1 00:00:01,668 --> 00:00:03,670 [pensive music] 2 00:00:04,838 --> 00:00:07,799 - In 1942 and into 1943, 3 00:00:07,799 --> 00:00:09,927 hundreds of thousands of Americans 4 00:00:09,927 --> 00:00:12,638 descend on the east of England 5 00:00:12,638 --> 00:00:14,640 to live, fight, and maybe die 6 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:18,852 in the joint effort to defeat Nazi Germany from the air. 7 00:00:18,852 --> 00:00:22,814 Combat at 25,000 feet and 300 miles per hour 8 00:00:22,814 --> 00:00:24,650 has never been attempted before. 9 00:00:24,650 --> 00:00:27,569 The physical, mental, and emotional challenges 10 00:00:27,569 --> 00:00:28,654 will be unique. 11 00:00:29,571 --> 00:00:32,908 Victory in World War II will be largely determined 12 00:00:32,908 --> 00:00:35,911 by who controls the skies, 13 00:00:35,911 --> 00:00:39,289 the German Luftwaffe or the Allied air forces. 14 00:00:39,289 --> 00:00:41,750 [suspenseful music] 15 00:00:41,750 --> 00:00:43,293 - All wars changed the world, 16 00:00:43,293 --> 00:00:45,212 but none of them changed the world 17 00:00:45,212 --> 00:00:46,838 like the Second World War did. 18 00:00:47,464 --> 00:00:50,509 - Japan's on the march, Germany's on the march. 19 00:00:50,509 --> 00:00:52,094 [suspenseful music] 20 00:00:52,219 --> 00:00:55,597 No one can imagine the nightmare they're about to unleash, 21 00:00:55,597 --> 00:00:58,517 the most destructive war in human history. 22 00:00:58,517 --> 00:01:01,311 - Suddenly, the world is turned upside down 23 00:01:01,311 --> 00:01:03,105 and all hell is let loose. 24 00:01:04,940 --> 00:01:07,526 - The West is stunned by the speed of the advance. 25 00:01:07,526 --> 00:01:09,361 [dramatic music] 26 00:01:09,361 --> 00:01:12,573 - You get the Allies led by the big three: 27 00:01:12,573 --> 00:01:15,075 Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin, 28 00:01:15,075 --> 00:01:17,035 men who are dealing with 29 00:01:17,035 --> 00:01:20,330 immensely complicated questions. 30 00:01:20,330 --> 00:01:24,710 - It's the biggest military operation of human history. 31 00:01:24,710 --> 00:01:26,086 - The Allies have to come together, 32 00:01:26,086 --> 00:01:28,922 not just militarily, but industrial scale. 33 00:01:28,922 --> 00:01:31,008 It's a global perspective. 34 00:01:31,008 --> 00:01:32,843 - They have to fight in every climate, 35 00:01:32,843 --> 00:01:36,305 from the Arctic to the jungles of the Pacific, 36 00:01:36,305 --> 00:01:39,349 to the deserts of Africa, and the depths of the ocean. 37 00:01:39,349 --> 00:01:42,561 [dramatic music] 38 00:01:42,561 --> 00:01:45,605 - But there was no certainty of victory. 39 00:01:45,605 --> 00:01:49,026 It was going to be a horrific bloodbath. 40 00:01:49,026 --> 00:01:51,111 - We see humans at their absolute worst, 41 00:01:51,111 --> 00:01:53,447 how they treat other human beings. 42 00:01:53,447 --> 00:01:55,282 And we see them at their absolute best, 43 00:01:55,282 --> 00:01:57,909 willing to give their lives that others might live. 44 00:01:57,909 --> 00:01:59,911 - World War II was a struggle 45 00:01:59,911 --> 00:02:03,081 in which there could be one victor 46 00:02:03,081 --> 00:02:04,082 and one vanquished. 47 00:02:04,082 --> 00:02:06,960 [dramatic music] 48 00:02:08,627 --> 00:02:09,880 [explosion booming] 49 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:12,674 [siren blaring] 50 00:02:21,558 --> 00:02:24,645 [suspenseful music] 51 00:02:25,854 --> 00:02:29,232 - [Tom] 1942, the Third Reich 52 00:02:29,232 --> 00:02:32,027 is building elaborate coastal defenses in Europe. 