Masters of the Air

[Tim K]

The story of the 100 th bomb group in Europe during World War II. Originally a book, now a 9 part series on Apple TV. It?s in the same vein as Band of Brothers and The Pacific.

Highly recommended. I did the free 3 month trial of Apple TV just to see it.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2640044/

[beast556]

I'm contemplating doing the free trial to watch it. Looks like its worth a watch.

[Wolfshoon]

I was pleasantly surprised at how good this series was, do recommend watching it as it is historically based without a lot of “modern” influences to ruin it.

I knew the bomber air fleets suffered mightily, but the extent depicted in the series was truly horrific and eye opening. Kind of slowed down last couple of episodes but a satisfying watch till the end.

If you don’t have apple tv, they offer a three month free trial (got three months free with new ipad purchase). Greyhound(ww2 destroyer film) and saving private ryan are also on apple tv currently so my ww2 movie fix is set for a while.

[longrange2]

I enjoyed Band of Brothers and The Pacific more than Masters of the Air, but it is definitely worth the watch. Really brings home how badly the bomber squadrons suffered, especially early in the war when escort fighters didn’t have the range to stay with the bombers.

[BPTactical]

30K KIA in the air war over Europe.
That’s more than the Marine losses from the island hopping campaign.
My mother’s cousin was a waist gunner on a B-24.
He made 18 missions and his ship was hit by flak on #19 and went down. He spent the duration in a LuftStalag due to being an officer.
He was supposed to have been a pilot but there were no slots available when he got to the squadron.
They let him pick his spot in the bird so he snagged WG because he figured it gave the best odds on bailing out.
He wasn’t wrong-iirc he and 3 others made it out.

The air war over Europe always fascinated me- I love the planes.
Imagine being a 20 year old inside a non heated and non pressurized aircraft at 25,000 feet and 240 mph. The only thing separating you from the sky is a skin of aluminum .040” thick.
It’s 25 degrees below zero and you’re wearing a heavy electrically heated suit, on top of that is a flack jacket which is big steel plates.
You have a M2 Browning and your job is to shoot down enemy aircraft.
There’s only one problem, they are coming at you at 400mph and they are lobbing 23mm cannon shells at you.

Air warriors.
There is no other description for them.

God Bless Them

[BushMasterBoy]

A few years ago I was at a USAF base that had a Big "D" on the HQ building. That night I heard a huge bang-crash sound. The wind was howling with hurricane "Ciara". The sound was an old tree hitting a dumpster. Walking back from the Airmens club, I was nearly killed!


Per Ardua ad Astra

[flogger]

My Dad had 6 brothers, all seven served in WW-2, 6 were in the US Navy and the oldest joined the USAAF, he was the only one that couldn't swim. He ended up in the 453rd BG as a top turret gunner on a B-24, flying missions over the English Channel terrified him. I guess it was common for the gunners to test fire their guns on the way to the target, he said some of the top turret guys tried to hit the wire radio antenna so they had to turn around due to communication problems. Probably B.S. but, who knows.

[Hoser]

Approx 60-70% of bomber crews were killed, injured or became Prisoners of War.

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

The series is OK. Band of Brothers sets such a high standard. Something about the storytelling and the story itself. I think it also benefited from the people knowing so much of the back story that they didn’t need much ‘big picture’ referencing. Pacific had the issue that it was just a totally horrible situation that is hard to really engage on. The Masters series is OK.

[Delfuego]

The Masters series is OK.

I agree. I did hear there is a documentary companion that just came out it it is really good. It might be better to watch the doc, then the series.