Masters of the Air Episode 3 'Part Three' REACTION!! 

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The people who showed up at the farm were not Nazis, they were Belgian resistance fighters, who, if discovered, would be hung or shot on the spot. This was why they were so specific about the kid NOT remembering their faces etc. They will do their best to get him out, but I am sure they have seen many not make it.

Barry Keoghan captured that "Oh God" moment perfectly IMO. That moment of this episode made my heart stop.

I love the brutal honesty of the Resistance fighter, he wants to help him but needs him to understand the risk in doing so. Its not an ultimatum

The loss of over 60 bombers on this one mission plus dozens crippled is exactly the experience the RAF had in 1939/40. Hence the move to night time bombing by the British instead.

The character that bailed and was at the farm in Belgium was given a choice by the Belgium Resistance fighters. They were offering to either help him escape or surrender to Germans (not surrender to them as they are not with the Germans).

Those few seconds of slo mo action over Regensburg were the most intense aerial combat in any film/video.

"On August 17, 1943, [Curtis] Biddick's B-17 42-5860 "Escape Kit'" took part in a mission to Regensburg. The 100th Bomb Group was assigned to "coffin corner", so called for its vulnerable position at the rear of the formation. Approximately 40 miles north of Regensburg, Biddick’s plane suffered an oxygen fire caused by 20mm damage to the nose and fuselage, trapping those on the flight deck. Four of the crew were killed in action, including Lt Biddick." Biddick was 28

Austin played Buck amazingly in this part ‼️‼️ So calm and composed yet aware of everything going on around him. Bravo Buck✈️❣️

The Schweinfurt-Regensburg (Aug 1943) was the infamous raid in this episode, it was as bad as it got for the 8th Airforce and 100th Bombardment Group. The 8th Airforce sent over nearly 400 bombers and lost about 60 with another around 20 wrecked (about 20% of the force) and a total of more than 600 aircrew killed, missing (mostly POWs) or wounded in action. The 100th suffered the worst losing 9 aircraft of the 21 flown out on the mission. This raid absolutely demonstrated that unescorted daylight raids deep into Germany were simply unfeasibly deadly. However, the RAF night raids were also extremely bloody and dangerous (if not as disastrous as Schweinfurt). For comparison the terrible Nuremberg Raid, 30/31 March 1944 was likely the RAF's worst. British Bomber Command sent nearly 800 aircraft on a night raid to Nuremberg. They lost just under 100 aircraft shot down, around 10 more wrecked - over 11% of the force sent. Total aircrew missing at over 700. Also, take a moment and consider the truly extraordinary risk the local Resistance groups took in aiding aircrew evaders (in this episode from Flanders - Belgium, but all across occupied Europe). It looks like the series will include some focus on this and the incredibly dangerous occupied Europe escape trails - that history is ridiculously under-recorded.

Answer to the riddle: Ask one of the guards what the other guard would say is the road to Valhalla. If you are asking the guard who always tells the truth he will point to the road to Damnation, since that is what the other guard would answer. If you're asking the lying guard. He will lie about the other guard's answer and point to the road to Damnation. Either way you take the other road.

Think i am starting to getting old when my tears are flowing to the ground while watching these heroes fight against evil. 😢

"BLACK THURSDAY" - 60 bombers lost = 600 aircrew. This doesn't count those dead or incapacited still in the B-17s that made it back.

The POW rule for downed airmen goes: If you bail-out in enemy territory and then immediately surrender, you get quarter as a POW and get to spend the rest of the war in a Luft Stalag (POW camp for captured airmen). It is when you change out of your uniform and into civilian clothes, and try to do your Escape and Evasion (which wasn’t taught to airmen yet at this time), which is your duty to do, but are caught anyway, that you will be considered a spy and executed as such. Being considered a spy is not something that happens after some sort of Catch-and-Release. But it can happen if you manage to escape from the Stalag, and then get caught on the outside.

