Air Power Disc 1
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00:00:00There were no movie cameras present when the airplane was invented in 1903.
00:00:19Only a few cautious words were printed in the newspapers.
00:00:22If we marveled at anything, it was the automobile, the earthbound, rattling, clanging, horseless
00:00:27carriage.
00:00:28In 1908, the Army bought an airplane from its inventors, the Wright Brothers.
00:00:39Military minds had little idea of how an airplane might be used in war, but the specification
00:00:44said the plane had to fly at 40 miles an hour for one hour, in still air, without the use
00:00:50of a gas bag.
00:00:55These are the first films made of an American plane in flight.
00:01:02In 1910, Theodore Roosevelt strapped himself in a Wright Flyer.
00:01:06Teddy was forever shocking the fashionable elements of the country, and he did it again
00:01:11when he became the first United States president to fly.
00:01:18Once Teddy had flown, he said, bully, and walked away from flying.
00:01:22So did the whole country.
00:01:25Nobody was quite sure what an airplane ought to look like, or sound like.
00:01:32The Wright Brothers' plane was aided in takeoff by a stone weight dropped behind the plane.
00:01:38Few military observers thought perhaps the airplane might have some military value.
00:01:43But to the public, the airplane was only an amusing toy.
00:01:47Its future seemed restricted between danger and novelty.
00:01:50The people who turned out hoped the pilots would break their necks.
00:01:54The pilots were always on the verge of doing so.
00:01:58Flight was glory for the gentleman adventurer and the sportsman.
00:02:13But the machine age and mass production of machines had arrived.
00:02:20Mass production sharpened the economic rivalry between European countries.
00:02:24The whole century was rolling in a direction unknown to its armies and to its leaders.
00:02:31Below the surface, intense nationalism.
00:02:36Then suddenly, remotely, the Austrian Archduke assassinated.
00:02:40Austria and Serbia went to war.
00:02:45Russia began to mobilize.
00:02:50Germany mobilized.
00:02:55She declared war, not against anybody, just a state of war.
00:03:06The French received a German ultimatum, which the French considered an insult to their national honor.
00:03:12The British were allied with the French.
00:03:14Secret alliances, competition for foreign markets, jingoism, all were leading to a world conflict.
00:03:22Each country knew how it would win this new war, just the way the last major war had been won.
00:03:28Quick mobilization.
00:03:32Massive infantry.
00:03:35A few cavalry attacks.
00:03:42A machine gun, an almost unnoticed weapon, stopped the cavalry, stopped the infantry,
00:03:49stopped the idea of a short war of movement.
00:03:55Both sides were almost exhausted when the United States entered the war.
00:03:59President Wilson signed the declaration of war for high purposes,
00:04:03and we went to war with high hopes and slogans.
00:04:23There could be no greater contrast to the ground war than the war in the air.
00:04:28On the ground, massive, slow-moving battles.
00:04:32In the air, lightning attacks and raids.
00:04:36The concepts of cavalry had shifted to disguise, hit, destroy, and run.
00:04:42America's frontline fighter in 1918, the Span.
00:04:46Speed about 120 miles an hour.
00:04:49Crew, one man, the former leader of the 94th Pursuit Squadron,
00:04:53America's ace of aces in World War I, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker.
00:04:59A handful of Americans had served with the British Royal Flying Corps
00:05:03and the French Lafayette Escadrille.
00:05:07But those American pilots who came over in 1917 had little training and no planes.
00:05:13Our squadron flew French equipment.
00:05:16We were a group of happy-go-lucky individuals.
00:05:24Here I introduce the members of my squadron to the camera.
00:05:28We called ourselves the Hat in the Ring Squadron.
00:05:34The observation balloon was the first aerial weapon.
00:05:38It had been used as early as the American Civil War.
00:05:43The first airplanes were thought of as observation balloons without strings.
00:05:49An early French staff report on aviation asserted,
00:05:53real combat in the air must be considered a myth.
00:05:57The duty of the aviator is to see and not to fight.
00:06:01Nevertheless, early flyers fired pistol shots at each other.
00:06:06Later, hand grenades were thrown.
00:06:10The idea of carrying machine gun on an airplane also came early in the war.
00:06:15But the planes bounced too much for accurate aiming.
00:06:19A new idea was introduced.
00:06:21The guns were fixed to fire forward,
00:06:23and the planes, instead of the guns, were aimed at the enemy.
00:06:27Until we learned how to synchronize guns and props,
00:06:31some pilots actually shot off their own propellers.
00:06:37The early air war had no rules.
00:06:40We were finding out what the airplane could and couldn't do.
00:06:45When the pilots received incendiary bullets,
00:06:48they went after the hydrogen-filled balloons.
00:07:00The balloons later became props.
00:07:03Both sides put masses of machine guns around them
00:07:06and waited for the pilots to attack.
00:07:18The airplane was being used to destroy the enemy's ability to observe.
00:07:23This meant that each side tried to deny the air to the other
00:07:28and led to air-to-air combat.
00:07:32We called it dogfighting.
00:07:40We maneuvered to get into the enemy's blind or undefended spots.
00:07:48♪♪
00:07:58♪♪
00:08:08There were no parachutes. If the planes went down, the pilots went down with them.
00:08:18This is the French Chase, George's gear mirror being decorated.
00:08:33Charles Nunges here, later to die attempting a transatlantic crossing.
00:08:41Baron Manfred von Richthofen, with 80 kills, was the leading German ace of the war.
00:08:48Another pilot who flew with Richthofen was Hermann Göring.
00:08:52Göring was later to become the head of the German Air Force in World War II.
00:09:22The airplane probably did not shorten the war by one day.
00:09:41By 1918, the American infantry had given the Allies numerical superiority.
00:10:01On November 11, 1918, at 11 o'clock, an armistice. The war was over.
00:10:15When the Americans came home, although they had seen only a year of combat, they were cynical.
00:10:21No parade could stem the feeling of anti-militarism that would follow the most unromantic war of modern history.
00:10:32The only adventure, the only incident that captured the public's imagination, the airplane.
00:10:37The only folklore and legend to emerge from battle, the whirling, swirling individual combat in the sky.
00:11:07Dawn, September 1, 1939. The day the Second World War began.
00:11:20The raps come off the German Air Force.
00:11:33At 4.40 a.m., the signal is given to Bomber Group 33.
00:11:44Twenty years and two months after the Germans signed the Treaty of Versailles,
00:11:48which specifically prohibited Germany from building military aircraft,
00:11:52the greatest air force in the world is committed.
00:11:59This is the story of the rise of the German Air Force.
00:12:10The German Air Force, the Luftwaffe, begins with toys, gliders.
00:12:28It begins with the Hitlerjugend, where Nazi youth learned discipline and aeronautics.
00:12:34Most of all, it begins with the rise of Adolf Hitler,
00:12:38who offers the German people a flash of parades and a show of violence.
00:12:44On the surface, direct action.
00:12:52Below the surface, heavy emphasis on air power.
00:13:12Balsa wood toys become paper bombers within a few short years.
00:13:16We are building transport planes, says Hitler.
00:13:19The German aviation experts, Heinkel, Dornier, Junkers,
00:13:23bring their plans and designs for military aircraft out of exile from Russia,
00:13:27Switzerland, and Denmark, where they have been hidden.
