Masters of the Air Episode 1 'Part One' Premiere REACTION!! 

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The rear gunner whose hands stuck to the guns was actually because of the cold, not the heat. The metal temperature was way below freezing at that altitude and his skin froze to it pretty much instantly. Like getting your tongue stuck to a popsicle multiplied by 1000

My Grandfather was a B-17 pilot. He flew from 43 to 45 ending his tour after the Burlin airlift. On his first mission they had just opened their bomb bay doors and a flack shell passed clean through there plain. They were unable to drop their bombs or close their bomb bay and two of the crew had to go to the bomb bay and manually force the bombs out of the bomber over the English Channel before they could attempt to land. In all from 43 to 45 he lost eight crew and was himself shot one time, but they left England in the same plane he arrived in. He tried to keep track of the damage done to his plain but lost track of the number of bullet and cannon holes after passing 2 thousand. Four engines shot up, one entire wing replacement and the entire nose of the plain had to be rebuilt twice, one time after an enemy plain clipped it with a wing passing to close trying to escape a P 51 that was right on his tail. In one letter he wrote to my Grandmother after coming home and just before leaving the service he told her only one time did he believe he was not going to make it and that was on Black Thursday October 14, 1943, when only him and one other of his flight of twenty plus came home. He had one engine and half of one wing was just gone the other plain was so badly shot up it was scrapped for parts. Of the 291 B-17s in the attack force, 60 were lost, 17 were heavily damaged and most of the others incurred some damage, but were repairable. To his dying day though, he praised the B 17 as the best plain ever build by Boing.

I don't think it's mentioned, but the bombers are un pressurized, that's why they need O2 masks and its literally like -40 degrees. If you take your gloves off, you freeze almost instantly, the guy in ball turret with shot open windows and holes in his suit got frost bite.

I love how young they made everyone. Because that's the truth of the war

The death rate was impacted by malfunctions and deep freeze temps just as much as being shot down. Insane.

If Episode 3 covers the AUG17, '43 mission to Regensberg, expect a lot of gore and blood and death. The 100th earned their descriptor of the Bloody 100th on that mission. My father was on that mission, on the Piccadilly Lily of the 351SQ. He kept a diary and the entry for AUG17 is gut wrenching as he describes the amount of death in the skies. When he lists all the buddies that did not make it to N. Africa after the mission , it sends chills up your spine. His diary entry says " Its makes a fellow lonesome to see all those empty beds"....

Yes, the whole over the top hair and "coolness" of Gale "Buck" Cleven and John "Bucky" Egan is what the real guys were described as. In their squadron's/group's words, like "Hollywood Actors" that everyone else wanted to be like. Buck is the cool, even keel kinda guy, straight as an arrow. Bucky is the wild one. But both are troublemakers, big time. Buckle up, it's all I can say....

Another great reaction. FYI the actor Jimmy Stewart flew bomber missions during WW II. "It's a Wonderful Life" was the first movie he made after the war.

My wife's great uncle was a 19 year old navigator on a B-17. He died on his first combat mission to hit the U-boat pens at Bremen, Germany, 12/16/43. RIP 2LT Jerome "Jerry" Hanson

Was taught to fly by a WWII pilot that flew a B-17. He has since past away but I was told he flew around 40 missions. Never talked about it, understandably, but was the best pilot I’ve ever met. I always loved to go up when he was flying. Even in his eighties he had so much control over the plane. Just effortless. Amazing men.

My great great uncle served with the 390th Bomb Group, the 568th Squadron. He was a tail gunner. KIA over the channel back home in '43. His aircraft's crash was witnessed by a US Navy destroyer. They tried looking for survivors but they all died either from flak, fighters, the crash or drowning as the B-17 went under. His brother, my great grandfather served in the 28th Division, 112th Infantry. Marched into Paris, fought in Hurtgen and was wounded near Wiltz during the Battle of the Bulge. MG-42 round hit his shoulder. One of the few survivors of his original company. He went on to marry his French nurse and thats why I'm here. Weird to think they both served and got hit. One came back, one didn't. It's the way of war.

My Dad was a Marine on Iwo Jima. His brother was a side gunner on a Fortress daylight bombing in Europe. They agreed the death rate was similar, but the airman who survived to the end of the day slept in a clean bed.

