Some fun additional notes to share: Crosby's female roommate is described as "Wingate" in his book as opposed to "Westgate" in the series. If you want to see Spencer Tracy deliver the original Crosby line in "Test Pilot," check out the trailer: kzread.info/dash/bejne/aJ19s5JwZtjPdag.htmlfeature=shared&t=97 To hear the wonderful rendition of "Tear the Fascists Down" as performed in the series, go here: kzread.info/dash/bejne/lKesmtCSf9Woo84.html To offer context on the British cliches and Anglo-American friction, we naturally refer to Crosby's book as well as these articles: www.iwm.org.uk/history/tips-for-american-servicemen-in-britain-during-the-second-world-war and www.bbc.com/news/magazine-20160819

This...this is what I'm waiting for immediately after watching every new episode of Masters of the Air. This is cool guy stuff

@EscanV

4 ай бұрын

Me too I wait until he uploads his reaction... THE BEST reaction because of context

@Fibonaccisghost

4 ай бұрын

Cool guy stuff indeed

@neela.and.samson

4 ай бұрын

I feel he does a good job clarifying some of the scenes that show more than they tell.

@asdf9890

4 ай бұрын

Me too, it’s my first thought after an episode.

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

Thank you, all!

The Luftwaffe lieutenant interrogating Major Egan reminds me of Hanns Scharff - known as the Master Interrogator for his successful techniques when interviewing captured Allied POWs - mainly airman. He never used physical torture and was so effective the Germans used him to interrogate high level prisoners like fighter aces. He was invited by the United States in 1948 to lecture on his interrogation techniques and his methods are still part of the US program.

@The_Zilli

4 ай бұрын

and people think that the Nazification of America is a conspiracy theory ;) Yet another fine example of how that ideology has slowly seeped into the US.

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

Good insight!

@g-unit7625

4 ай бұрын

Odd that he had no Luftwaffe insignia on the front of his uniform. Was that an inaccuracy or was it deliberate?

@DrTarrandProfessorFether

4 ай бұрын

I thought I saw wings.

@219miles

4 ай бұрын

I explained this to my wife while we watched this episode. I’m going to buy his book soon…The Interrogator

My Grandfather was a Desert Rat in North Africa. After a retreat from Tobruk he found himself alone in the desert, so found a hole to sleep in for the night. In the morning three soldiers from the Africa Korps were waiting for him to wake up (seemingly in no rush). Their first words to him were “Tommy, for you the war is over”.

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

Wow! Powerful. Much respect to your grandfather.

I live in Lexington, KY. There is a restaurant in town I have been frequenting for years and after looking up the old article in the newspaper Jared mentioned, it turns out Bubble's family home was right next door to that restaurant! It is crazy to think some of these guys roamed the same streets where you spend your everyday life!

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

How cool! Jared will be presenting at Camp Nelson National Monument nearby this July. He will have to find that spot!

Absolutely love your videos Jared. I'm a 70 year old Brit and was brought up on war films. I smiled at the part about the GI instruction book on Britain as it reminded me of Burgess Meredith's 'Office of War' information film 'Welcome To Britain' for servicemen stationed in the UK. Captain in the US army airforce, Burgess Meredith gives advice to Americans on etiquette and behaviour when mixing with the natives. Masters of The Air is superb and is a fitting addition to the excellent Band of Brothers and The Pacific.

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

Thanks for tuning in, friend!

@bretcantwell4921

4 ай бұрын

As an American history major and lifelong student of history, I've made my peace with the oversexed, overpaid and over there quip. A million Brits welcomed soldiers and airmen into their homes, treated black soldiers better than the Army did and gave innumerable young, parochial Americans a cosmopolitan experience that they could never have otherwise afforded. On the other side, when I watch British movies and shows from the 60s-80s I often contextualize them in terms of the war and the Blitz. My favorite "Britcom" is Are You Being Served as time passed (we were a decade or more behind here) I realized almost every cast member had endured the war, the Blitz and the post-war rationing and shortages until the UK was back on her feet.

@lyndoncmp5751

4 ай бұрын

Shame then that Masters of the Air follows the trend of Band of Brothers and The Pacific (and even Saving Private Ryan) by portraying British or Australian military men as either arseholes or idiots.

My FAVORITE part of this episode is actually the part you kind of mentioned in the end, when Rosie is visibly anxious about getting back into the pilots seat and he starts tapping the beginning of The Chant on the side before jumping in and closing the door while the song actually starts playing. It spoke to me immediately because there have been many times in my life where I was worried or anxious about doing something and humming a song that I like instantly calmed me down enough to do whatever it is I was nervous about doing. Obviously the tasks I needed to accomplish weren't anywhere near the level of jumping back into a B-17 and flying over enemy territory to drop bombs, but it was nice seeing that in the episode. I'm sure a lot of us can relate to that.

