YESSS, FINALLY!!! - Masters of the Air - The 8th Air Force, Spielberg, Hanks, Goetzman (Crew behind Band of Brothers, Pacific)

[kevwun 16450]

7 minutes ago, kingkoopa6 said:

Another banger. 
 

that chick killed it too. I love her 

She was really good in A Small Light.

[RPM 26682]

5 minutes ago, kingkoopa6 said:

that chick killed it too. I love her 

Bel Powley. First noticed her in A Royal Night Out. 

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If I was a B-17 navigator and then got sent to Oxford for a few days and had her as a roommate…

[The Ace of Aces 5379]

12 hours ago, kevwun said:

She was really good in A Small Light.

She was EXCELLENT in that show. If you haven’t watched it, do it this weekend.

Also she was a code breaker at Bletchley Park in this I’m pretty sure. It’s a bike ride away from Oxford and women ran the place mostly. It’s a really cool spot to visit - we were there two months ago. 

[RPM 26682]

21 minutes ago, The Ace of Aces said:

She was EXCELLENT in that show. If you haven’t watched it, do it this weekend.

Also she was a code breaker at Bletchley Park in this I’m pretty sure. It’s a bike ride away from Oxford and women ran the place mostly. It’s a really cool spot to visit - we were there two months ago. 

The show wiki says she is a fictional character based on the role women played so you are pretty close. She was clearly in an important job and codebreaking fits. 

[F250 29210]

The next time I met someone that mentions their German heritage, I am going to kick them in the gooch.

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Social media/YT comments I’ve seen this morning:

“Are they going to make any more shows in the Band of Brothers universe?”

”Why are they turning this show into a POW show?  That sucks they should focus on air stuff.”

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On a side note, Tom Hanks and the writer of Greyhound are talking about a follow-up movie or series to Greyhound and both are on board and were approached.  It apparently got a huge bump with Masters of the Air, and it’s popped back up to the top of the movie charts, and Masters has been doing fantastic for Apple.

And this scene:

a whole lot of women and more than a few men were pleased with the Buck/Bucky reunion   

 

He apparently did say “what took you so long”

Edited February 24 by atomheartbevo

[Ted Lange 16447]

Didn’t realize they ended up in the same camp as the Great Escape 

[Deej 77900]

Really unfortunate that they didn't end up at Stalag 13.

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24 minutes ago, Ted Lange said:

Didn’t realize they ended up in the same camp as the Great Escape 

Yeah, but a different part than the Brits.

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There better be a guard named Schultz!

[mchookem 16791]

15 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

And this scene:

a whole lot of women and more than a few men were pleased with the Buck/Bucky reunion   

 

He apparently did say “what took you so long”

yeah, i yelped lol. 

this show has gotten really good. that Munster mission was... something else. incredibly harrowing.

 

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On 2/23/2024 at 10:38 PM, RPM said:

The show wiki says she is a fictional character based on the role women played so you are pretty close. She was clearly in an important job and codebreaking fits. 

She was in Crosby’s biography and he said they became good friends.  

There was also a video that mentioned it from his biography as well and I’ll try to find it.  

On a side note, Egan was on the run in Germany for several days, but the specific incident of murder of American airmen in the town happened in ‘44.   Goebbels made comments over the radio that the safety of Allied airmen was not guaranteed.

The Himmler-looking guy that interrogated Egan was real.  

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Different video, but I believe he’s the last surviving officer from the 100th, and knew many of the principals we see in the show, and he’s been talking about the show.  He was around for Black Week, and he mentioned the debate over bombing civilian targets, and mentioned that Egan was enthusiastic for bombing German cities after Cleven was shot down.

 

[GreenspointTexas 9993]

From everything ive read, this show seems extremely accurate

[Pescado_Rojo 19593]

On 2/24/2024 at 10:18 AM, atomheartbevo said:

On a side note, Tom Hanks and the writer of Greyhound are talking about a follow-up movie or series to Greyhound and both are on board and were approached.  It apparently got a huge bump with Masters of the Air, and it’s popped back up to the top of the movie charts, and Masters has been doing fantastic for Apple.

  

Yea, that long trailer they do at the end of every Masters episode has to be helping Greyhound find the audience that missed it when it came out. 

[Biff Tannen 46208]

On 2/24/2024 at 10:18 AM, atomheartbevo said:

On a side note, Tom Hanks and the writer of Greyhound are talking about a follow-up movie or series to Greyhound and both are on board and were approached.  It apparently got a huge bump with Masters of the Air, and it’s popped back up to the top of the movie charts, and Masters has been doing fantastic for Apple.

And this scene:

a whole lot of women and more than a few men were pleased with the Buck/Bucky reunion   

 

He apparently did say “what took you so long”

I applauded out loud in my living room.

