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00:26Fighters like these American P-51 Mustangs
00:29were key players in the deadly drama
00:32of the Pacific Campaign in World War II,
00:36a campaign that began with Japan's surprise attack
00:39on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941,
00:43and ended shortly after the bombing of Hiroshima
00:47and later Nagasaki,
00:49where a single bomb destroyed each city
00:51in just a few seconds.
00:57In this special edition of Wings Over the Pacific,
01:01we will meet Japanese and American pilots
01:04who fought over the Pacific.
01:06Through archival footage and reenactments,
01:09we will see their aircraft in action
01:11and relive the major aerial campaigns
01:14of a battlefield that covered nearly
01:16one-third of the Earth's surface.
01:25Far from their home waters,
01:27Japanese pilots await orders.
01:29They are at sea preparing for war,
01:32and each day brings them closer to battle.
01:35As part of their samurai warrior tradition,
01:38they toast Japan and the emperor,
01:40and in the days to come,
01:42Japanese crews will be preparing for a mission
01:45that will stun the world.
01:50The hopes and dreams of Imperial Japan
01:53rest with these aerial warriors.
01:58In late November of 1941,
02:01a Japanese strike force led by six aircraft carriers
02:05sails east under radio silence.
02:09A few days later,
02:11the commander of Japan's combined fleet,
02:14Admiral Yamamoto sends a coded message
02:16to begin the attack.
02:19Climb Mount Nitake.
02:22The die is cast.
02:24Japan will strike at the U.S. Pacific fleet
02:26in Pearl Harbor
02:27on December 7, 1941.
02:33Yamamoto seeks a quick, decisive victory
02:36that will force America to the negotiating table
02:39on Japanese terms.
02:42The time has come.
02:44There is no turning back.
02:45The plan becomes a reality.
02:49Almost 200 aircraft lift off to attack Pearl Harbor.
02:53The torpedo and dive bombers
02:55will strike at the American ships on Battleship Road,
02:58while other fighters and bombers
03:00target the airfields nearby.
03:05The Nakajima B-5N torpedo bomber,
03:09known to American intelligence officers
03:11as the CATE,
03:12leads the attack.
03:14Its deadly, long-lance torpedoes
03:16adjusted for the shallow waters of Pearl Harbor.
03:22The Aichi D-3A, codenamed VAL,
03:25is a slow but highly maneuverable dive bomber.
03:28At Pearl Harbor,
03:29some VALs carry modified 16-inch armor-piercing shells
03:33as bombs to unload on the battleships.
03:41On this fateful December morning,
03:43the naval base and the men at Pearl Harbor
03:46are peaceful.
03:47The aircraft at Hickam Field
03:49are neatly lined up as if ready for inspection.
03:59Soldiers go about their lives,
04:02oblivious to the reign of death and destruction
04:04heading their way.
04:10Although the breaking of diplomatic codes
04:12by the U.S. has suggested
04:14the possibility of hostile action,
04:16no extra security precautions are taken.
04:26At 7.49,
04:28the first wave of Japanese aircraft attack.
04:31The surprise is total.
04:33Failure to heed radar warnings
04:35prove disastrous,
04:37and ships at dock
04:38are easy targets for Japanese bombers.
04:52A few aircraft even get in the air
04:54to protect the fleet.
04:55Most of the American planes
04:57are destroyed on the ground
04:58when the Japanese strike the airfields.
05:01For the U.S. Navy,
05:02there is but one consolation.
05:04Its carriers are out to sea,
05:07safe from the attack.
05:13As a young ensign,
05:15John LaCouture
05:16saw firsthand
05:17the chaos
05:18of that December morning.
05:20I got down to the
05:21Offset Club landing
05:22and it was right across
05:24from Battleship Row
05:25and boy,
05:25I couldn't believe my eyes
05:27when I saw all those ships
05:28sinking and capsized.
05:31The Arizona
05:32had already sunk,
05:33but Oklahoma had capsized
05:37and I think the West Virginia
05:39and the Nevada
05:40were badly damaged.
05:44Everything, of course,
05:45was mass confusion.
05:46As we went by
05:47one of the airfields,
05:49the FYI,
05:50planes were coming in,
05:51some of them from the Enterprise,
05:52and they were being shot down
05:53by our own people,
05:55thinking it was a Japanese plane.
05:58At 8.40,
06:00the second Japanese strike force
06:02of 167 aircraft
06:03attacks,
06:04but it meets
06:05much stronger resistance.
06:08Fighter pilot
06:09Yozo Fujita
06:10lost most of his squadron
06:12and witnessed
06:13what may have been
06:14the war's first
06:15kamikaze attack.
06:19When I went to Pearl Harbor,
06:21I expected to die.
06:24I didn't expect
06:25to come back.
06:27It's a wonder
06:28that I returned.