00:13:32The vastness of the German aircraft industry is the top secret of the Third Reich.
00:13:45A secret air force, a secret army.
00:13:52It cannot be kept completely secret.
00:13:55When Winston Churchill protests that Germany is violating the Versailles Treaty,
00:13:59Hitler says, the Versailles Treaty is founded on a monstrous lie.
00:14:04We want nothing more than peace with the world.
00:14:10Erring says, our few military aircraft are strictly for defense.
00:14:15Whatever the Reich has done is for passive air protection.
00:14:28Still in secrecy, the doors are opened on the German air force.
00:14:33How good are these planes?
00:14:37A mechanical bomber is designed to fly farther and faster than any bomber in Europe.
00:14:42The Messerschmitt 109 is 10 miles an hour faster than its closest British rival.
00:14:49The Stuka dive bomber is based on a U.S. Navy design, but is 20 miles an hour faster.
00:15:00The German air force is ready.
00:15:04The schoolboys have become soldiers.
00:15:19I swear to God this holy oath of the German Reich and people,
00:15:23to give unconditional obedience to Adolf Hitler, the supreme commander of the Wehrmacht,
00:15:29and to be prepared as a valiant soldier to give my life at any time for victory and the Reich.
00:15:39Where do they go from here?
00:15:41Men of Thuringia.
00:15:45Bavaria.
00:15:49Prussia.
00:15:54Where do they go from here?
00:15:58Men of Baselja.
00:16:01Hesse.
00:16:05Saxony.
00:16:10In tight-fitting suits, as civilian tourists, the Luftwaffe, disguised, goes to Spain.
00:16:17Carrying cheap cardboard suitcases, the Condor Legion volunteers for the Spanish Civil War.
00:16:29The Nazi cross is straightened to an X.
00:16:35In 1936, the Luftwaffe tests its planes in Spain.
00:16:40The planes of the German air force are no longer a secret.
00:16:52The world is impressed.
00:16:54Too impressed.
00:16:57Where do they go from here?
00:17:01Hitler says, Austria is my homeland.
00:17:06I have to help. I have been summoned.
00:17:13The Nazis march into Austria, March 12th, 1938.
00:17:36From this date on, Goering will re-emphasize and over-emphasize the strength of the German air arm.
00:17:42A subtle strategy underlies the boasting and bluffing.
00:17:46For the Nazis intend to go into Czechoslovakia, and they intend to use the threat of their air force as a political weapon.
00:17:55Where do they go from here?
00:17:57Where does the German air force go from here?
00:18:00It goes where it was always going, to war against Poland.
00:18:07The Luftwaffe is the most Nazified of the German services.
00:18:11This is an air force built for a short, fast war.
00:18:15Built to support the German ground army.
00:18:17A weapon as much for terror and propaganda as for combat.
00:18:26On September 1st, 1939, the German air force takes off for Poland.
00:18:40First target, the Polish air force, partially equipped with obsolete German planes, which the Luftwaffe has sold them.
00:19:03The Polish air force is caught on the ground.
00:19:13The Polish air force is destroyed in three days.
00:19:19The Polish ground army retreating toward Warsaw.
00:19:30Only in Warsaw do the Poles put up effective resistance.
00:19:34Outside the city, Hermann Goering builds bleachers and invites as spectators the few remaining members of the German general staff who doubt the Luftwaffe.
00:19:45The Nazi air force is sent against Warsaw at low level.
00:20:45The German air force is remarkably effective.
00:21:01It may be a little too Nazi for the non-political officers of the general staff.
00:21:06But the orthodox generals are as convinced as they ever will be.
00:21:10From Berlin, a signal is flashed in the second week of May, 1940.
00:21:15Execute operations Yellow and Red.
00:21:20The French have an army of a quarter of a million men sitting comfortably along the Maginot Line.
00:21:26How will the Luftwaffe fight underground troops?
00:21:34Surprise is the keynote.
00:21:37The Germans do not attack the Maginot Line, they flank it.
00:21:42The drive goes into Holland.
00:21:47In Holland, the Luftwaffe strikes in an unexpected manner.
00:21:52The German infantry is in the sky, paratroopers fall schirmtruppen.
00:22:01They do not bother to declare war, they jump headlong into the fight.
00:22:24Dutch resistance is quickly overcome.
00:22:32The French and British repeat the strategy of World War I.
00:22:35They wheel into Flanders to meet the advancing Germans.
00:22:39This is the orthodox expected plan of battle.
00:22:44The main weight of the British expeditionary force moves into Belgium.
00:22:54But the Germans are fighting a new war with new tactics.
00:22:58The Nazis attack with an unexpected use of air power.
00:23:02The Luftwaffe bombs Belgian towns and villages.
00:23:06The Belgians are panic-stricken.
00:23:08The Belgians leave their homes and flood onto the roads.
00:23:23Without machine gunning, the Germans herd the refugees toward the same roads the Allies are using.
00:23:42From one direction come the refugees.
00:23:47From the other direction, the Allies.
00:23:52Passage becomes difficult, then impossible.
00:23:56The Allied armies are trapped on the roads.
00:24:01This is the situation map of May 12th, 1940.
00:24:06The major French defences are here in the Maginot Line.
00:24:11Fifty-nine Allied divisions are here in Belgium and Holland.
00:24:17The hinge between the two armies is lightly held by the French.
00:24:22For here lies the Ardennes, a series of thickly wooded hills.
00:24:27No one expects the major attack at this point.
00:24:31And here is where the Germans will strike.
00:24:53A French staff report of 1937.
00:24:57A German attack through the Ardennes in strength must be considered impossible.
00:25:02There are only two secondary roads.
00:25:05German armour simply cannot move through the forest or cross country.
00:25:09Even if the Germans reach the Meuse River, they cannot possibly cross it without heavy artillery.
00:25:15In the time it will take the Germans to bring up their artillery, we will reinforce the French Ninth Army.
00:25:23The Germans reach the Meuse and call not for their artillery, but for their dive bombers.
00:25:29The Germans bring up assault boats.
00:25:47Supported by the Luftwaffe, they cross the river.
00:26:07The bridgehead is secure.
00:26:12The bridges are built in a matter of hours.
00:26:18The German heavy tanks appear where the French least expect them.
00:26:24The main German force appears where it never should have appeared.
00:26:28The Allied armies are split.
00:26:30The Maginot Line is flanked.
00:26:45Once the Meuse is crossed, France lies open, vulnerable.
00:26:51In the sky, the Luftwaffe strikes once more.
00:26:57Messerschmitt 109 is 30 miles an hour faster than the best French fighters.
00:27:17As always, the German air force, built primarily as a ground support weapon, covers the onrushing German ground troops.
00:27:28The Germans have discovered that they do not need great masses of infantry.
00:27:32Tank columns and air power are used to split the French army.
00:27:36The German infantry is used primarily to mop up the shattered Allied army.
00:27:44Now there is nothing left but the mopping up.
00:27:52Western Europe has fallen to these troops.
00:27:54Western Europe needs only to be occupied.
00:28:54Where do they go from here? To England.
00:29:17Only the English Channel stops the Germans.
00:29:20Only 22 miles of water to be crossed.
00:29:50The battle of France is over.
00:29:53The battle of Britain is about to begin.
00:29:56The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us.
00:30:04Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war.
00:30:11If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be freed and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands.
