- 2 days ago
"Big Week" Feb. 19-25, 1944, the British put 2,300 bombers over Germany, the Americans 3,800. Germany lost 450 planes that week.
As the tide of war turned, the Allies roounted massive bomber offensives which devastated the German and Japanese homelands.
Here are the Flying Fortresses, Superfort-resses, Lancasters, Liber-ators, Marauders, and many other Allied bombers which powered those mighty raids.
Wartime footage from Britain's Iruperial War Museum and the United States National Archives, this video includes film of American, British and Soviet bombers from all theaters of the war.
Commentary was written by well-known aviation authority Christopher Chant.
"That ride down the corridors of the sky in a Baming bomber was to haunt eny mesnories for the rest of my life. I felt catapulted through space, spinning so fast. I couldn't pull my arms and legs into my body. I jerked the rip-cord and waited. Nothing happened and I thought On hell, the whole day is screwed up. I jerked it harder. There was a soft swish, then a hard jerk, and I was suspended in space, hanging in the most complete silence I had ever known."
(B-17 pilot in Europe)
As the tide of war turned, the Allies roounted massive bomber offensives which devastated the German and Japanese homelands.
Here are the Flying Fortresses, Superfort-resses, Lancasters, Liber-ators, Marauders, and many other Allied bombers which powered those mighty raids.
Wartime footage from Britain's Iruperial War Museum and the United States National Archives, this video includes film of American, British and Soviet bombers from all theaters of the war.
Commentary was written by well-known aviation authority Christopher Chant.
"That ride down the corridors of the sky in a Baming bomber was to haunt eny mesnories for the rest of my life. I felt catapulted through space, spinning so fast. I couldn't pull my arms and legs into my body. I jerked the rip-cord and waited. Nothing happened and I thought On hell, the whole day is screwed up. I jerked it harder. There was a soft swish, then a hard jerk, and I was suspended in space, hanging in the most complete silence I had ever known."
(B-17 pilot in Europe)
Category
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LearningTranscript
01:00Early on in the Second World War, it was realised that ground attack would play a vital role
01:09and the result was the Vulti Vengeance, the first Allied warplane specifically designed
01:14for dive-bombing over the land battlefield.
01:161,931 Vengeances were built in four main variants, with different armament and with progressively
01:33more powerful engines for a maximum speed of 280 miles per hour.
01:37The initial design resulted from a British requirement of 1940, and the Type first flew in 1941.
01:48However, by the time it began to enter service in the spring of 1943, the Vengeance was tactically
01:54obsolete.
01:55Therefore, a mere six squadrons became operational with the type, all undertaking missions against
02:01the Japanese in the Arakan coastal region of Burma.
02:08These Vengeance units comprised four British and two Indian squadrons, one of which was
02:15number eight squadron, operating here out of Johari and Mamour airfields.
02:19The Vengeance was a substantial two-seater.
02:23The pilot controlled a fixed battery of four or six heavy machine guns in the wings for straffing.
02:30Despite its size, the Vengeance had straightforward handling characteristics.
02:35The brakes on the upper surface of its wings checked diving speed very successfully,
02:40and the Vengeance could therefore deliver its weapons with pinpoint accuracy, before recovering
02:45from its dive, and then climbing with the aid of its powerful radial engine.
02:51In the rear of the cockpit, the second crewman was armed with one trainable defensive gun,
02:56usually a single .50 caliber machine gun in later models.
03:01Earlier aircraft were fitted with a pair of .303 machine guns in this position.
03:07The Vengeance could carry a 2,000-pound bomb load, delivered in a steep dive with air brakes
03:12extended from the wings to control speed.
03:24The vast majority of the aircraft were used in the valuable but infinitely less glamorous
03:29role of target tugs by Australia, Britain and the USA.
03:34In American service, the definitive Vengeance was known as the A-35.
03:55By the beginning of World War II, the survivors of 176 single-engined Vickers Wellesley medium bombers were obsolete,
04:03but saw limited service against the Italians in North and East Africa during 1940 and 1941.
04:10The bombs were carried in the streamlined pods under the wings.
04:14Armament comprised a belt-fed .303 machine gun in the right wing, firing ahead,
04:20and a trainable Vickers K gun in the rear cockpit.
04:24After 1941, the Wellesleys were relegated to a short career of maritime reconnaissance.
04:35Designed to meet a 1931 specification for a dual-role transport and bomber,
04:40the Bristol Bombay was, like so many other British bombers, obsolete when the first of 50 aircraft entered service in 1939.