06:31When we attacked,
06:32they were ready for us,
06:34so three out of nine planes
06:36never returned.
06:39I watched my group leader
06:41self-destruct.
06:43He used hand signals
06:45to tell us
06:46that he had no fuel
06:48and was going down
06:50to take out the target.
07:03Dense smoke
07:04from damaged ships
07:05hampers the second attack.
07:07Heavy resistance
07:08and the unknown location
07:10of American carriers
07:11cause the Japanese
07:12to break off the assault.
07:15At the end of the day,
07:1618 American warships
07:18lie sunk
07:19or severely damaged
07:20in the shallow waters
07:21of Pearl Harbor.
07:22Nearly 200 aircraft
07:24are destroyed,
07:25most never having
07:27gotten off the ground.
07:29More than 2,400 soldiers,
07:33sailors, and Marines
07:34perish defending the fleet.
07:36The Japanese
07:37lose only 28 aircraft
07:39and less than 50 men.
07:44For those who survived it,
07:47the attack on Pearl Harbor
07:48is a swift,
07:49intense preview
07:50of the ferocious
07:52air and sea war
07:53that will soon
07:54envelop the Pacific.
07:58In the war in the Pacific,
08:00the battlefield
08:01is limitless sky
08:02and endless ocean,
08:04a campaign far different
08:06from the landlocked
08:07battlefields of Europe.
08:10Aircraft carriers
08:11rule the seas.
08:12They are mobile airfields,
08:14launching aircraft
08:15to strike at targets
08:16hundreds of miles away
08:17and important targets
08:20themselves.
08:22It is truly
08:23an aerial war
08:25and men,
08:26their ships,
08:27and their aircraft
08:28will determine
08:29the victor
08:29and vanquished
08:30of the Pacific campaign.
08:38Japan's aerial offensive
08:39continues on the
08:41Asian mainland.
08:42A Nakajima KI-43
08:44code-name Oscar
08:45takes off
08:46to battle British forces
08:47in Southeast Asia.
08:54In 1941,
08:56this is the Japanese
08:57Army's most common
08:59fighter,
08:59and though armed
09:00only with a pair
09:01of 7.7mm machine guns,
09:03its maneuverability
09:04makes it a tough
09:05opponent for allied
09:06aircraft in the early
09:08days of the war.
09:14In Malaya,
09:16the Philippines,
09:17and the Dutch East Indies,
09:18the Japanese neutralize
09:20allied air forces.
09:21All too frequently,
09:23allied aircraft
09:24are caught on the ground,
09:25easy targets
09:26for Japan's
09:27skilled pilots.
09:34Battle-hardened
09:36Japanese troops
09:36advance with
09:37lightning speed.
09:38They easily defeat
09:40the poorly-trained
09:40British troops,
09:42unaccustomed to fighting
09:43in the jungles
09:43of Southeast Asia.
09:45The British will make
09:46their last stand
09:47at Singapore,
09:48known as the
09:49Gibraltar of the East.
09:56On the naval front,
09:58hundreds of Japanese
09:59aircraft scour the
10:00seas,
10:01hunting like birds
10:02of prey for two
10:03British warships,
10:05the Prince of Wales
10:06and the Repulse,
10:07prior to Britain's
10:08Pacific fleet.
10:10The Mitsubishi G3L,
10:12codenamed NEL,
10:14leads Japan's search.
10:15It is their first
10:16modern land-based bomber
10:18and its exceptional
10:19range makes it an ideal
10:20aircraft for this
10:22mission.
10:23The two great
10:24British warships are
10:25sighted on the morning
10:26of December 10th.
10:28Japanese planes begin
10:29the attack.
10:30The British ships have
10:31no aerial escorts to
10:33protect them,
10:33and must twist and turn
10:35to avoid wave after wave
10:37of torpedo and bombing
10:38strikes.
10:40They are virtually
10:41defenseless against the
10:42withering sword from
10:43above.
10:44The Prince of Wales
10:45and the Repulse are
10:46doomed.
10:47By early afternoon,
10:49both ships and more
10:50than 800 of their men
10:51lie at the bottom of
10:52the sea.
10:53The Japanese have lost
10:55just three aircraft.
10:56The historic reign of
10:58the battleship is over.
10:59Japan rules the seas
11:01and the skies of the
11:03Pacific.
11:07The loss of the British
11:08ships leads to the
11:10unconditional surrender
11:11of Singapore to Japan.
11:13The foundation of
11:14Britain's imperial power
11:16in Asia is lost.
11:18Like a typhoon,
11:20the Japanese have swept
11:21aside all opposition.
11:23In six months,
11:24their land, sea, and air
11:26forces have redrawn
11:28the map of the world.
11:34By mid-1942,
11:36Japan has gained
11:37control of nearly
11:38one-third of the
11:39Pacific.