@captaintoyota3171

4 ай бұрын

Yup , i do high risk construction. High rises, bridges over large rivers etc. Ive had those moments where you must gather yourself and push on. Humming a tune or tapping gets the mind focused and pushes out those intrusive thoughts of danger/risk

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

Great insights.

@ShawnTheDriver

4 ай бұрын

@@captaintoyota3171 Wow, props to you cause I could never do work like that. I’m an OTR truck driver and the first time I had to drive down the steep mountain grade on the I-70 East into Denver, Colorado…at night…in a snow storm…I was FREAKING out lol. Humming songs to myself was the only thing that got me through it. Of course now it doesn’t bother me cause I’ve been down worse stretches of road in the two and a half years since that happened; but I still get into situations where I have to hype myself up before doing it lol

@tracyfrazier7440

4 ай бұрын

Stay safe out there. @@ShawnTheDriver

@evancrum6811

4 ай бұрын

Especially at this time in the war. Late 44-45 my grandfather flew so just a lot of flack.

I think every episode of this show becomes my favorite as they are aired. I cannot believe the details they have taken from the source materials and portrayed so effectively. To put in perspective, there were things in Sledge's book that I never thought could be put on film because they were too shocking, but they did in the Pacific. If you know the show and book you can probably think of the scenes I am speaking of. Here, there are things in Crosby's book that I never thought they would include because they were so offhand. The conversations with Westgate, for example, are so often almost word-for-word. It is an astounding attention to detail that they have produced here. It's really amazing how well done this show is.

I have continually impressed with this series, as you said, without much aerial scenes at all, the story remains engaging and affecting. The acting is strong and i may have teared up a bit when the boys got back together. Evoking Captain Virgil "the cooler king" Hilts peppering his baseball against the walls of fascism

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

A fine cinematic link!

What's curious is that Crosby notes he never figured out what Westgate actually did as a job. Best guesses being something related to Benchley Park or maybe the SOE but I suppose its really anyones guess. Very surprising nobody ever looked into it for all these years.

@carl9654

4 ай бұрын

Bletchley Park

@katiecanuk2951

4 ай бұрын

Came to say the same

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

We are going to get into that in a later part. Didn't want to spoil anything!

@LadyTylerBioRodriguez

4 ай бұрын

@@ReelHistory Fair enough, you've done a wonderful job not giving away events from the books and I respect that.

@Patrick-xv6qv

4 ай бұрын

I was thinking she was a SOE section F agent, but they have all been listed in historical records and what happened to them and there is no Westgate or Wingate on the list. Of course she could have been using a fake name

Dude, as soon as I saw Louis Hoffman in the credits during the intro I was so hyped. He is German royalty. Land of Mine is one of my favorite post-war films, and obviously he is amazing in Dark.

I know you mentioned this in a previous stream but of all the Playtone WWII series, the characters in Masters are the right ages for the period. I think we all sometimes forget that kids fought this war.

Despite no aerial combat, this was my favorite episode of the series. Really strong story telling and the ending when they all reunited was awesome

@asdf9890

4 ай бұрын

It was great. Although I had to stop and take a short break after the POWs were marched through the bombed out German town. Heart wrenching.

@DoseOfMaurice

4 ай бұрын

omgggg I was sooo hype mannn when I seen the ending

@DoseOfMaurice

4 ай бұрын

my guy think war is all about unaliving ppl , dropping bombs , and flying not showing how it effect the other side (Germany) or how POW was treated after being caught @@cjm7685

@sammcpeak6854

4 ай бұрын

@@cjm7685prove it

@laurameakin

4 ай бұрын

Agree the best because there was no scenes in the flying fortresses which hasn’t been their strongest because the action has been hard to follow. As we’ve had multiple planes we haven’t always known quick enough who is who because of the costume design overcome by Ridley Scott by writing the names of characters on the helmets and Memphis Belle had less actors to follow we knew exactly their positions etc. this is more muddled. It looks good but hard to follow.

I’ve loved every episode so far, but I find myself feeling incomplete with each episode until after I have watched your follow up videos on them. The context and real life excerpts you provide perfectly compliment the show and help to complete each episode for me. Thank you!

@picardtseng

4 ай бұрын

The only thing I complain about this series is they just making 9 episodes.

Watching your material from Warsaw, Poland . I am an architect and a history buff of WW2, I work in Museum of Warsaw Uprising 1944. If you ever come to Poland to learn about WWII here, will be happy to show you around :) Great great great work you are doing.

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

That would be wonderful! Please email us at reelhistory1944@gmail.com so we can keep your contact information on file!

@christianpoulin02

4 ай бұрын

I went twice to Warsaw. The first time I made sure I'd go to Auschwitz. That was a very emotional day. Next time I want to visit the Wolf's lair. I began learning polish 6 weeks ago. This will help. 😊

@Emanon...