04:48The type was an ungainly high-wing monoplane with fixed landing gear and two radial engines,
04:56and could carry 24 troops in the cabin or 2,000 pounds of bombs on racks under the fuselage.
05:02With relatively little power and with fixed landing gear and minimal attention to drag-reducing features,
05:10the Bombay certainly did not offer high performance.
05:14However, the type also offered few problems to its pilots,
05:18and the combination of flaps and a large high-set wing kept take-off and landing speeds low.
05:24The Bombay could therefore use small, poorly prepared airfields without trouble,
05:30and this was particularly valuable in North Africa.
05:34The Bombay served operationally in the Mediterranean theatre, mainly as a transport.
05:39However, it was used on occasion as a night bomber against the Italians in North Africa during 1940.
05:46The Armstrong Whitworth Whitley could carry 7,000 pounds of bombs on the power of its two engines,
05:58and was a mainstay of RAF Bomber Command up to 1941,
06:02when it was relegated to an important secondary career in maritime reconnaissance and paratroop training.
06:08Great things were expected from the Bristol Blenheim,
06:19which was the UK's first high-speed tactical bomber when it entered service in 1937.
06:25The Blenheim Mark I carried 1,000 pounds of bombs and could reach 285 miles per hour
06:51on its two 840 horsepower Bristol Mercury radial engines.
07:02Production of the Mark I, with its short and unstepped nose, totaled 1,427.
07:09Built in England and also under licence in Finland and in Yugoslavia.
07:14But by 1939, most had been relegated to the Mediterranean theatre.
07:21In home service, the Mark I was followed by 3,285 examples of the Blenheim Mark IV with a longer stepped nose.
07:30Despite its more powerful engines, this had poorer performance than its predecessor,
07:35but possessed greater defensive firepower and also handled well in the air.
07:40But daylight operations at the beginning of World War II confirmed two facts.
07:45On the one hand, this light bomber lacked the outright performance to escape German fighters.
07:50And on the other hand, it was too poorly protected and armed to battle its way past the fighters.
07:56945 Blenheim Mark V high-altitude bombers were developed, but little use was made of them.
08:03The Blenheim was, however, significant as the first effective British night fighter.
08:08The Mark I F and Mark IV F conversions had nose radar, the first operational fighter radar in the world,
08:16and a ventral pack of four fixed Browning machine guns.
08:20Despite its limitations and losses, though, the Blenheim was important in providing a nucleus of crews experienced in light tactical bombing and close ground support.
08:31The first American war plane to see operational service in World War II was the Lockheed Hudson,
08:40which was a military derivative of the Model 14 Super Electra light civil transport.
08:46This rendered invaluable service as a light bomber and maritime reconnaissance plane from the beginning of the war,
08:53but was soon considered slightly too small for its task.
08:56In 1940, therefore, the British commissioned from Lockheed a successor, evolved from the larger Model 18 load star civil transport,
09:06called the Ventura in RAF service.
09:09By comparison with the Hudson, the Ventura had a larger bomb bay, able to accommodate 2,500 pounds of bombs,
09:17compared with the Hudson's 1,000 pound bomb load.
09:21The Ventura Mark I began to enter service with Bomber Command during October 1942,
09:44and was powered by two Pratt and Whitney R2800 double WASP radials,
09:51each delivering 1,850 horsepower.
09:54This was soon increased to 2,000 horsepower in the Ventura Mark II for a speed of 300 miles an hour.
10:02The Ventura also featured more potent defensive armament than the Hudson,
10:15in the form of 2.303-inch machine guns in the ventral position,
10:20two or four guns of the same calibre in the dorsal turret, and four nose guns.
10:25These last comprised two fixed weapons of 0.5-inch calibre and two trainable 0.303 guns.
10:38The US Army Air Force also used the type as the B-34 Lexington for coastal patrol and training.
10:45The US Navy used larger numbers as PV-1 patrol bombers,
10:50with a so-called solid nose accommodating five heavy machine guns.
10:56The Ventura was not a great success in its intended role as a bomber,
11:00and was in fact heartily disliked by its crews.
11:04From the autumn of 1943, the Ventura was reallocated to Coastal Command,
11:09where it equipped two squadrons and served mainly for meteorological reconnaissance.
11:21This sequence is typical of the type of daylight raid undertaken
11:25by the light bombers of Bomber Command's No. 2 group in 1943.
11:29Only three British-based squadrons of No. 2 group were ever operational on the Ventura,
11:39and one of these was 464 Squadron, based at Methwold in Norfolk.