The scene where he’s trying to get out is done very well. I was once caught in a stalled, spinning aircraft when skydiving. The jump ship stalled after the first jumpers left and we were spinning and falling, it was terrifying trying to get out while pinned by the centrifugal forces, one second i was pinned, the next I was out and still couldn’t tell you how. The aircraft fell a few thousand feet before the pilot recovered it, it was a Pilatus Porter.

In the European theater of WWII, aircrews had to fly from 25 to 30 missions, before they were eligible to "rotate" back home. However, in the Mediterranean theatre, aircrews flew a 50 mission tour. This was because a lot of their targets were in Italy and the Balkans, where the defenses were light or non existent.

That mission is why they got the nickname "The Bloody 100th".

The losses incurred in the Regensburg/Schweinfurt raids were so bad that the USAAF reconsidered their daylight bombing doctrine.

Remember every time you see a plane go down its 10 men gone. When an aircraft goes into a spin the centrifugal force pins you against the fuselage. So even if you want to bale out you can't move. Some have one survivor some 2 - 3 or 4 few have 10 survivors. So the 10 aircraft lost is 100 men killed or captured.

This episode is carnage. I know the history of these daylight bomb runs that these guys did but it still hits hard watching it. Especially losing my favorite character already. Cant mention him name because of spoilers.

This wasn't the largest air armada of the war even at this point. The RAF had already done multiple 1000 bomber raids by this point and even the Americans had already done one 500 bomber raid. I know it's only a single line but it's brushing over Britain's role again

I know a mission with a major character who will be in the next episode where 11 0f 12 planes were shot down. They had the highest casualty rate. I knew the lead navigator for large B24 missions and heard allot of stories. I enjoy watching you two because I appreciate you as a wonderful loving couple. I wish you a good year.

My grandfather is played by Jonas Moore

Excellent review! I agree this was a rough episode to watch. I’m a veteran of 28 years and 9 combat tours, but I was usually on the ground - still given my experience, the losses incurred here are horrendous. These bombers defense, is very similar to tank warfare where it’s the norm in crews for everyone either makes it together or they all die together. Anyway, I’m a subscriber now please keep up the great work! Cheers!

370 aircraft was not the biggest mission, it may have been the biggest yet for the 8th, but the RAF bomber command were regularly sending 600 to 1000 aircraft on a raid.

Brutal episode

This show compelled us to visit the Air & Space museum here, it's JARRING to step inside these fighter planes knowing there's not a single computer anywhere, the claustrophobia being trapped in those coffins as Steven put it, extreme cold/hot threats, hyperventilating, air sickness, no bathrooms (duh, but damn), the bombardment of flak canons, being shot at by Nazis all while operating an aircraft with ultimately two ways down... You two really point out key things that make the episodes far better while watching along! Been watching ya'll since the early GoT days and it always feels like having friends on the couch next to us, love you! 🤙

My father was a senior Navigational Instructor in the AAF. He taught ultimately thousands of crewmen how to find their targets and get back home. I wonder if Crosby or the other navigators in this story were some of his students? He never flew in combat, but he really did his part. He told me his best students were from Tuskegee.

Here on RU-vid is a great documentary on the raid on Ploesti Romania. It shows how as the skipper of an airplane, you are ultimately responsible for your crew, how as the leader of a group you are responsible for the mission and your men. It shows how a navigation error can f**k $#*+ up and unlike flight 19 (Navy) Air Force crews are taught those responsibilities "but you disobeyed the commander of the mission" yep, and that was the exact, right thing to do.

I’ve just read the book Masters of the Air. Incredible read. Remember 12700 b-17s were built at the height off ww2 . Over 5000 were lost. Ten crew per plane, that’s alot of airman. Greatest generation ever did what they had to.

The most heart wrenching part was the part with the ball turret gunner being trapped. Can you imagine being in that position? I remember watching a short story with Kevin Costner as the B-17 pilot and Sean Astin as the bail turret gunner trapped in the turret. One of the landing gears was jammed and they were going to have to do a belly landing which would have crushed Sean Astin. One of their solutions was just to shoot him so it would be over quick. Just so hard to imagine being in that spot.

