Any Allied soldier that evaded Capture by the Enemy ("evadee") and made it back to Allied lines with the assistance of the French Resistance (the Maquís) was automatically slated to go Home, mainly because if they were captured again, they could betray the Resistance cell(s) that helped them escape initially. However, there were some who were able to persuade the higher ups to let them stay and continue to fight. Famed pilot Chuck Yeager was one of those few; he lobbied all the way up to General Eisenhower himself, who issued the Order to let Yeager stay.
Great reaction like always. The P-51 was really a game changer in the war they could fly and fight with British and American bombers all the way to Berlin and back again. Its range was so large that it even began to replace British Spitfires towards the end of the war. On their way back from escort duty Mustangs would also take out targets of opportunity like enemy trucks, barges, and trains. And the escape of the prisoner camp of Stalag Luft 3 at Zagan in what is now Poland is well documented, the Royal Air Force Squadron Leader Roger Bushell came up with a plan to get 200 of his men out of the camp. The plan consisted of the men digging three separate tunnels which were named Tom, Dick, and Harry respectively. The genius of the plan was that, if one tunnel was discovered, the German officers would never consider the existence of two more tunnels. After a full year, the tunnel called Harry was finally complete. These tunnels were not simply holes in the ground, but were complex systems that included air circulation, staging posts, and tools made of tin cans. In March 1944, as the Gestapo ordered Stalag Luft III to increase efforts against escape, Bushell's plan went into action. Due to unforeseen problems such as tunnel collapse and inclement weather, only 76 men were able to escape via the tunnel rather than 200, and the 77th man who tried to escape was caught, leading the Germans to uncover the conspiracy. And this was the inspiration for the movie THE GREAT ESCAPE (1963) with Steve McQueen. Keep up the good work.
that was super cool to see the P51s, and it inspired me to do more research on those planes and some of the men still alive who flew them. wow. helps put things in perspective of the bravery and sacrifice of the men in these missions.
The RAF and its Commonwealth cousins, the RCAF and RAAF, only flew at night. So the ascendency of the P-51 as longe-range escort, was not a factor. Commonwealth Bomber squadrons only resumed daylight Bombing attacks until 1945. When the threat of the Luftwaffe had greatly diminished.
The Mustang continued to be used by the US Air Force, redesignated the F-51, as a ground attack aircraft in the Korean War. There was even the F-82 Twin Mustang, with 2 fuselages and a joint wing and 2 pilots for extreme long-range reconnaissance flights over the Pacific.
Two things about the P-51: The P-51 was a great example of cooperation between the British and the Americans. The original P-51's used Allison Engines which were... Ok. We were going to lend some Mustangs to the British, and one of their Test Pilots recommended that the Mustang swap from the Allisons to Rolls Royce Merlin Engines. The performance of the Mustang took off exponentially and became the long range Escort Fighter that was desperately needed. The second thing is a pop culture one. Did you know that the P-51's Rolls Royce Merlin provided the inspiration for the the Engine Sounds for the Millennium Falcon? :) When they were making Star Wars, sound engineers recorded the P-51 and sped up the recording to produce its sound.
Rosie' crew wanted the buzz job. He did it three times and a General was in the tower who had to hit the deck. The General enjoyed it. The show hasn't made clear that Rosie was a lawyer before he entered the service.
When the bombers would fire up a red flare as they were coming in to land. It was to alert the medical personnel and ambulances that their ship had wounded on board, so it wasn't a good sign.
As a kid my first electronics teacher built a radio like the one Buck made. Copper wire wound around a toilet paper roll, rusty razor, and a safety pin were all part of the radio. He later went on to be a radioman on a blimp in WWII. He had to be able to fix everything radio related in the gondola because he couldn’t just drop to the ground and get parts. These days those kinds of skills aren’t taught.
Quinn and Bailey took over 6 to 8 months to get home. Shot down in august. Took around 5 to 6 months just to get into spain another month to get to gibralter and then back in UK within the month. In november 1943 in the local paper baileys parents received a medal on his behalf at that point though they hadnt heard anything about him in over 3 months
It’s hard to believe that this is only the third episode with Rosenthal-I am already so invested in his story! The way that they edited his re-upping right after we learned that the Nazis are looking for Jewish pilots at the POW camps just heightened his potential outcome if he was shot down.