11:41The aircraft leading
11:43Japan's air war is
11:44the Mitsubishi A6M,
11:46codenamed Zeke,
11:47but more popularly
11:49known as the Zero.
11:51More than 10,000 are
11:53built during the course
11:54of the war.
11:55It is fast, nimble,
11:56and deadly.
12:00In 1942, the Zero is
12:02the best-performing
12:03fighter in the Pacific.
12:05But the Zero's high
12:06performance does not
12:07come without cost.
12:09Its light armor and
12:10lack of self-sealing
12:11fuel tanks make it,
12:13for many Japanese
12:14pilots, a fiery
12:15sarcophagus.
12:17That Zero was a
12:19heck of a flying
12:20fast piece of
12:21equipment, and you
12:23had darn well
12:23better respect it.
12:24When it came down
12:25on, you better
12:26respect it.
12:27On my very first
12:29combat strike, I was
12:31a tail-end Charlie
12:32of the whole darn
12:33strike of 48
12:33TBFs, and out of
12:36the clouds came
12:36four zeroes.
12:38And I heard my
12:39gunner scream, and I
12:40got one, I got one.
12:41I said, shut up and
12:42get another.
12:43He did.
12:47If you like to fly, you
12:49would prefer this
12:50airplane.
12:51We often wondered
12:52why they did the
12:53Japanese Zero did so
12:56many useless nip-ups.
12:58Well, I'll tell you
12:58why they did it.
12:59Pilots enjoyed it.
13:00It was a fun
13:01airplane.
13:08In the case of the
13:10Zero, in order to
13:12maximize its ability,
13:13they sacrificed
13:15weight.
13:18To sacrifice weight
13:20means to have
13:21almost no armor.
13:25It's as if we were
13:27fighting with little
13:28knives from the
13:30sash of our loincloth,
13:31while our enemies
13:33came in a suit of
13:34armor.
13:37One little slip,
13:39and you were gone.
13:44I've seen many
13:45Zeroes come apart
13:46with just 10 or 12
13:47bullets into them.
13:49They were totally
13:49unprotected as far as
13:51armor plating and so
13:52forth.
13:53I think as far as
13:54the pilot experience
13:56goes, the Japanese
13:57at that time were
13:58very experienced
13:59pilots.
14:00They were excellent
14:01gunners, and the
14:03only way we survived
14:03was the fact that we
14:04had a more rugged
14:05airplane.
14:07The Grumman F4F
14:09Wildcat is the
14:10Navy's only carrier
14:11fighter at the start
14:12of the war.
14:13It is a tough, rugged
14:14aircraft with self-sealing
14:16fuel tanks and an
14:17armored body that will
14:18save many a pilot's
14:20life.
14:20The toughness of the
14:22Wildcat, along with
14:23its 650 caliber machine
14:24guns, enables pilots to
14:26hold their own against
14:27the more maneuverable
14:28Zero fighters.
14:31As war rages in the
14:32Pacific, back home,
14:34America is on the
14:35lookout.
14:36Air defenses are
14:37readied as the country
14:38prepares for war.
14:46Remember Pearl Harbor
14:47is the battle cry of the
14:49day.
14:49Thousands of young men
14:51enter the surface.
14:52Women move into the
14:53factories, replacing the
14:54men who go off to war.
14:56U.S. industry is quickly
14:57switching to wartime
14:59production.
15:00Aircraft come off the
15:01assembly line and pilots
15:02out of training school.
15:06Some Americans need no
15:08training.
15:09In China, the American
15:10volunteer group, later
15:12known as the Flying Tigers,
15:13is ready for combat.
15:19Using the fighter tactics
15:21of its commander, Colonel
15:22Claire Chenault, the
15:24Curtiss P-40 Tomahawks,
15:25proved deadly to enemy
15:27aircraft.
15:32Flying Tiger veteran
15:34Ed Rector remembers
15:35Chenault.
15:37Chenault would lecture
15:38each arriving group at
15:397 a.m. in the morning,
15:42a half hour to 45 minute
15:43lecture, and then at
15:478 o'clock we would be out
15:48practicing tactics and
15:50maneuvers.
15:54He knew the Japanese
15:55zero better than anyone.
15:58He had analyzed it.
16:01He said, do not ever, ever
16:03try to turn with a zero.
16:08If you do, he will turn
16:10inside you within two turns
16:12and get you.
16:15If a fighter gets on your
16:17tail, stick the nose down,
16:20dive out, and with that
16:22increased speed, pull up
16:25and join the fray.
16:29Remember that he does not
16:31have self-sealing tanks like
16:34you do, and you can perforate
16:36those tanks and cause him
16:38not to get home.
16:44With their distinctive
16:46shark-tooth paint job, the
16:47P-40s make good their image
16:49as vicious predators.
16:51Their half-dozen 12.7
16:53millimeter machine guns are
16:54deadly, and their sturdy
16:56construction enables them to
16:58survive.