Loving the series so far! The detail they go into about all the roles and responsibilities is great to learn about

To add some more Knowledge for you. This portrays the 100th BG as you know. But the 390th BG and the 95th were the Sister Groups to the 100th in the 13th Wing. So for example. They were the Low Group of the Wing. With the other 2. And then 3 more wings made up 1st Task force. Similar I'm 2nd and 3rd Task Forces. The Regensburg Task force lost 24 Bombers of the 60 bombers lost that day between the Task Forces. And the 100ths Sisters lost 10- 390th with 6 and 95th 4. Just brutal to think 1 mission 600 men gone. The 100th and her sisters were hit hard during the War, like the 381st,351st and 91st in the First Division. Just brutal.

Dunno how the gunners avoided friendly fire when they flew in such tight formations

Those were not german soldier, they were the Belgian resistance. They gave him a choice: surrender to the germans and spend the rest of the war in a POW camp ( and probably survive) or try to escape ( with their help). But if you are caught escaping, you will be executed.

I've read comments that criticized the heavy use of CGI. Though I am not a fan either in general, there was no other way of rendering how brutal, chaotic and horrible of a war it was...

My uncle flew a P40 warhawk over N Africa for the Royal Canadian Air Force. His ship went down over the Med in the early part of the war. He was captured by the Italians and turned over to the Germans and spent the entire war in a Stalag. It was not good. In 45 his camp force marched back towards the west and they took fire from American and British fighters because it looked like a column of men. People he had been with for 4 or 5 years were killed. He made it though and was a good guy.

2 movies you should think of watching (both B&W) are "12 O'Clock High" & "Command Decision"

"That's the largest air armada ever assembled in the history mankind!" You know, except for the all those ones the RAF had done with 800 to over 1000 bombers by that stage. I see Hanks and Spielberg are continuing their tradition of ignoring what the rest of the Allies had done.

Love these reactions! Soo excited for "We're the ones who live"! hope you guys are having a awesome weekend!

Im not gonna lie that "Oh God" doesn't get any easier I loved his character

Although the briefing officer was probably just trying to inspire the men, it wasn’t the biggest air armada in the history of mankind, the R.A.F did three 1000 bomber raids in 1942. Ive read the book and knew what happened, but seeing the visual representation of it is heartbreaking, horrifying and terrifying to see the slaughter. I have nothing but respect to those boys who did it for real. Glad my dad didn’t get his wish to be a tail gunner, he was a British paratrooper which was just as hard but at least you can take cover on the ground.

Amazing series so far. Ive been waiting for this for years! My mothers Uncle was a Ball Turret Gunner (under the belly of the bomber) in the 381st bomb group 532nd Squad. My mothers uncle went in on a bombing raid March 24th 1944 into Germany and became a POW that day due to having 2 of the 4 engines were knocked out and some of the nose damaged. This damage kept them from keeping up with the rest of the Bombers heading back over to England. So while my mothers uncles B17 pulled out of formation the pilots kept control of the Bombers and limped it across Germany then through France ( which was still being held by the Germans ) but could no longer fly anymore due to the damage sustained. They nursed the bomber as far they could hoping they can get across the channel and back to England ( which some B17’s that were heavily damaged did make it across) but to no avail on this day . So they had to crash land in the French countryside , the French resistance got their before the German Patrols and quickly rounded up whom they could , 4 of the 10 man crew escaped with them and hid for months , the other 5 were captured eventually including my mothers uncle. He spent the rest of the war in Stalag Luft 1 POW CAMP. You also need to realize that the German Fighters had 20 or 30 MM rounds being shot at those bombers , where as we were only shooting back at them with 50 caliber rounds , if the bombers got hit with those 20 mill rounds it would go through like a hot knife through butter. God bless these young men who fought and died for this country

The Regensburg taskforce had it easier than the second element that hit Scweinfurt and this raid wasn't even known as "Black Thursday" we havnt seen anything yet.