This is Rosie’s fourth episode. He was introduced in Ep.4, in a way that foreshadowed his 25th mission. However, completely agree with you about what was happening to Jewish POWs. Loved that the captured colonel emphasized those are Americans.
Rosie was a legend and I became invested in his story as well partly because of Nate Mann’s portrayal - probably my fav of the series. He’s gorgeous - the camera loves his face - but he’s an incredibly talented actor. Ep 5 is still my favorite so far. Sad to see this series end so soon. The classic film “Judgment at Nuremberg” (1961) would be a great reaction.
Spoiler here but I also read he kept re-upping until Command said no. Much appreciated but no. He was really dedicated to the cause. Total of 52 missions from what I read. And then went on to become prosecutor in the Nuremberg trials. What a bad ass!
08:00 - Electronics was a pretty big hobby from the '30s to the '70s or so. It would have been common for a kid to build a primitive radio set at home. A buddy of mine is a big amateur radio (HAM radio) enthusiast, he told me this generation of guys pretty much invented the hobby. The "Radio Shack" chain stores actually started as a place where people could buy parts to build their own radio sets. I remember as a kid in the '60s, they had a brand called "Heathkit" where they sold a box full of everything you needed, and all you had to do was solder it all together.
Notice that the P-51s are unpainted silver. Early in the war the US painted its planes olive green (or ocean blue in the Navy) for camouflage, but paint adds a lot of weight -- think about how heavy a can of paint from the store is, then imagine the hundreds of gallons needed to paint an entire plane -- so later planes were unpainted, including later B-17s.
What's interesting though is the b-17 without paint was slower than the painted one. The paint sealed up all the rivets and overlapping joints so the parasitic drag was less. The painted one was heavier but since it was faster the unpainted ones had to use more fuel to keep up. In all actuality the painted ones used less fuel per mission.
@@kirktravis5780 Yes, good point, I recall reading that too. But I thought I read (although I could be remembering wrong) that unpainted planes could achieve a slightly higher altitude than painted ones because of the weight difference, which probably didn't matter as much for bombers but mattered a lot for high-altitude fighters like the P-51.
@@charlize1253 planes like the p-51 and even the b-29 had flush panel seems and flush riveting. They would be able to go faster without paint. The b-17 and p-38 were designed before naca discovered parasite drag. So they both suffered from it. It's also a myth that heavier means slower. Were really affects performance is fuel consumption. I mean a super heavy plane of course is going to be slower but it's amazing how a bomber with twice the load can be just as fast as the one with half the load.
So far no mention of the 4th fighter Group or the 56th (flying P47s) these groups bore the brunt of the fight with the Luftwaffe over western Europe with the 8th Air Force
All I could think about while watching the bombing run was how in the hell do you even find a target to shoot at safely in that chaos?!? What brave guys those men were!!
General Eisenhower had informed new 8th Air Force commander General James Dolittle (JAN-1944, assumed command) that the Luftwaffe had to be effectively neutralized or the Normandy landings could not happen as scheduled for mid-1944. This is why the 8th AF bombers had to be used as bait to lure the Luftwaffe into the air for the P51B/C Mustangs to destroy. The P-47 was a superb fighter, and with drop tanks cold actually escort bombers all the way to Berlin and back. However, after dropping the external tanks, the P-47,as it existed in 1943/44, did not have the internal fuel supply for much loiter time to damage the Luftwaffe over German air space. The P51B/C had a large internal fuel supply, after external tanks were dropped, allowing longer loiter time over German air space to destroy the Luftwaffe. It was the "Greenhouse canopy' P51B/C's that effectively neutralized the Luftwaffe March-May, 1944, so effectively that during the June 6, 1944 D-Day landings, the Luftwaffe barely made an appearance, having no effect at all during D-Day. The bubble canopy P51D's did not arrive in Europe until beginning around July, 1944, well after D-Day. So it was the P51B/C's that neutralized Luftwaffe effectiveness prior to D-Day. The P47 Thunderbolt's time to truly shine was after captured Luftwaffe airfields in France could be used after D-Day. From June, 1944 to war's end on May 8, 1945, the France-based P47 Thunderbolts amassed a ground destruction record that has never been equaled, and likely never will be: 86,000 railroad cars, 9,000 locomotives, 6,000 armored fighting vehicles, and 68,000 trucks. Some P47 pilots claimed that the eight .50 caliber Browning machine guns the Thunderbolt carried could not only destroy a railroad locomotive with a light touch of the trigger, but would often topple the locomotive from the tracks! The P47 was so effective that by NOV-DEC, 1944, the German Army could move only during darkness or when poor weather kept the P47's grounded. The German Army literally could not move when Thunderbolts were in the air! Maybe someday, a TV / movie story will be made about the incredible post D-Day effectiveness of the Thunderbolts in stopping German Army movements. It is a story that needs to be told. And we have to be fair to our British Cousins. Side by side in ground attack duties with the P47 Thunderbolt, the RAF put the highly effective Hawker Typhoon and Tempest to use. The Typhoon and Tempest were as capable in ground destruction as the P47, and played a major part in keeping the German Army immobilized, and short of supplies by knocking out practically anything that moved on the ground.