My grandpa was a bombardier in WW2… so much respect for these heroes ❤️🇺🇸

can't remember if you guys reacted to Memphis Belle at all, but you should as you enjoyed this, as it is to Masters of The Air what Saving Private Ryan is to Band of Brothers. Also, i would recommend a couple of older movies, Dam Busters and Battle of Britain, for the RAF experience of the early war.

One of the things that I've learned from watching just the first two episodes of the series myself is that they HAD to fly in tight groups and stay TOGETHER which was the best DEFENSE against the German fighters!!! So when the one plane lost its one engine and was slowing down the rest of his group also slowed down!! THEN when they turn back the rest of the group tried to catch UP but BEFORE they had a chance the German fighters swooped in and just as a Lion can spot WEAK prey, the German fighters cut right through the isolated group!!! ALSO we must TRY to REMEMBER that ANY if these guys that REALLY went through this were still alive they would be WELL OVER a 100 years old. So unlike Band of Brothers where quite a few of the veterans were still ALIVE, this show I believe was taken mostly from memoirs and books of the main characters!!! Don't forget if you were just 20 years old in 1944 then you would be 100 years old today!!!

Donald Miller's book is absolutely worth a read. He emphasizes the cummulative efect oon the crews of flying these missions. The statistical reality was a 77 percent casualty rate. The aircraft was designed for maximum efficiency without regard for crew safety or comfort. They flew unpressurized aircraft at altitudes that could kill humans in the blink of an eye. If you had any kind of malfunction with your oxygen flow you would pass out within 30 seconds and die within two minutes. The temperatures at 30,000 feet dropped to minus 40 degrees and sometimes as low as minus 60 degrees. The fuselage was thin enough that you could punch a screw driver through it. Basically corrugated alluminum. A bullet would go through the whole plane and any flesh within its confines without slowing down. These guys were an average of 22 years old. Fresh out of high school wih only minimal training andno preparedness for what they would face. None of them had training as medics. If your buddy got hit, the best you could do was lie him down, give him a shot of morphine, cover him up with a blanket and hope he survived long enough to get home.

My great grandfather was a ball turret gunner in a Flying Fortress and flew 35 missions from September 1944 through February 1945.

Seriously. Servicemen who have the courage to climb into a metal box and send themselves miles high in the sky will have my undying respect.

Three of my Uncles on my Mother's side fought in WWII. One landed on D-day and was blown out of his landing craft before he hit the beach. The other got lucky and was a meteorologist in Ireland. The other was a bomb loader in the 100th. Uncle Jim saw more blood and gore in 3 years than I care to think about....and refused to talk about it once. Only learned what he went through reading his diary.

The 100th’s high casualty rate mirrored that of its parent division, the Eighth Air Force, which suffered 26000 fatalities more than the entire Marine Corps over the course of World War II. The survival rate was 30%. 30% of the crews made it to 25 missions. The Average aircrew flew 11 missions before being shot down.

Already a peak show unsurprisingly, i do hope they do a sjow covering events of the African front theres very few movies and they could do it from the aussie or british perspectives.

So glad you guys are doing this series loved your band of brothers and the pacific reviews. Really looking forward to this.

those arent fighter jets, they said their best defence is sticking together giving them the best fields of fire for defence

06:39 How they 'made it back' is partly because the B-17 they were flying was built by Boeing, and why it was called the "Flying Fortress". Thousands of USAAF Aircrews returned from their Missions in part because of the robustness of the B-17, that it took such punishment but still managed to make it back to base, time after time. Another very good film to watch is " Target for Today", an October 1943 8th Air Force documentary detailing an actual Mission from start to finish, flying to East Prussia with a force of 300+ heavy and medium bombers. It'll give you great insights.

You've got to remember this is a new show so unlike when Band of Brothers was filmed most of the veterans are already passed away unfortunately. I miss the interviews too 💔

I really appreciate Steven's thought at the beginning of this about not picking up history in school. Being a visual learner or a physical learner is such a struggle when you're expected to learn from a text book or through lecture. It's why we depend so hard on directors and writers to be accurate and truthful. We can memorize what we watch

I havent watched the first episode yet, so. Iwill come back and watch you rection when I do so. But I am so damn glad you are doing this series. I loved your reactions to Band of Brothers and Pacific. Thank you!

