Actor Jimmy Stewart flew 58 missions with the 8th. Whatever you might say about his acting or temperament, he forever has my respect because he had a job with a low chance of coming home. By the way, the Albuquerque museum has an audio of Colonel Jimmy Stewart ripping the pilots he commanded a new one. He eventually became a Brigadier General in the Air Force Reserve.

@johnburns4017

4 жыл бұрын

He regularly attended the reunions in England. He knew Norwich very well.

@jackpavlik563

4 жыл бұрын

Awarded the DFC for his service. Actually two, and numerous other decorations.

@The_Dudester

4 жыл бұрын

If you have ever seen Strategic Air Command, you actually see Jimmy fly a B-36 and a B-47. No stunt pilot. No CGI. All very real.

@1QU1CK1

4 жыл бұрын

A friend's uncle flew in the 8th Air Force for fifty missions and the voice in his headphones was usually Jimmy Stewart's. He never could watch Jimmy Stewart movies afterwards, reminded him too much of the war!

@The_Dudester

4 жыл бұрын

@@1QU1CK1 I served in the Cold War and actually had PTSD before joining the military. I can't watch graphic violence without becoming physically ill and having nightmares, so I respect the uncle's situation.

In the 1970’s I worked with a man who had been a B-17 pilot in the Eighth Air Force. He had completed his 25 missions, needing three planes to do so. He said he was proudest of the fact that his entire crew survived together.

@HE-162

4 жыл бұрын

Bill Baker if he completed his 25, they were flown during the worst of the 8ths fight. The mission requirement was increased to 35 as air superiority and proper escorts were achieved. Not that the boys later in the war had it much easier, but those guys that had to fly 25 were facing nearly impossible odds.

@hoatattis7283

4 жыл бұрын

Bill Baker: Mate I worked with a man who did 70+ missions with the RAF Bomber Command

@MusicForTheBroken

4 жыл бұрын

@@hoatattis7283 Half of US Army Air Force casualties were from this conflict 25 and 35 missions (115k personnel). You gents had about the same casualty rate but double the amount of missions 70+ (125k personnel). Thanks for providing this valuable information on sorties.

@hoatattis7283

4 жыл бұрын

@@MusicForTheBroken With the US it was not safety in numbers I am afraid

@stevehoch9528

3 жыл бұрын

My grandfather was a pilot in the 8th. He came home as a major, he survived being shot down twice without capture. Looking back, I shouldn't be here.

One of the things I am the most proud of in my life is buying a ride on a B-17 for a WWII B-17 airman by the name of Goldy. I heard the plane, the LIberty Bell, was going to be at the local airport, and was offering rides. A lifelong goal within my reach! I went over and was drooling over the beautiful plane when I noticed a very old gentleman with an 8th Air Force cap. I asked if he had served on the aircraft, and he said that had indeed, as a top turret gunner/engineer. He had not been shot down, but had crashed short of the field once due to being badly shot up. I asked him if he would honor me by accepting a ride on the plane, my treat. He declined, stating he had spent enough time on those. He and his daughter wandered away, and I signed up for a ride. As I left the sign-up table the daughter approached me and asked if I had been serious about the ride. I said "Of course! It would please me greatly if he would accept. He did. I watched him go from 93 to 23 in the space of 20 yards. He pulled himself up into that aircraft like he did it every day. He tried to go to his old position but was shut down by the crew, we had to remain seated and belted in until we hit 10K feet. Goldy had a grin from ear to ear, and when we finally hit 10K and were allowed to mover freely about the aircraft he was gone like a shot, up to his old position. Best 700 bucks I ever spent. Seriously. Sadly, that aircraft crashed and burned, but I hear that they are rebuilding her.

@DAUGHTEROFBABYLON

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah that was a great thing you were able to do for him! And Really nice of you! Thank You from Everyone! God Bless Everybody!

@lot2196

Жыл бұрын

Great story.

I had an Uncle who served as a gunner on B-17's during WWII - but with the 15th USAAF in the Med and Italy... He never talked about it, and when we asked him what he did, he would just smile and say "Oh, peeled potatoes mostly".. At his funeral they passed around a copy of his military record (DD-214 for those that know it) and it listed him as having received an Air Medal, 6 Bronze Stars, and two Purple Hearts... Those must have been pretty nasty potatoes....

@TheBcambron

4 жыл бұрын

My great uncle was a seabee in the pacific. He never talked about the war. He reportedly just painted camo on tanks for the whole war. Sometimes I wonder...

@LuvBorderCollies

4 жыл бұрын

Years ago I read a book on the experiences of a bomber group in North Africa. The Army and Air Corp were very short of men so people were doing duties they normally did not do. The most humorous was a guy in the chow who got a slap of mashed potatoes. He looked up and saw it was a Lt.Colonel serving chow.!!!!

@LuvBorderCollies

4 жыл бұрын

@@TheBcambron Bet he did a lot more than that. My father-in-law always the SeaBees were the hardest working guys in the Navy. I'd estimate the majority of islands/atolls captured and turned into airstrips and forward base facilities are pretty much unknown and unsung by historians. Ever hear of the Green Islands? Me neither until my dad in law mentioned it because he met Richard Nixon (yes the Pres) there. But that's just one example of countless construction projects in obscure places built by SeaBees, sometimes under enemy fire which is why they had some infantry training.

@rjeffm1

4 жыл бұрын

Your uncle sir, was a hero.

@filthydisgustingape5354

4 жыл бұрын

The 'Forgotten 15th' didn't get the glamorous reporting the 'Mighty 8th' did--probably because the 8th had London to party in and the 15th had folks living in tents in Southern Italy where there were (to quote Telly Savalas from Kelly's Heroes') there was no booze, no broads, no action. That being said the 15th was lacking in adequate numbers of escort fighters so even though the strength of the luftwaffe was much weaker in Southern Europe, they often inflicted VERY heavy casualties on the bombers of the 15th. For example, during 'Big Week' the 8th suffered about 5% casualties but the 15th suffered nearly 14%. Maybe, someday, the 15th will get it's 'Roger Freeman' (a premier British aviation historian and I think the man who coined the expression "Mighty Eighth')

I live in East Anglia and you are never far away from the site of an aerodrome used by the Mighty Eighth. My grandfather was involved in the building of one of those bases (Little Walden) and then served on the maintenance staff until the end of the war. My father was seven when the war broke out and lived between Debden and Duxford. When the Battle of Britain film was made in 1968/9 he was working near Duxford and told me that his blood would run cold when he heard the dogfights being filmed. As a child I can remember the astonishment and disbelief at the size of the American War Cemetery at Cambridge, such a cost and such a debt we owe. Thanks to all who made those sacrifices in the skies over Europe.

@christianmotley262

2 жыл бұрын

Props to your grandfather and dad, I love that movie. The name of your town reminds me of the Ford's made with the same name. They use the older Anglias here for drag racing a lot. What do you think about them, if I may ask?

My Uncle, Lloyd Freeman, was a tail gunner in a B-17 in this operation. His plane was shot down while trying to return to England. He parachuted out but was shot on the way down. A Dutch family took care of him and would take him to the hospital and then back to a barn when the Nazi's came looking for allied soldiers in the hospitals. One day they switched their schedule and found him. They killed the Doctor and took him to a POW camp. He was eventually liberated by the Russians at the end of the war.

@Peasmouldia

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks Jim. One of the really positive things about you tube comments pages, among all the negatives, is that people can relate real personal history such as your contribution. Much appreciated sir.

@olliefoxx7165

4 жыл бұрын

Wow. Those Dutch gave their lives for him. We don't hear enough of this nor do we show enough appreciation for all the Dutch civilians that helped our guys. Your grandpa was fortunate to live through such hellish times.

@DickWillis1

Жыл бұрын

Your Uncle Lloyd Freeman was in my Dad’s airplane. Flakstop. Lt. Alan R. Willis. Freemen was actually the ball turret gunner. He was one of 5 who survived. His is an incredible, remarkable story. He also survived the Long March as a POW. There is a monument to the crew outside Staphorst Holland, in the field where the plane crashed. Your uncle was interrogated in the hospital by the Gestappo and refused to give information about the survivors, which enabled them to avoid capture. He saved the lives of four men including my Dad. The greatest generation.