4 ай бұрын

Next you can visit Gaza. Largest concentration and death camp in history.

@Warszawski_Modernizm

4 ай бұрын

You think I care bout Gaza? Sorry, I do not.

@christianpoulin02

4 ай бұрын

@@Emanon... visiting Gaza so I can get kidnapped and beheaded?

Well done Jared. The cinematography deserves mention. Although the season appears to be late summer, which doesn't fit the timeline, it is breathtaking. As well as arresting due to the juxtaposition with the horrors in the forest burial and city scenes of destruction.

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

Indeed!

Nice nod to the convincing accents! I can't believe how thick Cosby's actor's Irish accent actually is in real life. He slips a little from region to region of America but other than that it's damned perfect. Really loved the pop culture 40s references too, esp the music!

@asdf9890

4 ай бұрын

Wow, I would have never known he wasn’t American, if I didn’t read this, and I’m American.

@davemac1197

4 ай бұрын

As Damian Lewis said on an American chat show - "it's called 'acting'."

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

@@davemac1197, amen to that!

@dons1932

4 ай бұрын

@@davemac1197 There are a lot of great actors that don't nail accents that well. Having that control over your voice and diction is a real skill, to marvel!

Louis Hofmann cast as the interrogator just brings me to say: If you haven't seen his performance in Dark, you are really missing something...

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

He is such a good actor.

@mortarconn

4 ай бұрын

I believe he also plays a German soldier in, "All the Light We Cannot See."

im sorry if this was mentioned and i missed it, Stalag luft 3 is where the famous 'great escape' took place on march 24th 1944 so will likely be seeing this in the show

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

I think we will!

@DrTarrandProfessorFether

4 ай бұрын

And those escaped, captured by the SS were shot! When I did WW 2 Reenacting as American or Russian, we always shot SS men. Rarely did they surrender. We see in movie Fury how pissed off the main actor was when they brought in a captured SS soldier.

@Nghilifa

4 ай бұрын

I have my doubts. No American personnel made it out alive (only 3 aviators escaped successfully, two Norwegians and a Dutch).

@archbury918

4 ай бұрын

The Great Escape was in the British Compound. No Americans took part in the escape

@jackmcgonegal8728

4 ай бұрын

@@archbury918Actually, many Americans took part in the tunneling but all were removed to the American compounds a few weeks before the escape.

Thank you Jared. I absolutely wish people would watch your videos. You bring quotes and historical reference to from the soldiers and Airmen themselves adding context so we can all understand why the filmmakers made the choices they did. I look forward to your reactions every week. Some other channels seem to have not read much before critiquing.

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

Spread the word! And thank you!

Re: small arms during missions. When my grandfather was going through B24 training at Tonopah in 1944, he was required to qualify with an m1 carbine. I wonder how common it was for air crews to have small arms on board. He deployed to the Pacific after training.

I like how they use Egans journey to illustrate the story. Within the show, Egan goes from a night in London, seeing the consequences of bombing to being shot down and marched through a bombed German town in an extremely short time.

On the brief music scene with the phonograph: it’s important to note that in this time period the record industry was segregated by race like many parts of American society and culture. Music by black artists was issued on separate labels that mainstream stores would not carry. It would’ve been difficult for white listeners to hear the music of an artist like Duke Ellington unless they were in the know and had exposure to black neighborhoods where you could find such records. In the UK the records were not strictly segregated and music by black artists was more widely available and familiar than it was in many parts of the US at the time. Many of the post war British rock and blues musicians such as Eric Clapton noted these records as important early influences, and this led to the stylistic differences that made the popularity of the bands of the “British Invasion” so potent when their music became known in the US.

@LuisSoto-ho5fw

4 ай бұрын

Rosenthal himself would've known, being an intellectual music lover from NYC - But man, your comment here is so important. Imagine if The Beatles had not had that availability to Black artists post-war.

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

Great insights that we will try to mention if we can in a future episode!

@awcward1971

4 ай бұрын

A minor nitpick but in this scene Rosenthal operates a record player ten years from his future 😂. If you look carefully you’ll see that the Collaro gramophone he operates has a pickup cartridge with a turnover stylus at the end of the plastic tonearm. The cartridge provides a choice of styli: one for playing “standard” ~3mm groove records (i.e., shellac 78rpm) and on the flip side, a finer tip stylus for vinyl 1mm microgroove pressings. Vinyl 45rpm singles and EPs and 33rpm LPs would not become available to the consumer market until the late 50s. In the year this scene takes place (‘43 in Britain) gramophones still used disposable needles which required replacing frequently.

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

@@awcward1971, ouch. Nice catch.