16:59Using Chenault's hit-and-run
17:01tactics, the Flying Tigers
17:03destroy more than 296
17:05aircraft, while losing just
17:0712 of their own.
17:09It's not just the planes in
17:10the air, but the supplies on
17:12the ground that keep the war
17:13going.
17:14When the Japanese close all
17:16land routes, Allied aircraft
17:18parts and fuel are
17:19bottlenecked in India.
17:21The only option is by air,
17:24across a 15,000-foot mountain
17:26range of turbulent winds,
17:28rugged peaks, and lurking
17:30Japanese fighters.
17:31They call it the Hump.
17:33Using aircraft like the
17:35Curtis C-46 Commando, the
17:37air bridge to China becomes a
17:39lifeline to Allied ground and
17:41air forces.
17:44We got by with less than one
17:46fourth of the materiel of
17:49fighter groups, say, in Europe.
17:51Remember, every bullet, every
17:53bomb, every gallon of fuel that
17:56we used was flown across the
17:58hump, airlifted.
17:59That became very, very dear in
18:03terms of cost.
18:04But it kept us fighting.
18:06It kept China in the war.
18:09Flying the Hump proves perilous.
18:11More than 450 aircraft will be
18:14lost transporting supplies into
18:16China.
18:17Aboard the USS Hornet, an even
18:19more perilous mission is prepared.
18:23Using B-25 Mitchell medium bombs
18:26modified with extra fuel tanks,
18:28Lieutenant Colonel James
18:30Doolittle plans to lead America's
18:32first strike against the Japanese
18:34mainland.
18:35Doolittle's bold plan is to launch
18:37his land-based B-25s from the
18:39Hornet, attack Japan, then land in
18:42China after the strike.
18:44And by returning a captured
18:46Japanese metal, he will be sending
18:48a personal message to Tokyo.
18:51Doolittle's pilots have been
18:52practicing mock carrier takeoffs
18:54for weeks.
18:55But are they ready for the real
18:56thing?
18:57Will the heavy planes make it into
18:59the air with such a short
19:00takeoff?
19:02Airman Roy Stork remembers taking
19:04off.
19:04We'd cross our fingers and do a
19:06Hail Mary and say, well, I hope
19:08this joker gets off.
19:11I thought the plane was going to
19:13vibrate apart.
19:15Everything was shaking.
19:16And then when we released the
19:17brakes, it smoothed out.
19:19We just jumped into the air.
19:21We had to push forward on the
19:23stick to keep from stalling up.
19:26It was amazing, much more than we
19:28expected.
19:31It was thrilling.
19:33Believe me, it was thrilling.
19:39They came in barely over the water.
19:42When it lifted up, we saw a star on
19:45the side of the plane and realized
19:47it was an American plane flying over
19:49us to bomb a target.
19:52America was so brave to fly land-based
19:55planes off carriers.
19:59The low-flying B-25s meet little
20:02opposition as they strike Tokyo and
20:04three other Japanese cities.
20:11They were bragging about the fact that
20:14the Japanese mainland had not been
20:16attacked for 2,036 years.
20:20Well, after we hit, they weren't so proud
20:24of it anymore, I'll tell you that.
20:26For Doolittle's crews, it was a one-way
20:28mission.
20:29Fog and lack of fuel cause all the B-25s
20:32that bombed Japan to crash land in China.
20:35The Chinese rescue all but eight crew
20:38members who were captured by the
20:39Japanese.
20:40Three other airmen are killed in the
20:42crash landings.
20:45The airmen of Doolittle's raid on Japan
20:47become the war's first heroes.
20:50Today, a half century later, the bond
20:52between these brave men still endures.
20:55Each year, we toast the men who have
20:58gone and toast the ones that are alive.
21:03And it's up to the last two guys to
21:08drink a toast to everyone.
21:10When it's down to one, he'll drink a
21:13toast to all of us.
21:23The B-25 was made famous by the Doolittle
21:26raid on Tokyo.
21:28It was a very versatile and popular
21:30aircraft.
21:32By the end of the war, American workers
21:35had manufactured nearly 10,000 of them.
21:38Many of these B-25s were sent to the
21:41Pacific with the mission of punishing and
21:44destroying Japanese naval and army
21:47forces.
21:51Winning the air war over the Pacific requires
21:54more than just a stout heart and steady
21:56hand.
21:57The seeds of our victory are found in the
21:59industrial heartland of America, in its
22:02capacity and determination to outproduce the
22:05enemy.
22:05This is a victory also made possible by the
22:09men and women on the home front, who worked day
22:12and night to produce hundreds of ships and
22:16thousands of aircraft.
22:20In 1942, only three American aircraft carriers are afloat.
22:25A year later, there are more than 50.
22:28By the end of the war, more than 100.
