The Priceless Gift they died for....

There is a series of nine episodes on Apple TV called "Masters of the Air".  It tells the story of the Eighth Air Force bombing campaign in Europe during WWII.  It's not at all academic, but it is based on factual events and experience.  If you are not aware of what the bomber crews endured, it's my humble opinion that you should be.  The Eighth Air Force had the highest casualty rate of any American military unit in the war.  A flyer had to complete twenty-five mission, (later raised to 35) before they could rotate home. But the missions themselves were a nightmare and the odds of finishing 25 were daunting. 

Early in the campaign, starting in mid '43, the leadership assumed that a B-17, or a B-24 formation could fly across occupied territory and Germany itself and fight off the Luftwaffe fighters....because these four-engined bombers literally bristled with .50 cal. heavy machineguns.  There were 13 on each plane and the strategy was to fly in closely arranged formations, referred to as, "the combat box".  The leadership horribly underestimated what the combination  of German flak (anti-aircraft cannons on the ground) and the fighters of the Luftwaffe was capable of doing.  The Brits had already recognized that flying into this lethal combination created a level of bomber losses that was unsustainable.  But the American leadership thought they knew better and that the heavily armed formations could fight all the way to a target and back.  

The lessons learned during this period were painful.  The Brits switched to bombing at night, still a dire undertaking, but better than attempting it in daylight. The American leaders were wrong, and the losses sustained made that painfully clear.  One famous raid on Regensburg and Schweinfurt sustained about 10% losses, i.e. 60 bombers and their 600 crewmen.  No military can take such punishment indefinitely, and the answer was clear: the bomber formations needed fighter escorts.  But, the fighters available at that point were the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, a great beast of a fighter with 8 .50 caliber machine guns in the wings.  And, the 'Jug', as it was affectionately referred to did not have the range to go all the way to targets deep in Germany.  They modified it to carry 'drop tanks', but it was still inadequate. It was not until the P-51 Mustang arrived in late '43 that the bombers had an escort with the range, armament and flying characteristics, that could take on the Luftwaffe's Bf-109s, and FW 190s, all the way to the target and back. It's no exaggeration to say that the Mustang was a total game-changer.

Masters of the Air was made under the direction of Tom Hanks and Stephen Spielberg and they made every effort to not give in to any temptation to dramatize, feeling, of course, that viewers in the present day need to see what these men endured.  And, what they arrived at is a very accurate portrayal of what it was like to spend several hours over Nazi Germany in 1943-44.  By 1945 the Mighty Eighth had the ability to send huge formations, ultimately up to 2500 bombers, fully escorted and capable of devastating any city sad enough to be under them.  The fighters, once having accomplished protecting the bombers were turned loose to get down to low levels and strafe targets of opportunity.  Not a truck or a train escaped their attention. These mega-raids were called off before the Allied victory on May 8th because as one general said (I believe it might have been Ira Eaker),..."We're just bouncing the rubble."

                                                    

It may look heavenly....but it was living Hell

So, there is now another documentary that is focused on interviews of members of the "Bloody 100th" bomb  group. Many of these men were interviewed years ago and have now passed, but I could not watch and listen without a deepened sense of the fact that they got out of their cots in the pre-dawn, went to a briefing and then climbed into a bomber and went to face the Luftwaffe flak and fighters....again and again. The odds of actually completing the requisite 25 missions were low.  But, they knew this and did what was asked of them anyway.  \

One of these incredibly brave men was Harry Crosby, and, amazingly (to me at least) I met him three times at his home in Lovell Maine. He was one of those interviewed, but passed in July 2010. Harry was the lead navigator of the 'Bloody 100th" bomb group, flew 32 missions and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, multiple Bronze Stars, the Croix de Guerre, and a fist-full of other medals, and you would never in a million years guess that the white-haired, cheerful and kind man sitting across from you was a war hero of this stature.

This is likely enough for this installment, but the next one will be about what these astonishingly brave men bequeathed to us....and why we need to honor it by doing absolutely everything in our power to prevent a wannabe fascist dictator from stealing the freedom that so many fought and died for.  That would be tragic beyond any measure.