11:48On May the 16th, twelve of the squadron's Venturas were launched on a raid
11:52against the French airfield at Morlaix in Northern Brittany,
11:55at that time a base for German fighters.
12:04Despite adequate conditions for medium-altitude bombing,
12:07the raid achieved only poor results.
12:13The crews, and especially the gunners, did not relax their vigilance
12:17in case a hornet's nest of fighter retaliation had been stirred up.
12:21But, with no fighter opposition, all twelve Venturas returned safely to base.
12:28Total production was 2,475 aircraft,
12:32and examples of the type were also used by Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
12:38Though larger bombers could carry high-capacity bombs optimised for maximum blast effect,
12:44smaller aircraft were restricted to 250 to 500 and 1,000 pound general-purpose weapons,
12:52as seen on these bomb trains.
12:55Such weapons secured their effect by a combination of blast and fragmentation,
12:59and could be delivered more accurately than the larger weapons.
13:02The North American Mitchell was one of the most important medium and attack bombers fielded by the Allies in the Second World War.
13:109,816 aircraft were produced.
13:14Of all marks, up to the US Army Air Force's B-25J,
13:19and Mitchell's were used in every theatre by countries as varied as Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Britain, the USA, and even the USSR,
13:29which received over 860 aircraft under lend-lease arrangements.
13:34The Mitchell resulted from North American's NA-40 private venture prototype,
13:39and was ordered, as the expression goes, straight off the drawing board during September 1939.
13:46This first production order model had a wider fuselage, carried a crew of five rather than three, and improved defensive armament.
13:54The four main models were the B-25D, G, H, and J.
14:00RAF Bomber Command's version of the B-25D, here in service with 98 and 180 squadrons at Fulsham, Norfolk in early 1943,
14:09was known as the Mitchell Mark II, followed by the B-25J, or Mitchell Mark III.
14:16Throughout the series, power remained unaltered in the form of two right R-2600 double cyclone radials,
14:25each delivering 1,700 horsepower, here being overhauled at Comiso airfield on Sicily in August 1943.
14:33But both offensive and defensive capabilities were steadily increased.
14:42The glass-nosed B-25D carried 3,000 pounds of bombs and 6.5-inch machine guns in twin-nose, dorsal, and ventral installations,
14:52and could achieve a speed of 284 miles per hour.
15:07The B-25J was limited to only 275 miles per hour, but was an altogether more formidable warplane,
15:14with up to 4,000 pounds of bombs and no fewer than 14.5-inch guns.
15:23Eight fixed guns were fitted in the solid-nosed version of the B-25J for ground attack.
15:30There were an additional six trainable guns in a twin-gun tail mounting,
15:35a twin-gun dorsal turret, and a bean gun each side.
15:38Whether bombing at height or striking low, the Mitchell was an impressive aircraft.
15:50It was an impressive aircraft.
16:20The Tupolev SB-2 was bloodied in the Spanish Civil War,
16:26and became the USSR's main light bomber in the period up to 1943.
16:31The type remained operational until the end of World War II,
16:35though it was progressively relegated from day bombing to night bombing,
16:39and finally to target tug and other second-line tasks, such as training.
16:43The SB-2 was able to operate on wheels or ski-landing gear for continued operations throughout the harsh Soviet winters.
16:56The two main variants were the basic SB-2 with M-100 engines,
17:01and later came the improved SB-2 bis with M-103 engines.
17:05Even though technically obsolete when taken out of production in mid-1941,
17:15the SB-2 still had useful performance.
17:18Its large wing area and light loading gave it a considerable ceiling,
17:23and this made it a difficult target for German fighters to intercept.
17:27Moreover, the SB-2 possessed a rate of climb that allowed its crews to pile on extra height
17:32if they saw fighters attempting to engage.
17:36And while the SB-2's defensive armament was light,
17:40the type's agility was another useful asset in evading the attention of the Luftwaffe's fighters.
17:46Other countries that used the SB-2 were China, Bulgaria and Finland,
17:51and a total of 6,967 were built.
17:54The origins of the Baltimore four-seat light bomber lie with the same company's XA-22,
18:09which was rejected by the US Army Air Corps in 1939,
18:13adopted by France as the Martin 167F bomber,
18:17and then taken up by the British as the Maryland reconnaissance bomber.
18:20Serving in the Mediterranean theatre from October 1940,
18:25the Maryland was initially useful, but soon revealed limitations in performance.