I just watched the first two episodes of this show. So glad you two are watching it! This series is the whole reason I got Apple TV.

I am enjoying this show even with just two episodes. It's very surreal and emotional for me because my pop-pop was a pilot during World War II.

I've actually landed there. The name of the village there is Narsarsuaq. The scary part is if you have to go-around because its mountains beyond the runway.

My absolute favorite thing about this series-& I think it’s the first time in any WW2 production- is that not just one private is a young kid but virtually everyone from air crew to the Red Cross to the ground crew this is the first time it is shown that this war was fought and won by basically courageous kids from all over

I was hoping you two would do this, I was searching for it earlier, love watching your reactions

My great grandfather was an engineer at Boeing and helped design the B17 and B29. He used to say it was one of the proudest times of his career in aviation, besides selling Boeing on the idea on the swept back wing for the 707.

I have grown up watching WWII movies. Especially ones involving the air war. Battle and Britain and Memphis Belle and Band of Brothers are three movies/shows I have watched more than maybe any other movie. I am never phased by war movie violence or gore, but the combat scene in this gave me a sickening shudder I cannot describe. So well done.

The worst part about the early bombing runs was that the US didn't have a good escort fighter that could go all the way with the bombers. The P-47 Thunderbolt and early P-51 Mustang couldn't make it further than France before needing to turn around. Twin-engine fighters like the P-38 Lightning or RAF Mosquito were used for some bomber escorts, but they weren't as agile as the German fighters. Once the P-51D Mustang with its Rolls-Royce Merlin engine came on to the scene, did the Air Force have a fighter that could follow the bombers to the target and back.

I was hoping you would watch this! ❤ Just finished your BoB reactions a few days ago.

In case you didn’t know these daylight bombing missions basically had somewhere between a 85% and 90% chance of being shot down out injured or death.

If you ever watch "Saltburn" you will never forget that guy............

I knew immediately when the navigator said approaching "BLUI" that he was talking about Greenland. that was the code name for the airbase in Greenland.

My great grandpa was in the ball turret over Germany a number of times. Glad he came home. I couldn't imagine being in his shoes, floating above the clouds with nothing between you and that flak besides some panes of glass.

Not trying to be picky Steven. They are not Jets, not until 1944. However the B17's are quite slow especially these early models, 285 mph. The German fighter aircraft in this episode were BF109's. top speed was 426 mph. Imagine standing by the road and a car comes past doing 146 mph, to B17 gunners that's what they experienced. Enjoy your content immensely. Keep it up, a for safety use aircraft and you'll never be wrong.

First mission for the crews, learning how the fighters attack them and how to apply their gunnery training to hit a moving target. Same with riding out flak and the decision to drop bombs or hit an alternate target or abort.

They left out the part where the experienced guys (even early on) would go into the hut with the new arrivals and say things like "hey, what size jacket are you?" indicating that they wouldn't last long. It was part of the initiation.

I had a chance to climb in & around a restored B-17 in a Palm Springs museum. I pushed on the outside skin of the fuselage and I would say it was about as thin as a Coke can. A .50 bullet would pass through that skin like a hot knife through butter. The plane was bristling with guns but really the men inside had very little protection. Our next door neighbor was a B-17 pilot in WWII. He was shot down over Germany and walked back to Allied lines. After the war he was a guard at Folsom Prison. He was one tough SOB.

It's how interesting how air combat evolved from WWII to Desert Storm&Yugoslavia. Where you have bombers that acts as its own escort, to fighters got developed enough to escort long range bomber, to fighters be able to perform precision bombing missions and even suppress enemy air defenses.

“Our American planes of the 8th Air Force bombed and fought opposition in the air. They fought they way into Germany, they fought they way out” - The Air War in HD. You guys should watch this documentary to see how brutal the air war really was, they lost more Airman than the marines did in the entire Pacific campaign. It went from strategic missions to basically a war of attrition in the air, who can sustain the most lost in the air and continue the war. I salute those airmen you had to have a different set of balls to go up in them flying coffins.

i saw a documentry once about the pilots that been dropping soldiers in normandy like in band of brothers ad the beginning, those pilots that made it back loaded up more man to do another drop. some crews did 3 runs.