"" knocking out practically anything that moved on the ground."" While it's true that allied air power did indeed hamper German tank movements a great ideal, in reality only around 5% to 7% of German armour was actually taken out by allied air power. Ground attack aircraft were not very accurate. In Normandy out of a pool of nearly 200 Panthers examined to determine specific causes of losses only a dozen were due to air power. Source : Germanys Panther Tank, The Quest For Combat Supremacy by Thomas L Jentz.
@@lyndoncmp5751 Knocking out tanks directly is actually not required to win. Knocking out the supply lines to tanks, infantry, etc is what stops a war machine. That's why the Thunderbolt destruction record of 9000 locomotives, 86,000 railway cars, 68,000 trucks, etc, really hits home as to the direct stopping of a war machine.
@@63DW89A Well I was responding specifically to the knocking out anything that moved on the ground part. They were quite inaccurate against tanks and it wasn't air power that stopped the panzer divisions to be fair. It was the allied army ground forces. The German Army and Waffen SS had to be fought and overcome on the ground. The western allies had air superiority all the way from D-Day. Actually even before that in Sicily and Italy. The ground forces had to destroy the German Army mile by mile, slowly. The Germans were still coming as late as the Ardennes in late December 1944 so clearly all the air superiority in the world before this didnt stop them. Nor did it get the allies through the Westwall/Siegfried Line all through autumn 1944. Allied air power with regards to defeating the German ground forces is overstated really. Cheers.
I am also happy to see several pilots and crew made it in the same camp as Buck and Bucky. Hambone (Hamilton) for example, the bombadier who got injured before bailing out and got stuck with the door! At least he made it.
Frank Musphy, the kid who received a letter fomhis mother wrote a very good book about the 100th called 'Luck Of The Draw'. I just finished reading it this afternoon. He describes the shooting incident fromthe episode where a guard shot one of the Krigies (prisoners) who was just standing in a doorway during an air raid.
The incident in the destroyed city is based on the Rüsselsheim Massacre which happened August 26, 1944. 8 Americans from a bomber were forced to walk through a town to another train station after the tracks (and parts of the town) were destroyed in the night's previous Canadian/RAF joint bombing. The men only had two guards. 6 men were shot and killed by the Air Raid Warden after the riot started but 2 men were able to escape the cart of bodies. Bucky Egan was not present for this (and many of the American's were also absent for what is dubbed "The Great Escape" but I love that this show is using these men's stories to also show a wider scope of POW stories in WW2).
