Smeatharpe

Smeatharpe
Devon
Smeatharpe
Location
Grid reference:	ST199108
Location:	50°53’29"N, 3°8’23"W
Data
Post town:	Honiton
Postcode:	EX14
Local Government
Council:	East Devon

Smeatharpe is a long, thin village in the east of Devon, scattered into pieces which sit below the southern scarp of the Blackdown Hills. The village is at the eastern edge of Upottery Airfield, a disused airfield built during the War, in 1944, as RAF Upottery and intensely used but then abandoned in peacetime. Remaining buildings from the airfield facilities are found around Smeatharpe, converted to farming, industrial or residential use.

On film

In 2001, Smeatharpe, and specifically Upottery Airfield, appeared in the first episode of the television mini-series Band of Brothers. This matches the real history: the series portrays 'E' Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, U.S. 101st Airborne Division, and it was from RAF Upottery that the real E Company boarded Douglas C-47 transports and made their first combat jump into Normandy on 6 June 1944.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Smeatharpe)