[RPM 26682]

2 O'Clock!

Don't know what Hanks has up his sleeve, but I hope it's the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

Edited February 26 by RPM

[Js1 87306]

Holy shit that episode. Watched it on the plane and had to put my hood up bc it was emotional 

[BearSchlong 8253]

Me too. Almost lost it in front of my seatmate at the end.

The scene with the interrogator made me want to go down a different rabbit hole on how each Air Force knew so much about the other. Anyone know of any books?

[Pato del Muerto 53607]

1 hour ago, RPM said:

2 O'Clock!

Don't know what Hanks has up his sleeve, but I hope it's the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

Would consume voraciously 

[Js1 87306]

1 hour ago, BearSchlong said:

Me too. Almost lost it in front of my seatmate at the end.

Luckily everyone around me was asleep. Bc I cried. Fuck I love this show 

[BabaYaga 15632]

56 minutes ago, BearSchlong said:

Me too. Almost lost it in front of my seatmate at the end.

The scene with the interrogator made me want to go down a different rabbit hole on how each Air Force knew so much about the other. Anyone know of any books?

If you are into the intrigue & subterfuge of the war, check out "Bodyguard of Lies"

Everything we've seen has been part of a sequence of events in the war.  BOB was invasion and post-invasion.  Before the bombing campaigns went into full swing, there was the Battle of the Atlantic and the Kreigsmarine.  The point was not just to establish shipping lanes, but the elimination of the U-boat threat.  Enigma codebreakers and the US Ultra machines.  The sacrifice of boats knowing they could be saved so as not to tip off the Germans that they were on to them.  Insane choices that had to be made.

The prize of the campaigns was to neutralize the manufacturing capacity of Germany, but also the rail systems that would be used to support troops stationed in France to repel the invasions.  That means bombing in France as well.  That meant thousands of French citizens perished.  As the neutralization of the U-boat threat was an equal prize in the Atlantic, so too was the elimination of the Luftwaffe in Europe.  The German Air Intelligence Service (as seen in the episode) was vast and who's sole purpose was confounding Allied air attacks.  

They could have stopped Neptune if even at a fraction of their capacity and capabilities.  Had they had been able to conduct surveillance of Allied tactics, targets, and formations.....with their cryptoanalytics and wireless intelligence activities and their ability to blinding/jamming Allied radar and navigation systems....it could have been game over.

That's why the constant attacks had to be waged, knowing full well the losses that would come from them.  That's why deception was the Allied game plan.  Even with tens of thousands of planes attacking the Germans around the clock, they could have swept the Allies off the beaches had they known when/where.  

One part I hope they touch on were all the German spies in the UK rounded up.  With the codebreakers, they were able to find essentially all of them, turn them with the threat of death, and create their own army of double-agents feeding the Germans what they wanted them to know without tipping them off that their network had been compromised.  That meant certain raids were flying into German defenses who knew they were coming....and they sent them anyway.  

 

Anyway, long winded, but if you like this stuff, it's a MUST read.  

[mininghorn88 2338]

2 hours ago, BabaYaga said:

If you are into the intrigue & subterfuge of the war, check out "Bodyguard of Lies"

Everything we've seen has been part of a sequence of events in the war.  BOB was invasion and post-invasion.  Before the bombing campaigns went into full swing, there was the Battle of the Atlantic and the Kreigsmarine.  The point was not just to establish shipping lanes, but the elimination of the U-boat threat.  Enigma codebreakers and the US Ultra machines.  The sacrifice of boats knowing they could be saved so as not to tip off the Germans that they were on to them.  Insane choices that had to be made.

The prize of the campaigns was to neutralize the manufacturing capacity of Germany, but also the rail systems that would be used to support troops stationed in France to repel the invasions.  That means bombing in France as well.  That meant thousands of French citizens perished.  As the neutralization of the U-boat threat was an equal prize in the Atlantic, so too was the elimination of the Luftwaffe in Europe.  The German Air Intelligence Service (as seen in the episode) was vast and who's sole purpose was confounding Allied air attacks.  

They could have stopped Neptune if even at a fraction of their capacity and capabilities.  Had they had been able to conduct surveillance of Allied tactics, targets, and formations.....with their cryptoanalytics and wireless intelligence activities and their ability to blinding/jamming Allied radar and navigation systems....it could have been game over.

That's why the constant attacks had to be waged, knowing full well the losses that would come from them.  That's why deception was the Allied game plan.  Even with tens of thousands of planes attacking the Germans around the clock, they could have swept the Allies off the beaches had they known when/where.  