22:31By adapting civilian mass production techniques to
22:34military hardware, the United States is able to outproduce
22:38Japan.
22:38At the time of Pearl Harbor, the U.S. had 17,000 aircraft on
22:43hand throughout the world.
22:45The Japanese, almost 7,000.
22:48By 1945, when the Japanese reach that level of 17,000 planes,
22:53they will face more than 100,000 American aircraft.
22:59To launch and retrieve aircraft is risky, backbreaking work.
23:03It is a dangerous dance between men and machines on a flight
23:07deck in constant motion.
23:29Whether they are preparing for torpedo strikes or guiding home wounded
23:33aircraft, the deck crews are the lifeblood of the carrier, the air
23:37war's unsung heroes.
23:41The carrier's power is in its pilots and aircraft, and the Pacific, with its
23:46vast expanse of ocean, is the ideal theater for carrier warfare.
23:53USS Yorktown veteran William Leonard remembers the basic rule of combat.
23:58It was not any great mystery that if you didn't defend the carrier, you
24:03wouldn't have a place to hang your toothbrush, and it wouldn't have a nice
24:07place to come home.
24:08So, number one was defend the carrier.
24:12But you can't defend the carrier by just standing there and manning the
24:16walls and the ramparts.
24:17You have to go out and get to the place where the trouble starts and try to put
24:22that place out of business.
24:28Leonard defended American carriers in the first battle between carriers in the
24:33Coral Sea in the spring of 1942.
24:41The Battle of the Coral Sea is two days of chaotic fighting, a shootout among
24:46obscuring clouds and mists.
24:50For the flight crews of the American carriers, it will be a trial by fire as
24:55they test themselves against veteran Japanese fighter and bomber pilots.
25:01Both sides have difficulty in finding and identifying their opponents.
25:05At one point, Japanese aircraft even attempt to land on American carriers.
25:14At the end of the battle, despite losing a carrier, the U.S. Navy has stopped the enemy's expansion
25:20into New Guinea and destroyed Japan's aura of invincibility.
25:24The stage is now set for the most decisive naval battle of the Pacific campaign, at a place called
25:31Midway.
25:33Chester W. Nimitz, commander of the Pacific Fleet, using information obtained from broken
25:40Japanese secret codes, orders three American carriers to Midway.
25:45Here, the task force will intercept Yamamoto's battle group of six aircraft carriers.
25:52On Midway Island, it becomes a waiting game.
26:13On June 3, 1942, the waiting ends. The Japanese strike at Midway's airstrip. But unlike Pearl Harbor, radar warden
26:21the U.S. planes have been heated, and most U.S. planes are aloft. Damage is minimal.
26:30As the strikes continue on Midway, U.S. carriers secretly launch their attack.
26:36What killed the Japanese attack at Midway? It was dive bombers.
26:43The dive bombers were able to dive on three of the Japanese carriers without any fighter opposition.
26:51And you say, well, where were all these vaunted Japanese Zeros?
26:55Well, I'll tell you where the Zeros were.
26:58They were down at sea level, practically, shooting at our torpedo planes.
27:02The Japanese, for a very good reason, were terrified at the thought of torpedo attack from torpedo planes.
27:15I was the only one chasing them.
27:19I didn't want the carrier attack, so I fired toward the enemy.
27:25And as I lifted up, I saw two of them falling.
27:31We were taught that Americans were afraid.
27:35I don't think so.
27:37In that 20-plane formation, as planes were shut down,
27:42the rest would fill in and go forth bravely.
27:46I was very impressed.
27:59Basically, it was the torpedo planes that kept the fighters down.
28:04Torpedo 8 was the first to sight the Japanese fleet.
28:09My understanding is that Waldron tried to call the fighters down to give him some protection,
28:13but they didn't come down.
28:15So they went in.
28:18And one by one, we were all shot down.
28:24The Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers proved the loss of the low-flying American torpedo bombers not to be in
28:32vain.
28:33They attack, virtually unchallenged by the Japanese fighters.
28:37The Japanese carriers are now alone and vulnerable.
28:46The dive bombers came in, and there were no fighters.
28:50They just had a clear shot.
28:52The carriers' decks were completely loaded with ammunition and bombs,
28:57and the dive bombers were able to make runs without any fighter interference at all.
29:02That's how they won the pilot.
29:05Midway ends Japan's dream of empire.
29:08They will never recover from the loss of four carriers and 234 of their best pilots.
29:20Two months after Midway, the Pacific War shifts to the Solomon Islands, where Japan will lose its more experienced pilots,
29:28many of them at Guadalcanal, which became known to the Japanese as the Island of Death.
29:36Located south of Japan's major naval and air base at Rebald, Guadalcanal threatens Allied supply lines.
29:44To stop the Japanese construction of an air base, American troops invade Guadalcanal.
29:50It is the first Allied amphibious action of the Pacific.