The 100th is known as the “bloody” 100th within the 8th Airforce (think like easy company to the entire 101st). The 8th Air Force lost more men in the entire war than the entire Marine Corps did during world war 2… when they fought from Guadalcanal all the way to Okinawa.

Hey guys, first just wanna say you guys are easily my favorite react channel. Second, I was wondering if you had any plans on reacting to Love on the Spectrum? It’s an incredibly heart warming and eye opening show. I genuinely think you guys would love it.

To be fair. The planes the bomber formations where piston driven prop planes. Not jets. The first jets didn't enter service until 1945. Those were the ME-262, in use by Germany. Yet, they entered the war far too late to make difference. The filmakers merely sped up the speed of the planes to up the danger factor, and excitement factor of the audience. In reality, the closing speeds between the two aircraft. The B-17 heavy bomber, the "Flying Fortress" and the ME-109 would have been about 400-600 knots. Which is still fast, but not nearly as fast as what's depicted. That being said. Being a gunner in one of the B-17s unable to move, or take cover when you have nimble fighters swooping in, and out of your formations taking shots at you. Is seriously terrifying. Also, when you consider that the pilots of the B-17s could not take ANY evasive maneuvers. Because they had to stay on course to target. And even if you could, the bombers were not nimble. And any bomber that fell out of formation and the mutual defense of supporting aircraft, would have been shot to pieces. I hope this helps.

Haven't yet seen and the awesome intro talk really gets me to just wanna ride along but I gotta must see first in its entirety!🎬🎉🎯

Great job guys and thanks for reviewing the series ~ A must-see is TWELVE O'CLOCK HIGH which is a WWII classic and most major corporations use the movie as a lesson on leadership .. .. WATCH IT!!

My dad was a senior navigational instructor during WWII, my uncle Tom was a B24 pilot in the Pacific. It nice to see a classy production telling the stories of the USAAF (the most dangerous service in the War)

Grandfather was a ball turret gunner in the 95th. He said they could plug in their suits to stay warm, and since he was by himself for 8 to 10 hours he got some good sleep in that turret…before the flak started hitting.

I had a family member who was a B-17 Bombardier over Europe during WW2 just like these men. 8th Air Force, 92nd Bombardment Group of the Army Air Force. Credited with 32 bombing missions over enemy-occupied Germany and France. He flew June 6, 1944, D-Day, with a bombing mission over Normandy, France. He was honored with the Distinguished Flying Cross for one of the most dangerous targets of an oil refinery in Germany. A newspaper asked how him years later, how it felt to bomb your home town in northern Germany ? He said, “well it actually didn’t bother me much, until the Nazi’s started shooting.” He passed away at the age of 99 a couple years back.

I love they still have the SOA gear displayed. Must have really liked it 😊

My uncle flew B-17 flying Fortress. He has a storys. There protection came in the form of the defensive box that the formation would stay in each plane in the formation, helped the plane next to it for fighting a defensive formation, support watch everything. They mentioned that you earlier in the show before you take it off. I

I’ve always wondered how they used the bathroom while they were up there for so many hours

A total of 350,000 airmen served with the Eighth Air Force in England, and to this number, 26,000 were killed, or 7.42 percent. Compared to the percentages of other military branches - U.S. Marines 3.29%, U.S. Army 2.25%, and U.S. Navy 0.41%. - the Air Corps sustained the heaviest losses. More airman with the Eighth Air Force lost their lives than the entire Marine Corps, whose enrollment included 250,000 more people. Strictly measuring the mortality rate for the 210,000 air crewmen the casualty figure soars to 12.38% and in addition, 21,000 from the Eighth Air Force wound up in prisoner of war camps, some of which were never recovered. Of those who flew the original twenty-five mission bomber tour in 1942-1943, just 35% survived to see the end of the war.

When I was stationed in Korea, word got around about a Fighter or Trainer, I think trainer was landing with one gear missing. By the time he burned off fuel a good portion of the base was watching. He landed at a VERY low speed. He was creeping along on two landing gear until he was almost stopped. Then he tipped over in the grass. Supposedly that plane was back on flying status within a week.

