visit places that were affected at different stages of the conflict and interview people who were living there at the time. We learn how Plymouth and Exeter experienced some of the most devastating air attacks outside London; while even smaller communities along the south coast such as Exmouth and Teignmouth suffered from the shock tactics of tip and run raids. We see the crucial part that the county’s ports and harbours played in keeping Britain’s Navy afloat and at the forefront of operations. We visit airfields such as RAF Exeter which played an important part during the Battle of Britain and Dunkeswell, from where the United States Air Force hunted enemy submarines. Perhaps most important of all, we acknowledge the county’s incalculable contribution to all aspects of Operation Overlord, on land, sea, or in the air. In the north of the county we visit Woolacome to see where the American forces prepared themselves for D-Day; while in the south we study the disaster at Slapton Sands which left hundreds dead. And at Torquay and Brixham we see the locations from where the allied army sailed to the Normandy beaches. Devon is a large and diverse county and in this film we show how its record of service during the Second World War encompassed that diversity.