I think this was probably my favorite episode of the series so far, but only after checking Reel History for Jared's breakdown of which events depicted were based on some form of actual events. 😉👍And what Anthony told you in NYC was absolutely correct, Bel Powley's performance definitely made this episode, plus enhanced Crosby's narrative within the show for anyone not keeping up with your always informative deep dives into the real life characters' history so far! Thanks for yet another wonderful episode breakdown! 👍

Des Moines Tribune is a blast from the past. I delivered it as a kid in the early 80s. It no longer exists. I already loved the series, but get even more interested when I hear about fellow Iowans. Crosby and Loren Darling so far.

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

As is the case with many hometown newspapers, sadly.

@hawkeyegeorge

4 ай бұрын

@ReelHistory Des Moines has a morning and afternoon paper. Register in the morning, Tribune in the afternoon. They just eliminated the afternoon paper. Enjoy your videos. Keep it up!

After watching last two emotional episodes. Is nice that I don't have to cry this episode. Man this series just so good.

I've met with Jerry Conlon back in 2013. There's a small memorial where his B-24 went down in Szigliget. We did a small commemoration there annualy with my reenactment group and the American Embassy.

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

That is so wonderful.

The train scenes made me think of the mini series War and Remembrance. They had similar scenes with Jane Seymore. Before that was Winds of War.

Another fantastic breakdown. Thank you Dr Frederick.

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

You are most welcome. Thanks for tuning in.

While this series has been impactful in many ways, this episode and the imagery and personal interactions around Crosby and Westgate(Wingate) resonated in a way that I wasn't really expecting or prepared for. My grandfather served in the 384th, and while stationed there met my grandmother who was serving in the ATS. I have many photos of them together in their uniforms, including with friends following their wartime wedding. What I didn't have was a particularly good mental image of how that relationship developed. My grandmother unfortunately passed away shortly after I was born, so I never really met her, and of all the conversations I had with my grandfather (and all of his writings), that particularly intimate part of the war for them was never really discussed. So, to see two people on screen who look and are dressed like my grandparents (Bel Powley especially has a striking likeness to the photos of my grandmother in her ATS uniform), brought those black and white photos to life in a deeply emotional way. I am so profoundly appreciative of everything that went into those scenes.

Another great presentation. I have gotten in the routine to watch the new episode and then watch the recap on Reel History. Then, I’ll go back and rewatch the episode, maybe more than once. I have been surprised at the depth of each episode, even without the rattle of a .50 caliber machine gun. The sight of a train taking people to an unknown camp is very powerful. Thank you again for your insight.

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

Thank you!

Thank you Jared. Enjoying your break downs as much as the series!

Am i alone in seeing a young Matthew Broderick in the actor playing Crosby? He even has a similar Ferris Bueller smirk at times.

It would be very unlikely for a Brit to say that even if they thought it, just not good form old chap. The RAF was also very upper working class / middle class (more so than upper class) and multinational by this point. I think the series overplays the animosity for dramatic purposes, and some may be based on recollections and perceptions but they’re also not the full picture Crosby’s experience of Oxford was overall much more positive in his book, and the bit that inspired the Magna Carta line was a genuine learning experience not an opportunity for a dig at each other.

@lyndoncmp5751

4 ай бұрын

It's the same old pattern with these Spielberg/Hanks productions, going back to Saving Private Ryan.

Always enjoy watching your take of the episode that I watched the night before Jared, this was a very solid character developing watch.

When Bucky was shown in the PWO camp I almost cried. When they put Stalag Luft 3 I new it looked familiar and then I did a little more digging and then I saw what Stalag Luft 3 was famous for and I can’t wait for next week’s episode

@Fuse1990

4 ай бұрын

As soon as they said the name I was like ‘I know that place’

@phillydelphia8760

3 ай бұрын

Slight spoiler alert, no Americans participated on the real life "Great escape". They were moved weeks beforehand.

By far the best episode.

This episode was so important

Professore, Great run-down of this episode made even better by your additional scholarship. Thanks!!!

Great recap.. I wish you added the first part of buck walking into the pow camp and hearing all the guys call his name, including Murphy. It really captured the horrific losses of the 100th group IMO. Great video as always.

Outstanding assessment. I have read the books you have recommended & found them essential reading

Koch’s reference to be stationed in Foggia, Italy was cool. That’s where my grandfather was from.

As usual your analysis and explanations send me scurrying to watch the episode again, informed with more background info and detail. Thank you so much.

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

Thank you!

Gale looked so thin. The Guthrie tune was haunting.

yay###1 By far the best breakdowns of the episodes of masters of the air on youtube. Thanks Jared#1

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

Thank you!

I remember reading through my grandpa's copy of that Serviceman's Guide...he had a few of them for different countries, if I recall! Even though I was very, very young, I remember one line: "In England, you may be asked to, 'wait in a queue,' or . . . (It went on to list common English phrases unused in the States).