My uncle was a pilot that flew these missions over Germany in this war. He is still alive today at 97!

We will always support this channel. They're always one of the best.

My great grandfather Russell Lockhart served as a lead bomber B-17 pilot in the Mighty 8th. (aka the baddest motherf*ckers in aviation history), from what he told me this series is incredibly accurate showing not only the experience flying combat missions but the culture and life back on base. His crew would’ve been among the first to make it through all 25 missions. Aa a matter of fact his navigator Robert Grilley wrote a book called “Back from Berlin” chronicling their service (excellent read) My only complaint of this series is theres not enough cigarettes haha. In every picture we have at my parents house they all had cigarettes hanging out of their mouths haha

Listening to one of the actual pilots who flew in one of the bombers in WW2. He was saying the plane was not pressurized and it was -50 to 60 inside. If you lost your glove your fingers were instantly amputated. Can't imagine the fear they went through, incredibly brave men who we should never forget

I had the good fortune of getting to see a B-17 flying for the 75th anniversary of D-Day at the D-Day Memorial. From the ground, the Flying Fortress is impressive, but slow-moving. I feel like they had either Mustangs, Spitfires, or both flying in formation as well. Compared to today's jets, they were snails, but compared to the B-17 they were the hare. I don't know if there's a YT video of it, but the planes were really impressive to see live.

Yeah Austin Butler just goes around looking like that 😂 luckily he’s also a fantastic actor so not just a pretty face lol. Loving this show so far can’t wait for more reactions ❤

The numbers of deaths caused by accidents in training, while deploying, routine operations outside of combat in WW2 has high, on all sides, all air arms.

The best way to understand the conditions is watch the Movie "Everest" or a doc of a mount Everest climb . These airmen were at the same height in the same conditions .Exposed skin on top of Everest freezes instantly and you can't breath without oxygen bottles . .

There’s an interview on RU-vid of a bomber who’s 99 on RU-vid. He said his friend who was a ball gunner called it the smallest church in the world. The interview is quite good. It’s him reacting to the show. And it’s by the army historical foundation.

Nikki's right. Starting these old gasoline powered piston engines was like starting a lawn mower. You had to prime the fuel lines to pressurize them enough for good ignition when you cranked the engines. They were MUCH more complex to operate than jet engines of today.

thew german bf109 was armed with 2 7,62 machine guns firering through the propeller and one depending on the type 20 or 30 mm cannon firering theough the propeller hub some had 20mm canons in the wings .The b17 its this series is the early version as theres no chin turret firering forward until this was fitted on the b17 g model the germans would attack head on and aim for the cockpit

26:24 The gun is not hot. It’s actually very much below freezing temperature and what you see here is similar to having your tongue stuck to a popsicle, but 100 times more severe. The gun is cold because of the temperature at 22,000 feet and therefore your skin , when you touch the gun with bare hands freezes to the metal instantly. Which is why before every flight they have to go through a checklist and on the checklist it includes remaining the crew to plug in their heated and insulated electrical air suits. They would wear a couple of layers underneath and then you see the big leather pants and the leather jacket With the sheep fleece lining well those are actually electrical and you can plug them into your station in the B-17 which will provide heat for you and keep you warm. You also have leather insulated sheep fleece gloves so you do not ever touch anything in the airplane with your bare hands while they are below zero temperatures because at 22,000 feet it is extremely freezing cold.

Growing up we saw weekly Combat and 12'O Clock High. Another WWII movie is Memphis Belle.

Im glad ya'll are watching! My Uncle Bill was a tail gunner in the 15th AF,. He shot down two German fighters, and recieved four Air Medals.

Statistically, you had better survival odds as an infantryman on the ground in Europe, during WWII, than as a crewmember of a B17. The bombers would get ravaged by German fighters because, until the P51D (with drop tanks) got into service, none of the allied fighters could go with the bombers all the way to their targets. P47 pilots would have to turn around halfway over the channel, literally seeing German fighters (knowing the max range of the P47s) circling in the distance just waiting to pounce once the fighters left. It was literally hell in the air for them.

