Actors visit former airfield where WW2 drama is set

Actors who played American airmen in a World War Two drama produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks have visited the airfield where they were based.

Masters of the Air tells the story of the 100th Bomb Group that flew B-17s out of Thorpe Abbotts airfield near Diss in Norfolk.

The group became known as "The Bloody Hundredth" due to heavy losses suffered in bombing raids over Europe between 1943 and 1945.

While not filmed in Norfolk, actors of the drama described visiting the airfield, now a museum, as "uncanny" and "moving".

"It's weird being here because while we've never actually been here, it's like where we shot [filmed]," said Josh Bolt, who played Lt Winifred "Pappy" Lewis.

"[The acting] was a lot of responsibility because we constantly had to remember that they were real people, and it happened."

According to the 100th Bomb Group Memorial Museum, the group flew its first combat mission on 25 June 1943 and its last on 20 April 1945.

During that time, it lost 732 airmen and 177 aircraft.

Throughout World War Two, about 50,000 United States Army Air Force (USAAF) personnel served at 18 bases across Norfolk as allies fought to defend Europe against Nazi Germany.

Actor Louis Greatorex, who played navigator Joseph "Bubbles" Payne in the Apple TV series, described being in Thorpe Abbotts as "quite moving".

"To actually stand where Payne stood is quite a strange feeling," he said.

"It hasn't quite sunk in yet."

The actors were given a presentation and shown around the museum.

Reg Wilson, the museum's chair of trustees, said it was important that the airmen were remembered.

"What we try to do with the museum is not just have a museum of things but a museum of stories.

"We want to tell the stories of those individuals in Masters of the Air but also the other guys that were here."

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