@garycarpenter2980

Жыл бұрын

He was awfully lucky that he survived the war

@mikeandrews2851

24 күн бұрын

​15,000 dutch joined the Waffen SS@@olliefoxx7165

I really appreciate the silent tribute at the end of the video. It was the perfect way to convey the solemn respect due these men.

@themanfromcabowabo1559

3 жыл бұрын

Well put.

Casualties consist of: killed, wounded, and captured. My Grandfather was a bombardier in the Mighty 8th. B-24 Liberator, shot down, wounded, and captured. He spent the rest of the war in Stalag Luft 1, Barth, Pomerania. Awarded the Air Medal. And the Purple Heart.

@Crashed131963

4 жыл бұрын

They give you medals for being shot down and put out of the war?

@typxxilps

4 жыл бұрын

Stalag 1 in Pomerania was one of the safest places in Germany in 1944 ... of cause a bit cold in 1945

@ericr9987

4 жыл бұрын

John Smith I’d like to see you go through a hail of flak and fall out of the sky over enemy territory...

@thadlm2698

4 жыл бұрын

@John Smith Are you really serious or merely trolling?

@Crashed131963

4 жыл бұрын

@@thadlm2698 What did the bomber crews who dropped their bombs and returned to go back and do it all over again get?

The 8th Air was my father's unit in WW2. I still have scrapbooks from his days in England. He was an amateur cartoonist and drew quite a few cartoons and graffiti type posters for his barracks buddies. After the war, he came home and worked in a local pulp and paper mill complex. Years later, when our elementary school would do a tour of the plant, there were ALWAYS signs made by my dad hanging up on columns and machinery, with that same style as the posters he made for his pals while in England. Those black and white photos at the end brought a tear to my eye. RIP- Edward L. Garrow US Army Air Corps WW2 veteran

@preiter20

4 жыл бұрын

Brian Garrow do you know if your father ever did any nose art?

@briangarrow448

4 жыл бұрын

@@preiter20 I asked him before he passed away and he said no. There were better artists on base. But he did do some poster art for dances and unit morale events. I am sad to say he didn't bring any of them home with him. He did regret not getting a chance to do nose art, that was the ultimate for the artistic types stationed in base. The most unusual photo I have of him is with his maintenance crew and Clarke Gable.

@lanswyfte

4 жыл бұрын

F

@hannecatton2179

4 жыл бұрын

God bless your brave father and all his pals.

@breadwineandsong4014

4 жыл бұрын

It'd be great if you could share that art online to memorialize him. I, personally, would love to see it. You could load it up on KZread or Facebook, Pinterest, all free accounts.

My dad piloted a B-24 on that raid and 29 others. Still have his leather flight jacket with the hand painted plane (in the clouds) on the back and the 30 bomb stamps on the front. He passed in 93 but spent 20 more years in the AF (starting in the AAF) fighting the cold war across the world. Then he retired and became a "History Guy (professor)" himself. Guess after living through that, not much was going to scare him.

@fensoxx

4 жыл бұрын

He sounds like a real patriot and hero. Thanks for sharing that. Almost every life on earth touched by that conflict and it still echoes to today...

@darkwinter6028

4 жыл бұрын

Another one of the many we owe so much to. I vote because hitler wanted us not to be able to. I go shopping because osama bin laden wanted us not to be able to (I know, it seems trite in comparison; but that is what their objective was: disrupt and destroy the western world’s economic engine... so, because I’m not qualified to be field personnel, I do what I can to deny them their objectives). And I do so remembering the people who fought and sacrificed to make it possible.

@DGill48

4 жыл бұрын

Dad was a B-24 navigator, he used his old flight jacket for hunting and fishing trips when I was a boy in Maine

@rorytennes8576

4 жыл бұрын

30 missions. Wow. Thanks

@DoudD

4 жыл бұрын

Cheers to you and your dad, Rob. My dad was a pilot as well; B17s and, later, B29s. He spoke little of his experiences until his was quite old. Many fascinating (and sometimes terrifying) tales, though, when he decided to share. Here's to our fathers. They were very young and very brave.

When I first learned how to fly there were a couple of Stearmans based on the little airport I took lessons at, they were flown by guys that were veterans of the 8th AF. I managed to get to fly with them, the most memorable one was flying out to Nantucket for clam chowder. The Airport is long gone and those fellows have all since past on into history. I turn 65 on Feb 1, 2020, I was 20 years old then and they were in there early 20's in the spring of 44! Soon they will be all gone and it will be up to us to remember that there were such men.

@ribbitgoesthedoglastnamehe4681

4 жыл бұрын

I just hope this is not going to turn into a limerick or go very visual. Going to Nantucket with a huge load of disgusting grey goo everywhere is now a mental image thats very hard to get rid off. There were men from Nantucket, with clam chowder in their pocket... No. Gotta stop.

@bobgarr6246

4 жыл бұрын

Here here !!! And what a loss it will be. Being just a wee bit older by months than you. I grew up as a kid where everyones dad, uncle or grandpa served in WW2, or at the least Korea. This was the norm. And we took it for granted then. It was not till my late teens that I fully realized the horror, sacrifice, hardship and pain that these men experienced and shared together. I remember a kid around the block whoose dad was brutally marched by the Japanese during the infamous Batan death march and then held as a POW till the Philippines were retaken.They were our mentors, our teachers, coaches, Boy Scout leaders, bosses, mailman, mechanics, doctors ministers and friends dad's. They set the tone, the standard for how we were supposed to act and carry ourselves in life. We grew up hearing the stories and implemented the phrases and terminology they used into our own. And as such I feel blessed, proud and lucky. They were the greatest generation, a whole generation that walked tall and carried themselves with an unmistakable military bearing. And we, their offspring, lived and grew up in the immediate shadow of this remarkable greatness. We who witnessed these men first hand they set the example for us to follow. My dad was one, an Army staff sergeant, with a combat infantry badge, serving in an infantry heavy weapons platoon, now in his 90's he is one of the dwindling few that remain. I would not have wanted to be brought up any other way. The discipline, practicality and determination instilled in me has made me a better person, self reliant and a survivor. Thanks to you Dad, and your generation. Now the question is ........ What the he'll has happened to us as Americans since then ???

@GeorgeSemel

4 жыл бұрын

@@bobgarr6246 Oh they are still around, they just don't make the kind of noise that get you noticed! They are the guys that get up every day and keep the country running.

@garymoore8711

4 жыл бұрын

My Dad cried when he was told he was 4F because a hip injury at age 13. He couldn't go to war with the rest of his friends. My brother & I made up for it by going to Vietnam.

@ALLEYOOP77

4 жыл бұрын

@@bobgarr6246 like my father, your father was probably from the middle class, or the working class as it was called back then, not college educated and proud to serve (8th Army Air Corps)even if they did not have to do so since your 2 older brothers were serving which was my fathers case. As a small child, I could not figure out why I could only see my father on weekends at the hospital as my mom was working, I found out when he came home they were putting his leg and other body parts back together from all the Nazi shrapnel, not to mention giving up the dream of becoming the major league ball player he hoped to be (he was in the minor leagues at the time he enlisted) or a champion middle weight boxer he hoped to be (was a club boxer in Philly before the war) When they got together to play card games like Canasta, and the young kids would get near enough to hear, they would stop talking. Or when I asked my father "did you kill enemy pilots in the War" he answered yes and I am not going to talk about it. Years later as the executor of his estate I came across a sealed cigar box and when I opened it, out fell 16/17 war medals, Purple Hearts, silver medal, bronze and assorted flying and Battle medals, I thought, you were right Dad, you don't have to talk about it, Your medals say it all! He was buried at Arlington with thousands of other American heros.

"814 bombers and 945 fighter aircraft" I can not even fathom this! This is truly history, worth remembering.

@peachtrees27

4 жыл бұрын

@@brianwoodbridge88 Exactly why we do not want to go to war with China - and they know it. We are the Germans now (precision) and they are the U.S. (quantity has a quality all its own)...

@berrytharp1334

4 жыл бұрын

The USAF of today can unleash any scale of attack needed with unrivaled precision. From a single scumbag in an SUV in the Middle East to Global Extinction. Your military capability assessment is lacking.

@SuperNintendoZach

4 жыл бұрын

@@brianwoodbridge88 tee hee

@Crashed131963

4 жыл бұрын

@@peachtrees27 With ICBMs the US can destroy China 3 times over in a afternoon. Give Iceland enough ICBM silos and China would not go near them . WW2 thinking is gone and never coming back. Nobody wins the next big war and it will be a 6 hours long.