00:30:22But if we fail, then the whole world, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new dark age.
00:30:36Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duty.
00:30:39So bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say,
00:30:51This was their final hour.
00:31:13The Nazi asks us to surrender.
00:31:15He will grant Britain both peace and slavery.
00:31:19When we refuse his offering, with the sureness of success, he sends commands to legions based in conquered Europe.
00:31:26Mobilize, attack, kill Britain.
00:31:34Britain, waiting for the blow.
00:31:37The shadows of an army are all that have returned from Dunkirk's beach.
00:31:44A navy made for war in open seas faces battle in the narrow channel.
00:31:51The Air Force, weakened in the fight for France, faces odds of more than three to one.
00:31:59Britain, waiting for the blow, strong only in spirit.
00:32:19Plan of invasion.
00:32:21Conquer the air.
00:32:22Control the sky above the channel ports.
00:32:26The German navy on a narrow front forces three beachheads.
00:32:30A flood of German planes destroys the British fleet.
00:32:34And under air support, the beachhead Lincoln.
00:32:38Sweep to the west.
00:32:40Sweep to the north.
00:32:41Do not attack London, a city whose vastness might swallow an army.
00:32:46Surround London.
00:32:49Kill it by starvation.
00:32:53The air is the key.
00:32:55Who controls the air wins the Battle of Britain.
00:33:02The German planes now mass for the attack with specific, rigid plans for battle.
00:33:07The only target is the RAF.
00:33:10Not London, nor any British city.
00:33:12Not communications, nor supply.
00:33:15The planes are ordered not to deviate.
00:33:17They must attack the British fighters on the ground and in the air.
00:33:21The British landing fields, the airframe factories, aircraft engine works.
00:33:27The Royal Air Force and all supporting arms and services must be destroyed.
00:33:32Then, inevitably, the invasion will succeed.
00:33:38Three thousand German planes rise to attack.
00:33:41Three thousand German planes against nine hundred British fighters.
00:34:00Be ready our defense.
00:34:03Churchill speaks.
00:34:05If this invasion is going to be tried at all,
00:34:10it does not seem that it can be long delayed.
00:34:14Therefore we must regard the next week or so as a very important week for us in our history.
00:34:23It ranks with the days when the Spanish Armada was approaching the Channel
00:34:28and Drake was finishing his game of bow.
00:34:31Or when Nelson stood between us and Napoleon's Grand Army at Boulogne.
00:34:39Star Mass calling.
00:34:41Planes heard three miles southwest.
00:34:43They're hostile?
00:34:44Damn hostile.
00:34:48The German fleet approaches Dover's cliffs.
00:34:55The South of England slides below their wings.
00:35:10Sound of rocket launch.
00:35:17Sound of rocket launch.
00:35:22Sound of rocket launch.
00:35:31Sound of rocket launch.
00:35:39Sound of rocket launch.
00:35:46Sound of rocket launch.
00:35:49After a few days of German attack, the fight takes shape.
00:35:54Plane for plane, man for man.
00:35:57Our hurricanes and split fires hold the air.
00:36:00They penetrate the German fighter screen and fall upon the sluggish bomber groups.
00:36:07The Nazi bombers are too lightly armed.
00:36:11Out turned, out sped, out gunned.
00:36:14They flame and fall.
00:36:17Day after day, the German losses mount.
00:36:21Two for one, three for one.
00:36:24Yet still they come.
00:36:27Sensing victory by force of numbers, the enemy continues his attack, not counting cost.
00:36:35By weight, if not by skill, he holds himself against our air defense.
00:36:39He concentrates upon his single goal.
00:36:42Kill and destroy the Royal Air Force, and Britain is lost.
00:36:48Sound of rocket launch.
00:37:01Sound of rocket launch.
00:37:04Sound of rocket launch.
00:37:07Day after day, disasters, fires arise.
00:37:10Our air defense disintegrates to smoke.
00:37:13Sound of rocket launch.
00:37:17Sound of rocket launch.
00:37:30Day after day, we rise to meet the foe, attack and tear apart his bomber fleets.
00:37:37Yet at a cost.
00:37:40We do not go untouched.
00:37:43Sound of rocket launch.
00:37:48A spitfire streams a trail of glycol fumes.
00:37:58Another, too intent upon his kill, is taken from behind.
00:38:03Sound of rocket launch.
00:38:14Sound of rocket launch.
00:38:21We lose one plane while they lose three.
00:38:24Still, we are overwhelmed.
00:38:27Sound of rocket launch.
00:38:30The German purpose is within their reach.
00:38:33The Royal Air Force is falling away.
00:38:36Sound of rocket launch.
00:38:49The shield is pierced. The armor is aflame.
00:38:53Britain began the fight with far too few.
00:38:56Less than a few were left.
00:38:58To those who died, and those who still remain, this epitaph.
00:39:04Never are in the field of human conflict, when so much owed by so many to so few.
00:39:17All signs portend invasion comes in hours.
00:39:22Sound of engine.
00:39:32The only engines heard are ours.
00:39:39By day, the Germans dropped a few stray bombs on London.
00:39:43We retaliate by night.
00:39:46Bomber Command launches its minor raids against specific targets in Berlin.
00:40:17Sound of engine.
00:40:23Britain wakes to find this small event a secondary headline of the day.
00:40:32An unbelievable event takes place when Hitler hears Berlin was bombed.
00:40:37Both sentiment and politics inflame his mind.
00:40:40All military logic slips.
00:40:43He makes a gross strategic error as he diverts the point of his attack.
00:40:48Not invasion, but retaliation.
00:40:51Not victory, but vengeance.
00:40:54The war is changed. Unfold the map.
00:40:58New target.
00:41:01London.
00:41:04Sound of engine.
00:41:14Sound of engine.
00:41:24The Germans do not have sufficient planes to destroy both London and the RAF.
00:41:30Here is the turning point, the basic error of the war.
00:41:34Although the southern flank of England lies exposed and invasion is within the Nazis' grasp,
00:41:40the enemy has turned his bomber fleets against London.
00:41:45No longer is the fight machine against machine or plane against plane.
00:41:50London and its people are the targets.
00:41:53Sound of engine.
00:41:58The final target of a modern war inevitably wears no uniform.
00:42:10Sound of engine.
00:42:14Sound of explosion.
00:42:39The foe may have one victory, not two.
00:42:42Whether London or the Royal Air Force, he cannot have them both.
00:42:47If London burns, other planes explode.
00:42:51In the west and north, the bombing of the factories is stopped.
00:42:55If London bleeds, our arsenal grows strong.
00:42:59Sound of engine.
00:43:02Sound of engine.
00:43:10If London holds, our air force can rebuild.
00:43:14Our fighter strength is slowly reinforced.
00:43:17Sound of engine.
00:43:21While London suffers, absorbing time, safely to the west, new pilots train.
00:43:27Sound of engine.
00:43:32Sound of engine.
00:43:35Number 11 group is sent aloft once more.
00:43:38The fighter dogs is joined once more.
00:43:41Sound of engine.
00:43:44Sound of engine.
00:44:00In September, 40 or 50 squadrons of British fighter aircraft broke the teeth of the German air fleet at odds of 7 or 8 to 1.
00:44:13Sound of explosion.
00:44:26Never in the field of human conflict were so much owed by so many to so few.