One of the best, if not the best, episode of the series. Following the 3 different stories was great. And the boys are back together.

Thank you for your review and once again I agree with everything you mention. Your reviews are the best out there and I really appreciate you doing them. Each episode in this series gets better than the previous ones and tells an important part of history.

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

Writer John Orloff told us himself that the series gets better with each episode!

@snook279

4 ай бұрын

@@ReelHistoryYes, I will agree with that statement. I hope this one was the most troubling one because I did not sleep well after watching it. All the stories I heard from vets who would share them kept going through my mind.

The scenes in Germany were terrifying. All those people including the soldiers, screaming at you.

This was a great episode showing how in between missions of the men trying to keep from breaking after so much loss. The interrogation of Eigan was quite interesting as I would be terrified like so many airmen if they got a ahold of so many of ones personal information

Excellent informative narration on this episode. I learned so much from your commentary. As a side note, while visiting my wife’s family in Poland I took a side trip to visit the once prison Stalag Luf 3 in Żagań. Not a lot there now but the museum did have a lot of artifacts from the Great Escape. Perhaps the next episode will show a bit of that.

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

I suspect it will!

My father was a B17 pilot shot down on the Bremen raid of 8 Octobver 43. He was on a crew that was one of the first relief crews for the 381st BG in either June or July of 43. He told me a similar story but said they were directed (kind of) to stop carrying their Colt 1911 pistols for the same reason. They were told it's nearly guaranteed your're going to get captured. Not that many escape and make it back. Very few. The fear was they would lose their lives in a gun fight against German Army personnel and the Germans would get all their pistols too.

@ReelHistory

3 ай бұрын

Respects!

Love the reviews i always learn something new from them. I'm hoping that in the next episode we can get at least a 5 to 10 minute flashback to show how buck got shot down

Best episode so far. Way more convincing than the over CGI air combat scenes.

@BiggHogg870

4 ай бұрын

Definitely should've used alot more practical/special effects.

@laurameakin

4 ай бұрын

Agree the volume may help the actors for filming but for audiences there was something more engaging about Memphis Belle and its flying scenes.

@scottf5791

4 ай бұрын

@@laurameakinI didn’t know the volume was used for this show. Explains everything

Little trivia, Julian M. Deuster plays the German farmer with the rifle hunting down Egan and a German officer in episode 1 the great BBC series Our World War.

Great job 😊

The small context and stories you add are what they needed to either start or end episodes with. It really makes it easier to understand what's going on and to feel something for the people portrayed in the show.

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

We really appreciate that.

Thank you for another great video historical overview of episode six. Something I was wondering, do you know of any good books talking about the logistics of how they supplied the Bomb Groups and the Army Air Corp in general? One thing that's been blowing my mind a lot lately is just the logistical system that was made for the war. I'd love to read more about it and how it came about. What did they change and improve over the years and how it shaped the military and even companies that are ran now. Thank you!

I so enjoy your historical break downs of movies and TV shows. Have you ever or ever considered doing g a break down on the 2001 movie Conspiracy, about the 1942 Wannsee conference? It's a great and also haunting movie.

I meet the Ball gunner from a B-17 Tour in 1996. I also , 23 years later, flew on B-17 G nine-0-nice just before it crashed in 2019. He told me there were given 20 gold guineas each flight for bribes… but had to return them. He said the smallest guy got the ball gunner. He said if they were shot down over Germany, no resistance there so only surrender to Regular Wehrmacht, Luftwaffe soldiers or regular police. He said stay away from Hitler Youth, Civilians, SS troops… for the public was encouraged to kill airman on sight (and burry in the woods). There is a famous picture in 1943 of hundreds of captured airmen, Turned over to the SS, and they made the men carry large rocks up a ramp… and shot each guy who fell down. After two days all were dead. Hermann Göring complained that Allied prisoners were his duty to collect… but Hitler did not care. Just like in US Civil War, Union Scouts or small parties of soldiers were often found tied to trees and killed by southerns civilians or CSA Home Guards.

Great break down again. Hair is looking especially good today man. Nice.

Regarding German civilians murdering allied airmen. There were multiple instances of this happening. They may or may not have had reason to. In the last months of the war allied fighter bombers strafed anything that moved. Civilians took revenge. After the war, many of these civilians were tried, convicted and executed by military courts. It must be noted that during the Battle Of Britain and subsequent air attacks on the UK, there were instances of German aircrew being killed by civilians. As far as I know, none of these were punished. Like General Curtis LeMay said, if we had lost the war, we would have been tried as war criminals. As Gen Sherman said “War is hell.”

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

So true.