@LuvBorderCollies

4 жыл бұрын

@Jacob Zondag A guy I knew was a young teen in the Netherlands during the war. He could always tell what kind of day it was going to be by the number of bombers flying over. Sometimes it seemed the bomber stream had no end to it.

Great video! My dad was a cook in the 8th, stationed in Ipswich. Pilots and crews needed to eat.

@colinkelly5420

4 жыл бұрын

My grandpa was a trainer pilot. Him like you father played an important but unappreciated part in the war. Respect to all the men who served, even if it wasn't glamorous.

@JrGoonior

4 жыл бұрын

My grandpa was a mechanic with the 8th Air Corps, 336th Fighter Group, he was eventually sent back to the States where he was a major player in adapting the Merlin engine to the P51. RIP Robert A. Mullen (2008).

@timgelder4263

4 жыл бұрын

The infrastructure needed to keep 'em flying was amazing in it's own right

@BeachsideHank

4 жыл бұрын

The bomb loader whose foot got crushed in an accidental ground mishap suffered no less than an aircrewman whose foot was shot off; both were honorable casualties but sadly only the crewman was awarded a recognition medal for his loss.

@dukecraig2402

4 жыл бұрын

My family lost someone in the airwar over Europe, I'm sure his parents would rather he had been a cook and came back alive instead of getting a folded up flag and the right to say their kid is buried in Arlington.

12:26 My grandfather is in that photograph. Thank you for including it.

@TheHistoryGuyChannel

4 жыл бұрын

The Dog's Butler those all came from the National Archives. What a coincidence that it was your grandfather’s crew!

@clevernamegotban1752

4 жыл бұрын

your grandfather was a crew member of Hell's angels?

@jasoncarswell7458

3 жыл бұрын

@@clevernamegotban1752 no follow up in 7 months.... yeah

@forrestgreene1139

3 жыл бұрын

@@jasoncarswell7458 Why do people lie about stuff like that?

When I was a little boy in the 1960's, my dentist was a WWII veteran who had been a B-17 bomber pilot. As he bent over me sitting in the dental chair to clean my teeth, something on a chain around his neck fell out from behind his shirt and he quickly tucked it back in his shirt. I had seen it for a moment, but couldn't recognize what it was, so when he was done cleaning my teeth, I asked him what that was. He told me the most incredible story. His B-17 was on a bombing mission against Germany when they were attacked from the front by German fighter planes, the cockpit of his B-17 was all shot up and he was hit in the chest. In searing pain he slumped forward over the controls and the B-17 started to go down. His copilot righted the plane, turned on the auto-pilot and then went to go check him out, asking, "Where are you hit?" and he answered, "In the chest". The copilot unzipped my dentists flight jacket to feel around and find the wound, but there was none! What happened is that my dentist had kept a silver dollar in his left breast pocket, right over his heart, as a good luck charm, the bullet or shrapnel had hit that silver dollar and ricocheted off, saving his life! So he kept the now deformed silver dollar on a chain around his neck for the rest of his life. Imagine the odds of that happening?!

@nonAehT

4 жыл бұрын

that obviously didn't happen tho. Why would you go on the internet just to tell lies?

@WarblesOnALot

4 жыл бұрын

G'day, Ah, well, as it happens, there are no Odds. No Bookmaker on Earth would ever bet on the idea that a "Silver Dollar" worn in a Shirt-Pocket is, was, or ever will be able to significantly defect either the 7.7 mm Mg Ammunition, or the 13mm and 23mm (?) Automatic Cannon Shells fired by the Jagdwaffe & the Nachtjagdwaffe in Reich-Defence Missions in 1944 against the US Army Air Corps. I'm not saying that your Dentist made up any Fairystories, and his recollection of his perceptions at the time are quite possibly perfectly accurate, & his Souvenier bent Coin was probably genuine and not any kind of fakery. But the interpretation placed on that underlying Evidence appears to be wildly fanciful. If that "Silver Dollar" had been hit by a Luftwaffe Projectile which had merely come in through the Aluminium Skin, then the Coin would've been pushed through & through the Pilot/Dentist's Chest, then gone through the Seat and lodged in the front of the Armoured Bulkhead which protected the Flight-Deck from Gunfire coming up through the Fuselage from Fighters expected to be attacking from the rear. The 1/2-Mass times Velocity Squared equation versus the Hardness-Rating of a Silver Coin, divided by the Impact-Pressure of a Coin's Surface-Area onto Meat & Bone...., collectively leaves no room for, "Oh But....-isms". My (wildly speculative) guesstimation is that one of the attacking Fighter's shots has hit one of the Steel Nuts on the Bolts which secure the Perspex "Fishbowl" Nose onto the Fuselage, or one holding the Windscreen-Frame together, or the Instrument-Panel Mounting..., the Fitting has then instantly shattered under impact, perhaps with the detonation of a Cannon-Shell having added to the resulting Shrapnel-Cloud ; and then the Silver Dollar has been clouted by a Nut, or a Bolt-Head, something chunky and significantly harder than a little disc of Currency-Grade Sheetmetal. So, the Pilot's Lucky Coin has indeed probably saved him from needing to have a lump of Shrapnel removed from the Flesh over his Ribs, or from his Intercostal Muscles...., perhaps he might've missed-out on a Punctured Lung...? But anything which bounced off a Silver Coin was probably never going to reach the Pericardium or pierce the Heart. One has to consider the Physics, the Ballistics, the Metallurgy, the Anatomy & Physiology..., when considering such "Magic Bulletproof Charm/Amulet/Coin/Steel-Bound Bible" stories. One famous example which did actually occurr illustrates what it takes to save Aircrew from a Mg Bullet in Aerial Combat... In the 1920s a collection of Aerial Combat Photographs called "The Cockburn-Lange Collection" was published with a Diary ("Death In The Air"), purported to be the work of an anonymous, deceased, RFC Scout-Pilot...; the photo's were so very clear & graphic that for almost 40 years controversy was still ongoing, as to their authenticity. In about 1953 a pair of Suitcases were donated to the Smithsonian Institution, and in about 1958 someone finally got around to looking inside them...; only to discover a USAAC WW-1 Pilot's Uniform and a set of US AAC Dog-Tags, together with the original Glass-Plate Negatives of the Cockburn-Lange Collection - including several showing the Behind-The-Scenes views of the Models & Ladders & painted Backdrops - used to fake them all..., and also there was a 1911 Automatic Colt Pistol which was bent 45-Degrees sideways, through the Reciever...., and it's Shoulder-Holster with the Bullet-Hole & torn stitching. That Pistol took the Bullet, breaking the Pilot's Ribs, mid Dogfight in 1918, knocking him unconscious - and after his Nieuport crashed itself he spent the rest of the War in Captivity. Apres Le Guerre, he pulled off the great "Death In The Air" Sting, and for a while afterwards he made movies - but he could never put DITA in his CV when applying for Jobs, so he never really got much of a chsnce ; and once the Great Depression hit the World he became something of a bitter has-been/wannabe dypsomaniac and he lived in Cuba till Castro took over there, and finally died penniless in Florida. Whereupon his surviving family then quietly donated the Suitcases, instead of dumping them. But - there you go, an actually doccumented case of a Pilot taking a Machinegun Round to the Chest, over their Heart, & having the Bullet be successfully deflected...; but it bounced off a 2 or 4 pound lump of tempered machined Steel, strapped firmly in place with a Leather Holster, and he woke up on the Ground, after the Crash - not after 15 seconds of being conscious of the Pain in his Chest. Details matter, least little Molehills - impressive as they may be, come to be spoken of as having been "Mountains". Such is Life, Have a good one. ;-p Ciao !

@danbardos3498

4 жыл бұрын

I like how people forget that the bullet or shrapnel or whatever it was also had to pass through the plane first. Also that miracles exist. Cheers!

@brentgranger7856

4 жыл бұрын

That almost sounds like the story of Lt. George E. Dixon of the CSS H.L. Hunley. He was shot in the leg at the Battle of Shiloh in the American Civil War, but a golden coin he kept in his pocket as a good luck charm saved his life. It wasn't so lucky when Hunley sank. The coin was found in his possession when the Hunley was salvaged, and it is currently on display in Charleston, South Carolina.