The first P-51 mission was in late 1943. The change of plan to make the bombers the bait had occurred in February, 1944, before the Eighth's first attack on Berlin. The raid on 4 March 1944 consisted of 502 B-17s escorted by 86 P-38s, 563 P-47s and 121 P-51s. The escorts didn't fly with the bombers all the way. One set of fighters would escort the bombers part way, then another set would take another leg, and then another would continue to target. P-51s could initially fly deep into Germany, but additional fuel tanks were added to extend the range further. At least some of the P-51s shown were the P-51D variant, which were only just arriving in Briatain in March 1944, should would not have been on the missions shown. One of them appeared to have the red tail of the Tuskegee Airmen, but they didn't get their P-51s until June/July 1944 and they never escorted the Eighth Air Force bombers. "The first daylight raid on Berlin" was not actually the first. That honour goes to Mosquitoes of the RAF, which made two attacks on Berlin on 30 January 1943 - one to disrupt a planned speech by Goering and another to interrup a speech by Goebbels. Both attacks were by 3 Mosquitoes. Rosie buzzing the tower reminded me of the fate of F for Freddie. F for Freddie was a de Havilland Mosquito Mk.IX of the RAF which flew 213 missions, possibly the most by any bomber. It was sent to Canada for a war bonds tour in 1945. On 9 May 1945 it was to fly from Calgary to an RCAF base, and buzzed the tower on a couple of occasions. On seeing a friend arrive on the ground, the pilot do buzz the tower one more time, but this time the aircraft hit the flag pole, crashed and was destroyed, and the pilot and navigator killed.
Rosenthal would complete 52 missions his last was leading his 418-bomb group to berlin on feb 3 1945 raid the 1000 plane raid. his medals were. also after war Rosenthal served as an assistant to the U.S. prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials, where he interrogated Hermann Göring Distinguished Service Cross Silver Star (2) Distinguished Flying Cross (2) Purple Heart (2) Air Medal (8) Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Croix de Guerre
P51 changed the war. It was the first fighter with enough range to escort all the way to Berlin and back. It was a monster at high altitudes because of it's two stage turbocharger and high horsepower. The P51 enabled the allies to take it to the Germans door step. The incendiary wholesale bombing of Berlin is controversial as thousands of civilians were killed and the city was destroyed.
The P-51 Mustang was a game-changer because of its extreme long range. Prior fighter planes couldn't carry enough fuel to make it as far as the bombers could (gas has its own weight and size, about 8 pounds per gallon, so bombers can carry more than fighters). The P-51 was the first plane built with a turbocharger and could fly all the way from England to Berlin with enough extra to dogfight enemy fighters and perform ground attacks of its own. The P-51 cut bomber losses to a fraction of the number before its arrival. It was fast, maneuverable, could fly higher and farther, and was almost a perfect plane, except that its only weakness was that it was a touch fragile because it had a water-cooled engine and one bullet in the water cooling system would down it.
''Prior fighter planes couldn't carry enough fuel'' The P-51 couldn't carry enough fuel - until the British told them to put drop tanks on to extend their range!
What? P51 was NOT first plane with turbocharger, turbocharger engines and planes was a thing before WWII. And P47 had turbocharging system too as well (the reason of its big fuselage). And P51 did not outperformed other planes. It was better for long range escort - yes. But it is the only advantage.
In general, the P-51 was not good in a dogfight - much less maneuverable than other fighters. But, at high altitude it could out-perform the FW190 (an otherwise much better plane). The P-47 had the same ceiling as the P-51. The P-51 was not the first plane with a turbocharger - the B-17, B-24, and P-38 had them (all pre-Mustang planes). The Mustang was not a game changer. The P-51D with external tanks enabled bomber escort all the way to Berlin. Losses were reduced, but not to ''a fraction''.
A veteran of the 100th bomb group who is now 101 years old said that things really changed when general Doolittle took over the 8th air force. He said that 'escorting' the bombers did not work, because the fighters had to weave back and forth so they wouldn't leave the bombers behind. This used up fuel that limited the fighters' range. He said that Gen. Doolittle ordered the fighters ahead to destroy the Germans' aircraft on the ground. And when the tactics changed, the survival rate of the bombers increased. The 101 year old veteran's interview is on RU-vid, I just can't remember his name.
Happy they stuck to historical accuracy and did show the great escape as happening off screen with many of the American PoWs unaware it had been planned for awhile (although I realize there were some Americans who did help with the tunnel building before being transfered)
Back when the History Channel actually showed history, they had an excellent series called Dog Fights (I have it on DVD) It starts with WW 1 and goes up to the Gulf War. Those scenes where the fighters are engaging each other would get so fast and tight turning that pilots would refer to them as "fur-balls" as it was difficult to determine who was who from the outside.