18:31The British therefore ordered the Baltimore as an improved type,
18:36with two Wright R-2600 double cyclone radials,
18:41each delivering 1660 horsepower for performance improvements
18:44that included a maximum speed of 302 miles per hour instead of the Maryland's 278 miles per hour.
18:54The bomb load remained unaltered at 2,000 pounds.
18:57The new aircraft's defensive armament was upgraded from the 6.303-inch machine guns of the Maryland
19:15to between 8 and 14 guns of the same calibre in the definitive Baltimore Mark III.
19:20This machine introduced a power-operated dorsal turret to replace the manually operated guns of the two earlier marks.
19:29The new weapons layout was arranged as four fixed guns in the wings,
19:35two or four guns in the dorsal turret, as well as two guns in the ventral position,
19:39and, as an option, four fixed rear-firing guns.
20:02The Baltimore's fuselage was made large enough for the crew members to change position,
20:06something which had been impossible in the Maryland.
20:101,575 Baltimores were built,
20:14and though it was also flown by the air forces of Australia, France, Greece,
20:19co-belligerent Italy, South Africa and Turkey,
20:22it was with the British that the vast majority operated,
20:26in variants up to the Baltimore Mark V.
20:28In service from January 1942, the Baltimore was successful and popular,
20:35even though its bomb load was relatively small.
20:38The early marks performed sterling work in the North African desert and Tunisian campaigns,
20:45in which the Baltimore operated against German and Italian ground forces,
20:50and also helped in the vital campaign that devastated Axis shipping,
20:54trying to ferry supplies into North Africa.
21:02The Baltimore served with eight British and three South African squadrons in the Mediterranean theatre,
21:08and played an important part in the Sicilian campaign,
21:11such as here, bombing near Adrano.
21:12The type was a major first-line asset during the campaign on the Italian mainland,
21:20bombing and, at times, using its wing guns to strafe tactical targets just in front of the advancing armies.
21:27Its speed made the Baltimore difficult to shoot down,
21:30and its steady, more potent defensive firepower was another reason why fighter pilots were not keen to engage the type.
21:37The Stormo Baltimore of the Italian co-belligerent air force also used the type effectively over the Balkans.
21:45Initially called the Widowmaker because of frequent take-off and landing crashes caused by its high wing loading,
21:55the Martin B-26 Marauder was nearly taken out of production on four occasions.
21:59However, once mastered, the Marauder enjoyed the lowest loss rate of all US medium bombers.
22:06The most important models were the similar B-26B and C, and the upgraded B-26F and G.
22:14The B-26G was armed with no fewer than 11.5-inch machine guns.
22:19These were trainable single weapons in manually controlled nose and beam positions,
22:26and also in power-operated twin-gun dorsal and tail turrets,
22:31plus four guns blistered onto the sides of the forward fuselage for additional ground attack firepower.
22:36Most B-26s were powered by two 2,000-horsepower Pratt & Whitney R-2800 radials, giving a maximum speed of 283 miles per hour.
22:49Weapons load totaled 4,000 pounds of bombs.
22:53When operating in large numbers, the Marauders proved devastating.
23:04Total Marauder production was in excess of 5,000 aircraft,
23:09almost all of them flown by the US Army Air Forces.
23:23The Wellington was one of the most important British bombers of World War II's early years,
23:41and production of the type reached 11,462 machines of all variants.
23:58The various marks of Wellington were powered by four types of engine,
24:03one inline and three radials,
24:05and, in addition to bombing, the aircraft's varied uses included maritime reconnaissance, training and freighting.
24:13The Wellington entered service in 1938 as a medium bomber,
24:17and the type had a most credible bomb load of 6,000 pounds.
24:22However, though it suffered heavy losses in early daylight raids,
24:26it rapidly built up an almost legendary reputation for absorbing battle damage.
24:30This resulted from the airframe's structure, which was of the geodetic type,
24:36pioneered in the Wellesley single-engined bomber.
24:39From December 1939, the Wellington was switched to night bombing,
24:43and the two most important bomber variants were the Wellingtons Mark I and Mark X.
24:49The Mark I was built with 1,000 horsepower Bristol Pegasus radial engines,
24:54in three sub-variants, including the Mark I C, of which 2,685 were produced.
25:03The Mark X was powered by 1,675 horsepower Bristol Hercules engines,
25:09and production of this most numerous Wellington model alone totaled 3,803 aircraft.
25:15The Wellington was designed for a crew of six men.
25:22These comprised the pilot, co-pilot, wireless operator, doubling as a gunner,
25:27navigator, doubling as bomb aimer, and two gunners.