53 00:02:33,987 --> 00:02:37,199 As they continue to battle the Soviets in the East, 54 00:02:37,199 --> 00:02:39,868 the Germans know that it's only a matter of time 55 00:02:39,868 --> 00:02:42,704 before Britain and America attack from the west. 56 00:02:44,456 --> 00:02:48,126 From the English channel to the plains of Russia, 57 00:02:48,126 --> 00:02:50,921 Germany controls most of Europe. 58 00:02:52,255 --> 00:02:53,674 [dramatic music] 59 00:02:53,674 --> 00:02:54,966 - Hitler has turned Europe 60 00:02:54,966 --> 00:02:58,303 into an apparently impregnable fortress. 61 00:03:00,013 --> 00:03:01,765 But as people said at the time, 62 00:03:01,765 --> 00:03:04,309 yes, but he forgot to put a roof over it. 63 00:03:04,309 --> 00:03:07,521 And the Allied bombers are going to take advantage of that. 64 00:03:07,521 --> 00:03:09,106 [pensive music] 65 00:03:09,106 --> 00:03:10,774 - [Tom] In the First World War, 66 00:03:10,774 --> 00:03:14,361 both sides bombed each other to little effect. 67 00:03:16,738 --> 00:03:20,909 But as aviation evolves, a new concept of warfare 68 00:03:20,909 --> 00:03:25,914 develops in the 1920s and '30s, strategic bombing. 69 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:29,793 Its proponents are a group of officers 70 00:03:29,793 --> 00:03:32,671 from the US Air Corps Tactical School. 71 00:03:32,671 --> 00:03:36,466 They come to be known as the Bomber Barons. 72 00:03:36,466 --> 00:03:37,843 - [Robert] The theory is 73 00:03:37,843 --> 00:03:41,430 we'll use this novel weapon in a novel way, 74 00:03:41,430 --> 00:03:44,474 not to attack the enemy's armies, 75 00:03:44,474 --> 00:03:46,435 to attack the enemy's homeland, 76 00:03:47,185 --> 00:03:48,562 his factories, 77 00:03:48,562 --> 00:03:49,855 his infrastructure, 78 00:03:49,855 --> 00:03:52,315 destroying his economy, 79 00:03:52,315 --> 00:03:54,818 and thus making it impossible for the enemy 80 00:03:54,818 --> 00:03:56,361 to make war. 81 00:03:57,654 --> 00:03:59,030 These air power advocates 82 00:03:59,030 --> 00:04:01,575 say this is a better way to fight war. 83 00:04:01,575 --> 00:04:06,121 No need for that horrible trench deadlock from World War I. 84 00:04:06,121 --> 00:04:07,330 That's the old way. 85 00:04:08,290 --> 00:04:10,375 The new way is strategic bombing. 86 00:04:10,375 --> 00:04:13,086 [pensive music] 87 00:04:15,005 --> 00:04:18,800 - East Anglia is the England of little churches, 88 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:23,555 hedges, fields, medieval buildings, 89 00:04:23,555 --> 00:04:27,142 and it's turned into one gigantic 90 00:04:29,227 --> 00:04:30,353 aircraft carrier. 91 00:04:32,022 --> 00:04:34,483 - [Tom] In the spring of 1942, 92 00:04:34,483 --> 00:04:37,402 the US Eighth Air Force begins construction 93 00:04:37,402 --> 00:04:40,113 on dozens of air bases, 94 00:04:40,113 --> 00:04:43,074 transforming a quiet corner of East England 95 00:04:43,074 --> 00:04:44,785 into one of the most vital fronts 96 00:04:44,785 --> 00:04:47,120 of the entire Second World War. 97 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:48,955 [dramatic music] 98 00:04:48,955 --> 00:04:52,083 - [Dan S.] It's flat, it's perfect for airfields. 99 00:04:52,083 --> 00:04:54,669 [propeller whirring] [dramatic music] 100 00:04:54,669 --> 00:04:58,965 So you get this massive, massive influx of American bombers 101 00:05:00,008 --> 00:05:03,678 carrying the most destructive weapons ever produced, 102 00:05:03,678 --> 00:05:07,349 and just as strikingly, young American airmen. 