@archbury918

4 ай бұрын

One of the scenes cut from the series actually showed four airman hanging from lamposts

This is probably a frequently asked question, but what happened to your series on Pacific ? Really enjoyed those videos and I really missed them, Also really appreciate these videos on Masters of the air. Many thanks from Iran.

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

They were unfortunately taken down but The Pacific 2.0 will be out after we are done with Masters of the Air!

@davemac1197

4 ай бұрын

It sank without trace?

@faridodinhessami4415

4 ай бұрын

@@ReelHistory Delighted to hear that, Keep up the good work.

The story you told about your late friend who was a bombardier blew my mind. The fact that the Germans invested time and resources to get his report card and probably did the same for many other soldiers is really disturbing and at the same time it really impresses me how well organised and prepared they were. It was a really interesting fact that I'd never imagined.

I knew it was coming but when I saw Clevon again I had a big smile on my face. I really liked Wingate and I hope we see more of her and find out about her mysterious job (I haven’t read the book yet). I’m glad to see they didn’t do the obvious cliche and have her and Crosby jump into bed together and just kept them friends. This is shaping up to be the best of the three shows Hanks and Spielberg have done. I hope they have at least one more in them; my suggestion would be something about the 761st Tank battalion (The Black Panthers) or a remake of The Longest Day that’s more accurate and includes Canadians.

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

We agree--especially on the 761st and Canadians!

@altonbunnjr

4 ай бұрын

@@ReelHistory I messed up her name, it’s Westgate not Wingate. I also remembered later that I read Dale Dye is shopping around a script about La Fiere bridge in Normandy that would make a good movie too.

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

@@altonbunnjr, it was Wingate in Crosby's book.

@jhr4

4 ай бұрын

In reality they did have an affair, no idea why they would change it. He had several affairs in the end from my recollection of the book.

@altonbunnjr

4 ай бұрын

@@jhr4 Well, I'm glad they didn't show it. I'm not a prude but watching Basilone getting laid in explicit scenes was one of the many things that detracted from me enjoying The Pacific.

Huh, Imagine that a WWII show based on a book that wasn't written by an Ambrose.

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

To be clear, Hugh Ambrose wrote The Pacific companion but that was not the inspiration for the series.

Love the series. This isn't a question or a note but every time I see that picture of John Homan from the book you co-authored with him I can't help but think how much he looks like the actor playing Ken Lemmons the 19 year old flight chief

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

He does a bit! Handsome fellows!

For similar reasons, the railroad not connecting through the city, Baltimore's Pratt St Riots of 1861 occurred. Union troops had to march through the town from one train station to the next, and pro-confederacy civilians attacked them.

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

Excellent analogy.

Such a heavy episode

I think the comment about Gobbles is interesting, as German raiders were the first to bomb population centers like London during the Battle of Britain. Only later did the Allies firebomb German cities like Dresden and Berlin, etc.

That train scene hits a bit harder having just listened to the newest Dan Carlin Hardcore History podcast about the holocaust.

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

It was intense!

I feel the show has a strong anti-British bias; the constant digs at the RAF are getting a bit much.

@alexwilliamson1486

4 ай бұрын

“I surprised they (RAF) hit anything”….Operation Chastise….hold my beer….

@davemac1197

4 ай бұрын

I'm waiting until the series is finished before complaining about the title of the series, but so far we haven't actually seen much of the RAF...

@philwilliams8328

4 ай бұрын

Agreed, especially considering the fact that the British have already been fighting the Germans for 4 years. Then we (Americans) show up to teach them how to do things with all of our swagger and bravado because the British are incompetent idiots.

This was a jarring episode with the juxtaposition of Bucky's scenes with the Rosenthal and Crosby.

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

Very much so!

I really did find Wyngate’s character refreshing and interesting. Bel did a great job. I could watch a spin off about her. 😁 I feel like I’m watching a BBC miniseries because a lot of my favorite English actors keep popping up. Jamie! 😁 And on that note, with “Master of the Air” I think BBC/ITV will getting a run for their money on quality period drama.

Combe House (now a special needs school) in Dorset does not look like the house they used for filming, although I wasn't able to find out the location they used - probably somewhere closer to the production at Bovingdon Airfield Studios (also used for 1917), near Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire. I was curious how a German could "perfect his English speaking skills" at Columbia University in Nu Yoik! Perhaps many of the other students were English speakers? The actor was from Cologne in Germany and used the American pronunciation for "Loo-tenant", so that was authentic. The Luftwaffe ran most of the POW camps, known as Stalag Luft (reception camp air) and then a number in Roman numerals with possibly a letter suffix for sub-camps A and B. Stalag is a contraction of Stammlager, which itself is a contraction of Kriegsgefangenen-Mannschaftsstammlager (Prisoner of war enlisted men reception camp). The camps for officers were known as Oflag, short for Offizier Lager. As Jared said, the Luftwaffe did resist some of the excesses of the regime and maintained good discipline. As a researcher on the German military, I find the Luftwaffe are particularly frustrating, as they did such a good job job of destroying most of their records at the end of the war. Less authentic was Subaltern Westgate, if she's supposed to be from Edinburgh in Scotland then y'all were spared from having to translate words like "fud" (food) by having Bel Powley (an English actress from London and educated at Holland Park School) use a weird mixture of very correct Received Pronunciation (RP) with a bit of estuary English from London thrown in as a bit of red meat for the American audience. Watching British characters in these productions is always the most cringy part. It's like the scene in The Wire where British actor Dominic West's Baltimore detective character has to go undercover in a Russian brothel as a visiting British businessman customer - it's a priceless performance. Perhaps a useful phrase for pilots to learn in the event they are captured would be "du hast angefangen" (you started it)?