There's a book about one of the biggest raids in the early part of the bombing campaign that has a section devoted to the effects that flak, fighter cannons, extereme cold, and hypoxia had on aircrews' bodies. Pretty nasty stuff, to say the least. Plus, on a bomber, if wouinded - you would be hours away from any real medical care. It ended with the line "This was the clean air war that many an infantryman coveted."

These guys ended up suffering the highest rate of casualties in the US Army. I found it interesting in reading about, and speaking with veterans of the 8th Air Force that more than a few felt that they would have been better off in the infantry. Which speaks volumes about just how frightening it was to fly these missions. It was a challenge before even encountering German fighters and flak. Truly remarkable individuals. Same goes for the RAF bomber crews.

The B17 that belly landed can probably be repaired by the ground crew. They can jack it up and be able to lower the landing gear. The ground crews in WW2 work miracles getting bombers repaired and back in the air.

If I remember right from a documentary on these planes the tail gunner & belly gunners had the worst survival rates as that was the weakest point of defense (attack from behind & above or below) so that was were the Germans would favour attacking from there. Also the belly turret could easily be damaged to such an extent that opening became impossible, requiring it to be lifted back into the plane to open that hatch (which sometimes could be done while lowered if it was in a position to do so), so if the plane had to crash land the gunner, if not already dead would die in the crash.

6:40 I’ll be honest…I’ve seen worse…way worse…that somehow landed. Late War Germany, a BF 109 collided with a B-17, the 109 was diving on the B-17 and its wing struck the roof of the B-17’s fuselage just forward of the vertical stabilizer, the B-17 landed with the only thing holding it together being the floor, because if the tail broke up, it was game over. Doesn’t really directly relate to the series, but still thought I’d mention it.

Nikki and Steven Look at classic iconic actor, John Wayne, his birth name was Marion Robert Morrison. I can see why studio wanted him to use a professional name as John Wayne.

Well, pretty much the entirely of the UK could be considered a 'War Zone', especially the South East. You could watch the muzzle blast from the artillery in France and then wait the 72 odd seconds for the impact. Made for a fun game in Dover... apparently.

23:15 Had an old friend of the family who was a belly gunner on one of those B-17s. Guy was awarded a flying cross and several other medals… got hit in his ball turret by a Messerschmitt on an attack run, another mission he was shot down over enemy lines and escaped!

The pre-flight checklist was introduced after the crash of a B-17 prototype in 1935. Could you imagine trying to get all of those switches and levers into the correct position without one? Sadly, aircraft mishaps still occur because pilots fail to complete a checklist.

😂 no my dad was approached for a Bit Part in the film being done in England a little thing called "Wings." He too was Model gorgeous.

Your discussion at the 30 minute mark made me realize the bombers would be extra slow against the fighters at that point because they didn't drop their bombs. So the right thing to do but also made them slower for the trip back to base.

Alot of ww2 pilots were actually known for being prettier and most fashioned then a on the ground solider , that sparked a lot of the rivalviries within the military, Pretty sure i read somewhere when the British were escaping from Dunkirk their air force were fighting valiantly stopping the germans from bombing the beaches but the ones that broke through did a lot of damage and the soldiers at dunkirk didn't realize they would be dead if their air force wasn't putting up the fight of their lives and some of the insults were "Their too focused on their hair to help us"

Last Meal, Priest... wait till later - they will be asked to make a will.... One point: the Germans were aware that the Early B-17 models (the E and F) had a lightly defended nose - (2x .30 cals and occasionally 1 .50 cal) so they made Head on attacks. Consider this_ the fighters were armed with cannons, either 20mm or 30mm which out ranged and outgunned .50 cals. And they closed at close to their max speed (380mph/almost 500 kph) and the bombers were approaching at 200-230 Mph. This made a combine speed of about 550 mph/680 kph) So the bombers only got about 3 seconds to aim and return fire where the German Fighters could line up and wait for the range to close to the point where shooting was much easier for them. They then could pass through the whoile Bomber formation in less tham 30 seconds, often unscathed by return fire. (This would change with the addition of US and British escort fighters, and again when long range fighters appeared) But in Mid 1943 the whole 8th AF was "learning this on the job". Casualties were heavy and losses high... just wait for the Schweinfurt Raids where the 8th AF lost over 12% of the whole attacking formation of 800plus bombers. In 1944 the B-17G was introduced and it had a "Chin Turret", operated by the Navigator or Bombardier and that greatly increased the nose protection. This was combined with the advent of the P-51 Mustang fighter for the USAAF which could fly from the UK to Poland and back.