00:44:34Sound of explosion.
00:44:43Sound of explosion.
00:45:01The German has lost control of the skies and invasion is no longer possible.
00:45:06The daylight fighting has cost the enemy too much.
00:45:09Now he comes by dark, knowing we are weak in night defenses.
00:45:23Hostile range, sir.
00:45:32Air power becomes a political weapon.
00:45:35For every people has a breaking point and all cities can be demoralized.
00:45:40The psychological use of terror is what Hitler calls it.
00:45:45He may still win the final victory if London loses the will to resist.
00:45:50Sound of explosion.
00:45:55Sound of explosion.
00:45:58Sound of explosion.
00:46:01Sound of explosion.
00:46:07Sound of explosion.
00:46:10Sound of explosion.
00:46:14Sound of explosion.
00:46:25What he has done is to kindle a fire in British hearts which will glow long after all traces of the conflagrations he has caused have been removed.
00:46:40He has lighted a fire which will burn with a steady and consuming flame until the old world and the new can join hands to rebuild the temples of man's freedom and man's honor upon foundations which will not be overthrown.
00:47:04Sound of explosion.
00:47:07Sound of explosion.
00:47:10Sound of explosion.
00:47:13Sound of explosion.
00:47:26Spring 1941. England stands alone.
00:47:31German air power, unable to force the British to surrender, has been withdrawn to attack Russia.
00:47:37But the assault against Great Britain continues, not with air power, but with sea power.
00:47:43From Hamburg, center of German submarine manufacture, comes the new U-boats.
00:47:47♪♪
00:47:52Into the waters of the North Sea slip Type 7 submarines, over 600 tons, carrying 14 torpedoes.
00:48:00♪♪
00:48:17The German undersea armada grows to 150 raiders.
00:48:22♪♪
00:48:29The mission of the U-boat pacts, blockade the British islands,
00:48:32destroy the Canadian, British, and American convoys that keep Britain alive.
00:48:37♪♪
00:48:48♪♪
00:49:00Ah!
00:49:01♪♪
00:49:29♪♪
00:49:36♪♪
00:50:06♪♪
00:50:35♪♪
00:50:44In 1941, the British lose four million tons of shipping.
00:50:49♪♪
00:50:55In 1941, 7,000 British and Canadian seamen are lost.
00:51:01♪♪
00:51:05The British talk of attack, not defense.
00:51:08♪♪
00:51:17The counterblast is at hand.
00:51:19♪♪
00:51:22July 1943, headquarters Bomber Command.
00:51:25The largest airstrike to date is about to begin.
00:51:28Bomber Command to all groups, targets for tonight.
00:51:33Maximum effort tonight, town 434, Germany.
00:51:39Roger.
00:51:42Town 434 is Hamburg.
00:51:45♪♪
00:51:50The planes begin to load at three o'clock in the afternoon.
00:51:55♪♪
00:52:00Somewhat later, the briefing begins.
00:52:02As soon as the Hun knows that you've found the target,
00:52:05you'll get the usual plentiful supply of flak.
00:52:08There's no good expecting an easy passage because you won't get one.
00:52:12Remember, don't risk aircraft unnecessarily.
00:52:15Your main object is to bomb the target,
00:52:17and then to bring your aircraft back safely.
00:52:21Well, chaps, no doubt about it, we've got a good one for tonight.
00:52:25It should be fairly easy to find,
00:52:28and with those water landmarks and the light,
00:52:33you should manage a good run up.
00:52:36Go in and flatten it, and good luck to you.
00:52:39♪♪
00:52:48The counterblast is underway, 800 planes strong.
00:52:52800 bombers aim at the 3,000 industrial plants
00:52:56scattered through Hamburg.
00:52:57800 bombers will strike the first blow against the city
00:53:01that builds almost half of Germany's submarines.
00:53:04♪♪
00:53:14♪♪
00:53:27From France to Denmark,
00:53:28the German anti-aircraft positions are manned and ready.
00:53:35German night fighter pilots are in their ready rooms,
00:53:38but on this night, something has gone wrong
00:53:40with the German early warning system.
00:53:43German radar is giving a confused signal.
00:53:46♪♪
00:53:51The British are dropping tinfoil
00:53:53and jamming the German radar defenses.
00:53:55When ground observers hear the British planes overhead,
00:53:58a general alarm is sounded,
00:54:00but the reports are contradictory.
00:54:02The Germans cannot decide which city will be the target.
00:54:06When ground observers hear the British planes overhead,
00:54:09a general alarm is sounded,
00:54:11but the reports are contradictory.
00:54:13The Germans cannot decide which city will be the target.
00:54:17A secondary alert is sounded throughout northwest Germany.
00:54:20♪♪
00:54:28The German radar is jamming the German radar defenses.
00:54:32When ground observers hear the British planes overhead,
00:54:36a general alarm is sounded,
00:54:38but the reports are contradictory.
00:54:40The Germans cannot decide which city will be the target.
00:54:44♪♪
00:54:54♪♪
00:55:04The German night fighters are alert.
00:55:06The British are somewhere over Germany.
00:55:08Perhaps these planes can find them by visual contact.
00:55:12♪♪
00:55:18♪♪
00:55:22♪♪
00:55:26♪♪
00:55:30♪♪
00:55:33The best the defenders can do is guess,
00:55:35and they guess the wrong city.
00:55:37The night fighters are sent to defend Berlin.
00:55:41The clouds protect the British planes from visual detection,
00:55:45but the clouds may obscure the target.
00:55:49♪♪
00:55:58Special planes, pathfinders,
00:56:00will drop through the cloud cover
00:56:02and illuminate Hamburg with flares.
00:56:05♪♪
00:56:13At 1144, the pathfinder planes
00:56:15begin their descent into the cloud cover.
00:56:18Okay, stand by. I'm going in in a glide.
00:56:22♪♪
00:56:29♪♪
00:56:36♪♪
00:56:46♪♪
00:56:57Bomb doors open.
00:56:59Bomb doors open.
00:57:01Left, left.
00:57:03Steady.
00:57:07Right.
00:57:11Bomb's gone.
00:57:14♪♪
00:57:23♪♪
00:57:33The flares clearly illuminate the targets.
00:57:35Now the formations come in through heavy flak concentration.
00:57:39The bomber stream has no trouble seeing the target.
00:57:46Left, left, left.
00:57:49Steady.
00:57:52Hold it.
00:57:58Bomb's gone.
00:58:04The center of the city is aflame.
00:58:07Each small light is a fire.
00:58:11♪♪
00:58:21♪♪
00:58:31♪♪
00:58:38In the center of Hamburg, the temperature is over 1,800 degrees.
00:58:43Steel girders melt under the heat.
00:58:46The fire is so intense that winds of cyclone proportions
00:58:50over 150 miles an hour roar through the city.
00:58:54♪♪
00:59:01♪♪
00:59:09The winds carry the fires into the outskirts of Hamburg.
00:59:13Only in the suburbs can the Germans muster firefighting defenses.
00:59:17♪♪
00:59:27♪♪
00:59:37♪♪
00:59:47In the morning, the city is dazed.
00:59:50♪♪
01:00:01At first, the enormity of the destruction is not realized.
01:00:05A few people set about the task of cleaning up.
01:00:09A few people begin to leave Hamburg.
