A host of Hollywood stars, including Clooney, Matt Damon, John Goodman, Bill Murray and Hugh Bonneville have landed in southern English locations while filming World War II movie The Monuments Men in Rye, Sussex, and Duxford's Imperial War Museum in Cambridgeshire.

Adapted from the 2010 true story novel, Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves And The Greatest Treasure Hunt In History, by Robert M. Edsel, the film will be centred upon a group of historians and art curators - members of the 'Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives' program - a taskforce who work together to recover priceless artwork stolen by Nazis and other important cultural items, before they are destroyed by Hitler or bombed in the six-year-long conflict.

The film, which is produced and directed by Clooney, will also co-star Cate Blanchett and The Artist's Jean Dujardin, and will use the former airfield in Duxford for plane scenes and American war-base footage, and the coastal Rye location for shotting of a nautical nature.

The stars' arrival was greeted with excitement by the many families enjoying a half-term day out to IWM Duxford which is still open despite being used as a major movie set.

The numerous A-list stars have been spotted out-and-about in the local area, causing a stir shopping on the streets of Cambridge and being papped at a council gym, where Damon, 42, and Clooney, 52, went to lift weights and play basketball together. The pair have also been sighted at the Pontins resort in Camber Sands - slightly less glamorous surroundings than the 5-star accomodation the filmstars might be used to - where 85 chalet-style apartments have been reportedly booked for the entire crew, according to The Daily Mail.

In Rye, residents were, according to the Rye and Battle Observer, "confronted by the strange sights of a crashed German Messerschmitt on Camber Sands and an empty antiques shop at Rye's Strand being converted into what appears to be a German butcher's shop."

The new photos show the actors in full army costume, carrying guns whilst on a set which appears to include a large boat, seen mounted upon a large mechanical device as at-sea scenes presumably are filmed.

With filming wrapping up in the UK at the end of June, the movie is set for release in cinemas from December 18th this year.

George Clooney
George Clooney [Above] Grins Whilst In Full Army Gear On The Set Of The Monuments Men.

The Monuments Men
Another Day At Work: The Stars Get To Work Filming A Ship Scene [Above].

John Goodman
On The Set Of The Monuments Men, John Goodman [Above] Takes A Stroll In Full Army Costume.

Hugh Bonneville#
Downton Abbey's Hugh Bonneville [Above] Makes A Call In Costume Whilst On A Break From Filming.

Bill Murray
Bill Murray [Above] Snapped On Set Of Upcoming Movie: The Monuments Men.

Winchelsea Pub
The New Inn in Winchelsea [Above] Is Used As A Film Set In The Monuments Men.

Clooney, Goodman and Murray
Bill Murray [L], John Goodman [Centre] And George Clooney [R] In Costume On Set Of The Monuments Men.