They used azimuth compass readings, taking the speed of the plane, and making a series of calculations to determine their position. And they use visual confirmation on things to help them. But with too much fog or cloud, you can get lost without a good navigator. Modern planes don't need that because of advanced radar systems obviously. But those guys.. whew. Must suck as you're being attacked to maintain calm and keep doing your job.

Good reaction. Steven - they are not jets. lol Jets weren't invented until closer to the end of the war. And the man's hands stuck to the guns because it's around -40 F/C at that altitude.

Love watching you two react to movies, tv.

As there is no veterans speaking before every episode like in Band of Brothers i would recommend you to RU-vid search - World War II Airman Reacts to Masters of the Air. 99 year old airman talking about his time in the airforce.

the 100th group goes on to earn the nick name of the bloody 100th.

I got Harry Crosby’s book on my Kindle, can’t wait to read it.

The 100th bomb group was nicknamed the "Bloody 100th" because of the high amount of losses they suffered during the war. I have a feeling the gore will be more intense than what we saw in this first episode.

That bit with the clouds is a bit of a fiction. Weather played a crucial part in strategic bombing and if there was a risk of cloud most missions were scrubbed, day or night. Also, it was actually very difficult to get ‘geographically embarrassed’ on these bombing missions. That too is not very accurate. In reality, britain had a super sophisticated radar system and bombing missions mostly navigated on a radio beam. The planes would tune into the radio beam and then fly along that. Thats how night bombers always got to their targets. It was so simple even the germans started using the same system to direct bombing runs into britain. The downside was that the enemy could pick up the radio beam and guess roughly where the bombers would be heading. The british got countered that with jammers, frequency changes, and multiple radio beams. German fighters attacked head on because the B17 had a major design flaw: it had no gun facing directly forwards. So its weak point was directly in front. It also happened to be the case that if a german fighter scored hits its shots would penetrate along the hull of the bomber because german fighters mostly had cannons instead of machine guns, and cannons cause much more severe damage. Eventually B17 crews started jury rigging a forward firing gun for the navigator and bombardier to use but that was never very effective. Daylight bombing was generally very dumb and suicidal, as the regensberg-scwheinfurt raid demonstrated pretty clearly (and my memory tells me the 100th was on that raid). It wasnt until the german fight force was effectively wiped out in october 1944 to january 1945 because of the german fighter operation called ‘Baseplate’ (prompting the revolt and arrest of germany’s top fighter commanders) that daylight bombing became relatively safe. British bomber command was commanded by a lunatic known to history as ‘bomber’ Harris but, unfortunately, US bomber command was commanded by a lunatic called Curtis Le May. Each had unswerving belief in the importance and effectiveness of strategic bombing (both were wrong about that) but each believed in their chosen methods and thought the other guy was an idiot. The result was both allied bomber commands refused to change tactics or strategy even when they cost a lot of lives, because that would have been seen as admitting the other bomber commands’ criticisms were right. That killed a lot of young men. Ps one of my great uncles was a Lancaster rear gunner and died from mistreatment in a german pow camp after a failed escape attempt. An uncle was a rear gunner in British B17s that flew in north africa/palestine. Contrary to what episode 1 suggests, britain did use B17s for daylight strategic bombing in the Mediterranean and north africa but they were used with close air support and on missions that closely supported ground operations, so they didnt suffer the carnage of US bomber groups over northern Europe.

If you haven't done so already, you two should really check out the movie about Memphis Belle.

What the general public did not know or realized that something, was possibly higher, 25,000 pilots and crews died in the First 9 months of the Air War. Whatever it was, I was shocked to learn this about 10 years ago. Even though my father was a Crew Chief for Colonel LaMay in England. The Number of crew death's in 9 months was equal to all the Marines killed in 3 years...in the Pacific Theater. Life expectancy was 6 weeks the ratio was insane something like 7 out of 10.

SOP for emergency landing is to evacuate the plane as quickly as possible and allow the ground crews to do their jobs.