With such a compelling story to tell, the D-Day Squadron had indicated in an interview with Flying Magazine back in August that it planned a documentary to remember the events it worked so diligently to make happen. To this end, the group has announced its partnership with “Into Flight Once More,” a film company currently in production of a documentary film of the same name.
“Into Flight Once More” records the commemoration events for the Normandy Invasion and Berlin airlift that took place during the summer of 2019, which brought 15 Douglas C-47s and variants across the Atlantic Ocean to join a dozen or more fellow Dakotas in flights across Europe. The film crew rode along with the airplanes on the entire journey—and that included not only the formation flights in Oxford, Connecticut; Duxford, England; and over Normandy, France, but also the jumps that replicated the D-Day airborne operations.
“When D-Day Squadron aircraft flew the original “Blue Spruce“ route to cross the Atlantic, the film crew travelled with us in support aircraft and in the actual C-47s at times,” said Moreno Aguiari, Director of Marketing and Public Relations for the D-Day Squadron. “They were completely embedded with the pilots, crews and team of the D-Day Squadron so they could capture the full breadth and scope of what was accomplished. They became a part of us.”
The D-Day Squadron seeks additional funding to complete the mission. The group is making an appeal on its site for donations to finish the editing of hundreds of hours of high-definition footage, plus the marketing and promotion of the film to ensure it reaches its most important intended audience—young people who may not yet know or understand the story of the invasion. Donations can be made to the Tunison Foundation, a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization and parent to the D-Day Squadron. Read the cover story in Flying‘s October 2019 issue, on newsstands this week, and available by subscription through the Flying Magazine site and app.