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

Thanks as always for tying the cultural threads together, Dave!

@davidwright7193

4 ай бұрын

Subaltern Westgate said she was at Cambridge (it would be either Newnham or Girton at that time) and that probably means a boarding school or private day school beforehand so even if she was from Edinburgh she wouldn’t have a strong Scottish accent think of Tony Blair’s accent as an example of the type. Though in the 1940’s the Scottish notes may well have been less obvious. Lady Margaret Hall is a college of the University of Oxford (not Edinburgh which is not a collegiate university) which at the time admitted only female students. However we have 2 sources for her education and 3 possibilities so not a good point to make conclusions on.

19:21 good gracious!!! I’ve just researched the actual man his story is extraordinary wow! No spoilers! But it’s fascinating and goes back to what one of the men said on Band of Brothers “if it hadn’t been for *the* war perhaps they might have been friends.”

You didn’t mention the famous prison of war camp ‘Stalag Luft lll’ where the great escape happened? Can’t wait and see what happens in episode 7!!

Thank you for your research and excellent follow-up information that you provide with each episode, Jared! QUESTION: How could Major Clevon have kept his officers hat after parachuting from his Fort? Or, did he crash land it before being captured? 🤷🏼‍♂️ Somehow, he just “looks” a wee bit to clean and dapper standing at the stalag fence greeting Egan.

@ReelHistory

3 ай бұрын

It's a fair question. It's probably artistic liberty, but then again, some airmen crushed their hats in their clothing/gear when they put on their flak helmets.

@msmacgillicutty9066

3 ай бұрын

@@ReelHistory Your response sounds logical and practical. Thank you, Jared.

That's Jonas from amazing "Dark" series ;)

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

Indeed! Great actor.

Jared, I don't know whether it has any historical accuracy or significance, but the people being transported in the other train are calling out for help (among other phrases) in Dutch. Is it known whether such transports have crossed paths with Allied PoW transport trains, or even possibly which transport train could have been depicted? Besides that, I have been a long term (but silent) follower of the channel and I must say I really enjoy how you weave together the historical facts and accuracies of the shows/movies with your own academic knowledge, backed up by comparable eyewitness accounts!

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

Yes, I recall one instance described in "Given Up for Dead: American GI's in the Nazi Concentration Camp at Berga" By Flint Whitlock

My Grandpa told me tales about a B24 crash landing near their village. The population hated those the most. (I presume they did not differentiate the B24 to the Lancesters and such which bombed during the night) So when this one crashed they rushed it with pitchforks and straightened scythes. Not sure what fate awaited the crew, whether they were killed on the spot or apprehended to be later collected by german/hungarian forces. One such plane had a crew member walk out with a bible in hand, claiming he is a Baptist. Someone in the crowd only replied with 'Baptist, Communist, Same dog!' ... Civilian population really hated those who bombed their villages, cities, with a passion. I can totally see the scene playing out that was shown in the episode.

The civilians killing the airmen reminded of the Borkrum Island Massacre involving a crew from the 486th Bomb Group in 1944. I'm researching a pilot & crew from that group.

There are no word for how hard I laughed at this 13:42.

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

Some quotes from the 1940s can do that!

My grandfather never wore a parachute. He told my mom and uncle he would rather go down since he had an idea of the persecution against Jews. Luckily he never got shot down , completeled all missions, won the Air Medal and i found 4 'Lucky Bastard' coins he kept.

Did you notice the mistake when Crosby is at the lecture in Oxford? The Professor is talking about the Magna Carter being signed in 1215 and then says it "took you Yanks 500 years for your founding fathers to write a similar bit of paper" to which Crosby says "Yeah maybe if we weren't under the tyranny of your King for 500 years we could have popped it out sooner" I love history and unless I am imagining things I thought Britain only colonised America in the late 16th Century so no way were they under the tyranny of a King for anything like 500 years!