103 00:05:07,349 --> 00:05:09,643 [suspenseful music] 104 00:05:09,643 --> 00:05:12,604 - They all had grown up dreaming of flying above the clouds 105 00:05:12,604 --> 00:05:15,065 at over 300 miles per hour, 106 00:05:16,274 --> 00:05:18,026 something their parents and grandparents 107 00:05:18,026 --> 00:05:19,653 could never imagine. 108 00:05:19,653 --> 00:05:22,864 And all of a sudden, here's this opportunity. 109 00:05:22,864 --> 00:05:26,368 - The English used to complain, they're oversexed, 110 00:05:26,368 --> 00:05:29,246 they're overpaid, and they're over here. 111 00:05:32,249 --> 00:05:33,041 [dramatic music] 112 00:05:33,041 --> 00:05:35,502 [plane engine rumbling] 113 00:05:35,502 --> 00:05:36,962 - [Tom] The Royal Air Force 114 00:05:36,962 --> 00:05:40,257 has been striking the German homeland for two years. 115 00:05:40,257 --> 00:05:43,635 - Take off, off you go, off you go, over. 116 00:05:44,052 --> 00:05:46,513 [bomber rumbling] 117 00:05:46,513 --> 00:05:48,139 - [Tom] Prime Minister Winston Churchill 118 00:05:48,139 --> 00:05:51,935 understands how important such raids are for British morale. 119 00:05:54,437 --> 00:05:56,815 But the RAF pays a grievous cost. 120 00:05:58,149 --> 00:05:59,609 - In these early months of the war, 121 00:05:59,776 --> 00:06:02,487 there were raids with hardly any aircraft coming back. 122 00:06:03,405 --> 00:06:05,490 - And the most important lesson they took away from it 123 00:06:05,490 --> 00:06:07,534 is that daytime bombing 124 00:06:07,534 --> 00:06:09,494 was a very hazardous thing to undertake. 125 00:06:09,494 --> 00:06:12,289 [pensive music] 126 00:06:15,083 --> 00:06:17,961 [suspenseful music] 127 00:06:17,961 --> 00:06:20,088 - [Dan S.] Arthur Harris is the man put in charge 128 00:06:20,088 --> 00:06:21,965 of Britain's Bomber Command. 129 00:06:21,965 --> 00:06:24,968 And it's his idea to switch to night bombing, 130 00:06:24,968 --> 00:06:29,681 to use night as a cloak to protect these bomber forces 131 00:06:29,681 --> 00:06:31,766 so that they can drop their bombs 132 00:06:31,766 --> 00:06:33,727 and they have a better chance of making it home. 133 00:06:33,727 --> 00:06:35,395 [explosions banging] 134 00:06:35,395 --> 00:06:38,023 - [Robert] So what they're doing is merely area bombing. 135 00:06:38,648 --> 00:06:42,110 They're flying over German cities at night 136 00:06:42,110 --> 00:06:44,112 and letting loose their bomb loads. 137 00:06:45,196 --> 00:06:48,450 And that means civilian casualties. 138 00:06:48,450 --> 00:06:50,493 [dramatic music] 139 00:06:50,493 --> 00:06:51,995 - [Dan S.] There's a lot of retribution 140 00:06:51,995 --> 00:06:53,872 in this British strategy. 141 00:06:53,872 --> 00:06:57,125 The Blitz had smashed British cities and factories 142 00:06:57,125 --> 00:07:00,003 in the winter of 1940-41. 143 00:07:00,003 --> 00:07:04,174 And the Brits plan to smash German society so badly 144 00:07:04,174 --> 00:07:05,925 that it knocks them out of the war. 145 00:07:06,801 --> 00:07:08,178 - They sowed the wind, 146 00:07:08,178 --> 00:07:11,598 and now they are going to reap the whirlwind. 147 00:07:11,598 --> 00:07:14,351 [pensive music] 148 00:07:18,688 --> 00:07:22,067 - [Tom] Meeting in Casablanca, President Roosevelt, 149 00:07:22,067 --> 00:07:24,611 Prime Minister Churchill, and their staffs 150 00:07:24,611 --> 00:07:27,656 strategize how to continue the Allied assault 151 00:07:27,656 --> 00:07:28,907 on the Third Reich. 