One part I hope they touch on were all the German spies in the UK rounded up.  With the codebreakers, they were able to find essentially all of them, turn them with the threat of death, and create their own army of double-agents feeding the Germans what they wanted them to know without tipping them off that their network had been compromised.  That meant certain raids were flying into German defenses who knew they were coming....and they sent them anyway.  

 

Anyway, long winded, but if you like this stuff, it's a MUST read.  

This. I read BOL in the early ‘90s. Still have the books. Most definitely a reread for me now that I have a broader knowledge of WW2.

[Pescado_Rojo 19593]

On 2/24/2024 at 10:18 AM, atomheartbevo said:

On a side note, Tom Hanks and the writer of Greyhound are talking about a follow-up movie or series to Greyhound and both are on board and were approached.  It apparently got a huge bump with Masters of the Air, and it’s popped back up to the top of the movie charts, and Masters has been doing fantastic for Apple.

And this scene:

a whole lot of women and more than a few men were pleased with the Buck/Bucky reunion   

 

He apparently did say “what took you so long”

So the date on screen in this scene is October 17th, 1943 so we're about 2 months from the first batch of Merlin powered P51 long range escorts showing up. Really looking forward to some kick ass CGI dogfighting. 

[HouTex 1943]

12 minutes ago, Pescado_Rojo said:

So the date on screen in this scene is October 17th, 1943 so we're about 2 months from the first batch of Merlin powered P51 long range escorts showing up. Really looking forward to some kick ass CGI dogfighting. 

This.  After fighter escorts could be employed all the way to the target, the casualty rates improved dramatically.  

[atomheartbevo 90689]

6 hours ago, BearSchlong said:

The scene with the interrogator made me want to go down a different rabbit hole on how each Air Force knew so much about the other. Anyone know of any books?

The guy behind the Reel History channel mentioned that a WWII USAAF vet he became friends with was interrogated when captured, and the German had info on his high school.  He (the American airman) was from Pennsylvania I think, and the FBI busted a major German spy ring there.  A bunch of this stuff the Germans had were from contemporary newspaper reports - if you check the 100th BG’s website, you can see the original articles from the war, and they contained a lot of this info (hometown, relatives, etc.).  Wouldn’t have been too hard if you had spies in various American cities reading the papers and assembling dossiers.   Pretty low risk as well, outside of transmitting the info however they did it.
 

The Luftwafe was different than most German military orgs - they mostly treated Allied flyers decently in the belief that their people would be treated decently. 

Edited February 26 by atomheartbevo

[atomheartbevo 90689]

11 hours ago, BearSchlong said:

The scene with the interrogator made me want to go down a different rabbit hole on how each Air Force knew so much about the other. Anyone know of any books?

This review by some military historians mentioned an interview one of them did with somebody from Corpus, where a German spy in the area used a radio to communicate with U-boats in the Gulf of Mexico to send information about American service members, etc. out to Germany.

 

[atomheartbevo 90689]

On 2/25/2024 at 2:41 AM, atomheartbevo said:

On a side note, Egan was on the run in Germany for several days, 

So last year, the Bloody 100th Foundation got Egan’s photo that was taken when he was processed as a POW, and he had definitely been roughed up at some point, and they posted it a few days ago:

“A photo we never had until 2023, and this is the first time we’ve posted it — Maj. John “Bucky” Egan’s original POW card. As you can see, he was indeed wearing an A-2 jacket when he was shot down instead of his signature sheep skin jacket. Egan was held at Stalag Luft III along with Gale “Buck” Cleven and many other members of the 100th Bomb Group. (Photo from the collection of John Egan)”

https://www.facebook.com/100thBGFoundation/posts/pfbid025VT6RWqxvKn68Q9HqJnpAcfgeW1pRyaBoXeB5MkkyXD4R154dfRGVVeejPhgAz3yl

 

Edited February 27 by atomheartbevo

[Pato del Muerto 53607]

Little excerpt from rosenthal’s wiki about the münster raid that I didn’t notice make it into the show, also probably because it is too fantastical:

 

Later the ground crews found an unexploded cannon shell in one of Royal Flush's wing tanks.

[BillyGoatHill 4421]

On 2/24/2024 at 7:02 PM, Ted Lange said:

Didn’t realize they ended up in the same camp as the Great Escape 

Yep. But the American prisoners were removed from the camp a few weeks prior to the Great Escape.

[atomheartbevo 90689]

On a Wing and a Prayer by Harry Crosby just dropped to $1.99 on Kindle.  It and some of the others are on Audible as well but his book seems to be the only one discounted for Kindle.  

Don’t confuse it with the Star Wars biography “On A-Wing and a Prayer by Arvel Crynyd“. 