It's funny, You can picture the brutality of the ground war. The Air War was so much more brutal and there was no escape for these men. No trenches or walls. The only way you could survive was to foster that cavalier attitude. Every mission they had to know they were dead but act like they were immortal.

For the Army Air Corps, The Schweinfurt-Regensburg mission was the equivalent of the Omaha Beach landing for the Army. They both accomplished their objectives but in the process took serious losses.

imo this is the most anticipated series of the year! from a non-Apple fan, thank you both for these reviews.

Awesome reaction of my favorite episode of Masters Of The Air!!!!😊😊😊😊

Good reaction! Appreciate you doing these

This series is a cinematic masterpiece

Perhaps the greatest unsung success story of AAF training was Navigators. The Army graduated some 50,000 during the War. And many had never flown out of sight of land before leaving the US for a war zone. Yet the majority found their way across oceans and continents without getting lost or running out of fuel which is tribute to the AAF's educational establishments.

15:50 I mentioned this in one of your other MotA reactions, these guys were often trapped alive in the belly turret while the plane was either destroyed in the air (as here), as the plane crashed into the ground or crushed during crash landings sacrificing their lives for the rest of the crew. The answer to the riddle; You ask one guard (it doesn’t matter which one) which door/path the other guard would say leads out/safe. Both guards will indicate the same door/path, which will be the door/path that doesn’t lead out, so use the other door/path.

"From my mother's sleep I fell into the State, And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze. Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life, I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters. When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose." -Randall Jarrell, "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner", 1945

Schweinfurt raid had it worse 2nd Schweinfurt raid months later became known as “Black Thursday” with the loss of 77 bombers

The B 17s deployed a flying formation called the box each B-17 had a precise position that it would fly so it supports the other bombers next to them so the whole formation formed a giant protection box to protect each other. It was very effective during the war, but with that said, they still lost a lot of bombers. The Germans had to come up with different tactics to attack this box formation. The show is doing a very good job on being accurate.

From the scene in the briefing room,when they told the mission is in regensburg,schweinfurt,its going to be bloody,most of the luftwaffe (german airforce) bases were near in that area, they accomplished the mission,but with high casualty.

19:15 The Pilot sitting in the Left hand seat was the Aircraft Commander AND the Pilot in Command. HE was the guy in charge; you did every single thing he ordered, without question or rebuttal. Each crewman aboard a Flying Fortress had a specific job as part of a 10 man Team, led by the AC. 21:11 Your Comments after this scene are interesting; the Crew's mindsets were similar to those you've seen before... the guys from Easy Company. Given the chance to Surrender (give up) vs. Risking Death (to get back to your Unit and continue to fight), to a man every one of them chose Escape vs. Surrender unless they were injured to the point where Escape was impossible. Also, any Allied Servicemen who made their way back to their Units with help from The Resistance would have been automatically sent back Stateside because they were potential Security Risks; if they were captured again and tortured, they could reveal and betray Resistance cells who helped them escape. Very few Allied servicemen were permitted to remain with their Units after escaping and evading capture, but there were some who did. One of those was Chuck Yeager, the first man to break the Sound 'Barrier'.

At one point, before P-51s were available in numbers, they attempted a gunship version of the B-17, the YB-40. The armor protection was increased, the waist guns added an additional machine gun to each position in a twin gun configuration. A second top turret was added above the radioman position, and a twin gun chin turret in the nose near the bombardier position. The YB-40s bomb bay held extra ammunition. It didn't work out the way it was intended. The weight of the plane was such that it's performance suffered, and it couldn't keep up with the forts it was supposed to protect once they had dropped their bombs. Only about 25 of the YB-40s were ever built. As far as I know, no YB-40s survive today.

I recall reading that shot down aircrew who made it back to England with the help of the resistance were not assigned to new combat missions over the continent. If shot down again and captured, they could compromise the resistance members who had helped them.

