Masters of the Air actors step back in time to visit WW2 airbase

BBC News

06-04-2025

More than 40 years ago, a village decided to make sure the lives of young Americans who arrived during the war would never be forgotten. One year ago, a production company continued that legacy by bringing the stories of these men to the big screen. Stepping out of the television set, how did the actors who portrayed them feel telling their stories?
Masters of the Air follows the story of the 100th Bomb Group, which became known as the "Bloody Hundredth" following raids across Europe between 1943 and 1945. During that time, 732 airmen and 177 planes were lost.The group flew out of Thorpe Abbotts airfield near Diss, Norfolk, which has been captured in time and turned into a museum.
Jonas Moore: 'They need to be remembered'
Jonas Moore said he wished he had been able to visit Thorpe Abbotts and "soak it in" before taking on the role of Capt Frank Murphy.Capt Murphy enlisted in the US Army Air Corps after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and was assigned as a B-17 navigator with the 100th Bomb Group.To get into character for the television drama, Mr Moore read Capt Murphy's autobiography four times to learn as much about the airman as he could."I feel like I know it better than any book I have ever read in my life," he said."Frank Murphy, in an interview, said the men in World War Two fought and died for our privilege to forget the past. It's tyranny and tyrannical rulers that force you to remember things. They died so we can move on with our lives and we can forget."That's why they need to be remembered... it gives us the privilege of moving on."
Jordan Coulson: 'It brings you back'
Although the series was not shot in Norfolk, Jordan Coulson, who plays Lt Howard Hamilton, said visiting the museum felt familiar."It brings you back to four years ago when we filmed Masters of the Air. It brings back all those memories and all those times we had," he said."To be able to go back in time to a place that was so real for them where they built friendships and bonds, it's great."Lt Hamilton was the bombardier in the B-17, also named "Mademoiselle Zig Zag", which was said to have been the lead plane in the formation of the 100th Bomb Group."To see what these men went through and going in those planes and it potentially being their last trip every single time... What sort of mental state do you have to be in for that? It's very important."
Adam Long: 'It feels like we've been here before'
It felt "oddly familiar" for actor Adam Long to visit Thorpe Abbotts, where the 100th Bomb Group took off for their last mission on 20 April 1945."It's like we've been here before. That is testament to the set designers and how their attention to detail was just incredible," he said.To build his character, based on Capt Benny DeMarco, he had only photographs to go off. But Capt DeMarco is referenced in Donald L Miller's Masters of the Air book as being the "most competent pilot" one of the group's members had ever worked with.It was the little details which Mr Long said helped build the character."Stories and history... can feel a bit abstract but I think it's important to tell their personal stories and make sure that they are remembered as people and the sacrifices they made," he said.
Reg Wilson: 'We have been overrun'
Chair of trustees Reg Wilson said the museum had had a "phenomenal" year since the series aired in 2024."In East Anglia there was something like 40 American airbases, and [from] those air bases there were 26,000 young men that were killed," he said."We are very aware of the history of the place – the Americans being here but also what the guys... did when they took what was essentially an abandoned building and converted it into the museum we have today." He said the show had enabled the history of the base to reach a younger audience, and the museum had seen a doubling in the number of visitors."Sometimes we were almost overrun," he said.
Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.