If this were an Amazon series, they’d have all of the Masters of the Air print books deeply discounted, but you can still get some copies for cheap (used). 

Unfortunately, Kenny’s book (the crew chief) was a small print run in the 90s and has been out of print and so runs hundreds of dollars.  That’s the one I really want. 

[locodos 5593]

Opening talks about the POW process...  fuck Nazis

[RPM 26682]

Red Tails next ep. Someone accidentally uploaded Ep6 of The New Look but it had the video of MOTA and the audio of TNL. Only watched the first 30 seconds or so.

[Js1 87306]

7 hours ago, RPM said:

Red Tails next ep. Someone accidentally uploaded Ep6 of The New Look but it had the video of MOTA and the audio of TNL. Only watched the first 30 seconds or so.

Ha, literally watching Red Tails (2012) as we speak 

[BillyGoatHill 4421]

Episode 7 . Dusty at one point....

Spoiler

Watching Rosie and his crew buzz the tower 🇺🇸 👏

 

Edited March 1 by BillyGoatHill

[atomheartbevo 90689]

2 hours ago, BillyGoatHill said:

Episode 7 . Dusty at one point....

[atomheartbevo 90689]

Documentary about the show and the 100th coming out later this month.
 

Spoiled because spoilers

Spoiler

 

 

[Zepol87 9353]

Show is badass and even the gf is digging it and hates waiting a week for a new episode. Red tails look kickass

[RPM 26682]

On 2/28/2024 at 8:54 AM, RPM said:

Red Tails next ep. Someone accidentally uploaded Ep6 of The New Look but it had the video of MOTA and the audio of TNL. Only watched the first 30 seconds or so.

I guess the bit I saw is from next week.

[kevwun 16450]

9 hours ago, BillyGoatHill said:

Episode 7 . Dusty at one point....

  Hide contents

Watching Rosie and his crew buzz the tower 🇺🇸 👏

 

That guy has been on screen for like 20 minutes in the series and it was still amazing.

[BearSchlong 8253]

I really need to stop watching this show while flying. I'm starting to get a reputation for allergy attacks. Great series.

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34 minutes ago, kevwun said:

That guy has been on screen for like 20 minutes in the series and it was still amazing.

He has been great, and was amazing in real life and I’m glad he’s gotten some decent screen time

Spoiler

Re-upped and ultimately flew 52 combat missions, and then helped prosecute Herman Goring.

 

 

 

[kevwun 16450]

Did their old commanding officer who looked like Clark Gable get shot down in the same mission as Buck or did he get transferred?  Also, I wonder what the odds of a pilot surviving 52 missions were?

Edited March 1 by kevwun

[atomheartbevo 90689]

10 minutes ago, kevwun said:

Did their old commanding officer who looked like Clark Gable get shot down in the same mission as Buck or did he get transferred? 

https://100thbg.com/colonel-neil-b-chick-harding/
 

[kevwun 16450]

Wow, he refused to go to the doctors for gall stones and almost ended up dying from them.  Got bumped up to a staff position for the 3rd Air Force after he recovered.

[Firemans4Horn 18537]

Seemed a lot better to be flying bombing missions with hundreds of Mustangs zooming ahead to take on the Luftwaffe. 
 

Those were some cool scenes. 

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This was the teaser Apple released ahead of this week’s episode.

Talk about giving people a taste. 
 

 

[atomheartbevo 90689]

So the March 6th mission they showed (80 years ago this coming week), Ken Lemmons said the 8th sent 730 bombers and 800 fighters to Berlin (over 8,000 men), and out of the 36 bombers from Thorpe-Abbott, 15 were shot down.  So there were 2,000+ American and German aircraft over the Berlin area.

Quinn and Bailey were shown returning, and they were on the run/hiding out for over 4 months.  The day before the March 6th raid, Chuck Yeager was shot down over France. 

Lt. Col. Bennet was apparently a badass as a pilot and didn’t lose his cool even when shit went sideways.  They got hit over an IP on a mission and lost electrical power and he calmly worked with the backup electrical system and got it working and got the engines restarted even as the plane was in a dive.

Survival odds on major missions without fighters was 30%, but the P-51s bumped that up to 50%.

Loved The Great Escape shout-out.  The thing about Jewish airmen was true, but from another camp - they were going to separate the Jewish airmen and execute them, and the American commanding officer said that if they took one Jewish American off the base,  all of the men would riot, so the Germans backed down.

I wonder what Harry Crosby’s family is thinking about this episode.  He mentioned this stuff in his biography so they know he was cheating on his wife.  Crosby thought she was working in British intelligence (Bletchley Park?) because his phones calls to her were forwarded through multiple exchanges and the office she told him didn’t exist.

Edited March 2 by atomheartbevo