The P51 is a fantastic aircraft. But one thing the series does not mention is that P47s, P51s, P38s were sent on seek out and destroy missions on the Luftwaffe. Hitting airfields and what not. Not taking away what these guys did. But the P51 gets way too much credit. It’s arguably the best fighter. But according to pilots who flew P47s and then switched to P51s. They preferred the firepower and pilot survivability of the P47 over the P51. P51 is good but it still has flaws that are overlooked.
At this point in the war the P-51 rolled out as a multi roll airframe, it was a fighter, fighter bomber and escort because of its long range area of operations
One of the ways of ordering the chapters in the novel 𝑪𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉-22 chronologically is by noting the number of missions the crews are forced to fly. The "brass" raises the number every time anyone gets close to finishing, eventually reaching 80.
Well in 'Catch..' the real issue was that nearly all the resources (spares; replacements etc) for the tactical air power went to France for the landings at Normandy and the drive to Germany. The medium bomber guys in Italy and Corsica just 'had to make due' and keep on flying, without a tour of duty, cuz Italy was a bit of a 'side show' for the Allies
Crosby never told his wife about the British lady. When his wife died he came out about it and wrote about the affair. Heard this from another podcast.
Awesome reaction to this series episode. One of the main reasons for the "bait" tactics, though not as apparent yet, was quite simple: Command actually changed PRIORITY. The priority became to DESTROY THE LUFTWAFFE in the air and on the ground and anywhere that it could be found. IF you take out the enemy's fighter protection then your own bombers could actually make to/from the target with relative ease. These tactics actually took a terrible toll on the German (and Japanese) pilots. However, there still is the anti-aircraft fire you still have to fly through. Now that the P-51s have come into the picture and proven that they could escort the bombers to just about anywhere in Europe AND still have enough fuel left over, they would go out roaming the area in search of German airfields and try to entice the German fighters to take to the air. However, the Germans quickly caught on to that tactic and tried to refuse combat. If that were the case, then the Americans would just attack the airfield and do as much damage as possible. Also, the Americans, as well as other Allied aircraft, would just about attack any type of target of opportunity whether it be bridges, factories, airfields, anti-aircraft positions, trains, even trucks driving down the road by themselves. Also, the reason WHY the mission total was raised was because Command is starting to realize that the QUALITY of the Luftwaffe pilots is beginning to drop drastically as well. Remember, German pilots CANNOT just "go home" like the Allied pilots after so many missions - they literally had nowhere to go!! Eventually the total missions would be raised again to 35, then 40, and so on until it finally reached some crazy number like 80 or so. With the P-51s flying escort for the bombers and brutalizing the Luftwaffe at every possible chance thus keeping the pressure on, the Germans (like the Japanese) were not able to get the proper training needed to become effective fighter pilots. Also, the LACK OF FUEL for the Germans (and Japanese) was taking a huge toll as well. They needed FUEL for their tanks, warships, aircraft, V1 & V2 rockets, jet aircraft, etc. and without FUEL something has got to give. Remember, the Germans are in FULL RETREAT along the Eastern Front (Russia), as the Soviets had overrun many fuel refineries and oil producing areas in Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, southwestern Russia, and so on. The Germans were literally forced to create SINTHETIC FUELS/OILS for their equipment - whatever worked. Hopefully this series will show the German ME262 jet fighter. Also, later on you should notice the Allied aircraft (especially American) will no longer have camouflage paint on them - they will be BARE METAL SILVER. This is very simple as well: once the Allies pretty much had total control of the skies over Europe, there really was no longer a need to camouflage the aircraft (+ the paint added weight to the aircraft thus affecting their load and other characteristics). It was not uncommon to look to the skies and see the sun glinting off of thousands of aircraft coming to bring a world of hurt to your area. Remember that scene in the movie "Fury" where Brad Pitt was pointing to the skies, and you see a massive stream of Allied bombers?? By that time that scene took place, the Allies dominated the skies over Europe - the Germans were lucky to get a handful of aircraft to attack them. That was April 1945.