25:31It should be noted, however, that Wellingtons such as these
25:34were often flown with just a five-man crew, when the tactical situation permitted.
25:38All guns were .303 calibre.
25:44The two-gun nose turret and the two- or four-gun tail turret were power-operated units.
25:51The single beam guns were the responsibility of one man,
25:55who had to concentrate his attention on the side facing the greatest threat.
25:59In October 1943, the Wellington was phased out of service
26:02with home-based bomber command squadrons in favour of more capable four-engined bombers.
26:09The type still had an important part to play in the Mediterranean theatre, however,
26:15where ranges were shorter and German defences less formidable.
26:20The Italian campaign saw considerable use of the Wellington as a medium bomber,
26:24and these are Wellington Mark 10s at Amendola near Foggia in southern Italy during March 1944.
26:33The Wellington remained operational in this theatre up to March 1945.
26:39Though less well-known than machines such as the de Havilland Mosquito and the Junkers Ju-88,
26:46the Douglas Model 7 first flew in August 1939,
26:49and the initial order was placed by France for the DB-7 day bomber model.
26:56Most of the order remained undelivered at the time of France's surrender,
27:01and were diverted to the Royal Air Force, which allocated the name Boston.
27:05The Americans then ordered their own model as the A-20 Havoc.
27:10Like the Mitchell and Marauder, the Douglas machine was a shoulder-wing monoplane
27:14with tricycle landing gear and two radial engines.
27:19In this instance, right double cyclone units, each delivering upwards of 1500 horsepower.
27:25There existed a multiplicity of designations amongst the Boston Havoc family of aircraft.
27:31The most widely used international model was the A-20C, here in the form of RAF Mark IV Bostons,
27:44with 1600 horsepower engines for a speed of 342 miles per hour.
27:48These had an armament of 2600 pounds of bombs and five machine guns.
27:56These were two fixed 0.5-inch guns either side of the nose,
28:00one twin trainable gun of the same calibre in a dorsal position,
28:05and rear-firing 0.3-inch guns in the engine nacelles.
28:08However, the variant produced in the largest number was the A-20G,
28:14whose total reached 2,850 aircraft and used only by the US Army Air Forces.
28:21High performance, first-class handling and overall ruggedness
28:26allowed development in several roles within the overall production total of 7,478 aircraft.
28:32The Douglas Bomber was also used by Australia, Canada and the USSR,
28:39which modified its aircraft with different nose guns as exceptional ground attack machines.
28:45The type also saw service with the Free French Air Force,
28:49and nothing better demonstrates the Boston Havoc 40 of high-speed attack at low level than this mission.
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32:19under the rather childish delusion that they were going to bomb everybody else
32:24and nobody was going to bomb them.
32:28At Rotterdam, London, Warsaw, and half a hundred other places,
32:34they put that rather naive theory into operation.
32:39They showed the wind, and now they are going to reap the whirlwind.
32:44We cannot send a thousand bombers a time over Germany every time as yet.
32:53But the time will come when we can do so.
32:57Let the Nazis take good note of the western horizon.
33:03There they will see a cloud as yet no bigger than a man's hand.
33:07But behind that cloud lies the whole massive power of the United States of America.
33:15When the storm bursts over Germany, they will look back to the days of Lübeck and Rostock and Cologne
33:25as a man caught in the blasts of a hurricane will look back to the gentles or zephyrs of last summer.
33:34It may take a year. It may take two.
33:37But for the Nazis, the writing is on the wall.
33:42Let them look out for themselves.
33:45The cure is in their own hands.
33:49There are a lot of people who say that bombing can never win a war.
33:55Well, my answer to that is that it has never been tried yet, and we shall see.
34:00Germany, clinging more and more desperately to her widespread conquests
34:07and even seeking foolishly for more, will make a most interesting initial experiment.
34:15Japan will provide the confirmation.
34:17In these words, Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris, Commander-in-Chief of RAF Bomber Command,
34:25neatly and very strikingly summed up the rationale of the Allied strategic bombing campaign against Germany.
34:36The short Stirling was the RAF's first four-engined night bomber.
34:42Entering service late in 1940, the type was not a success in the bombing role
34:46because of its small and therefore overloaded wing.
34:52This had been imposed on the designers by the official demand
34:55that the Stirling be able to enter the 100-foot maximum door opening of the British hangars.
35:01The Stirling later became an invaluable glider tug and transport.
35:06The Avro Manchester entered service in November 1940,
35:10though potentially a great bomber,
35:11failed operationally because of the chronic unreliability of its two Rolls-Royce Vulture engines.
