A Village of Many Faces

The World War II guises of Hatfield Aerodrome

Filmmakers have created many spectacular, fabulous sets beyond count since the dawn of the art form in the late 19th century. Historical films, such as World War II movies, face a special challenge in this regard: their sets need to look authentic, but actual places from the period in question might be unavailable: destroyed, changed too much, not open to film crews, or simply not suitable for filming. Sets made for historical movies are ideally created with not just artistry but also an expert eye to historical accuracy and detail. Today’s article is about one particular film set, the Hatfield Aerodrome, that all World War II buffs have seen, and which made more appearances than you might realize in films such as Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers.

Hatfield Aerodrome

The set in question was built in Hertfordshire in the East of England on the site of the former Hatfield Aerodrome. In a serendipitous link to World War II, the aerodrome was originally established by British aircraft designer Geoffrey de Havilland. De Havilland’s company designed the famous wooden-hulled Mosquito multirole combat aircraft (De Havilland Mosquito), the development of which took place in a facility just a few miles from Hatfield. Hatfield Aerodrome commenced operations in 1930 and participated in aircraft, engine, rocket and missile development until its closure in 1994. 

The aerodrome sat empty for a short while but was chosen as a major filming location for Steven Spielberg’s war movie Saving Private Ryan, which gave the site a new lease on life. Production designer Thomas E. Sanders scouted several French towns and rivers for set locations, but all options were eventually discarded over concerns that the filming might pollute local waters. In the end, Hatfield Aerodrome was chosen as a safe site to build fake French ruined villages. (This decision seems to have echoed the choice to shoot the famous Normandy landing scene in Ireland, rather than on site.)

The backlot erected at the aerodrome was three city blocks long and included complete buildings, facades, and a 900 ft (270 m) long artificial river. Real explosives were used to create bomb craters and battle damage. The “Alamo bridge,” which had to support a real tank, was actually a modular steel construction disguised as an old stone structure with bricks, timber and hessian fabric. 

The set in Saving Private Ryan

The set played not one but two roles in the film. The smaller part on one side of the river was used as Neuville-au-Plain – actually a real place in France, just down the road from Sainte-Mère-Église, the town where 82nd Airborne Division (The All American Division) paratrooper John Steele famously got caught on the church roof on the night before D-Day. (Paratroopers on the Church Roof) In Saving Private Ryan, Neuville is the location where Private Caparzo is killed by a German sniper while trying to rescue a little girl, and where they later encounter the wrong Private James Ryan. 

The larger part of the set, across from “Neuville,” was Ramelle, the site of the film’s final battle. Unlike Neuville, Ramelle was a fictional town, albeit taking inspiration from five real French locations where combat took place during the liberation of Normandy. (The Merderet River which Ramelle straddles is also real, and the location of the battle fought for the La Fière causeway ("It took airborne soldiers to do this").

The “Alamo” area, located on the far side of the bridge, was on the Neuville side, only filmed from a different angle. The hangars of the old aerodrome were used to store the tanks and other vehicles used in the film, including the planes that show up at the end of the Ramelle battle. Many of our readers will know for sure that the Tiger I tank (Tiger I) featured in the film was a modified Soviet T-34, while the half-tracked Kettenkrad (Kettenkrad) was an original vehicle from World War II.

The shoot brough excitement to the village of Hatfield, and the population was enthusiastic about the project even though gunfire and aircraft engines could be heard every night. A group of youths once found an unguarded footpath leading to the set and clambered up on the vehicles that were left standing on a field. One of them accidentally started up a tank while playing with the controls (thinking it was inoperative), with the engine sound quickly summoning shouting guards and dogs, prompting the curious locals to retreat at a sprint. 

The set in Band of Brothers

“Neuville” and “Ramelle” did not retire once production of Saving Private Ryan wrapped up. Stephen Spielberg and Tom Hanks returned to the set a few years later as the executive producers of Band of Brothers, the seminal HBO miniseries based on the book by Stephen E. Ambrose about the famous Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Regiment 101st Airborne Division. (The Screaming Eagles) The set was modified, expanded and reused for many episodes of the show during the production which lasted from spring 2000 to early 2001. 

In its new incarnation, the set covered 12 acres and stood in for 12 different locations all over Europe, including Carentan in Normandy, Haguenau in Eastern France, Bastogne in Belgium, and Eindhoven in the Netherlands. The same buildings were given different dressings and shot from different angles to create the convincing illusion of being different locations where Dick Winters led his men to battle (13 things you didn't know about Dick Winters)

Hatfield provided more than just the multi-purpose town set. The village itself served as the production’s headquarters, and the two aerodrome hangars were used to store props, costumes, weapons and tanks, a C-47 transport plane (The C-47) … and even entire sets. The winter forest surrounding Bastogne was painstakingly constructed inside the other hangar using a combination of real and fiberglass trees (the latter could be broken apart to simulate the effect of German artillery shells) and trees painted on the walls. (The real trees came from a nearby forest  where a large area had to be cleared for the concentration camp set.) It’s estimated that more than 300,000 pounds (136,000 kg) of paper mixed with polymers was used as fake snow, and it took four weeks to cover the set in it. 

Of course, recreations of multiple real towns on a single set could not be 100% accurate, and various compromises had to be made. One such compromise can be spotted at the Désiré Ingouf café in Carentan. The Désiré Ingouf is a real and iconic location, and the show went to great length to make it look right, but there are some differences between what you see on the screen and in a historical photo.

The general shape of the building and the signs on the wall were copied accurately, along with the signpost in front of the wall. The layout of the upstairs windows, however, is somewhat different, as are the adjacent buildings. Additionally, an explosion later blows out the top left window in the series, while the historical photo, taken some time after the battle, shows no such damage. 

Another interesting spot is an arcade of gothic arches that appears multiple times in the Carentan scenes. Its location and exact appearance might not be completely historically accurate, but it’s been suggested it might have been inspired by a similar real arcade in Carentan. We can’t help noticing, however, that a very similar set of arches also appears in Ramelle in Saving Private Ryan, suggesting it was already a part of the set before the expansion for Band of Brothers began. Join us on our Band of Brothers Tours to visit the actual sites which inspired the iconic Saving Private Ryan movie and the Band of Brothers miniseries.