01:00:12♪♪
01:00:19High Nazi officials arrive from Berlin,
01:00:21and the city officials set up food kitchens.
01:00:24♪♪
01:00:34Morning rescue efforts begin to set free thousands of people trapped in underground bunkers.
01:00:39♪♪
01:01:0840,000 persons will be killed in the raids on Hamburg.
01:01:14It was not until 2 o'clock in the afternoon that the people of the city broke down.
01:01:19Suddenly, the hysteria became panic.
01:01:22Civil laws broke down, and the people of Hamburg began to loot homes and stores.
01:01:27♪♪
01:01:51The looting went on until 3.37 in the afternoon.
01:01:55At 3.37, the alarms sound again.
01:01:59The Americans are coming.
01:02:01♪♪
01:02:11The Americans by day, the British by night.
01:02:14Round-the-clock bombing.
01:02:16The war has come to the German people.
01:02:20♪♪
01:02:40♪♪
01:02:46October 14th, 1943.
01:02:49All over England, the 8th United States Air Force prepares for a mission against Schweinfurt, Germany.
01:02:57All over England, the bombers are made ready.
01:03:01In 1943, this plane is a giant among bombers.
01:03:05An air crew of 10 men fly it, and a ground crew of 10 men service it.
01:03:12The newspapers call it the Flying Fortress.
01:03:15The airmen call it the 17th.
01:03:21Heavily armored, carrying a heavy bomb load,
01:03:24its mission is to destroy the industrial complexes of Germany.
01:03:28The mission has not yet been accomplished.
01:03:36♪♪
01:03:44While the ground crews ready the bombers, the flight crews are briefed.
01:03:53You never know where you're going until a briefing session begins.
01:03:57Of course, you hope for the easy ones, where the fighters can cover you all the way in and out.
01:04:02Milk runs.
01:04:04But this day, it's deep, real deep.
01:04:07When this major pulls up the curtain, that black line goes way into Germany.
01:04:14And way into you.
01:04:16The town is called Schweinfurt.
01:04:19And for an hour, they tell you how to get there and back.
01:04:24It should be easily identified by the airfield adjoining.
01:04:28Okay, boys, I'll tell you exactly.
01:04:30Escort 10.
01:04:31Bombers.
01:04:32Bombers.
01:04:3336 ships, each wing.
01:04:35The 880th will be high group, and the 764th will be low group.
01:04:41Remember that your biggest enemy is still a single-engine fighter plane.
01:04:47Now, you bombardiers, take your time in going in on your releases.
01:04:51But don't allow the flag to worry you.
01:04:54Men, the going's going to be rough.
01:04:58You're going to have to bow your necks in there and stay in there and pitch every minute.
01:05:02Now, gentlemen, this is the type of target you don't want to have to go back after the second time.
01:05:59Schweinfurt is the center of the German ball-bearing industry.
01:06:04Every machine that moves in war moves on ball bearings.
01:06:10Therefore, Schweinfurt is a number one priority target.
01:06:15This target lies deep in Germany, and the deeper the target, the stronger the German defenses.
01:06:21Deep penetrations into Germany are costing the Americans many bombers.
01:06:26The bombers must go deep, for if strategic bombardment is to be successful,
01:06:30the whole of Germany must be reached.
01:06:33The future of strategic bombardment may rest on this mission and these planes.
01:06:38The future of strategic bombardment may rest on this mission and these planes.
01:07:08© BF-WATCH TV 2021
01:07:38© BF-WATCH TV 2021
01:08:08© BF-WATCH TV 2021
01:08:13© BF-WATCH TV 2021
01:08:19© BF-WATCH TV 2021
01:08:25© BF-WATCH TV 2021
01:08:36At 1240 in the afternoon, a German patrol boat in the English Channel discovers the American bomber stream.
01:08:42The Germans radio a warning.
01:08:51German central control in Berlin begins to plot the track of the American bombers.
01:08:57The German defense system alerts the whole German air force as far north as the Baltic.
01:09:02German early warning has guessed the bombers are heading deep into Germany, but they cannot
01:09:06decide which city will be the probable target.
01:09:09They think it may be Frankfurt, but they wait for a half hour before committing the
01:09:13German fighters.
01:09:20At one ten in the afternoon, radio central flashes a decision to intercept at the German
01:09:24border.
01:09:25In a short time, the fight will begin.
01:09:56Top secret.
01:09:59Estimate of German air force capabilities, 14 October 1943.
01:10:04At the present time, there is no indication that the Allies have won superiority in the
01:10:08air.
01:10:09The Luftwaffe's strength has substantially increased in the last few months.
01:10:13It has approximately 1,002 first-line day fighters capable of effective opposition on
01:10:18the Western Front.
01:10:20The ME-109G must be classed as one of the best fighters in the world, and production
01:10:25is increasing.
01:10:26The success of their rocket-firing aircraft will lead to continued and aggressive rocket
01:10:31attacks.
01:10:32New Luftwaffe fighter control tactics have resulted in maximum usage of the German fighter
01:10:37force.
01:10:39As we penetrate deeper into Germany, it must be expected that enemy fighters will have
01:10:44time to attack, land, refuel, and re-attack our withdrawing forces.
01:10:49It is clear that long-range American fighters are needed to protect our bombers all the
01:10:54way to the target and back.
01:10:57These fighters have not arrived in strength in this theater.
01:11:01We must rely on tight formation flying and mutual firepower as our sole support for deep
01:11:07penetrations.
01:11:08Fighter escort breaking off.
01:11:09Now keep an eye out for Jerries, too.
01:11:10Top turret, you see anything yet?
01:11:11Nothing yet, sir.
01:11:12All right, keep your eye on the sun.
01:11:25Yes, sir.
01:11:26Rocky, anything there?
01:11:27Nothing below us, sir.
01:11:28Nothing on the left.
01:11:29Nothing on the right.
01:11:30Maybe they stayed home.
01:11:31Maybe the war's over.
01:11:32Yeah, I bet you this will be a real milk run.
01:11:33All right, cannon chatter.
01:11:34Looks like contact.
01:11:35It's five o'clock.
01:11:36Just report it when you see him.
01:11:37I see him.
01:11:384-1-0-9, six o'clock high.
01:11:39Lefty, they're yours first.
01:11:40Lead them, Laddie.
01:11:41See Ornburg.
01:11:42They're yours, five o'clock high.
01:11:43There goes a B-17 out of formation.
01:11:44Check the chutes in that building.
01:11:45I'll check the chutes.
01:11:46I'll check the chutes.
01:11:47I'll check the chutes.
01:11:48I'll check the chutes.
01:11:49I'll check the chutes.
01:11:50I'll check the chutes.
01:11:51I'll check the chutes.
01:11:52I'll check the chutes.
01:11:53I'll check the chutes.
01:11:54I'll check the chutes.
01:11:55I'll check the chutes.
01:11:56I'll check the chutes.
01:11:58That's B-17, out of formation.
01:12:00Check the chutes in that cremple.
01:12:01There goes one out of the waste.
01:12:03Come on, you guys, jump.
01:12:08Another man come out of the nose.
01:12:113, 4, 5.
01:12:186 o'clock, eastbound,ussia.
01:12:22Akim?
01:12:24One more out of the waist, that's six.
01:12:27Old man's still in the cripple.
01:12:29Come on, you guys, jump.