35:19However, despite these drawbacks,
35:20the Allies' four-engined heavy bombers were beginning to make themselves felt.
35:26The US Army Air Force's mainstay bomber in Europe
35:30was the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress,
35:33of which 12,731 were produced.
35:37Designed before World War II,
35:39the type was intended for high-altitude precision daylight bombing
35:43with the aid of the Norden site.
35:45This is a B-17F,
35:47of which 3,405 were built
35:50with 1,200 horsepower Wright R-1820 Cyclone radials.
35:55The bomber's defence rested mainly on its bristling guns,
36:00which amounted to a single 0.3-inch gun in the nose,
36:03single 0.5-inch weapons in each of the two beam positions,
36:08in the radio operator's overhead hatch,
36:10and in each of the two cheek positions,
36:13and twin 0.5-inch guns in the manually powered tail turret
36:17and remotely controlled ventral and dorsal turrets.
36:20The maximum bomb load of the B-17
36:22was 17,600 pounds,
36:25carried internally,
36:26though external racks could be fitted
36:28to increase this load to 20,800.
36:33Careful briefing ensured that all the crews
36:36appreciated the how, where, when, and why
36:39of each particular mission.
36:41I have your attention, please, gentlemen.
36:43Pilots have all checked their crews.
36:47Everybody present accounted for.
36:48For a long time,
36:50we've all been working very hard.
36:55The work has been gruelling.
36:58It produced results.
37:00And our standard of performance is very high.
37:03Gentlemen, this is the real thing.
37:06This is the first operational mission.
37:09We're going on.
37:10The B-17F was flown and fought by a crew of nine,
37:17comprising the pilot and co-pilot,
37:19the bombardier,
37:20the radio operator,
37:21and five gunners for the dorsal and ventral turrets
37:24and the two beam positions.
37:26The tail gunner was on his own,
37:40right at the back.
37:41And it's very long
37:42to...
37:42The A-Man
37:54and the thin and the young person
37:54that could not beمن't.
37:54So what are you doing?
37:55It's just a nice way.
37:56The ciento
37:56That must take off your core.
37:57It's awesome.
37:58Let's look.
37:59You've got really changed.
37:59It's just the line,
38:00when this is the ice of the day of the river
38:02and tensile none goes.
38:03You've got the fence,
38:04you've got the Machia thing.
38:04It's just a nice ABOUT
38:05maybe this week.
38:06See you back.
38:37. . .
39:06Once in the air, the flying fortresses formed up into tight three-dimensional boxes,
39:11for in this way the bombers of each formation hoped to cover each other against German fighter attack.
39:17However, experience soon showed that the box formations were insufficient against determined attacks,
39:31and escort was then provided by fighters such as the Lockheed P-38 Lightning, Republic P-47 Thunderbolt,
39:39and ultimately, and most successfully, the North American P-51 Mustang.
39:43In their tight fighting boxes, the flying fortresses took the bombing campaign to Germany's key war industries,
39:53transport and communication centers, seeking to destroy these targets with surgical precision.
39:59The bomber streams fought their way past German fighters, and tried to pass round major flak concentrations,
40:09so that they could reach and bomb the target in tight formation.
40:13. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
40:43.
41:04Inevitably, there were losses to fighter attack, anti-aircraft artillery, and an accumulation of battle damage.
41:11But in 1944 and 1945, the Eighth Army Air Force's B-17s struck decisive blows against Germany.
41:25With their mission complete, the flying fortresses returned to their bases in England.
41:30The flight crews rested and the ground crews took over to ready their charges for the next missions that the planners ordered.
41:41...
41:43.
41:46.
41:47.
41:51.
41:54.
41:57.
41:58.
41:59.
42:00.
42:01.
42:02As with the Americans, the British believed in thorough briefing of its officers.
42:18In this instance, for a raid during June 1942.
42:23And I've just been told that our number is expected to be over 1,100.
42:30This group is providing 150, this station 22 are here and 5 crews are playing away.
42:41Now the object of tonight's operation is to blot out the town of Bremen.
42:49In addition, there are two specially special targets.
42:55There's a Denmark submarine building yard, which is a tremendously important submarine building establishment.
43:06And also, and even more important, the Fokker Wolf works, which are situated to the south of Bremen itself.
43:17The British counterpart to the B-17 was the Avro Lancaster.
43:21A night bomber intended for saturation bombing of area targets, rather than the precision destruction of point targets.
43:28Ground crews, meanwhile, completed the preparations of their Lancasters.
