Updates 2024/2025
New Short Film by STAMP Productions: Historical advice by Mark Hillier, Film due out December 2024.
The film is based around the story of James Joseph Hyde, a Volunteer for the RAF from Trinidad, son of Joseph and Millicent Hyde, of San Juan, Trinidad. He had arrived for training as pilot in 1942. Sadly, after promotion to Warrant Officer he was to be killed in action on the 25 September 1944 whilst flying Spitfire IXE, PL316. Hyde flew the Silver Spitfire (MJ271) on 27 April , taking her on a fighter umbrella sortie to Marauders attacking gun emplacements in the Hardelot-Furnes areas of France. All the aircraft made it back safely with no fighters seen and little flak reported. The afternoon saw Hyde again take MJ on a similar sortie, this time to attack marshalling yards around Arras. The squadron records show that maybe the bombing was not that accurate as one comment states ‘Many Frenchmen are now Homeless!’ The Spitfires and Bombers did encounter some flak on the last sortie of the day, but no damage was reported.
Updates from STAMP :- Excited to share the official poster for our WWII short film based on the true story of Warrant Officer James Hyde, a Trinidadian RAF pilot who sacrificed everything for freedom.
Starring @davidjonsson__ David Jonsson (Alien: Romulus, Industry) and directed by myself, this film captures the intensity of aerial combat and the emotional journey of love and heroism.
Huge thanks to @spitfiresdotcom, @cookeoptics, @molinarepost Creative Group, Tamana Bleasdale, Benjamin Hollway, and all the incredible cast and crew involved in bringing this special story to film in breathtaking 8K.
Stay tuned for more updates as we head toward our 2025 theatrical and festival release! A @stampproductions film by @benjamin_uttley
Poster art by @r4thbone
#WWIIFilm #TrueStory #ShortFilm #JamesHydeFilm #FilmAnnouncement
Iron Cross Magazine article on the Shooting Down of the Red Baron
I acquired the Great War Royal Flying Corps logbook of Captain William Drummond Matheson MC in 2022 and although a fantastic piece of history in its own right, my attention was drawn to a brief five-line entry on 24 January 1917. It immediately raised the question as to whether Matheson was in fact the first Allied pilot to force down the famous Red Baron.
Born on 7 August 1890, William Drummond Matheson hailed from New Glasgow, a regional municipality of Durham in Ontario, Nova Scotia, Canada. The son of William G. Matheson, an engineer and boilermaker, the younger William had been expected to follow in his father’s footsteps, with his education directed towards this end.
It was sometime after the outbreak of war that Matheson answered the call to serve King and Country. Aged 25, he volunteered for the Royal Flying Corps in 1915. As an Air Mechanic, he was posted to the Wright Flying School in Augusta, Georgia, to train as a pilot on a Wright biplane. It was there that he officially gained his pilot’s licence on 6 March 1916.1
After arriving in the UK in July 1916, Matheson continued his training at RFC Sedgeford, by now at the controls of the Maurice Farman Shorthorn. He was posted to 25 Squadron, then based in France, on 6 September 1916. His first flight over the Western Front, in one of the squadron’s Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2bs, took place five days later.
Flying from Lozingham, Matheson’s first combat sortie took place on 11 September 1916. With the Battle of the Somme raging below them, this was a busy time for 25 Squadron, with bombing sorties on German troop positions, rail yards and airfields, or photographic reconnaissance missions all forming the daily routine.
The following entry within his log lead to me writing an article for Iron Cross Magazine on this particular combat which was intriguing!!! Was he in fact the first pilot to claim combat and a "driven down" claim over the Red Baron, or Red Devil as he was then known?
Re-release of Joe Roddis book with Air World
During lock down, I spent much of my time going back through Joes diary and interviews that we had carried out over our many meetings and trips before his death in 2017. I always wanted to re-write and add to the text of the first book 'In Support of the Few' which we did as a self published book as well as add many more of Joes photos of his amazing career. So I'm pleased to announce that Air World are to re-release this re-mastered edition this year. This is now out on sale on Amazon, Waterstones or Pen and Sword website.
The Longest Flight:- Now out on sale!!!
I am pleased to have worked with Matt Jones and the Longest Flight team on the production of a coffee table book on the amazing achievement of the team in 2019. The book is now completed and now on sale at Spitfires.com shop . It has some fantastic images taken by Ben Utley on the trip, showing off the beauty of The Supermarine Spitfire and in particular G-IRTY, the star of the show.
© Copyright Mark Hillier