01:12:31She's falling off in the right wing.
01:12:34She's spitting in now.
01:12:414FW is 3 o'clock higher.
01:12:43Coming in.
01:12:44Sam, he's flying like a duster.
01:12:46I'll pick him up on the other side.
01:12:47Hey, Red, you got a lead coming up.
01:12:49Short, but I don't think he made it.
01:12:52Short, but I don't think he made it.
01:12:56The German fighters attack the bombers head-on,
01:12:58rolling through the formation.
01:13:00In this way, they hope to kill the American pilots,
01:13:03thus disabling the bombers.
01:13:05There are some attacks from the rear,
01:13:07but the tail and flanks of the American bombers
01:13:09are generally well protected.
01:13:21As soon as an American bomber leaves the formation,
01:13:44the German fighters attack it in waves.
01:13:47The American bombers are under orders
01:13:50not to break formation.
01:13:51A rescuing plane becomes vulnerable
01:13:53the moment it leaves formation.
01:13:55The wounded planes must fight by themselves.
01:13:59On the way to the target,
01:14:00the Americans lose 28 planes, 280 men.
01:14:17While the air battle goes on,
01:14:19there is little time to take care of the wounded.
01:14:22Coming in level at six.
01:14:24Two FWs coming through at 11 o'clock.
01:14:26Now watch them, boys, watch them.
01:14:28Bandits coming up from the tail.
01:14:29Six o'clock, 12 o'clock.
01:14:31They're coming in from all around the clock now.
01:14:33Four, five, six FWs at 12 o'clock high.
01:14:36We're going in for the flag.
01:14:37The sky's full of them.
01:14:41Fighters are breaking away here.
01:14:42Flag's coming up at 12 o'clock level.
01:14:44Man, old man, just look at that flag.
01:14:50It's solid enough to walk on.
01:14:52Navigating a pilot approaching the IP,
01:14:54that's worth time over there.
01:14:56Hey, Bill, how about a little evasive action for the bomber?
01:14:59When the bombers reach the target area,
01:15:01each plane is set on automatic controls.
01:15:04The bombsight and the bombardier are flying the aircraft.
01:15:07For accuracy's sake, the approach to the target
01:15:10must be straight and level.
01:15:12No evasive action can be taken.
01:15:15These last moments are the most vulnerable
01:15:17minutes of the mission.
01:15:19Although the planes are under intensive anti-aircraft fire,
01:15:22the bombardiers must be precise and accurate.
01:15:30Visibility is good.
01:15:32The target is exposed.
01:15:48The bombs hit and the ball-bearing plants at Schweinfurt
01:15:51are shrouded in smoke.
01:16:18They're dragging us real close this time.
01:16:20Let's take us some evasive action.
01:16:22Roger. Hang on. Let's jockey around a little.
01:16:29I hope we don't have to do a 360.
01:16:34Let's get out of here.
01:16:35Clear the intercom. There's some fighters over there
01:16:37on the other side of that flag.
01:16:40Boy, I'm at three o'clock. Coming around to six.
01:16:44Boy, I'm at three o'clock. Coming around to six.
01:16:52Another fight in trouble. It's McGrath.
01:16:58Watch your one on nine at ten o'clock.
01:17:00Don't fire until you get him in range.
01:17:02All right, all right. Let him have it.
01:17:09I got it! I got it!
01:17:10My God, did you see that thing explode?
01:17:12Boy, oxygen is out back here.
01:17:14Hey, FW, come in.
01:17:16I don't care who you are.
01:17:17Every man is scared he'll be yellow in battle.
01:17:20Every man's afraid he'll chicken out.
01:17:22In the Schweinfurt, some men did flip.
01:17:24Some crying on the interphone.
01:17:26Some so frozen with fear they couldn't fire their guns.
01:17:30But fewer than you'd expect. Just a few.
01:17:32It wasn't real. The cold tearing at you.
01:17:35The roar of the engines.
01:17:37The sky full of junk and parachutes.
01:17:39Death all around you.
01:17:41After a while, instead of the battle aiming at you,
01:17:44it was something you were watching.
01:17:46That's how your mind protects itself.
01:17:49That's what bravery is.
01:18:09Pilot to crew, we're crossing the coast now.
01:18:37Keep your eyes peeled for enemy fighters.
01:18:40Nothin' back here, sir.
01:18:41Looks like they've all gone home.
01:18:46♪♪♪
01:19:07The thousand men began to gather at the flight lines half an hour before the planes were due back.
01:19:14A thousand different men from a thousand different places with a thousand different kinds of lives.
01:19:21And yet all the lives coming together under two emotions.
01:19:25Anxiety and guilt.
01:19:29Anxiety.
01:19:31Anxiety.
01:19:33Who among the men at breakfast would not be there for dinner?
01:19:37What voices would never again be heard?
01:19:40And guilt.
01:19:42The inequality of sacrifice.
01:19:45Why was I safe on the ground while they were being lost in the sky?
01:19:50♪♪♪
01:20:20♪♪♪
01:20:50♪♪♪
01:21:21♪♪♪
01:21:27-♪♪♪
01:21:36-♪♪♪
01:21:43-♪♪♪
01:21:50♪♪
01:21:57♪♪
01:22:07♪♪
01:22:17♪♪
01:22:27♪♪
01:22:31They sent us to Schweinfurt,
01:22:35and we did what they asked.
01:22:38We bombed precisely and accurately.
01:22:42Those who could came home,
01:22:45but the cost was high.
01:22:47♪♪
01:22:53Of every ten planes that had gone out,
01:22:57three planes missing.
01:22:59♪♪
01:23:08Three faces missing of every ten you knew.
01:23:12♪♪
01:23:22♪♪
01:23:31Those who returned,
01:23:34for how many days and nights
01:23:36would they relive these hours?
01:23:38♪♪
01:23:48♪♪
01:23:58Those who died,
01:24:01does God know where they fell?
01:24:04For the sky has no names.
01:24:07And the whole sky was the battlefield.
01:24:11♪♪
01:24:19♪♪
01:24:29♪♪
01:24:37♪♪
01:24:45August 1st, 1943,
01:24:47177 American B-24s built to bomb at high altitudes,
01:24:52coming into the target at 30 feet.
01:24:54The single richest target in Europe lays before them.
01:24:58They hope to win it by surprise.
01:25:00They hope to be on it before the enemy
01:25:02can organize his defenses.
01:25:04A gamble, a carefully rehearsed blow
01:25:07at the heart of the enemy's war machine.
01:25:09The objective is oil.
01:25:11The Romanian oil field under attack is Ploiești.
01:25:15Ploiești is a complex of oil storage depots,
01:25:18refineries, and cracking plants.
01:25:20♪♪
01:25:24It is the richest target in all Europe
01:25:26because it supplies one-third of the oil
01:25:28needed by the German war machine.
01:25:32We must destroy this target.
01:25:37A modern army does not travel on its belly.
01:25:40It travels on petroleum.
01:25:42♪♪
01:25:45Ploiești powers the German army.
01:25:48♪♪
01:25:52These planes have traveled 1,200 miles from Africa.
01:25:56We were gambling.
01:25:58We didn't have the strength for a major attack.
01:26:01Perhaps a sudden raid, a thrust with a light force,
01:26:04would win Ploiești with a single blow.
