Posted on 03/24/2024 5:51:48 AM PDT by Rummyfan
According to Apple, the premiere episode of Masters of the Air, the "sequel" to Band of Brothers and The Pacific, was the most-watched debut ever on their streaming platform. Which is proof that there's a robust audience for these technically cutting-edge but dramatically old-fashioned World War Two dramas, produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin and Tom Hanks' Playtone.
It's hard not to see the appeal in a world full of moral equivalence and antiheroes so compromised they'd be called villains in a different era. None of these shows deny that war is hell; they go out of their way (with the assistance of top dollar digital and practical effects) to immerse us in the horror and violence but remain steadfast that this awful war was worth the cost, given the brutality of our enemies.
In the lead-up to Masters of the Air, there were reasonable concerns that the "evolution" of Hollywood in the fourteen years since HBO aired The Pacific would inject a good deal of retrospective handwringing into the story of the Eighth Air Force and its bombing campaign over Europe, but the new show was remarkably free of it – defiant, even, that despite the terrible toll in civilian casualties, it was justified by defeating Nazi Germany.
(Excerpt) Read more at steynonline.com ...
I remember seeing a trailer/promo for it, but I missed it.
Unfortunately liberal commies infiltrate everything. That said it’s been an exciting diversion in an otherwise boring entertainment environment.
Unreal story and experience you had.
Critics gotta critic. Just because the G was out, wouldn’t the older models still be flying?
And also.....
Yep...it was very costly to the USAAC. We hear a lot about the Marine Corps, Iwo and all those islands and the KIAs but over Europe in mid WWII airmen losses were a LOT higher. Hundreds of 17s every day over Europe with 10 men each in them can rack up a lot of casualties.
I have watched 12 O’clock High a dozen times over the past 40 years. Greatest beginning (Dean Jagger) of any movie... ever. No matter how many times I watch it I still want to see Frank Savage climb into that B-17. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_O%27Clock_High gives a great review on how much of the 12 O’clock High movie is tied to real history and personalities.
The Youtube channel “WWII US Bombers” is doing a series comparing the series to what really occurred. It’s a great channel with exceptional detail.
I wouldn’t advise it. All my life I had an interest in WW2 and the air war in particular.
I even knew a couple of men who flew in B 17’s. I read of what happened to men who were trapped in an out of control bomber and couldn’t get out.
This series shows the true horror of it.
Yeah but the B 24 was was a death trap. One hit in the wing the thing went down.
Winston Churchill had a refitted Liberator as his personal transport A/C for long flights....
That was just the casualties incurred by the 8th Air Force. Adding up all the other Air Forces would boggle the mind.
The 8th Air force alone incurred more casualties in WWII than the entirety of the US Marine Corps during the same time frame.
It was useful for transport but the men that I knew who flew in B 17’s said they owed the fact they survived was because the B 17 could take more punishment than the B 24 and still keep flying.
I’m not arguing who is best, etc. I just mentioned facts. We used what was available and could be produced en masse. There were a lot of oddball planes in the 9th AF WWII theatres not commonly historically mentioned. The UK/Germany theatre got the best and newest, IMO.
“”””The 8th Air force alone incurred more casualties in WWII than the entirety of the US Marine Corps during the same time frame.””””
Something people don’t know is that the U.S. Army lost almost the same number of men in the Pacific as the Navy and Marine Corps lost in the entire war combined.
If a pilot didn't keep a tight grip on the controls the plane had a nasty habit of spiraling out of control.
They had a night flying radar assisted version of the B-26 I think called the Black Widow or something like that. It was a pretty deadly killer.
For my research paper for Air War College, back in the early 90s, I did a study on the 8th Air Force campaign against the Nazis. As an Army Cannon Cocker, I found it interesting.
One factoid that I included was that then weight of bombers and crews shot down over Europe exceeded the weight of bombs dropped. The reviewer “thanked” me for including it in my paper.
I did get a passing grade, however.
Bottom Line: It was costly, but it worked. As George C. Marshall once said, “Amateurs study tactics…Professionals study logistics.”
I believe you’re thinking of the P61 “Black Widow’’.
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