@WarblesOnALot

4 жыл бұрын

@@nonAehT G'day, Perhaps you were a trifle harsh, olde Bean...; they may be ignorant and gullible rather than wilfully lying... Check out my attempt to educate them with an actual explainification. Such is Life, Have a good one. ;-p Ciao !

The realization that storming beaches in the Pacific was "safer" than flying bomber raids over Europe is just ... wow.

@TheHistoryGuyChannel

4 жыл бұрын

8th Air Force casualties exceeded all marine casualties in the Pacific combined.

@bbeen40

4 жыл бұрын

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel That fact is staggering. I told someone that the other day and they were shocked. So many aspects of WW2 are hard to even fathom.

@dragonsword7370

4 жыл бұрын

The attrition rate was so bad for the bomber units they were snatching up anybody, cooks, longshoreman, i.e. anybody they could get to fill in the crew spots.

@jdhsingi

4 жыл бұрын

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel Wow..hard to believe....tremendous sacrifice from the greatest generation.

@JamesCraigWhoop

4 жыл бұрын

@@dragonsword7370 My grandfather was a nose artist to waist gunner. He was a good shot survived 17 missions and prison.

The fields are litterd with shot down/crasched allied bombers and German fighters in this part of the Netherlands. Seeing all those small memorials with the names and especially the age of the men who where killed in action gives you chills across your spine, Even today when craschsites are discoverd everything is done to collect the remains and indentify the crew. Laying them to rest with their comrades and giving them the KIA status instead of the dreadfull MIA status is the least we as a nation can do.

@stephenheck160

4 жыл бұрын

Richard Smeets Thank you and your countrymen for remembering.

@frzstat

4 жыл бұрын

Richard Smeets, another sincere thank you. I know their families appreciate this.

@JR1300r

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you Netherlands and please keep up your great work cheers from Australia

@shawnr771

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you.

@melvyncox3361

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you with all my heart,from the UK.

I encourage everyone to come to Savannah Georgia, my current hometown , home of the Mighty Eighth air Force museum.

@treebuck

4 жыл бұрын

I've been there. Well worth the visit.

@valhallaproject9560

4 жыл бұрын

A wonderful museum indeed!

@billpostscratcher2025

4 жыл бұрын

I was there in November and when it opened years ago - My Great Uncle in Law had some of his brother's 8th AF stuff and placed most of in Archives - he passed away in the 50s. Brother John use to live there and volunteer. John passed away two years ago.

@BigDaddyCaveman1

4 жыл бұрын

There is a Plaque there for my Fathers Plane the 'Fatso' Lief H Nelson.

@coachgman

4 жыл бұрын

I spent a good three hours there in January of 2017. I was on my way home to FL after attending my uncle's funeral in NC. He was a fighter pilot in WWII, Korea and Viet Nam.

As a USAF vet (who was also stationed in England during the Cold War), I appreciate this look into our history and how deadly the airwar really was.

@LokkieF

4 жыл бұрын

Do you call yourself a vet of the Cold War?

@user-yy1rs3df3q

4 жыл бұрын

And horribly inefficient as well.

@ronfullerton3162

4 жыл бұрын

@@LokkieF Why not?

@LokkieF

4 жыл бұрын

Ron Fullerton because you are a vet when you fought in a war. During the Cold War I was stationed in West-Germany. Do I call myself a vet of that 'war'..? No, ofcourse not.

My uncle Kenneth somehow survived 50 missions on B-24s. He said he was "a bastard Gunner" because he didn't have a permanent crew but filled in wherever needed. The sheer randomness may have contributed to his survival. I never talked to him about it , which I regret, and only learned details after his passing

@thefunkosaurus

4 жыл бұрын

I wonder what he dreamed of.... kzread.info/dash/bejne/nn1-sJiQh8mZgso.html

@ronfullerton3162

4 жыл бұрын

You would of appreciated such a conversation. They were a great bunch of people. Their great spirit and humanity really made me humble.

@timgelder4263

4 жыл бұрын

@@ronfullerton3162 I very much appreciated him as is. He was our funny uncle and everyone loved him. I've known many of the greatest generation and I used to ask questions about the past. The War was just something that wasn't talked about much and I was leery to bring it up

@ronfullerton3162

4 жыл бұрын

@@timgelder4263 When they were ready, they would talk some. At the start it would be funny or interesting stories. If they started going down a sad story aisle, you knew the stories were soon over. One sad memory almost always ended story time. Lots of feelings bottled up inside those poor guys.

@philgiglio7922

2 жыл бұрын

If he was anything like my dad he NEVER talked about it.

My father in law served in the 467th BG and fortunately survived. Many of his friends did not. Bless them all...bless them all.

A friend of mine, Dale Dyer, who just turned 100 in December, retrained manynof the pilots that survived Black Monday. He said it was his hardest assignment during the war, and many times he had to 'take the wheel' when pilots would completely shut down from PTSD. Look Dale up sometime, he had been featured a few times in the News Observer, our local paper.

@jcarne1015

4 жыл бұрын

Matthew Jones I’m ashamed to say that is something that had never occurred to me until you brought it up...Good Lord, they all must have had balls of steel.

@CDSAfghan

4 жыл бұрын

The P in PTSD is Post, As in after. What they’re most likely experiencing is intense fight/flight/freeze, what we call “going into the black”. The closest condition would be CSR, combat stress reaction. I have seen these responses firsthand in combat.

@lordgarion514

4 жыл бұрын

@@CDSAfghan He said the survivors of black Monday. That's post, as in after, black Monday.

A few years ago I was on a flight from New York City to Orlando. Not too long before we were to land, we hit a terrible storm. Lightning, wind, sudden drops in the turbulence -- for about 20 minutes there was no announcement, people were screaming, freaking out..I started talking to the older gentleman sitting right in front of me. "We'll be fine, this is nothing," he told me. Turns out he had been a pilot in the Mighty 8th in WWII. We were diverted to Tampa where 3/4's of the plane disembarked even though we were to head right back to Orlando. He stayed on, so did I. I shook his hand and thanked him when we finally got off the plane.

Certainly deserves to be remembered. Truly the Greatest generation. My father was crew chief on B-17 at age 24. Went on thanks to GI bill to become a lawyer.

My grandmother-in-law ground the lenses for those bomb sights. She was extremely proud of that. :)

Real Courage, Is not the absence of fear. It is, Being scared as all Hell And still doing your job. The fear these Men faced.... It is a wonder, That the planes could fly, with that amount of true Steel Courage.

@JasperKlijndijk

4 жыл бұрын

Doing your job is dropping bombs on homes, children and normal people. The military was not nearby Real courage would be to protest this.

@HiTechOilCo

4 жыл бұрын

@@JasperKlijndijk - You seem to conveniently forget the thousands of V1 and V2 rockets Nazi Germany fired at England, indiscriminately killing innocent people. A true terror weapon. Bombing targets such as Berlin with the many factories there is entirely different than, "dropping bombs on homes, children and normal people".

@andyZ3500s

4 жыл бұрын

@@HiTechOilCo Why even try to explain what was going on to someone that can not see the whole picture.

@Crashed131963

4 жыл бұрын

@@HiTechOilCo A V1 has 1000 lbs of explosive and the V2 2000 lbs , a 4 engine Bomber carries 7000 lbs and the sent them day and night in the Hundreds. Not the same thing.

@ut000bs

4 жыл бұрын

@@JasperKlijndijk You might have the desire to sit down and take the bullet but as for me and my house, we will always fight back. In theory, peace is the balance of violence. However, in practice, violence is balanced not by a lack of violence but by violence of an equal nature, moving in the opposite direction.

I served in late 90's, early 2000's as Tuskegee Airman point man for Central Fla. Chappy James Chapter. They were among the P-51D fighter escorts that made the longest flight in and back to that date. Such an honor to be in their presence and service, to hear their words of that mission. There was a 75 gallon augmented tank, behind the seat, that had to be burned off before the laminar winged bird would fly as designed. These guys were the real deal.

Really impressed when you talked about the 100th BG you used actual pictures of 100th BG aircraft (boxed D on the tail). Most other people would have used random stock footage. Thank you for your excellent attention to detail.

The end of this video brought tears to my eyes. May God bless these brave men’s memories and families. These men were true heroes, a basketball player isn’t.

Watching this is a somber moment indeed. “There is no greater love than a man should lay down his life for his fellow man.” God Bless those who see a greater good as more important then themselves.