30:01The Guadalcanal campaign is the beginning move of a land, sea, and air campaign to recover the Solomons and force
30:09Japan from Rebald.
30:12After the capture of Guadalcanal, American engineers quickly complete and then expand the airstrip.
30:18It will be known as Henderson Field.
30:22When we got to Guadalcanal, I didn't believe that you could be standing in mud and have dirt blowing in
30:28your face.
30:29That was the darndest bit of island I've ever been on in my life.
30:34For the next six months, U.S. troops defend Henderson Field from land, sea, and air attacks as the Japanese
30:42seek to regain control of the island.
30:44The long-range capabilities of their bombers and fighters allow Japanese strikes against Guadalcanal from as far away as Rebald.
30:54Leading many of the Japanese bombing missions is the Mitsubishi G4M, codenamed Betty.
31:00It has great range, but like so many Japanese aircraft, it offers little armored protection for its seven-man crew.
31:08From August to November of 1942, nearly 100 Japanese Bettys are lost at Guadalcanal.
31:15Avenger pilot Doug LaPierre recalls a Betty nicknamed Washing Machine Charlie.
31:21Washing Machine Charlie was the Japanese bomber that came down to the islands every night just to annoy people and
31:27drop one or two bombs and keep you awake.
31:29We had one night run against Rebald where we all flew in over Hospital Ridge and dropped torpedoes.
31:38And the fun part of that one was Washing Machine Charlie was returning to Rebald as we were flying out.
31:46All the searchlights, Japanese searchlights, went up on poor old washing machine Charlie.
31:50And I could just picture what he was screaming down at them.
31:53And they shot him out of the sky as we ducked out of there about 50 feet above the water
31:58and went home.
32:00LaPierre's plane, the Grumman TBF Avenger, originally designed solely as a torpedo bomber,
32:07proved so adaptable that it soon becomes the only bomber an aircraft carrier needs.
32:12Grumman would build over 10,000.
32:16And by 1943, the Avenger would be the most common of carrier bombs.
32:25When the TBF went aboard ship, it was the heaviest and largest carrier-based airplane that had ever been constructed.
32:35The government gave Grumman, who was the designer and the original manufacturer, a very simple requirement.
32:44They used what we lovingly refer to as the KISS principle.
32:48Keep it simple, stupid.
32:53Rugged and reliable, the Avenger helped stop Japan from retaking Guadalcanal.
32:58As Allied air forces gained control of the air, Japan is no longer able to support its troops isolated on
33:05many islands throughout the Pacific.
33:09In January of 1943, Japan abandons Guadalcanal.
33:14The prolonged battle has decimated the ranks of her veteran pilots.
33:18Those pilots had received 700 hours of flight training.
33:22By contrast, the new Japanese recruits receive only 150 hours.
33:28They are brave, but very inexperienced.
33:31We were able to rescue our pilots, put them back with all the experience they had,
33:39and the Japanese kept losing pilots and obviously had no real replacements for them.
33:45As the war went on, we got stronger and they got weaker.
33:50Throughout the Pacific, Allied air power isolates Japanese garrisons.
33:55In New Guinea, control of the air enables American paratroopers to drop unchallenged behind enemy lines.
34:04Spearheading the drive to liberate New Guinea and the Philippines is the 5th Air Force.
34:09Using unorthodox bombing tactics, the 5th is relentless in its attacks on Japanese ships and bases.
34:18Their slowly descending paramombs allow low-flying aircraft to escape the shockwave of the released bomb's explosion.
34:29Another low-altitude bombing technique used by B-25s skips bombs into the side of an enemy ship.
34:38Other B-25s, modified with forward-firing guns, strafe enemy vessels.
34:44In the Bismarck Sea, they sink a troop convoy from Revol, ending Japanese aspirations in New Guinea.
34:56Despite the dominance of Allied air forces, the victories are not without pain and sacrifice.
35:02The burial at sea of a dead pilot in his battered plane is a sad reminder of the cost of
35:08war.
35:09For both sides, there will be many more pilots and planes committed to the deep before this war is over.
35:27Unlike the Japanese, some U.S. pilots can be rotated back home to train new recruits.
35:33Some of these veteran airmen become the subjects of war bond and recruiting films.
35:45You see, it's a matter of teamwork.
35:47It's the plane and the engines and the guns.
35:51It's the pilot and all the rest of the squadron.
35:54It's the guys in the air and the crew on the ground.
35:56And you people back here will build the planes and push these changes through for us.
36:02The riveters, the welders, the assemblers, the foremen and all the rest.
36:08I don't know how to say it exactly.
36:10It's just something you've got to feel.
36:13It's a team all pulling together.
36:16And when it's clicking right, well, you just can't beat it, that's all.
36:21Rated by many as the best fighter of the war, the F4U Corsair is superior to the zero in almost
36:28every performance category.
