As a little boy in Norwich during the Blitz David Hastings hung around air bases in East Anglia, England watching the B24 Liberator bombers of the 2nd Air Division 8th USAAF take off and return. Years later David produced films about the 2nd Air Division and David and his wife, Jean, organized those big reunions in Norwich with veterans of the 2nd Air Division and their British friends.
Remember Them is a unique film with rare archival World War II footage and David’s 1980s footage of city scenes of Norwich, old air bases and the old 2nd Air Division Memorial Library. David shot his film on Super 8 so the original quality is much higher than this digitization of this vhs copy. David and I are going to renew our search for his original film.
At the end of the war in 1945 and in the years since the 2nd Air Division raised funds to create a “living memorial”, what is now named the American Library 2nd Air Division Memorial, a place to not only remember those lost, but to also build upon the cultural and enduring ties between the peoples of America and the United Kingdom. The Library, in Norwich, England, has books, events, lectures and an extensive research archives, serving as an important resource for information about a family member who served, about the war and about American culture.
David became a lifetime governor of the Memorial Trust of the 2nd Air Division–the trust with the donations from 2nd Air Division veterans and British friends that created and sustain the American Library Memorial to the 2nd Air Division. This Library is a treasure that is unique to Norwich–no county, state, region or country has anything like it.
We encourage you to become involved, to find out more about how you can connect, research, volunteer or contribute to the American Library 2nd Air Division Memorial:
VHS recording
I recall David's involvement with the Memorial Library and his part in the visit of the B24 to Norwich Airport which I photographed . Great commentary more than compensates for the film quality.