Progress....

The team is currently working hard, collecting a large number of archive pictures and footage to be used for the documentary. A chance to meet again with the Duval sisters Claudine (Bourban) and Yvette (Audigé) of La Coulonche, eye witnesses of Bud Owens' B-17 crash at Val de Vée on 4 July 1943.

We rigged up a basic set-up to take photos of photos in lieu of a scanner:

Amongst the photos we copied was this one of the Duval family from 1942:

Ridgewell

A big thank you to our friends at the Ridgewell 381st BG museum for honouring Sgt. Francis "Bud" Owens by creating a commemorative bomb plaque in his name. You do fantastic work!

 

8th AF News write up...

 2016 will be a very exciting year for our documentary project as we have officially started post production. We are thankful for all the support we have recieved in 2015 and hope the same in 2016! We start the year with a great article in the 8th AF Historical Society Newsletter. 

A big thank you to Jerry McLaughlin and Debra Hobson Kujawa for making this happen!

 

Transcriptions

A bit of a slow time in terms of updates but things are progressing well. The main job at the moment is the transcription of the various film segments to aid editing the final documentary.

For now, we'd like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, and all the best for the New Year!

Interviews....

This past weekend director Jed Henry filmed several additional interviews in Pittsburgh, PA and BrightonMI with main protagonist Hayley Hulbert and her grandfather Jim Owens (Bud Owens' brother).

 

Amongst the momentos the family have of Bud, his dogtags.

 

 Jed also interviewed author Warren Carah (son of the co-pilot of Bud Owens' B-17) for our documentary "In The Footsteps of Bud Owens".

These interviews will add outstanding value and additional depth to the story. A big thank you to all involved for making this happen and we look forward to the next phase of our exciting project!

Normandy Guides

We have made tremendous progress in our fundraising efforts to bring the "In The Footsteps of Bud Owens" project to a successfull ending and will be able to start post production early next year. We would like to sincerely thank ALL our donors again with a special thank you to the Normandy WWII battlefield guide community which has offered such great support to the project from the start. 

Thank you:
- Andy Sutherland (Bayeux Shuttle)
- Paul Woodadge (D-Day Historian)
- Vanessa Letourneur (Normandy Panorama)
- Dale Booth (Dale Booth NormandyTours)
- Sylvain Kast (D-Day Experience Tours)
- Adrienne O'Donnoghue Sion (Normandy Onsite)
- René Van Oirschot (Bayeux Sightseeing Tours)
- Christophe Rault (Christophe Rault Private Tours)

 

 Andy Sutherland, CEO of Bayeux Shuttle at the memorial to Bud Owens and three of the crew members of his B-17 at La Coulonche. Thank you for your support Andy!!

 

 Paul Woodadge aka D-Day Historan with Waren Carah's book about the crash of Bud Owens' B-17 and his escape and evasion story. Thank you Paul!!

 

 Vanessa Letourneur, CEO of Normandy Panorama with documentary protagonist Louis Hatet, great grandson of resistant André Rougeyron. Thank you Vanessa!!

We still have some funds to raise so please don't hesitate to donate to this worthwile project.

Keith Murray

It is with great sadness that we were recently informed of the passing of Keith Murray on 28 September 2015 at the age of 96.

On September 6, 1943, 1/Lt. Keith Murray’s ship, the Bomboogie, went down returning from a raid on Stuttgart. He and four others of his crew successfully evaded capture assisted by the French.

Mr. Murray was the last survivor of the group of evaders, which included our documentary's main protagonist Bud Owens, that made the fateful Pyrenees crossing on 25 October 1943. He suffered several strokes over the years and his health unfortunatley made it impossible for him to be interviewed for the documentary. His recollections did however help us piece together the final moments of Bud Owens and two of his fellow evaders at Port d'Arinsal. Our sincerest sympathies to the Murray family and friends.