There’s a book I’d read a million years ago by Martin Caidin (I think) “Black Thursday” which was about the Schweinfurt-Regensburg missions and how absolutely horrifying it was. This show I think captured the mission pretty well. I’m enjoying this show and enjoying your reactions! Keep em coming please

Fantastic episode, so powerful and moving. The other 2 task forces did take off in the end, far too late, and they caught absolute hell from all the fighters that had refueled and come back up ready to attack the Regensburg raid as it flew back to England. They battled through to the target at Schweinfurt but it was obscured by a smoke screen so the bombs were scattered and did little damage. However, the target was so important they were sent back to Schweinfurt 2 months later and this this time the casualties were worse...... if that's possible.

When the pilot hits the plane wing that hit hard!!! Best episode by far to press!

This show is amazing just caught up with it. Happy I started it

In a single 376 plane raid in August 1943, 60 B-17s were shot down. That was a 16 percent loss rate and meant 600 empty bunks in England .. In 1942-43 it was statistically impossible for bomber crews to complete a 25-mission tour in Europe .

This episode was freaking INTENSE!!

It was called the Bloody Hundredth for a VERY good reason.

Thank you for watching and posting this. I have been lucky enough to have been around warbirds most of my life. The bravery of the kids that flew these missions is truly incredible. I am glad another generation is learning about the sacrifices made for our freedom. Remember, there are men and women out there today also making sacrifices for our freedom. If you are interested in learning more I would suggest going to Oshkosh and see these aircraft fly, I will be working with the P-51C Mustang-"Tuskegee Airmen" this year, stop by and say hi. Cheers all.

To add to your discussion, the beginning the planes are not pressurized as you already know, but the Pirates and crew have lots of layers. Most notably, of course is the sheepskin jackets and those really thick heavily insulated leather coats but they’re also weren’t electronic underwear. It’s basically electric blanket. It’s not on all the time but you can plug them in to the planes battery.

That was the second time Buck landed a B-17 with all engines feathered. Gale Cleven had guts of steel.

Gut punch of an episode. Imagine living with the fact that you had to leave someone to die but really had no way to save them, Brutal.

I think the waist gunner called out focke wulf 190s..didn't think the bomber attack variant was ready at this time..but still could do damage

And the answer to the riddle (we've named the Goblins Alex and Bod): We ask One goblin (Alex) what they other goblin(bob) would say. And then take the opposite path to the answer. Because: We ask Alex what Bob would say. There are two possibilities: Alex is the liar. Which means Bob would have told you the truth, Alex knowing this, lies about it and tells you the wrong way. Bob is the liar. Which means Bob would have lied to you. And Alex who tells the truth knowing this, tells you honestly what liar Bobs answer would be... the wrong way. The liar always lies, the truth teller always says truthfully what the liars lie would be. So with this question you get them to match up.

As well as this show is put together, it's still just a film. There is no way a movie can capture the true horror of war and the fear that surrounds those who are forced to deal with it. As a Vietnam veteran I can truthfully say that moments in combat happen very quickly and your training kicks in like muscle memory. If you live through it, fear clutches you more afterwards than through the attack itself. I'm glad people watch these films that reveals our history which seems to be lost on so many younger people. Freedom isn't FREE! It must be fought for to retain it.

The Regensburg group unknowingly hit a testing facility for the Me262 "Schwalbe" jet fighter as well as the production line for the Bf109. The Schweinfurt group hit the ball bearing plant, but missed the warehouse, so the Germans had enough ball bearings to last until the factory was repaired _3 weeks later_ The answer to Blakely's riddle is to ask the goblins which route the other would take. They both would point at the same path, so you take the other, as it's the path to Valhalla.

If you read combat reports, you'll understand the German pilots were also terrified going into battle against the B-17 and its massive firepower - a large bomber formation was like a flying Caudine Forks. A WW2 fighter had ammo for only 3-5 minutes continuous burst, so they had to take their time, avoid hundreds of machine guns and to make every bullet count; that's why you see them maneuvering and flying around, but not firing much. In the meantime, the B-17 was very resilient and could take huge punishment. The Luftwaffe lost a lot of fighters over Germany battling the bombers, fighters that could've been used on the front in Italy, Normandy or elsewhere. Overall, I think the series depicts realistically the air battles.