@thunderchief7

2 жыл бұрын

You actually believe that God blesses those who drop bombs on innocent men, women and children? Interesting deity you have there.

@garrisonnichols7372

2 жыл бұрын

@@thunderchief7 We are talking about a mass murdering dictatorship that was bombed. Those "innocent citizens " would have gassed you to death simply because they saw you as sub human.

My mother's cousin, my second cousin, was a bombardier on B24s but by this time was shot down over Poesti in Romania, flying out of North Africa. He escaped and evaded capture with one other crew member and made it to Turkey, making hit home to a training command. I was an Air Force fighter Mechanic and when I was stationed at McDill in Florida from 76 to 79 they housed a B25, P47 and a B24 that belonged to a colector there in Tampa. My small section took care of them and in the two years they were there I got a chance to truly learn all of them, especailly the 24. They flew it out in 78 and was on a magazine cover. It was named "Delectable Doris." The reason I write this is that the B17 gets all the good press while they made many more 24s and it served in more fronts. Anything like your post that even mentions 24s for a second is gold to me.

When WWII broke out with Japan attacking the United States at Pearl Harbor, every citizen knew that this was the real deal, that we had to win this war or lose our country. Men *ran* to the military induction centers to enlist and everyone tried to do their part. My mom had just earned her private pilots license, (something unheard of for a woman back then, as women were supposed to cook and clean house, etc.), and she landed a job with the U.S. Army Air Corps as a flight instructor. She taught many U.S. pilots mentioned in this video how to fly. I love you mom. Thank you for everything you did to save our country! Until we are together again, rest in peace.

@lanswyfte

4 жыл бұрын

F

@allangibson8494

4 жыл бұрын

WW2 had been running for five years before Pearl Harbour if you were Chinese and over two years for pretty much everyone else. December 1941 just marked the defeat of the "America First" isolationist faction in Congress and the German American Bund supporters who wanted America to support Germany against the Soviet Union.

@HiTechOilCo

4 жыл бұрын

@@allangibson8494 - Yes, but for the United States, WWII officially began when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.

@allangibson8494

4 жыл бұрын

@@HiTechOilCo As usual - late to the party and still ill prepared. WW1 went the same way - with US forces armed with British designed rifles (because they didn't have the production capacity for the standard Springfield).

@allangibson8494

4 жыл бұрын

@Ordinary Sessel The US was handed Iceland on a platter - British forces then withdrew. The US Congress had a vocal pro-German element including the representatives from Illinois and New York state's. It took Pearl Harbour to muffle them. Post war Senator Joseph McCarthy took up the same line and suppressed the war crimes trials in Europe.

That ending showing those brave crews, hard to see with my eyes sweating so bad.

Absolute courage in the face of these stunning losses.

I highly recommend The National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force Savannah, Georgia

@deadendfriends1975

4 жыл бұрын

Yes please do ! My current hometown

@olliefoxx7165

4 жыл бұрын

Dude, I'm an hour from there and didn't know about that museum. Thanks! Gonna check it out!

@Mondo762

4 жыл бұрын

I went through there 20 years ago. My wife's father was in the Mighty Eighth Air Force.

@track123123

4 жыл бұрын

www.mightyeighth.org/

@deadendfriends1975

4 жыл бұрын

@@olliefoxx7165 it's in Pooler. Right off I 95

It's a MASSIVE shame that the bloody air combat over Europe have seemingly been forgotten in popular WWII culture. Those stories deserve to be remembered and honored.

Very interesting. My daughter and I visited the air museum at Pensacola FL Navy base last summer. It's well worth the trip

When a B-17 was shot down, many times it would be spinning out of control with the crew inside being unable to escape the plane and parachute to safety because the g-forces of the plane spinning wildly out of control would pin them in their positiions, unable to move. It was a long way down with the ground getting closer and closer, until the final impact. Imagine dying *like that*. The gut wrenching fear, knowing you are going to die and there is not a thing you can do about it. Rest in peace brave soldiers and thank you for giving your lives so that we could live in freedom!

@scottward7813

4 жыл бұрын

Unbelievable.

@ribbitgoesthedoglastnamehe4681

4 жыл бұрын

When you are in a real bad situation like that, all your energy goes on survival, not worrying on death. If there is absolutely nothing you can do and you stop fighting the inevitable, you can actually feel.. invulnerable. You are going to die for certain, and theres nothing worse the enemy can do to you. All the chemicals of the situation running in your system, the possibility of doing damage on the enemy with your dying breath, even dying without fear can make you feel oddly jubilant. Of course, your mood before will have a huge effect: if you are just a cab driver for a delivery of bombs, its possibly very scary. If you are out to fight it out, you are much more likely to go spitting them in the eye as your last deed.

@nonAehT

4 жыл бұрын

@@scottward7813 yeah, might want to fact check it, seems like this guy likes to tell a lot of stories

@facundoverag

4 жыл бұрын

Imagine dying burned by an incendiary bomb in your roof when you're 6 years old. War criminals that's what they were. I'm glad of their miserable deaths and hope they are rotting in hell. And no, I'm not a Nazi or a libtard.

@travcollier

4 жыл бұрын

@@facundoverag No, they weren't war criminals. The horror you describe was, and sadly is, real enough. Damn the "great men" and nationalism which caused the war, not the people who committed those horrors because they lived in a world where the alternative was worse. I recall a combat veteran saying something profound. It was probably a quote from someplace, but he spoke it with an unmistakable personal truth: Dying for your country isn't hard... killing for it is another matter. BTW: The US generally undertook daylight bombing. Not that it wasn't horrible with huge numbers of civilian casualties, but it was a choice which those who made it knew would increase the number of crews killed to at least slightly increase the chances the bombs would fall on their targets instead of random houses. The British air command chose to do night raids because they thought the additional losses from daylight bombing would not have been replaceable and would make losing the war even more likely. Imagine how horrendous that decision, either way, had to have been.

My late father was a B-17 pilot in the 8th Air Force. Many thanks for this segment. I am history lover as well. We returned my father’s uniforms, papers and medals to his station, 119 in Horham England . Home of the 95th BG, they have a small museum where his belonging are now on permanent display. Many thanks David Kalbacker

A salute to the brave men of the 8th Army Air-force.

I have a friend who is old enough to remember being a small child in Germany during WWII. One day many years ago an antique B-17 flew over. I looked up and said something like"I just love the sound of those big old radial engines" Rather quietly he replied "Ya und I do not"

@yclepe

4 жыл бұрын

@Despiser Despised Way to young, a small child at the time

@Weshopwizard

4 жыл бұрын

Perhaps Germany should not have picked a fight.

@jonaspedersen1986

4 жыл бұрын

​@@Weshopwizard Perhaps the US should have seen Pearl Harbour coming. Perhaps USSR should have removed Stalin after the war. Perhaps, perhaps. Steuart's comment has a lot of history in it. It's not every day you get to hear/see the experience of the guy on the other side of the fence. Your comment brings nothing but useless and obvious 20/20 vision, good work. 5 gold stars for contributing.

@leeboy26

4 жыл бұрын

@Despiser Despised Germany elected a National Socialism party, which was about as socialist as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is a Democratic Republic. We know this because A) Socialists and anyone on the left were persecuted by the Nazis and B) Their greatest foe, the USSR, quite literally had the term Socialist in the name. I would strongly recommend some reading on the beginnings of the Nazi party and what happened to the handful of people that actually thought it had Socialist leanings. You may be enlightened.

@sonicgoo1121

4 жыл бұрын

@Despiser Despised Warning: Those who equate nazism with socialism will be haunted by the ghosts of Dachau.

I spent 3 years assigned to the "Bloody Hundredth", now the 100th Air Refueling Wing in 2000-2003. As of 2012 that wing is the only wing in the US Air Force that is authorized to still use its WW 2 tail marking instead of the standard 2 letter marking used by every other wing in the USAF. Imperial War Museum Duxford has a series of panels on the path up to their American Aircraft museum that breakdown the losses of aircraft in the 8th and 9th Air Forces by air group. If I remember right, there are about 20 panels and each panel is about 7'x4' and the aircraft are 2"- 3" square. It's a sobering reminder of the cost of freedom.

@MichaelOnines

4 жыл бұрын

Box D

@zmaschannel4808

4 жыл бұрын

D

@glenncunningham6397

4 жыл бұрын

3 years at Mildy for me back in the 90s. 488th IS. Best assignment I ever had...