Good info man, yeah that scene in fury you're on about was literally near the end of the war, the allies entered into Germany at that point and there was little to nothing left of the luftwaffe, so they scrambled whatever they had left to delay the allies and cause as much punishment as possible, kinda like how the Japanese did with the kamikazes and underground tunnels they built in places like Peleliu, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
Idk how far into the end of the war this series will take us but let's hope they actually take us far enough eventually showing us the me 262 as well that would be legit.
January 1944 marked a turning point in the war in the air, as the Allies shifted focus to ending the war. Raids on Berlin became constant, to the point the city was under air attack for days at a time between the USAAF daylight raids and the RAF night raids. The P-51 Mustang made its debit as an escort fighter. But January 1944 also marked the beginning of the Jet Age, as the Messerschmidt Me262-B "Schwalbe" made its combat debut over Europe. Armed with 4 30mm MK-103/108 automatic cannons and often 12 "Nädelin" high velocity air-to-air rockets, they were a serious threat to any fighter or bomber over German skies.
At that point in the war, it should be said that survivability was considered more probable than earlier. The Lufwaffe was becoming a ghost of what it once was. Germany was having more and more trouble replacing their downed pilots with quality replacements. The US was able to field more and more airpanes of all types to Europe and Japan. D-Day was imminent and the Allies were on the brink of sealing up air superiority. 20 missions kind of made sense. Holding on the the veteran crew made sense.
There are 2 movies. Memphis Bell which is about a B-17, the graphics are dated but still good. The other is Red Tails about a air group that did bomber escort. Both are relevant to this series
The british managed to hide a lot of secret radios in stalag Luft 3 and americans and brits built a few as well. Two of my favourites are the one the brits hid in an accordian and another they hit in a model sail boat
RE: the raid(s) on Berlin: the first full raid by the 8th AF on Berlin was the costliest mission ever flown by the 8th Bomber force (69 shot down Bombers) because it was VERY heavily opposed; then after a standdown for weather, they went for it again; the second raid was still kind of high (37 bombers lost) then the next day they flew another full strength mission-only 8 bombers were lost. The luftwaffe suffered pretty high losses on those first two missions, as well as wear and tear on their own fighters; they didn't even try to intercept the Bombers. They said the weather was too bad to fly AND serviceability was too low. Understand that after losing over 100 bombers on 3 missions, the 8th could still put up full strength missions (700++ bombers escorted by 700++ fighters). The luftwaffe was just ground down.
The RAF had to bomb Berlin alone at the end of 1943/beginning of 1944 though. Only the RAF bombed Berlin in November and December 1943 and January 1944. The USAAF suspended deep raids into Germany during this period until fighters could accompany them in February 1945.
@@lyndoncmp5751 And, as I recall, the Luftwaffe night fighter force dealt Bomber Command terrible losses as well. So much so that I think even Harris had second thoughts on the whole 'Battle of Berlin' idea.
Yes, Flak and night fighters took a heavy toll on RAF Bomber Command. The Germans had the best night fighters. The allies didn't really develop them as much because the USAAF flew in the day so no need, and the RAF didn't have fighter escorts at night so again no need.
Yes, Mustang was not the best at all, it was great escort fighter for its own task. Thats all. In all other aspects.. Another planes was better: Spitfires, BFs, FWs, LAs, YAKs.
The Stalag Guards got nervous late in the war because the camps tended to be in the east and the Russians came closer rapidly. The P51 was mostly so great because of its high range while maintaining good abilities in as an air superiority fighter. For pure Dogfights or interception one can argue for some other planes. But the 51 could Escort on long range missions. The real game changer will come next episode with Doolittle in command though. He will aim at destroying enemy fighters on the ground or while landing. After they land from their first interception Mission. Brutal for the first bomber missions who have to basically be with very limited support again. But strategically in the long run a brilliant move.
Buzzing the tower was actually quite illegal and could be severely fined for it something like £500 dollars each maybe which in those days were a lot. A story of one crew that reached 25 the night before they did a fundraiser around their unit to raise the money for the fine
Pilots who escape via the underground were generally sent to a different theatre, those two were likely flying in B29s over Japan before the year was out.
There’s a movie called Red Tails (bit too Hollywood) about the Tuskegee airmen, who you will see in the next episode. Might want to consider watching that one!