@vaudevillian7

4 ай бұрын

True, but no Brit (vanishingly few) would have said that anyway The bit that inspired that element in the book was actually a positive learning experience

@Aubury

3 ай бұрын

Magna Carta, was one thing, for the then ruling class. Not the serfs. The UK only became a full democracy in 1928

Stalag Luft III is where the "Great Escape" happened.

Do you think they will reference The Great Escape from Stalag luft 3 next episode?

Hey Jared, do you know of any accounts of POWs seeing the concentration camp trains as depicted in this episode?

How is Buck Cleven getting his $200 haircut with frosted tips in camp?

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

Huh?

Could you tell me about the scene where John Egan is integrated? I wondered how the Luftwaffe interrogator knew so much about other US service airmen. Did they file on all of the 8th Air Force crewmen by some means? Thanks!

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

It is suggested that spies in America often gathered information via newspapers, which surprisingly could spill a lot.

Do you think it problematic that the timeline has been changed somewhat? You mentioned Crosby's trip to Oxford happened in early 1944, not just after the Munster mission on October 10. His promotion to Lead Navigator for the 100th did not happen until November 1943. And it seems that the series will not feature the second raid on Schweinfurt, possibly the Eighth Air Force's lowest point, even though the 100th participated in that raid.

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

With this method of storytelling, one just can't cover it all apparently.

Do you think the female "subaltern" worked in MI5? General Staff? Bletchley?? Logistics? SOE? Any clues or guesses? She had "ATS" pins on her uniform... PS. Sagan is contemporary Żagań in SW Poland.

@davemac1197

4 ай бұрын

In contrast to writing her first name as an initial, the most famous ATS driver during the war was 'Elizabeth R'.

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

We will get into your responsibilities as her character develops.

@geoffreypereira8024

4 ай бұрын

She was a little slippery…has “intel” written all over her face…

@davemac1197

4 ай бұрын

@@geoffreypereira8024- nonsense. I was a moderator for a music reaction channel based in Texas during the pandemic and the reactor's response to every British artist she saw was either "scary", "creepy" or "a vampire" (I think Ozzy Osbourne managed to be all three) - enough with the stereotypes already...

@geoffreypereira8024

4 ай бұрын

@@davemac1197 1) I didn’t use any of those words. 2) Reactions to British music has nothing to do with this portrayal. 3) I like British music.

11:23 It's not part of Egan's history but it's based on a true story. It's based on the Massacre of Rüsselsheim which happened in August 1944. In the Village where I grew up, two american airman in 1944 had more luck and hat a guard of the Luftwaffe willing to protect them. My grandfather told me the story of the two americans and of the farmers who wanted to kill them instantly. But the Luftwaffe's guard took his rifle, aimed direct on the head of the leader of the farmers and told: ,,Wenn einer die Gefangenen anrührt, werde ich schießen!'' (If someone tries to touch the prisoners I will shoot).'' For thisd action the guard was reported and sent to the eastern front. He never came home

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

There are always decent people punished for being decent - Andy

Finally. A qualified assessment of the series from a qualified individual. That you for the excellent insight.

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

We try our best. Thanks!

@robertlong7033

4 ай бұрын

As a history professor and a qualified opinion perhaps you would know why some historians act like the 15th air force out of Italy never end existed. Had an uncle who was a B24 copilot flew 51 missions out of Italy with the 15th. About he only thing he ever told about his wartime experiences was how he despised the B24. Especially when every in flight minute was spent either over water or Nazi held territory.

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

@@robertlong7033, its a lot like why Gettysburg is remembered better than Vicksburg. It really just has to do with popular culture and where people's perceptions gravitate toward.

in this episode and a previous episode, newspapers are shown a day or a few days after bombing missions which state the number of US bombers lost. were allied newspapers so specific about bomber losses, so quickly after the fact? my understanding is that in other battles losses were vaguely reported - just like ukraine today.

@ReelHistory

3 ай бұрын

It depended. Although I have found that sometimes the number of planes involved were inflated.

3 more weeks until I can binge watch it and catch up. BTW Jared, been practicing with the Google Street View capable camera. Manila America Cemetery is doable. I am also pondering the ferry to Corregidor and Corregidor itself. I think about your hike up Iwo Jima. Imagine if people could follow your journey in 360 degrees. Add "The Great Raid" to your list. We Filipino expats are entitled jerks and think we deserve a review.

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

Jared is a big fan of "The Great Raid!"

19:33 is the guy from DARK serie?

@ReelHistory

3 ай бұрын

It is!

I can’t imagine how hard it must have been to film the Holocaust scenes in both Masters of the Air as well as Band of Brothers.

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

Truly.

I am curious how modern day Germans view this episode? The cinematography and editing of this episode in particular had better win some awards!

Does Buck and Bucky end up at the same camp where the Great Escape happened at?

@ReelHistory

4 ай бұрын

Maybe.................. 😉