@zmaschannel4808

4 жыл бұрын

My Grandpa was in the "Bloody Hundredth" during WW2. He said that the Germans particularly went after B17s with the D on the tail. The reason the Germans hated those planes even more than other US planes stems from an incident where a bunch of German fighters surrounded a B17 and the B17 lowered its wheels which was a signal it was going to surrender. When the German planes flew in close to the B17 all of the B17s 50 caliber guns opened up and shot down several of the German planes. The B17 was also shot down. They went out in a hail of bullets. They really went out of their way to target 100th bomb group airmen after that.

@zmaschannel4808

4 жыл бұрын

@Call Me Ishmael I'm just repeating what someone who was actually there said to me. I'm not saying they didn't go after other planes, I'm saying that if they were flying down on a group of B17s and saw some with the D on the tail, they might prefer to shoot at those. My grandpa's story appears in a book called In Harm's Way written by Paul K. Cashdollar. His name was Michael G. Polanick. In the paperback version his chapter is on page 164. He was on a B17 that made it through the Black Thursday mission but was shot down I believe before Black Monday. He made it through 23/25 missions and then became a prisoner of war for 13 months. Eventually the prison was liberated by the Soviet Army.

My father was a B-17 Pilot/Aircraft Commander but in the 15th AF,463rd Bomb Group (Heavy) 772nd Bombardment Squadron based at Celone airbase near Foggia, Italy in the year 1944 A.D. He had 50 combat missions/35 sorties but luckily he was never injured but he had a lot of close calls. I have a video of him on my channel. Dad passed away in 2004 and I really miss him a lot. I did save a lot of his history and found out even more from the group historian. Thank you for this great video

Toured the B-17 at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum south of Portland, OR. Couldn't believe how tight the interior was.

@silentotto5099

4 жыл бұрын

The first time I got a really good close-up look at a B-17, what struck me most was how knocked together they looked. In some places, it looked like the skin had just been cut out with a set of tin snips and riveted in place with a 'that'll do 'er' sort of attitude. After seeing modern aircraft with their tight tolerances, it was a bit of a shock. That makes their performance and durability even more amazing. I think anyone who's studied WWII bombing has been shocked by the damage some of those planes were able to take and keep on flying.

@timgelder4263

4 жыл бұрын

Bob, I toured the same one. There was a man speaking to people under the wing who had been a pilot who had pieces of shrapnel that had been removed from his leg. Unfortunately the B-17 is no longer there. I also toured one at Salem last summer and a few months later one crashed and burned with 7 lives lost. It was the same plane

We're slowly forgetting those men. And the losses. When you forget history you are doomed to repeat history. I hope mankind wises up.

@scorpio66invt

4 жыл бұрын

Mankind must put an end to war , before war puts an end to mankind. John F. Kennedy July 1962

@BHuang92

4 жыл бұрын

One thing you learn about history is that people never learn.............

@scorpio66invt

4 жыл бұрын

@@BHuang92 stupidity does seem to be redundant... does it not ??

@alitlweird

4 жыл бұрын

John Combs politically and socially, the world is trending toward repeating history.

@MonkPetite

4 жыл бұрын

John Combs well said! It true that we totally repeat our selfs. If you take the time line of the Roman Empire you will see the current empire is very similar. Luck we have the history guy.

Moving tribute to the heroes of the mighty 8th. And a reminder that every member of the air force was a volunteer....

@Rif_Leman

4 жыл бұрын

So was every Marine.

@hoatattis7283

4 жыл бұрын

edshermer: Every Soldier sailor ans airman of the Australian forces was a volunteer

@philgiglio7922

2 жыл бұрын

Twice, once to enlist and second time to fly.

I am not an historian but I am the son of a B-17 pilot. Much, much is said about the 8th Army Air Corp and the sacrifices those men made are deserving of their many remembrances. There was also the 15th Army Air Corps that operated out of North Africa and Italy my father flying mostly out of Fogia. They too suffered greatly. I sure would appreciate them being remembered too. I also know that Senator George McGovern flew his B-24 from the same base as Dad. History that deserves to be remembered.

My great uncle served as a top turret gunner on a B-17. He would never talk about his experience, except for one time. He told an 8 year old me of only one mission. The bottom of his plane took a shot from a 109 and it hit a bomb still in the bomb bay. It ripped out the bottom of the fuselage killing the side gunners, belly turret gunner, tail gunner, and navigator. "Eddie," he said. "I looked down and all I saw was France." I'll never know why he decided to tell me of his experience. He died a year later. I never appreciated the horror he must felt until I became an adult myself and I'll never forget his service. Thank you for creating this video. These men are giants to me and I pray every day that we are worthy of their sacrifice.

This is a history that should never be forgotten. Allied airmen. God bless ' em all. Thank you THG.

@thunderchief7

2 жыл бұрын

Godfail. Sadly, God did not bless them. He cursed them with a horrific casualty rate.

One of the BEST episodes that I have seen you do. Thank you.

In 1942-43-44-45 there were many many places you did not want to be. Two in particular 1. On a Gato or Balao class submarine in the western pacific 2. A B-17-B24 4 miles above Germany

@olliefoxx7165

4 жыл бұрын

True. Can you imagine having to pick your poison? Either drown in a sinking sub thousands of miles from home or fall to your death thousands of feet from the ground. Think I'd rather fly with a parachute on my back.

@stevenwiederholt7000

4 жыл бұрын

@@olliefoxx7165 Death of a ball turret gunner From my mother’s sleep I fell into the State, And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze. Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life, I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters. When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.

@olliefoxx7165

4 жыл бұрын

@@stevenwiederholt7000 yeah, that's horrible. Forgot about that position. There was no way to bail.

@obelic71

4 жыл бұрын

Don't forget also: - The poor infantryman with the flamethrower on his back! - The merchant marine sailor in the convoys to Europe and Moermansk.

@raystory7059

4 жыл бұрын

@@stevenwiederholt7000 I rember reading that very poem to my classmates in 6th grade. The teacher did not approve but some of my friends "got it".

As a resident of Oshkosh and a member of the EAA, I loved the shout out! The annual Airventure fly-in is the world's greatest celebration of aviation and always has a large contingent of warbirds! I was fortunate enough to host a pilot from the Eighth Air Force and his son for the EAA fly-in several years ago. He guided us through a B-17, recounting raids and his experiences in England. It was something I'll never forget.

My father was a B-24 Flight Engineer / Top Gunner on this mission. The bravery of those air crews cannot be measured or properly rewarded.

@Crashed131963

4 жыл бұрын

Scatter bombing a city full of civilians when in 1944 the Russians were on a unstoppable march to Berlin is not heroic to me. They Bombed Dresden for last just because it was the only untouch city left 2 months before the war ended. It war untouched because it had no Military targets.

@fegelfly7877

4 жыл бұрын

@@Crashed131963 Correct.

@m9078jk3

4 жыл бұрын

@@Crashed131963 The USAAF in the European and Mediterranean theatre had a policy to only target installations of military importance with what was attempted with precision bombing (Norden bombsight which didn't work with clouds and smoke pots). Civilian areas were to be avoided and not specifically targeted This is not to say that civilians were not killed however and there were many targeting errors. This policy was different from the policy of RAF Bomber command whom used area bombing of German cities (which the Luftwaffe used on the U.K. and other countries Warsaw,Rotterdam etc) However area bombing was used by the USAAF over Japan as is historically known

@Crashed131963

4 жыл бұрын

@@m9078jk3 Towards the middle the US were just scatter bombing with incendiary bombs with the intent to just burn the cities like the RAF. They destroyed Dresden in just two raids , nobody is that bad of a aim.

@m9078jk3

4 жыл бұрын

@@Crashed131963 None of my fathers targets included any civilian targeted areas in the 15th AF the targets were oil refineries and storage,Luftwaffe airfields,tank factories,shore gun emplacements,bridges,rail marshaling yards etc. I have his records and his bombing photos as well.

i love your videos. the WWII videos remind me that generation sacrificed so much for us. My grandfather served 4 years in the pacific theater. and i was so proud of him. he never bragged or boasted. just did his job

THX. Always enjoy your videos because they are so well done. My Uncle was a waist gunner in a B-17G named 'Our Babe', part of the 'Bloody 100th' that participated in this mission. This was just one of many missions that I recall him telling me about. It was a very tough day, indeed. He remembered the feeling as they revealed the map showing the target for the day. His voice cracked as he told me the story, and the emotion of that moment was clearly evident. They were very excited, but very nervous. They now had 'little friends' to support the bomber stream, which gave some comfort, but they knew that the German's would throw everything they had at them over Berlin. 'Acceptable loses' were expected. He just prayed he wouldn't be one of the them.