01:26:06But navigation at a low altitude is difficult.
01:26:10And something went wrong.
01:26:13The first group had reached this point
01:26:15one half hour before it was due over Ploiești.
01:26:17The run-up to the target was to begin here at Florești.
01:26:21But the lead group made a navigational error
01:26:23and turned short at this point.
01:26:26And unfortunately, it began a run on Bucharest.
01:26:30Bucharest was the headquarters
01:26:32of the German Air Defense Command.
01:26:34♪♪
01:26:42As the planes ran toward Bucharest,
01:26:44there was a moment of indecision.
01:26:46Then radio silence was broken
01:26:48and the lead plane was informed of its error.
01:26:54The group was approaching the outskirts of the city.
01:27:00The element of surprise was lost.
01:27:02The Germans were warned.
01:27:06Only one target in the area was worth the effort, Ploiești.
01:27:13The Germans sounded the alert.
01:27:15It was answered not by second-rate Romanian fliers,
01:27:19but by some of the best pilots in the Luftwaffe.
01:27:25The German anti-aircraft artillery moved into action.
01:27:28All surprise was lost.
01:27:30German flak was waiting and ready.
01:27:37The first wave belatedly turned towards Ploiești
01:27:40and approached from the most heavily defended direction.
01:27:45GUNFIRE
01:27:54GUNFIRE
01:28:15GUNFIRE
01:28:27Some planes of the first wave
01:28:29were forced to bomb targets not assigned to them.
01:28:35When we came in, we saw it.
01:28:37We'd timed it just wrong.
01:28:39The delayed-action bombs of the first wave
01:28:41were going off ahead of us and under us.
01:28:45GUNFIRE
01:28:53We went out after targets and hit them on the button.
01:28:56In spite of delayed-action bombs going off below us,
01:28:59flak, small arms,
01:29:01everything but slingshots,
01:29:03we barreled through and unloaded.
01:29:06GUNFIRE
01:29:12Twelve of my outfit went into the smoke.
01:29:15Only nine broke out on the other side.
01:29:23A B-24 will climb on three engines
01:29:26and limp on two.
01:29:28When you have to feather one of the propellers,
01:29:30that's a sign you're already crippled.
01:29:32German fighters will try to finish the kill.
01:29:35There's nothing you can do but try to keep your place in formation.
01:29:38Hope you'll be lucky.
01:29:40GUNFIRE
01:29:45GUNFIRE
01:29:53The four engine planes are American.
01:29:56GUNFIRE
01:30:09The single engine are German.
01:30:12GUNFIRE
01:30:15We are losing a third of the men and planes
01:30:18sent on the mission to Gliesti.
01:30:20GUNFIRE
01:30:23The victorious German fighter pilots buzz their own fever.
01:30:27GUNFIRE
01:30:31MUSIC
01:30:45MUSIC
01:30:53Although we lost the element of surprise,
01:30:55although we suffered heavy losses,
01:30:57although some bombs fell wide at the target,
01:31:00still American bombers destroyed 40%
01:31:03of the cracking capacity at Gliesti.
01:31:06The raid on Gliesti was the only single action in the war
01:31:10for which five Congressional Medals of Honor were awarded.
01:31:14A limited action on a limited scale.
01:31:17The first blow to Gliesti was not a decisive one.
01:31:21We had planned eight raids,
01:31:23but after this one we did not have the strength to go back.
01:31:26Though the target burned, it still stood.
01:31:34The Germans marched 10,000 slave laborers
01:31:37into the oil fields and began rebuilding Gliesti immediately.
01:31:44Our bombing produced a high degree of damage,
01:31:47but within six months the cracking capacity of Gliesti
01:31:50was back to normal.
01:31:52We would have to find another way to destroy it.
01:31:56Eight months later we called for another strike against Gliesti.
01:32:01We knew very little of the consequences of the raid.
01:32:04We only knew we had taken a beating.
01:32:09When they said it was Gliesti again,
01:32:12you could feel the room stiffen.
01:32:15Nobody looked at the man next to him.
01:32:18I remember thinking,
01:32:20this is the quietest briefing room I've ever been in.
01:32:31Now we launched another raid
01:32:33from our newly won air bases in Italy.
01:32:36The target still stood.
01:32:38We tried another way to get it.
01:32:41A single raid, larger, stronger.
01:32:44New tactics, fighter cover, part of the way in.
01:32:47The American specialty of high altitude precision
01:32:50daylight bombardment.
01:32:52We had improved.
01:32:54The Germans had improved too.
01:32:57Their radar screen was more complete.
01:33:00Enemy anti-aircraft had increased in density and accuracy.
01:33:04Enemy fighter strength had risen considerably.
01:33:07Pilots had been brought down from the western front.
01:33:10They were experienced and good.
01:33:23We went to Gliesti flying into the rising sun.
01:33:26That's where the fighters like to come from,
01:33:29out of the sun and into the clouds.
01:33:33That's where the fighters like to come from,
01:33:36out of the sun so you can't see them.
01:33:39They like to make a pass from in front of you
01:33:42where you have less guns
01:33:44and where they hope to knock out the cockpit.
01:33:47This day about 250 jumped us.
01:33:50This is a B-17 under attack.
01:33:53Its left wing tank is on fire.
01:33:56The left side of this B-24 is disintegrating.
01:34:26The tail surface of this B-17 has been shot away.
01:34:37Over the target, the Germans added the last obstacle,
01:34:40flak and smoke.
01:34:42Smoke from 2,000 smokepots drifts over Gliesti.
01:34:45It's the last obstacle.
01:34:48The Germans added the last obstacle,
01:34:51flak and smoke.
01:34:53Smoke from 2,000 smokepots drifts over Gliesti.
01:34:56Drifts, clouds, obscures the target.
01:34:59There was nothing to do but drop our bombs into the smoke
01:35:02and hope by some chance they hit the refinery below.
01:35:12As the smoke blew away,
01:35:15the fire saw that they had sent many of their bombs
01:35:18into the fields and farms surrounding the oil refineries.
01:35:21Though the target burned, it still stood.
01:35:24We would have to find yet another way to destroy it.
01:35:27We had to get under the smoke.
01:35:32We went back to the tactics of the first raid,
01:35:35back to low-level bombing and a surprise attack.
01:35:38But instead of heavy bombers, we would try to do it with fighters.
01:35:41P-38s with 1,000-pound bombs strapped below a wake
01:35:44They buzzed the Balkans,
01:35:47climbed for altitude.
01:35:51They stripped their wing tanks
01:35:54and went in to dive bombing.
01:36:06Gliesti burned, but 30% of the planes did not come back
01:36:09and the target still stood.
01:36:14Gliesti stood and shipped its oil
01:36:17to the German fighting machine.
01:36:20If we wanted this target,
01:36:23we had to find still another way to get it.
01:36:26We had to find another way to use air power.
01:36:29In June 1944, the decision was made.
01:36:32We would make oil the primary target of the Air Force.
01:36:35Not by sneak raids or one-time shots,
01:36:38but by mounting a siege.
01:36:41Only in this way could such an extensive target be destroyed.
01:36:44We would mount whatever planes we had
01:36:47and fly day after day over the oil refineries.
01:36:52Now we went out in strength,
01:36:55knowing the Germans waited in strength.
01:37:00We would take what we had to take from Flak.