Stalog 17 is a fantastic movie that takes place in a WWII POW camp. It's a drama but with a lot of comedy mixed in. It was an inspiration to the 70's TV show Hogan's Heroes. It would make for a great follow-up after watching this series. It is easily my favorite black-and-white movie.
Just to say even during the perilous Schweinfurt-Regenbursg double strike raid they had fighter escorting them. Sadly Spitfire and P-47 Thunderbolt didn't have sufficient range of action to do it (a partial circle between Hanover and Frankfurt and you got P-47 Thunderbolt Max autonomy with an additional belly tank... And that was if and only if your fighter escort wasn't engaged into air combat. cause to increase manoeuvrability they got to drop their 'baby' so in fact less autonomy).
if you want to read a really good book on the real story of the British Great Escape , the build up, effort of construction, during and the aftermath from the perspective of one the escapees. See if you can get a copy of Moonless Night by B.A. "Jimmy" James. Absolutely fascinating story and one i think anyone wanting to know more would enjoy
P-51s do have the fuel range with drop tanks with extra fuel in them they could go 1600 miles and it was about 1000 miles give or take from England to Berlin
I’d heavily recommend the movie Mosul, a very good and important movie following Iraqi swat as they fight isis in their home city. One of the finest war films I’ve ever seen
The bombers weren't really sent up as "bait" - they had a strategic mission to complete - destroying the means with which Germany could wage war. The next big target was oil production and refining as well as aircraft assembly plants. P-51's would soon be released from protecting the bomber fleets in close formation and could roam over the countryside shooting down everything they could find - dominating the airspace over German airfields and airports. Later in the war both bombers and fighters weren't painted saving weight, production time, they had no need for camouflage and the bright silver color of the aircraft signaled to the Luftwaffe where they were (sort of bait) - so the Germans could try to send up fighters to attack US planes - and be shot down.
Based on the show's own logic, the chance of surviving an individual mission is 94%. 0.94^11 = 0.50. The chance of reaching 25 missions, then, is about 0.94^25 = 21%
Maybe i'm being picky, but why are all the deciduous trees in full leaf at 23 minutes in, when it states it's March the 8th. In England the trees aren't in leaf until late April/early May. Also the thickets of grass beside the runway are large and scorched, again that's a typical end of summer foliage.
Just last week, the 100th Bomb Group Foundation’s FB group released Bucky Egan’s POW card photo-he looks in terrible shape there. It really illustrates what he tells Buck about not being the same man he was before the war.
Nothing against this show but every time I see a it’s notification I always think y’all are gonna see He-Man Masters of the Universe haha I get way to excited haha
Man I’ve been absolutely loving masters of the air but..the last 2 episodes really plummeted. I’m still hangin on tho. I think they just really have to knock these next two out of the park!
The P51 wasnt that great until they lent some to the british and a british Test pilot went what if we fit them with Rolls Royce Merlin engines instead ( same as spitfire and other planes) improved the performacne massively and made it the escort fighter needed.
@@lyndoncmp5751 - That is not what that scene is about. The kammandant is just warning them not to get any ideas. But you clearly did not watch the episode, because it was stated outright that escape was RAF.
In an otherwise outstanding series, I really didn't like this episode. Lots of continuity errors. Lots of redundant storytelling in a series in which time is preciously limited, and lots of characterisations of people not supported by the source material. The CGI was also noticeably worse here. The Stalag scenes are good. The scene where Rosie re-ups is excellent.
Somehow this is the weakest episode for me, mostly I think because it looks like the CGI budget ran out and they made up an affair that Crosby never said happened. They some how made the dogfight look worse than redtails and the bombing looked like an early 2000s video game and somehow they never hit the water that straddled the target. I won't go into how bad the mustangs looked even in the glimpses we got because I'm a ww2 aviation nut and this show isn't really made for me.
Not to mention the acting seemed very rough sometimes. The line from Pappy Lewis to Rosenthal after their 25th was framed like a soap opera and performed at a middle school play level. But yeah, the CGI was REAL rough during the P51 flyby and bombing scene. It could be the new director for this episode.
Actually...Crosby spent the rest of the war with her and never told his wife about it. He wrote about it in his book. It was not a platonic relationship.