You should come up to Oshkosh and the EAA next summer where history flies everyday.

My father-in-law was the tail gunner on the Incendiary Blonde and was part of this raid. They lost a mid waist gunner. He was a hell of a man.

@natedog1619

2 жыл бұрын

I have seen many pics of that plane, thanks for sharing Mike

Wow I am pretending no tears are in my eyes but it ain't working

@jackbelk8527

4 жыл бұрын

America's Greatest Generation is very well named.

@rjeffm1

4 жыл бұрын

yes

My dad was a tail turret operator on a B-17 with the 15th air force

Love these little snippets of History. There is a magazine called Pennsylvania, that includes occasional short stories of Pennsylvania history. The Nov/Dec issue remembers a unique story of a high school teacher, who in 1937, took 20 high school students on a six week tour of the US including Alaska. It would make a great story.

"The Greatest Generation" label scarcely does them justice...

Got to fly aboard the B-17G “Aluminum Overcast” a couple months ago. Was one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had.

@HiTechOilCo

4 жыл бұрын

You are very fortunate!

@petroelb

4 жыл бұрын

I took a ride on "Fuddy Duddy" about 15 years ago (Aluminum Overcast was in maintenance). What an awesome experience! Not cheap, but well worth every penny.

@JayJay-ex6yo

4 жыл бұрын

ive been inside Aluminum Overcast, but not flown. i cant even imagine how epic that would be

I have been inside a B-17 bomber and standing there, imagining what it must have been like for the crew when they were being attacked, the body of the plane is made of aluminum and could be easily pierced by bullets and flak. There's no place to run. There's no place to hide. There's no place to take cover. At any moment a bullet or flak could penetrate the hull of the plane and kill you. The stress level and fear must have been off the scale!

@The_Dudester

4 жыл бұрын

My english teacher in high school was a tail gunner on a B-17. I asked what that was like. He said he was airsick often because he was bounced around so much. He also said that he was cold all of the time.

@HiTechOilCo

4 жыл бұрын

@@The_Dudester - Yes, the B-17's were not pressurized, so the air from outside the plane came into the plane and it was well below zero at the altitudes the B-17's flew at. With the waist gunner positions being open to the outside air, the tail gunner was subjected to a 200 mph+ cold blast of air coming back right at him.

@norton750commando

4 жыл бұрын

I was watching an episode of "The Memory Project" a couple of weeks ago, and one of the participants was an 8th AF bomber crew member. He was talking about the cold, how some crewmen lost fingers to frostbite, and how the aluminum skin was so thin you could practically punch a hole in it with your fist.

@The_Dudester

4 жыл бұрын

@@norton750commando Take a look at the nose of a 707, 727, and 737. Look at the nose of a B-17. Notice something? The aluminum skin of today's jetliners are thicker than the skin of WW2 bombers and fighters, but they also take a lot more stress due to pressurization and speed. Consider the Aloha jet that lost it's roof when it was inflight. It was a miracle that it survived. Yeah, bombers of the 8th had thin skin, but those bombers also took a lot of damage-coming home "on a wing and a prayer".

@ronfullerton3162

4 жыл бұрын

@@HiTechOilCo Or the Sperry Ball Turret, that if it lost power, you were stuck in it!

Wow. This should never be forgotten. So sad to think of all the lives lost on both sides. And scary to realize how quickly we forget the horrific toll of warfare. All of your productions are excellent, but this is one of the best in every respect. Thank you.

One of your best History Guy.

When you listen to the old soldiers they say only the dead were heroes. Yes definitely the ultimate heroes. But they risked their lives. Anyone who risked their life is a hero to me. They are all heroes.

@ronfullerton3162

4 жыл бұрын

Well said, Ray!

I live 20 minutes from the EAA Air Museum. To this day, it is the reason for my massive interest in both aviation and military history. Such a magical place.

69 bombers lost. That's almost 700 men, just in the bombers. Until we regroup, Gentlemen...

@TheHistoryGuyChannel

4 жыл бұрын

The sad fact is that we were willing to sacrifice those men knowing that we could replace them. Such is war.

@BeachsideHank

4 жыл бұрын

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel Dogs have been used by the U.S. military for more than a century. Around 5,000 dogs served in Vietnam as guard dogs or scouts. When soldiers finished their tours, another handler was assigned to dogs already in Vietnam. After the war ended and troops returned home, the dogs were deemed excess equipment and left behind - many were euthanized, some were given to the Vietnamese army and some were left to fend for themselves. The point I'm trying to make here is that in war, the combatants are, in the literal sense, just equipment; repairable and replaceable. This view is held by all sides as a necessary reality else strategic goals would never be met. A Vietnam Vet, 1969- 1973

@Crashed131963

4 жыл бұрын

And probably 10,000 Berliners killed that day , so 700 seems like a one sided exchange.

@HE-162

4 жыл бұрын

John Smith it’s not really “an exchange”, it’s a tragedy on both ends. There is no justice in war, all war is criminal. It is the manifestation of humans failing to understand one another. So again, it was not an exchange. It was a tragedy for all mankind.

@breadwineandsong4014

4 жыл бұрын

@@HE-162 So, by that logic, rather than go to war with Hitler and Japan, it would have been better not to get involved while they went on with the destruction of nations and massacres of people. So, you, personally, are willing to take a bullet from a Nazi execution squad or have your head lopped off just because you're you from a Japanese soldier under orders from his officer in the name of peace thinking that will bring it about. More power to you, brah. I can think of a lot of people who remained thankful their whole lives that the Allied Armies of WWII resuced them from death in concentration camps throughout Europe, but if you're willing to stand idly by while others die, I guess that's your prerogative. Maybe if we just understood Hitler and Tojo better he would've left Europe alone. Would you like to purchase a bridge?

The P-51 B/C was the razorback variant; the later P-51 D sported the bubble canopy. The B/C carried only 4 50-caliber machine guns. The D carried 6. The designations B and C distinguished between fighters built in Inglewood, CA, and Dallas, TX, respectively. Other than that, they were identical. PS A friend of mine was a gunner on a B-17 during the war. Wrote a poem about his experience. Gut-wrenching.

@hoatattis7283

4 жыл бұрын

h lynn keith: And the 6 x50s was just good enough they should have used cannon

@hckyplyr9285

4 жыл бұрын

Many top P-51 pilots preferred the B/C model over the D, especially when the former were equipped with the English “Malcom hood”.....a kind of early bubble canopy that gave adequate rearward but superior downwards visibility. Bud Andersen and Walker Mahurin both preferred the B. Yeager apparently favored the D for its greater firepower.

@hoatattis7283

4 жыл бұрын

@Call Me Ishmael That is just the point The 50 was not that much faster than the Hispano

@hoatattis7283

4 жыл бұрын

@Call Me Ishmael Yes you are correct the USAAF pilots generally were not good shots

@hoatattis7283

4 жыл бұрын

@Call Me Ishmael My friend your Best was Capt Gentle 1 x Fw190s 162 rds AND 360 by Maj G Carpenter 2 X190s RAF Dick Audet 5 enemy in 7 minutes and never touched his 50s and the best Wing Comd Cunningham 1x Me410 40 rounds at NIGHT

The history guy is always part of my morning routine. I love the fact that although they are very well made, they don’t require watching.

@paulsid15

4 жыл бұрын

Most of the episodes I'm only listening to while driving or working. I always return to the episodes later to watch them, but they are so well made you can learn so much without even seeing them.

@rlicon1970

4 жыл бұрын

Mine as well. 😊

My father was a navigator in No. 6 Group in Bomber Command. He was awarded the DFC and made 7 trips in a Halifax to Berlin. He finished his tour on his birthday, August 8th, 1944, aged 24.

Thank you for shedding some light on this raid. My father flew on this mission. He was a radio operator on a B-17G... The Saint.