A little clarification on the night and day bombing... In a full scale war, day and night must go ahead. It was decided that to due to the RAF being doing day and night for years, USA with larger numbers would do the day and the smaller RAF now would do night. There is a upside and down side to both however... at night... being harder to find the mark also applies to bombing. But it all kind of balanced out... the RAF had a little more experience by this point to help compensate towards nightime bombing. Day was harsh, AAA and fighters could easily find their mark (Range), so having a greater numbers helped. In a full scale war, it was a very logical call.

These raids were not the largest air armadas in the history of mankind. The RAF performed a 1000 bomber raid on Cologne in 42 where 800 or more bombers found the target and caused a great deal of damage……. More Spielberg changing history…

The answer to the riddle is to ask both goblins what the other one would say is the wrong way, then go down the opposite road. The goblin that lies will say that the truthful goblin would send you down the wrong way, and the truthful goblin would say the lying goblin would send you down the wrong way. So go down the way neither one says the other would send you.

Trust me Nikki, there's no need to apologize when you get excited to see animals such as puppies in the show/movie you and Steven are watching. 😊

I came across this little newspaper article from Sept 6 1943 about the fate of Lt Curtis Biddick and his crew. I really hope at the end of Masters of the Air they have a profile of the real men that the series was about.

For those wondering about the answer to the riddle: you ask each guard "If I asked the other guard which way leads to Valhalla, what would he say?", no matter which guard you asked they would point in the direction of hell, so you would know which is the wrong way. (BTW - loving the show so far, not sure how they are going to top this episode)

Both of your reactions were so real, I felt it ... such a sad scene 16:20 Also the armed men at the farms were mostly Belgium, part of the Resistance, not German.

The standard B-17 crew would have 10 total members with each wearing gear that enabled them to survive inside the unpressurized cabin. The crew would be susceptible to frostbite if their outfit was compromised. There were even reports of gunners getting their fingers cut off because they touched the guns with their bare hands! The American B-17s were assigned to the busiest parts of Germany, they only had a 25% to 33% chance of surviving the 25 missions needed to complete their tour. The ages of the crewmen were, on average, 24 and below.

One of the major reasons at the start of the bombing war for the heavy losses was we had no fighter escorts to protect the bombers, until the arrival of the P-51 Mustang later on in the war.

the passion Nikki has is so heartwarming and keeps me engaged ngl, epic reaction as always guys :)

The largest bombing raid by the Amrrican forces was the raid on Berlin consisting of over 1,000 bombers and over 400 fighters which equalled over 14,000 airmen.

I read from a comment on another channel reacting to this series that at the height of the Allied bombing campaign (1943 & 1944) that the American factories were pumping 16 brand new B-17s every day. So it really wasn't a matter of planes, but crews at one point. As we'll see later on that the Red Tails, the black fighter pilot squadron, started escorting the bombers and they reduced Bomber loses to ZERO. No joke. That story can be seen in the film Red Tails (2012).

Btw, those were Belgian Resistance fighters that the family brought to the farm. They gave the american two options: Surrender to the Nazis and be a war prisoner till end of the war OR try to escape to England with their help, with possibilty to get caught and killed. This show kinda fails to potray the danger that these "forts" actually holds. In this show its seems they are just sitting ducks, but they were actually insanly good when they were grouped up (like they said on episode 1). Nazi fighter pilots were ofc insaly effective, but when Americans started doing these bombings, Luftwaffe started losing huge amount of planes when they tried to attack them.