36:29Though early models have some difficulty landing on aircraft carriers at first,
36:34they soon become the plane of choice for many carrier pilots.
36:41I hate Corsairs because they shot down so many of my men.
36:46Just hearing the name makes me angry.
36:54Entering combat in 1943, the Corsair is one of the most effective Allied fighter planes of the war.
37:01Losing less than 200 of their own aircraft, Corsair pilots shoot down more than 2,000 enemy planes.
37:10A deadly partner of the Corsair is the P-38 Lightning.
37:14It is used extensively in Europe as well as the Pacific.
37:18It becomes famous in the Solomons as the aircraft that takes part in the longest fighter intercept operation of the
37:25war.
37:25The mission to hunt down Admiral Yamamoto.
37:30On April 18th, 1943, an enemy Mitsubishi Betty bomber carrying Admiral Yamamoto departs on an inspection tour of Japanese bases.
37:43From monitoring secret Japanese codes, the Allies know the exact schedule of Yamamoto's mission.
37:50The order is given to intercept his plane.
37:54Loaded with extra fuel tanks to accommodate the 435-mile mission,
37:5916 P-38s, led by pilot John Mitchell, prepare for the aerial intercept.
38:05As part of the kill team, Rex Barber's orders were to go after Yamamoto's plane.
38:10We knew we were after Yamamoto, and we had instructions from headquarters, at all costs, get him.
38:23Well, we had to find him first, and then we had to get him.
38:25And we really thought we would fly up there and come back and have done nothing.
38:30We would have been able to find him.
38:32Because if you've done much flying, you know how difficult it would be to intercept an airplane on those conditions.
38:41That's what surprised everybody, was the bogey's 11 o'clock high call.
38:47There he was.
38:52For Zero pilot, Kinji Yanagiya, it was a deadly surprise.
39:03It was a ceremonial escort.
39:06I never dreamed that we would be attacked by P-38s, and have the Admiral shot down.
39:15They came in from behind us, low below the jungle.
39:19And I was not able to protect him.
39:24The P-38s strike quickly.
39:40Yamamoto's aircraft, one of the two Bettys to go down, crashes through the jungle canopy.
39:45For Yamamoto, the war is over.
39:49The Javanese Empire loses its leading figure.
39:53A warrior whose strategic vision will never be replaced.
40:02By the end of the war, more than 8,000 P-38s have been built.
40:07Designed as a high-altitude interceptor, it uses its high speed and its superior altitude to dive at opponents.
40:14Its nose-mounted cannon and .50 caliber machine guns blazing.
40:21The lightning is deadly.
40:23It shoots down more Japanese aircraft than any other U.S. plane.
40:28The mobility and power of American carrier task forces enable the U.S. Pacific Fleet to attack anywhere in the
40:35Pacific.
40:36John Condon remembers the awesome scale of carrier operations.
40:41People were awestruck when they'd take off and go up and look.
40:48And as far as you could see, there were carriers and capital ships, battleships and cruisers and just literally hundreds
41:00and hundreds of them.
41:02By 1944, Allied forces are advancing on the Philippines and closing in on Japan.
41:09Japanese and American carriers would duel again in the Marianas.
41:16In the Marianas, the Japanese fleet supported by land-based bombers waits for the advancing American forces.
41:23Though both sides have the same number of aircraft, there is now a great difference in the quality of those
41:30pilots and planes.
41:33We went home, came back, and came back in Hellcats.
41:37And it was a totally different war in Hellcats.
41:40We, by the time we got back, we had, oh, first we'd go on fighter sweeps, we'd have 250 fighters.
41:47And they called us the big blue blanket.
41:51Though less maneuverable than a zero, the Hellcat is superior in speed, armor, and high-altitude performance.
41:59Over the course of the war, the Hellcat will shoot down more than 6,000 Japanese aircraft, 75% of
42:06all Navy kills, at a cost of 270 U.S. planes.
42:14The Hellcat was perfectly suited. It had armor, it had the firepower, it had the maneuverability, it had the performance
42:21that we needed, and it could do everything except really outturn the Japanese airplane on a one-on-one basis.
42:28And, of course, with the tactics we used, very seldom did we get on a one-on-one basis.
42:35You know, we lived in a thing we called a target-rich environment.
42:39It was never a problem of finding them, it was a problem of surviving.
42:45We survived, mainly because we just fired and forgot about them.
42:49And you turned, and somebody else was there, and you fired at them, and you turned back immediately, and you
42:54had to keep turning to make sure your tail was, there's nobody sitting on your tail.
43:01We tried to keep the fight in the same area so that all of us could cover each other, and
43:08you can imagine what that is, a big melee with 40 or 50 airplanes just going all directions.
43:24The Hellcat dominates the sky. In what will become known as the Mariana's Turkey Chute, 373 Japanese planes are lost
43:33to better aircraft and better pilots.
