I made this film, and I am sharing it online for free.
Well here it is.
Five years on from a late-night conversation with Ralph "Monguse" Gimenez, in which he uttered the now immortal words to me "have you ever heard of 'The Checkertail Clan'?" here is Part 2 of my self-made Documentary on the 325th Fighter Group "The Checkertail Clan"..
Part 1 which can be found here;
https://vimeo.com/38294301
tells the story of the Fighter Group's formative days from activation, to flying the P-40's and rotation into the P-47 Thunderbolt.
Part 2 continues their story, detailing the transfer to P-51 Mustang's and covers the missions flown, the personal stories that affected the men, the anecdotes they recall of their service with the 325th, and all of it told in their own words.
Narrated by Professional actor Gary Bullock this film records the history of those men who served with the Checkertail Clan in World War 2.
With never before seen interviews, original archive footage and images (again many never seen before), my journey across the United States has proved to be as rich and fruitful (while also sometimes frustrating) as I could have wished for and I present their story for anyone interested in WW2 history, to view completely for free.
You can either watch the online version at Vimeo or download a DVD image, which you can burn and watch on your DVD or Blu-Ray player at home.
To watch the online version at Vimeo, just click this link at the end of this introduction. If you look under the video on the Vimeo page I have also given the option to download the video file from Vimeo and watch on your own media playing device.
The DVD disk image is a Dual Layer disk and 7.54GB in size (once extracted from the files) which can be downloaded at the end of this introduction (I had to split it into Four Files to upload).
Download all four parts, double-click Part 1 and it will ask you where you want to extract it to. Choose a location and let it extract the file.
Once done, open your DVD burning software, choose "Burn Disk Image" (or similar phrase), select the newly extracted file called "CHECKERTAILS_PART_2" or "CHECKERTAILS_PART_2.iso and burn it to your blank Dual Layer DVD. You can then watch it on your home DVD player.
I have made the disk image Region Free so it can be viewed on any countries DVD player.
This disk has been made for free, I have done it all in my spare time. I have done it for fun but also so that veterans and families (as-well as all of you interested in WW2 History) will have a permanent record for future generations to hear the stories of these great men who served in WW2, in their own voices.
All I would ask is that you share the link, DVD, video files with as many people as you can as the whole purpose has been to tell their story and share their knowledge with others.
Please understand, every person who helped and is listed in the credits has done so for free, in their own time and all to honour these Veterans.
Gary Bullock, knew Gordon McDaniel (a 5-in-a-day Ace) and it was by chance that we hooked up and once he saw what I was doing, he readily jumped onboard with the project and offered to re-write my amateur script and make it what you hear presented in this feature.
The film runs for two-hours and thirty-six minutes and covers D-Day, Operation Dragoon, First flights, training, losses of friends, specific missions....the list is endless.
I hope you enjoy the feature, and if you do please leave feedback as I hope you can spare me a few moments to pass on your thoughts.
One final disclaimer I have to make.
I have tried my best to identify Luftwaffe Units taking part in the action during specific events in this feature. Please remember this is the history of the Checkertail Clan, and while I have tried my best to make the Luftwaffe units accurate, I haven't got an unlimited amount of time and so I have just done my best.
While much of this feature is related to the Checkertail Victories, it is not exclusive and does cover their losses too. I realise the Luftwaffe did score victories against the 325th, but that is a Luftwaffe story and if someone wants to make their own film, then I await to see that with relish.
For now I present Part 2 of my Documentary, thanks for taking the time to either download or watch it online.
I would like to thank the Virtual 352nd Fighter Group (especially 352nd_ Persecutor) for hosting the files for the DVD.
If anyone is able to download and create a Mirror for the files or a torrent I would be grateful and add them to this post so others can get the files quickly too.
Best wishes,
Neil "Mysticpuma" Pugh
Watch the film online at my Vimeo Channel here:
https://vimeo.com/54052096
Download the DVD image files here:
http://www.352ndfg.com/Downloads/Che...ease.part1.exe
http://www.352ndfg.com/Downloads/Che...ease.part2.rar
http://www.352ndfg.com/Downloads/Che...ease.part3.rar
http://www.352ndfg.com/Downloads/Che...ease.part4.rar