The Schweinfurt-Regensburg Raid on Aug. 17th 1943 was the darkest day of the 8th Air Force up until that point in the war. the 8th Air Force lost 60 bombers to enemy air action, 3 p-47 & 2 spitfires from the assign fighter escorts. 58-95 bombers were heavily damaged and lost beyond repair. 7 aircrews (aircrew=10 men) were KIA, 21 aircrew were WIA aboard returning aircraft, and 557airmen were MIA or POW. The Germans lost 25-27 fighters and 203 civilians were killed. The reason for all 3 task forces not being able to simultaneously attack both targets were mainly due to miscommunication between the bomber groups during the weather delay. the 390th Bomb Group had already launched its birds in the air 45 minutes ahead of schedule in the fog while the rest of the task forces delay for the weather to clear while the 390th remained in holding pattern for about 4hours. However, due to fear of losing too much sun light time for Regensburg Task Force to reach North Africa, (because it takes 3 hours for each bomb group to launch and form up, another 2-3hours for the task force to meet & form up over the English Channel. Plus, the route to Regensburg was additional 11hours long itself.) Colonel Curtis E. LeMay Wing Commander of the first Task Force gave the order to take off into Regensburg without the support of the Schweinfurt task forces. The Schweinfurt bomb groups remained at their bases untilled the weather cleared and then delayed again to give the fighter escorts time to come back for re-fuel & rearm to escort the Schweinfurt task force. By the time the Schweinfurt bomb groups begun launch perpetrations, the Regensburg force were already over the Netherlands going into Germany. Out 146 B-17s in the Regensburg Task Force, only 122 B-17s made it to North Africa. The Schweinfurt Task Forces failed to completely destroy the ball baring factories due to the factories being spread out in multiple areas and some placed within some residential areas. Plus, the Germans were able to place a massive smoke screen over the target and Schweinfurt at that time was considered to be the most Flak defended region in Eastern Europe. The 100th Bomb Group would later be tasked with finishing the job two months later which was later known as "Black Thursday." The Regensburg Task Force (146 B-17s): 403rd PCBW: 96th Bomb Group (0 losses), 388th bomb Group (1 loss), 390th Bomb Group (6 losses) 401st PCBW: 94th Bomb Group (1 loss) and 385th Bomb Group (3 losses) 402nd PCBW: 95th Bomb Group (4 losses) and 100th Bomb Group (9 losses) The Schweinfurt Task Force (2nd & 3rd TF) (230 B-17s): 201st PCBW: 91st Bomb Group (7 losses), 101st Bomb Group (6 losses), 381st Bomb Group (9 losses) 202nd PCBW: 351st Bomb Group (1 loss), 306th Composite Group (0 Lost), 384th Bomb Group (5 losses) 203rd PCBW: 306th Bomb group (0 lost), 305th Bomb Group (2 losses), 92nd Bomb Group (2 losses) 204th PCBW: 379th Bomb Group (0 lost), 103 Composite Group (4 losses), 303rd Bomb Group (0 lost)

At 22:10 you are extremely correct, it is a very hard choice and it’s the reason resistance member gave many of the pilots the choice of both options. If they chose surrender, they would help to leave them out in a location that they know a German patrol would likely find them. At which point they’d be taken to a German POW camp and as the man said “likely survive the war”. - note some men didn’t even get an option, if you were deemed to injured or having suffered a severe injury, the resistance would happily hand you over to the German so that the pilot would receive the medical care he needed - they’d be sent to a German hospital and put in a POW ward and when deemed fit enough to move be transferred to the camps. - it was also not uncommon for even some pilots who knew they we’re essentially “out of the war” to assist occupied civilian and resistance groups by “handing themselves over”. Essentially they’d have people apart of the resistance or just standard civilians hand them over to the Germans so that they group could receive a reward/clearance of potential guilt by showing a idea that they are helping the Germans. The other option as said is to escape, which as noted is extremely risky as capture will mean likely facing execution as a spy. As such many resistance members would relay this danger cause not only is it dangerous for the pilot but also them. Should they be discovered to have assisted/harboured an allied pilot they would be executed and their families either sent to a camp or executed themselves. As such the resistance members always wanted to make sure those who were taking this second option were prepared for the potential consequences of it, as they can only assist so far and they themselves aren’t going to risk their own family and friends if you get caught. Plus, there wasn’t really a hard stigma towards pilots who decided to take the first option. While many would think “everyone should do there damndest to get back to England” such wasn’t the case, very many accepted that they’d done their job and duty and tried their best, and to choose to sit out the rest after being shot down was quite fair, as after being forced to go through hell in the air, then bail out potentially having lost/losing friends and being left in a hostile country all your own. Yeah most were extremely fair to those young lads like Quinn who decided that they’d sit out the rest. The only time you’d likely see real scrutiny toward them would be if they were senior officers of what looked to be long serving age. It was expected of these men to have a bit more heart to make the attempt as a way to keep the morale of those lower enlisted escapees up and to also just continue the fight they lead others into, tho again finding a major, colonel or so on that’s completely exhausted/broken due to losing so many young men and aircraft under him or has seen a bit to much hell, then even they would be offered a chance to surrender or even just handed over for their own good.

