Warbird Information Exchange

People,

I need some educating.

In the opening combat sequences of the film A Bridge Too Far, several aircraft in British markings are seen to support the allied tanks as they push toward Eindhoven.

Does anyone know what the planes were? They looked very much like P-36s, but I'm not sure. Would the RAF have used P-36s in this role in 1944?

Walrus

_________________
One crowded hour of glorious life
Is worth an age without a name

It's been a while since I've seen the movie, but I thought they were just painted up t-6's for the sequence. I know if you look at the cover or back of the box you can see what distinctly looks like texans.
i'll check it out tomorrow see if i can get a better look. but i'm sure someone's gonna know before i do!

brian

Brian,

They did resemble T-6s from the front, but some of them appeared to have short canopies and high fuselages. They could have been T-6s modified for the film; all but five of the Sherman tanks were fibreglass bodies over VW Beetles, so anything is possible.

Walrus

_________________
One crowded hour of glorious life
Is worth an age without a name

Here's one of the Harvards that was tarted up for the film. Photo scanned from an old copy of "After The Battle".



Rob

Warbird fans,

In the film there were 4 Harvards, an Auster Mk.III (PH-NGK) and a Spitfire Mk.IX (G-ASJV). The Harvards and Auster were operated by "Stichting Vliegsport Gilze-Rijen", today better known as "Royal Netherlands Air Force Historical Flight". Two Harvards were former instructional airframes, and at that moment in the Air Force museum reserve collection. The Harvards were not only painted as Typhoons, but also as Thunderbolt and FW.190.
These Noorduyn AT-16-ND "Harvard IIB"s were :

PH-BKT :
“HF-L” (Typhoon) and “- + 5” (Fw.190)

PH-KLU :
“MX-W” (Thunderbolt), “HF-S” (Typhoon) and “- + 7” (FW.190)

B-64 :
“HF-J” (Typhoon)

B-118 :
“HF-N” (Typhoon)

PH-KLU is still active from Lelystad. B-64 is PH-LSK and B-118 is PH-IIB, both based at Gilze-Rijen with the RNLAFHF (www.skhv.nl) . PH-BKT crashed, killing pilot and passenger.

Regards,

Benno Goethals, Netherlands
Harvard/Texan specialist

Robbo, Benno

Great answers, thanks!

I suspect the real job would have been P-47s or Typhoons, but for the filming, I would have thought genuine P-51s would have had a more authentic feel, as they did ground support roles in Europe. Were none available?

Walrus

_________________
One crowded hour of glorious life
Is worth an age without a name

I agree with the Mustang suggestion. I've always liked the movie but that sequence at the beginning has always puzzled me too. I never noticed anything that resembled a Typhoon or a Thunderbolt. I'll make a extra effort to notice the differences the next time I see the movie. All I saw was disguised T-6's dropping lame little bombs. The Idea about the plastic tanks and VW beetles is out right funny. That movie was made just prior to the collection and restoration movement getting a full head of steam.