01:37:03Each black smudge is a sphere of exploding steel
01:37:06some 20 yards across.
01:37:09The Germans were accurate.
01:37:12Sometimes they aimed directly at the planes,
01:37:15sometimes they threw up a box barrage
01:37:18and let the planes fly into it.
01:37:33We would take what we had to take from Flak,
01:37:36and when the Flak stopped, the fighters came in.
01:37:39We would take what we had to take from Flak,
01:37:42and when the Flak stopped, the fighters came in.
01:37:55This B-17 is out of control.
01:37:58It's going to take a while.
01:38:01It's going to take a while.
01:38:04It's going to take a while.
01:38:07This B-17 is out of control and on fire within the fuselage.
01:38:15It starts to spin in and then explodes.
01:38:18No parachutes.
01:38:37Another B-24 on fire.
01:38:40Ten men aboard.
01:38:43Count the parachutes.
01:38:46One.
01:38:49Two.
01:38:57We would take what we had to take from Flak.
01:39:00It's going to take a while.
01:39:03It's going to take a while.
01:39:06We would take what we had to take
01:39:09and give what we had to give.
01:39:12In prisoners.
01:39:21In broken airplanes.
01:39:30In wounded men chopped from the wreckage.
01:39:36It's going to take a while.
01:39:56Men took what they had to take.
01:40:06Some men gave everything they had to give.
01:40:09It was expensive, but Ploiești was top-level.
01:40:12We had come to knowledge only combat could teach.
01:40:15Now long-range fighters were available,
01:40:18able to accompany the bombers all the way to the targets
01:40:21and all the way back.
01:40:24These are German planes seen from American gunsight cameras.
01:40:36Well.
01:40:59Now a perfected radar bomb sight
01:41:02perfected radar bomb site could see the ground through the smoke.
01:41:09We sat over Ploiești day after day and dropped ton after ton.
01:41:14We had learned that this was the only way to do it, to mount a siege and give everything
01:41:19we had to give.
01:41:21We gave Ploiești 27 million pounds of bombs, day after day, ton after ton.
01:41:41The year and a fortnight after the first raid, Ploiești lay useless and prone.
01:41:46It burned for the last time.
01:41:48When this oil field stopped production, the German war machine began to run down.
01:41:53The death of the oil fields was, by German admission, the most powerful blow struck by
01:41:59the Air Force.
01:42:06Autumn 1943, the English fog and the German Air Force virtually stopped American deep
01:42:12penetrations.
01:42:16An American correspondent attached to the 8th Air Force writes, the fall fog is the
01:42:25first break the 8th Air Force has had in months.
01:42:29Men are about to crack.
01:42:36On the outside, the airmen still play at being rough and ready.
01:42:40When a flyer stops cursing or griping, he has something serious on his mind.
01:42:46For the first time, the idea that they might be going to die has come into the lives of
01:42:50these airmen.
01:42:53A waist gunner wrote, I remember Christmas Day, 1943.
01:42:58We gave a party for a bunch of English kids and showed them around the base.
01:43:03I said to one of them, how would you like to see the inside of a bomber?
01:43:07He said, wizard yank, and up he went.
01:43:11He poked around and said, it's truly a flying fortress.
01:43:15Well, what could you say to him?
01:43:18The B-17 was a good plane, but it wasn't a fortress.
01:43:23Without fighter escort, it wasn't good enough over Germany.
01:43:26But you don't tell that kind of thing to kids.
01:43:30We just gave them the best Christmas we could and acted like the heroes they wanted us to
01:43:34be.
01:43:37In the next months, the 8th Air Force is reinforced.
01:43:40A new long-range fighter, the P-51, appears.
01:44:01New bombers are flown across the Atlantic.
01:44:06Daylight strategic bombardment will be successful only when every German industrial area can
01:44:11be reached.
01:44:12There is a line in Germany beyond which we cannot cross without losses too great to bear.
01:44:18We need strength at long range, or else we must abandon the idea of strategic bombardment.
01:44:24We need new defenses against the attacks of German fighters, and a machine gun turret
01:44:29is added under the chin of the B-17.
01:44:37New crews replace those lost over Germany.
01:44:44The depth of our heavy attacks is dependent upon the escorting fighter planes.
01:44:49The speed and performance of American fighter planes is excellent, but their range is too
01:44:54short.
01:44:55The attacks are improvised to hang from the bellies of the fighters.
01:44:59The planes are readied in the first months of 1944.
01:45:03The issue is still to be decided.
01:45:13The orders come through.
01:45:14They read, attacks in strength must continue against strategic targets deep in Germany.
01:45:21The air crews are to be relieved from combat after flying 25 missions, but the men know
01:45:26that in some missions of the previous autumn, up to 20% of the bombers and their crews did
01:45:31not return.
01:45:37If the statistics continue to hold, no man can count on living through his tour of duty.
01:45:45Nevertheless, the bombers take off.
01:45:59Now begins a new tactic in the battle for supremacy in German skies.
01:46:04We hope these fighters equipped with extra fuel tanks will make the difference.
01:46:09The fighters now have sufficient range to escort the bombers to and from the targets.
01:46:14They are our last, best hope.
01:46:23The American bomber and fighter formations meet each other 20,000 feet above the French
01:46:27coast.
01:46:29Meanwhile, the German airfields from the Baltic to Bavaria are alert.
01:46:35At no time in the war has Germany had so many interceptors.
01:46:39At no time in the war have German fighter defenses been so strong.
01:46:44German pilots know every weakness of the American planes and tactics.
01:46:48The Luftwaffe still holds air superiority over Germany.
01:46:52The Germans mass their air power to turn back the American invaders.
01:47:05The Americans fly deeper into France, almost to the German border.
01:47:15The German fighters, high over Karlsruhe, wait for the American bombers to come to them.
01:47:20Once the American fighters leave the bombers, the Germans will make their attack.
01:47:25The Germans do not attack.
01:47:42They are bewildered.
01:47:44The escorting American fighters have not broken off.
01:47:47They are accompanying the bombers deeper into Germany than ever before.
01:47:51The bombers are approaching the target.
01:47:54The Germans are running out of fuel.
01:47:56If they are ever to make their attack, they must come in now.
01:48:08Friendly to turret flight, the bogeys attacking at 5 o'clock.
01:48:11Strip tanks and break left.
01:48:13The Germans are engaged and defeated by long-range American fighters.
01:48:40The Allies press the attack from 20,000 feet to 20 feet.
01:49:10Once the skies have been cleared of German planes, the fighters strafe the anti-aircraft towers.
01:49:40Later, down on the deck, in advance of the bombers, the American fighters shoot up the Nazi planes on the airfields before they can run.
01:50:40The Americans have broken the strength of the German aerial defenses.
01:50:46Now the American bombers are free to strike any target in Germany, however deep.
01:50:55The whole industrial complex supporting the German war machine lies vulnerable and exposed.
01:51:02The German factories, the oil refineries, the hydroelectric stations, the German industrial centers.
01:51:10Berlin, Hamburg, Leipzig, Hanover, Brunswick, Stuttgart.
01:51:31Every major city in Germany is bombed and bombed again.
01:51:41The American formations come back to England virtually intact.
01:51:45We lose less than 4% of the bombers we send out.
01:51:50The men of the 8th Air Force know they now have a good chance to live out the war.