43:33Maximum bomb load was a massive 18,000 pounds.
43:37For area raids, huge cylindrical high-capacity bombs were used.
43:42The detonation of these weapons, large explosive charges, providing a highly destructive blast effect.
43:48The Lancaster entered service in late 1941, with 1460 horsepower Rolls-Royce Merlin 20 engines.
44:14The Lancaster remained little altered, except for higher-powered engines and detailed improvements,
44:20right through a production run of 7,377 aircraft.
44:25Defence was provided by 8.303-inch machine guns, located in two gun-nose and dorsal turrets, as well as a four-gun tail turret.
44:50Like the American bombers, the Lancasters had to run the gauntlet of flak and German warplanes.
44:56In this instance, radar-equipped night fighters.
44:59But, when a target had been reached, as here by 463 Squadron over Brunswick in 1944,
45:06the effect of area bombing could be quite awe-inspiring.
45:09Wave after wave of bombers tried to target the same area.
45:14And, if successful, they could raise a firestorm of truly devastating power.
45:19Low-level attacks were also made, such as this on the Gnome Roan works at Limoges in France, by Wing Commander Leonard Cheshire.
45:37By the second half of 1944, the shortage of skilled pilots and fuel had turned the German fighter arm into a shadow of its former self.
45:47And this was too good an opportunity for Bomber Command to pass up.
45:51As in the continuing night campaign, the Lancaster operated with the Handley Page Halifax,
46:08which had straight-sided vertical tail surfaces compared with the Lancaster's oval surfaces.
46:13More accurate bombing was possible by day.
46:21This allowed the British bombers to strike at smaller targets, such as communication choke points and synthetic fuel production centres.
46:29The Germans countered with an effort to hide key targets by generating thick smoke upwind of the objective as the bombers approached.
46:39Such as here, during an attack by 617 Squadron, using giant tall-boy bombs on the battleship Tirpitz lying in Norwegian waters.
46:56The use of smoke was in turn countered by British use of radar and other navigational aids to accurate bombing against even invisible targets.
47:08In May 1943, further Lancaster precision bombing was directed against the Ruhr dams.
47:17In this case, the Skorp dam, as seen from an escorting Mosquito of 9 Squadron.
47:23Though this dam was not breached, the Ada and Mona were with spectacular results.
47:29By the spring of 1945, the day and night pounding of German cities, industries, communications and fuel producing centres had made it virtually impossible for the German armies to sustain their defensive campaign against the advancing allies.
47:48Despite the incredible tonnage of weapons rained down on the enemy, the bombers still had to face the dangers of German flak guns, which often used to destroy the enemy.
48:15radar direction and proved highly accurate.
48:20But the bombers were winning.
48:22The bombers were winning.
48:23The bombers were winning.
48:29The bombers were winning.
48:49One of the most versatile aircraft in America's inventory during World War II was the consolidated B-24 Liberator.
48:56Production of this magnificent type reached 18,482 aircraft, a higher total than any other American warplane of the period.
49:06The Liberator was supported on the ground by tricycle landing gear, and in service the B-24 proved very successful and popular with its crews, as shown by the personalisation of various aircraft with nose art.
49:19The aircraft was reliable and effective, and in combat proved that it was well able to take care of itself against all but the most determined fighter opposition.
49:40In the air, the B-24 was kept aloft by a very efficient high aspect ratio wing, accommodating the four 1,200 horsepower Pratt & Whitney twin WASP engines for a speed of 300 miles per hour.
49:55Range was also maximized to 2,850 miles in the earlier variants by a deliberate decision to limit the maximum bomb load to 8,800 pounds.
50:07It's long range made the Liberator better suited to Pacific operations than the Flying Fortress, but the type was also used extensively in the European theatre as a bomber and maritime reconnaissance type.
50:36, so, in this period, it was a great Salutator.
50:38The defensive armament was typical of American practice
51:07in being centred on 10.5 inch heavy machine guns.
51:11These were located in pairs in power operated dorsal, ventral and tail turrets, in two manually
51:18operated beam positions and in the nose.
51:24These last two weapons were manually operated in the early models with a glazed nose, but
51:29installed in a powered turret from the B-24H variant onward.
51:48The only other country to make major use of the Liberator was the UK, which flew both
51:53bomber and maritime reconnaissance models.
51:57Like other great bombers, the Liberator could be badly damaged yet still return to base.
52:11As this machine reveals, in an emergency landing with the nose wheel still raised, the Liberator's
52:16relatively small ground clearance could be a distinct advantage under such circumstances.