152 00:07:31,493 --> 00:07:32,285 - [Robert] One of the major outcomes 153 00:07:32,285 --> 00:07:33,828 of the Casablanca Conference 154 00:07:33,828 --> 00:07:36,373 is the Allies declared unconditional surrender 155 00:07:36,373 --> 00:07:38,166 as their war aim. 156 00:07:38,166 --> 00:07:41,252 But something else happens at Casablanca as well, 157 00:07:42,671 --> 00:07:44,089 an argument on air strategy 158 00:07:44,089 --> 00:07:46,132 between the British and Americans. 159 00:07:46,132 --> 00:07:47,884 [suspenseful music] 160 00:07:47,884 --> 00:07:49,886 - [Tom] The US Army Air Force, 161 00:07:49,886 --> 00:07:53,765 particularly its commander, General Henry Hap Arnold, 162 00:07:53,765 --> 00:07:56,518 insists that daylight precision bombing 163 00:07:56,518 --> 00:08:00,105 on critical wartime industries will be more effective. 164 00:08:02,148 --> 00:08:04,401 - [Robert] And as so often in World War II, 165 00:08:04,401 --> 00:08:08,321 American expectations come up against British experience. 166 00:08:09,531 --> 00:08:13,201 - Churchill is gonna go to FDR and tell him that, 167 00:08:13,201 --> 00:08:16,913 "Look, your daylight precision stuff, it's not gonna work. 168 00:08:16,913 --> 00:08:18,832 We tried it, it didn't work. 169 00:08:18,832 --> 00:08:21,960 That's why we are doing bombing operations at night. 170 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:23,795 And that is the way forward." 171 00:08:24,671 --> 00:08:26,673 Well, Hap Arnold gets wind of this. 172 00:08:26,673 --> 00:08:28,883 [dramatic music] 173 00:08:28,883 --> 00:08:32,554 - Arnold's a pioneer in aviation, 174 00:08:32,554 --> 00:08:33,972 taught by the Wright brothers how to fly, 175 00:08:33,972 --> 00:08:36,515 and he is a believer in strategic air power. 176 00:08:36,515 --> 00:08:37,976 And when the British say, 177 00:08:38,143 --> 00:08:40,477 "Hey, you guys should bomb at night just like we do," 178 00:08:40,477 --> 00:08:44,399 he says, "No, no, air power could be used in a better way." 179 00:08:44,399 --> 00:08:47,944 - [Tom] The American plan rests on a cutting-edge device, 180 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:51,281 the Norden bombsight. 181 00:08:51,281 --> 00:08:52,615 [pensive music] 182 00:08:52,615 --> 00:08:56,202 - The Norden bombsight is an analog computer. 183 00:08:57,954 --> 00:09:02,375 You punch in various data: wind speed, altitude, 184 00:09:02,375 --> 00:09:04,919 wind direction, air pressure, 185 00:09:04,919 --> 00:09:06,921 and it correlates all those things together 186 00:09:06,921 --> 00:09:09,674 and tells you exactly when to drop the bomb. 187 00:09:11,009 --> 00:09:12,927 According to the advertising slogans, 188 00:09:12,927 --> 00:09:17,599 it can drop a bomb in a pickle barrel at 18,000 feet. 189 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:21,186 - [Tom] Americans claimed the Norden bombsight, 190 00:09:21,186 --> 00:09:24,481 which requires daylight and clear weather, 191 00:09:24,481 --> 00:09:26,483 promises greater precision 192 00:09:26,483 --> 00:09:29,402 and therefore fewer civilian casualties. 193 00:09:30,570 --> 00:09:34,115 - [A.J.] So Henry Arnold and his advisors come up with this plan, 194 00:09:34,115 --> 00:09:35,950 the Combined Bomber Offensive, 195 00:09:35,950 --> 00:09:37,911 which means the British bombing at night 196 00:09:37,911 --> 00:09:40,246 and the Americans bombing precision targets 197 00:09:40,246 --> 00:09:41,831 during the day. 198 00:09:42,832 --> 00:09:43,917 - [Col. