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Dig WWII Book

Sunday, October 16th, 2011

A tie-in book for Dig WWII is in the works and due to be published next March.

From here:

Anova Books imprint Conway has acquired the official tie-in to forthcoming BBC series “Dig WWII” fronted by historian Dan Snow.

Publisher John Lee acquired world rights through agent Luigi Bonomi on behalf of documentary makers 360 Production.

The book and series will focus on the new discipline of military archaology, investigating little-known stories from the Second World War through excavations and dives. The historians uncover the remains of a crashed Spitfire in a Somerset graveyard, dive to a sunken U-boat and British Armed Merchant Ship in the North Sea, and explore German D-Day tunnels and bunkers off Juno Beach.

Lee said: “We are very excited to be teaming up with experienced history documentary makers 360 Production, who previously filmed ‘Dig 1940’ for BBC1. That series was popularly received, achieving ratings of nearly 5 million viewers for the opening episode. I’m also delighted to be working on another project involving Dan Snow, who is the perfect presenter for such an innovative hands-on approach to military history.”

Military and naval historian Jean Hood will write the book, which will be published in March next year priced £20. The series is lined up for spring 2012.

Luton Today article on Dig WW2

Friday, September 16th, 2011

The article can be found here.

GALLANT French postman Laurent Viton – who last year masterminded a Normandy memorial to a Lancaster bomber crew which included Flight Sergeant Derek Flitton of Luton – has been helping with a new BBC series to be presented by Dan Snow.

DIG WW2 is a three-part series to be screened next year.

Laurent, who has made it his life’s mission to list all the Allied planes downed in his area, was approached by the show’s researchers.

He said: “They were looking for an interesting WW2 aviation dig.

“I directed them to two crash sites and with their powerful detectors they were able to pinpoint both in a few minutes.” They chose the site where Canadian pilot Harold ‘Fred’ Heninger had gone down.

Dig WWII-related round-up

Saturday, July 2nd, 2011

From express.co.uk:

This week a team of archaeologists began to recover his wrecked plane for a series to be shown on the BBC next year. But presenter Dan Snow acknowledges that the truly unique element of the story is the camp in County Kildare to which Wolfe was taken by the Irish authorities. “It was not just the British and their allies who got lost above and around Ireland,” he says. “German sailors from destroyed U-boats and Luftwaffe aircrew also found themselves interned. The juxtaposition of the two sides made for surreal drama.” The Curragh, a wide plain west of Dublin, had been used as a military muster area and training ground for centuries.

From dailyrecord.co.uk:

Neutral Historian Dan Snow said: “It’s incredible because it’s just so wet here that the ground just sucked it up and the plane burrowed into it and it’s been preserved.”

From drogheda-independent.ie:

Historian Dan Snow said: “The plane itself is obviously kind of wreckage and the big pieces survived. We’re expecting to find things like the engine and there still may be personal effects in the cockpit.

“It’s just incredible because it’s just so wet here that the ground just sucked it up and the plane was able to burrow into it and it’s been preserved.

“It’s in amazing condition,” he told RTE radio.

[…]
Mr Snow said Mr Wolf was forced to abandon his Spitfire over the Republic when its engine overheated about 13 miles from his base at RAF Eglinton, now Derry International Airport, in Northern Ireland.

Other articles:

Spitfire diaries: The strange life in Dublin’s PoW camp

Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

From here:

This week I will accompany them with a BBC television crew and record what we hope will be substantial pieces of wreckage emerging from the bog. The bog defeated the attempt in 1941 to gather up the wreckage, so there should be plenty of Spitfire down there, but it may well defeat us.

The Eagle Squadrons allowed Americans to fight before the US entered the war The digger has to sit on bog mats, big railway sleepers, to spread its 20-ton weight. But even they may not be enough to stop it sinking in. There is also a danger that the hole will simply fill with water or the sides cave in.

It is one of the most difficult excavations that an experienced team have ever faced. Whatever happens, I will be updating Twitter minute-by-minute as the excavation takes place.

Hopefully we will find the physical evidence that will shine a light on the events of that November night 70 years ago and also provide us with a connection to one of the most bizarre moments of the war

Dan Snow is following today’s attempt to recover Bud Wolfe’s Spitfire in Co Donegal and will be posting updates via the Twitter account @DigWW2.