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Masters of the Air: Museum trustees and US airmen attend premiere

Ian West/PA Media Callum Turner, Barry Keoghan and Austin Butler at the London premiere of Masters of the AirIan West/PA Media
Actors Callum Turner, Barry Keoghan and Austin Butler at the London premiere of Masters of the Air at the Picturehouse Central cinema

Museum trustees and modern-day air crew have been given a preview of a World War Two drama series which charts the exploits of US pilots who were based in Norfolk.

Masters of the Air follows the men of the 100th Bomb Group, who were based at Thorpe Abbotts.

The series, whose executive producers include Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, is due to air on Apple TV on Friday.

Special guests attended a premiere at a London cinema on Monday.

They included trustees of the 100th Bomb Group Museum, which is based in Dickleburgh, Norfolk, and two members of the United States Air Force currently based at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk.

The 100th Air Refueling Wing, at RAF Mildenhall, is the modern incarnation of the old Bomb Group.

Miriam McAlinden Hemel Old Town filmingMiriam McAlinden
Masters of the Air has been filmed in locations in the UK including Hemel Hempstead's Old Town

A spokesman for the US Air Force said Col Ryan Garlow, 100th Air Refueling Wing commander, and Chief Master Sgt Tiffany Griego, were at the premiere.

Reg Wilson, chair of the museum trustees, said three of his colleagues had also travelled to London to watch the preview.

Parts of Masters of the Air were filmed in the old town of Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire.

The series is based on Donald L Miller's book Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought The Air War Against Nazi Germany.

The series has been made by the companies behind the World War Two dramas Band of Brothers and The Pacific, and features actor Austin Butler.

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