Recently I watched a video on the history of the United States Army Corp of Engineers. There's a small unit called the 249th, a group of Prime Power Production Specialists that trace their history back to Nuclear Power generation. I was a part of that proud group of people for 10 years before I retired. They are some of the smartest enlisted personnel in the military and are not widely known about even in the US army and I feel that they deserve to be remembered.

The 8th Air Force lost more men than the entire Marine Corps did in WW II.

@janvanv

4 жыл бұрын

5 times as many men served in the AAF (3,400,000) as the USMC....(660.000)...the vast majority of the USMC dead were in combat.. In all flying forces well over 35% of losses were "non-operational"..not in combat...training, ferrying, just plain screw ups..an incredibly high and tragic figure...shows the nature of flying...especially multi-engined planes with big crews..1 simple mistake and can be 11 men lost. Kind of silly making comparisons like that.

@drcthru7672

4 жыл бұрын

@@janvanv Total non-battle deaths in WWII was 29%, all branches of service!

@janvanv

4 жыл бұрын

@@drcthru7672 I know, that is an appalling average, but in the AAF and the flying part of the US Navy it was far higher...> I stumbled accross a LONG list of the day by day losses of aircraft for the entire war once...there were in continental USA between 4 and 6 aircraft lost daily (not always fatal) for the whole war......And once read individual squardons reports based in England and again the amount of non-operational losses and losses to "friendly" fire were shocking...3 in 10 is a LOT..

@dukecraig2402

4 жыл бұрын

@@janvanv Kind of silly making comparisons like that? Tell that to the families that didn't get their kids back, seriously, will you stand there and tell their families that it doesn't count because they were killed in an accident in a war as opposed to enemy fire? I'd love to see someone like you stand in front of a crowd of families who all lost someone that way and imply that it doesn't count. I was in the peacetime military and the first time I saw someone who'd gotten killed in an accident I immediately realized that no one was ever going to know his name, it'll never be chiseled in a monument and that kids poor mother wasn't going to get her son back, just a folded up flag and a coffin marked "Remains non-viewable", and the reason that he won't be remembered is because people like you don't think it counts if they weren't killed by enemy fire in some glorious way that would make Chuck Norris look good in a movie. The numbers of airmen who were killed in accidents during the war is a testament to how dangerous that job is, even in peacetime. Silly comparison my ass.

@janvanv

4 жыл бұрын

@@dukecraig2402 forfawkssake saying "this group had more KIA than that group over there" is REALLY going to make anybody "feel" better??? Really?

Thanks, History Guy for another great video! I once remember coming across a most astounding bit of history about an intrepid Englishman who disregarded China's ban on foreigners learning the secrets of their tea industry. This one man changed the history of the entire world. Google tells me his name was Robert Fortune.

My late Dad’s best friend and co-worker Roy (I called him “Uncle Roy”) was a Liberator Pilot in that raid. I remember him telling me about that raid when I was a young boy. I recall him saying the sight of aircraft from horizon to horizon was breathtaking and that his aircraft sustained some significant flak damage. His crew made their required missions and he and his crew all returned to the U.S. after the war.

Just received my The History Guy coffee cup today! Proud Patreon supporter as well.

"It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived". - General George S. Patton. God bless you Gen.Patton!

@simonedwards5070

4 жыл бұрын

HiTechOilCo someday we’ll get to the bottom of why Patton, a great man actually died thing would I am sure been different had he lived

@HiTechOilCo

4 жыл бұрын

@@simonedwards5070 - There has been a book written about this very topic and the author spent many years researching it. Was George S. Patton Murdered? New Light on an Old Conspiracy --- warfarehistorynetwork.com/2017/06/30/was-george-s-patton-murdered-new-light-on-an-old-conspiracy/

Air Crews and Ground Crews of the Mighty Eighth - gratitude and tribute is due you for the rest of time, especially Air Crews ... the ones who died and the ones who survived the horror and terror over Europe. Thank you. Rest in peace. History Guy, your videos are amazingly great, thank you

This might be the best one you have ever done. Thank you for the post History Guy

Magnificent presentation.

I new a B24 pilot who didn't fly with 8TH Air Force, but out of North Africa on raids to the Polesti oil fields. His flight log was difficult to read because his handwriting was harder and harder to decipher due in my opinion to what we call today PTSD...

4 out of 5 aircrew men wounded , captured, or killed and they still went by the thousands. That’s courage.

@flagmichael

4 жыл бұрын

WW2 was truly a war of desperation. If the Allies failed the world would have become almost entirely fascist governed. By 1944 that much was obvious.

This video is, in my opinion, your best yet. Thank you for the facts, of course, which are the framework for true history. But I also thank you for the spirit in which you told us the facts, putting them into the context of living and dying airmen. Your production values were superb--the several seconds of silence, with textual tribute to the 8th Air Force, drove home the importance of Black Monday in a way no narrator could. Again, thank you.

Always professional and well turned out. Fantastic. Great work!

yet another informative and respectful episode, thank you...

My father was an engineer gunner on a B-17 in WW 2. He was shot down on his eleventh mission in March 1944. He was a POW until May 1945.

This is one of many reasons they were called the greatest generation. Heros doing horrific work, under outlandish circumstances, deserving our respect, our undying gratitude, and worthy of being remembered.

The Mighty 8th. The bravest flight group that ever was or will be. Thank God for their heroic service and sacrifices.

A few years ago I saw a B-17 and a B-24 at an air show. They were small. Even smaller when I went inside. You don't want to be the ball gunner after seeing his position.

@skydiverclassc2031

4 жыл бұрын

They're not a user-friendly plane, are they? Single purpose, to deliver bomb tonnage. A lot of sharp angles and metal projections inside the crew areas. I wonder how many injuries occurred just from banging around in the plane.

My dad was on that raid piloting the B-17 "Aint Misbehavin" with the 366th bomb squadron. He flew 29 others as well the last were to support the Normandy invasion. He flew 6 missions over Berlin total. Like most of the airmen he rarely talked about his service. He did tell me later in his life about when German fighters attacked nose on, he would get so low in his seat only his eyes and the top of his head were visible appeared above the windscreen. He said there was armor in front of the instruments. He also sat on a flak jacket. LOL

Excellent, as usual. Little is remembered at how high the losses in flight TRAINING were during the war. So high in fact, that a focused effort was made to keep the numbers hidden from the American people.

There's a great little museum at Thorpe St Abbott's, home of the Bloody Hundred.

Please produce a video about Douglas Munro, the U.S. Coast Guard’s only Medal of Honor recipient.

@rrbee

4 жыл бұрын

Just read up on Munro on wikipedia, and I agree. It would be a good video topic.

@Jakob_DK

4 жыл бұрын

Here is a link for others en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Albert_Munro

@matthewpoplawski8740

2 жыл бұрын

BeachComberNJ, there's a video now playing about Doug Munro. I saw it today. I'm not ashamed to tell you it brought tears to my eyes. 😪😪😪✌✌✌✌

William Wyler gave his tribute to these men in "The best years of our lives" portraying the bombardier Fred Derry. Still a timeless movie and full of humanity. All what these people saw and suffered was burnt deep inside and often more then mental health could bear. And about the German pilots: Over Germany they flew to defend their homes and their families. They knew that home defence was a death commando, a butcher place.

gives a little more context to one of my favorite old television show, 12 O'clock High.

Awesome as usual your work in bringing these stories to the forefront is amazing also the sacrifices of those men and women from that insane war is absolutely astounding

KICK ASS VIDEO!!!! Great info and very accurate facts and dates.

Excellent presentation! Thank you for keeping History alive!!

Wow. I'm stunned. The Army Air Corps duty was often perceived as glamorous compared to the infantry and other services. Now learning about its incredibly high casualty rate, its a wonder those men could muster the nerve to keep flying mission after mission knowing the odds were against them coming back. That's courage above and beyond the call of duty.

@michaelmanning5379

4 жыл бұрын

My friend's dad rushed to enlist with all his friends in the RCAF, fresh out of high school. He washed out of pilot school and spent the war as ground crew. Not one of his friends who made pilot came back.

@blank557

4 жыл бұрын

@Call Me Ishmael Thanks for the info. I agree about the RAF Bomber command losses. Despite flying at night, they suffered horrendous casualties. I read that one time they lost close to 100 aircraft in three successive night raids. I wonder if it would have been better for both the US and Britain to combine their bombers for day raids. Now that would have been a massive number of bombers. Probably wouldn't work though---Too many planes to get together at once.