Another thing most don't realize is how good some of these German pilots were. Some of them had been fighting since the Spanish Civil War which started in 1936. Thats 6-7 years of experience compared to our guys with less then 2.

I'm starting to really like this serie, I had my doubts in the beginning.

This episode reminded me of the red wedding on game of thrones. Because I was late to watching game of thrones but I heard about that episode. This bombing mission. I heard about a history just being enter. The old school dog fights. World war one and two. I heard about this mission and how devastating it was, and just to see it play out in front of me swas just remarkable Especially certaireport that i've seen the original footage of and I seen it on this episode was just cool. This episode jumped right into it. And it didn't stop to the last two minutes. I'm not sure which is fact or fiction , but my research of this squad was they were kind of like at Like they were inferior to the other bomber squad. Like they were just like a rag tag group of fellas, partying, womanizing and getting drunk. From what I read that was the reason why they had so many casualties. Here they sufered so many casualties because they got left out to dry by their own are own people.

the KIA/POW/MIA rate of the bombers was 77%. so only 23% of the people came back

my great grandfather was a radioman/gunner in ww2 him and his entire squadren went missing in the Bermuda triangle. (seriously!) Sergeant Howard Watson GUINTER (R/66016) of the Royal Canadian Air Force

The babyface scene really tore my heart out

It is also worth remembering that the "original" idea was that the very heavily armed B-17 Flying Fortresses would be able to defend themselves against fighters. The idea was to send large close formations of B-17s on raids and then slaughter the enemy fighters with the massive multi-bomber crossfire - in no small part the Schweinfurt raid was conceived as an 'attrition' battle, the enemy fighters would sustain greater losses than the US bombers. Any raid in enemy territory would face greater opposition the longer it was over enemy territory (hence the pilots cheer raids in western Norway and France) and are afraid of deep raids into Germany - but the idea here was to 'force' the enemy to challenge the overwhelming bomber force - however, weather on the British airfields and the subsequent orders to deploy in a divided force meant the bombers did not appear in overwhelming strength. The end result is that the German fighters got to tear into smaller, divided bomber groups, refuel and then go again. The bombers, despite their heavy armament, were overmatched by enemy fighters, and the result was unsustainable bomber losses, heavy loss of aircrews, and (in many ways the worst) a catastrophic impact on USAAF aircrew morale as they (somewhat rightfully) felt they were being thrown into the meat grinder, without any fighter protection, to face German defences and get torn apart for minimal results - just to prove "America was in the War". When the long-range P-51 Mustang escort fighter came into service in early 1944 the situation began to change - as I'm sure this series will show in future episodes.

This episode was much better than 1 and 2.

There's a reason the name's Regenburg/Schreinfurt has special meaning to the USAF.

Answer to the Goblin question: You ask one of them (doesn't matter which) what the direction the other one would say was the right direction to Valhalla. The you'd go the opposite direction. If you ask the one that tells the truth, he'll give the liars answer, which would be wrong. So you go the other way. If you ask the one that only lies, he'll lie and tell you the opposite of what the truth teller would say, which would also be incorrect. So you go the other way.