52:22The Boeing B-29 Superfortress was designed to take over where the B-17 Flying Fortress left
52:47off.
52:48The crew members were accommodated in pressurised comfort, so that the four 2,200 horsepower
52:54Wright Cyclone turbocharged engines could drive this mighty bomber along at up to 358 miles per
53:01hour and at altitudes of up to 33,600 feet.
53:06Combined with this flight performance was a range of 3,250 miles and a maximum bomb load of
53:1220,000 pounds, though the normal maximum for long range missions was 12,000 pounds.
53:19The logical target for this mighty machine was Japan.
53:24After an indifferent start from Chinese bases in June 1944, the campaign was switched to
53:30huge airfields in the Mariana Islands.
53:33With the main effort devoted to the construction and maintenance of the five great bases on the
53:38three islands of the Marianas group, other work was limited to essential support for the bombers
53:43and crews of the 21 and later the 20 bomber commands.
53:48Briefing was very important to ensure that the crews knew not only the when and how of
53:53their missions, but also the why that helped keep determination and morale high.
53:59The dangers to be faced were not just the Japanese defences over the urban and industrial
54:04hearts of Japan, but also the long over water flights to Japan and sometimes with battle damage
54:10back to the Marianas.
54:12With the B-29s ready for flight, loaded with maximum fuel and the right weight and assortment
54:18of weapons, the crews arrived from their briefings.
54:31On each base, the main runway was about 200 feet wide and up to 8,500 feet long, supported
54:38by miles of taxiway and other roads.
54:41The taxiways allowed the super fortresses to move from their maintenance areas to the assembly
54:46points close to the downwind ends of the main runways.
54:50The road networks permitted access to remote, and therefore safer, storage areas for fuel
54:55and bombs.
55:09Partialing an attack force on the ground and then getting it airborne was a complex organisational
55:14task, but soon became a matter of well-established routine that allowed the super fortress fleet
55:19to climb and set course for its targets with the minimum waste of fuel.
55:26Each super fortress had a complement of ten men.
55:29In the forward pressure compartment were the pilot and co-pilot in the fully glazed nose.
55:34The bombardier sat between the pilots.
55:36The navigator, facing forward, was behind the pilot.
55:40One or two flight engineers facing aft sat behind the co-pilot, and the radio operator
55:45was further aft.
55:47In a rear pressure compartment, behind the wings, but connected to the forward compartment
55:52by a crawlway over the two bomb bays, were two or three gunners for the remotely controlled guns.
55:58The rear gunner was in an individual tail compartment.
56:03The super fortresses ploughed their way to Japan, and destroyed both the country's major cities
56:08and its war-making capacity, with attacks on industry and transport.
56:13The B-29s started the campaign in their designed operating regime, making high-altitude day attacks,
56:20with high-explosive bombs.
56:22It soon emerged, however, that even with the B-29's advanced sight, bombing accuracy was poor,
56:28because of the turbulent high-speed winds over Japan.
56:32The campaign was then switched to low-altitude night attacks, with a mixed load of incendiaries
56:38and high-explosive bombs.
56:40The man who effectively brought World War II to an abrupt end was Colonel Paul Tibbetts.
56:46Taking off from the Marianas on August the 6th, 1945, Tibbetts and his crew flew his B-29,
56:55named Enola Gay, in honour of his mother, to drop a single atomic bomb over Hiroshima.
57:02We knew that the bomb had explosion, had exploded, everything was a success,
57:07so we turned around to take a look at it.
57:09The sight that greeted our eyes was quite beyond what we had expected,
57:13because we saw this cloud of boiling dust and debris below us, with this tremendous mushroom on top.
57:19Beneath that was hidden the ruins of the city of Hiroshima.
57:25The devastation was almost beyond comprehension.
57:31Though it took another atomic raid on Nagasaki three days later,
57:35to shock the Japanese into action, the war was effectively over.
57:40The bomber had issued in a new and terrifying type of war.
57:46December, 2nd, 154, Interestingly, aerness for flying sky and all of a sudden predators and animals were quite nursing.
57:50The sky was also quite sick.
57:51The sky and the iron Sikhs were quite bright in the sea.
57:53The sky was too late.
57:56The sky was a Ihre sun.
57:58The sky was too late.
58:00The sky was very distant, the sky was still in the sky.
58:03The sky was so near the sky.
58:05The sky was a cold, the sky was a light, the sky was expected.
58:07The sky was so near the sky was a little.
58:08The sky was too late.
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