43:42From recently captured air bases in the Mariana's, a new bombing campaign begins.
43:47The destination is Japan, and the aircraft, the Boeing B-29 Superfortress.
43:53With its 141-foot wingspan and 20,000-pound bomb load, the B-29 is the largest and most powerful
44:01bomber of the war.
44:03It is also the most innovative.
44:06Heated and pressurized cabins allow the 10-man crew to work at high altitudes without oxygen masks and bulky flight
44:14gear.
44:16Its computerized gun control system allows the B-29's 12 .50 caliber machine guns to provide deadly protection against hostile
44:25aircraft.
44:32As the key weapon in a strategic bombing campaign of Japan, the B-29 rains death and destruction on Japanese
44:39cities and industries.
44:41Traditional bombing proves much less effective than firebombing, which burns to the ground huge portions of Japan's cities with their
44:49wooden structures.
44:58Just 450 miles from Japan, Iwo Jima's island defenses are softened for an amphibious assault.
45:05A key element in the B-29 bombing campaign, the capture of Iwo Jima, will create a life raft for
45:12crippled B-29s and an air base for fighter support.
45:16For those who will hit the beach, Iwo Jima becomes a nightmare of death and destruction.
45:21It is an island of volcanic ash that looks like a hell on Earth.
45:27Soldiers on the ground call for air-to-ground support.
45:30Since there is no aerial opposition, some corsairs and Hellcats are modified solely for support missions of bombing and strafing.
45:40Iwo Jima is a deadly killing field.
45:43It is a battle waged on the ground to support the battles waged in the air.
45:48A battle won by marines advancing inch by inch, fighting an enemy determined to resist to the last man.
45:55The cost is high, but Iwo Jima falls.
46:01Over the course of the war, more than 2,000 aircraft, unable to make it all the way back to
46:06the Marianas, find a temporary home at Iwo Jima.
46:12Based permanently there are North American P-51 Mustangs.
46:16They provide fighter cover for the super fortress.
46:20Near the end of the Pacific campaign, Mustangs, similar to this one, spend much of the war escorting B-29s
46:28over Japan.
46:30Its agility and maneuverability make it the favorite of many pilots as they sweep the sky free of Japanese aircraft.
46:40Taking a round of the swarups.
46:53Tend to our arms operating at the time of our boat, perhaps, in modern land.
47:00The flying saucer is the only way to the sand for the summer.
47:02The energy of the car is the only way to go.
47:03The efficiency of the air is the only way to runs through the boat.
47:08Free of escort duties, the Mustang is an effective fighter-bomber for tactical airstrikes against Japanese industries.
47:23By 1945, Japan has few aircraft that can challenge the American domination of the air.
47:39Increasingly vanquished, growing ever more desperate, Japan now looks to the gods for a weapon to save the sacred homeland.
47:47That weapon will be the kamikaze.
47:51Their ceremonial headbands are symbolic ties to the warrior tradition and the samurai ethic of self-sacrifice for the honor
47:59of one's ancestors, one's emperor, one's country.
48:02Such willingness to die for a cause makes the kamikaze pilots deadly weapons against whose lethal suicidal attacks there is
48:12little defense.
48:14Since their deaths are deaths of honor, to face a kamikaze attack is to face a force that goes beyond
48:21planes and bombs to a deeply spiritual dedication.
48:25The kamikaze are human bombs.
48:29Their missions, one-way flights to death and eternal glory.
48:35There are two types of kamikaze.
48:37The veterans, like myself, who lost at Rabao, lost at the Philippines and stayed alive.
48:45Later, there were young ones from the mainland.
48:51Those people who had only flown for half a year, I didn't understand these student soldiers who wished to die
49:00as a kamikaze.
49:04Many of the veterans had seen most of their comrades shut down and were losing hope, so this was the
49:12only way out.
49:24In defense of Okinawa, the kamikaze attack on April 6, 1945.
49:30Radar-controlled American 80 aircraft batteries take their toll on any planes that manage to escape the prowling Hellcats and
49:37Corsairs.
49:38The kamikaze sink 26 ships at a cost of more than 1,900 of their own aircraft.
49:44But for all of its power and will, Japan's suicide weapon will not be able to protect its homeland from
49:52the final American attack.
50:01Japanese zeroes, like these, fought doggedly to attack Allied positions and defend the Imperial Empire.
50:09However, by 1945, Japan's air force was nearly wiped out.
50:15America ruled the air.
50:18It's scientists had produced the only weapon that could tame the unconquerable spirit of the Japanese,
50:26who were prepared to resist to the last man.
50:43On September 15, 1945, little more than a month after the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
50:52Japan surrenders unconditionally.
50:54Finally, the door is closed on the Second World War,
50:59and the dawning of the nuclear age initiates a new chapter in military aviation and world history.
51:07We'll see you then.
51:36прод meer danisme Alles
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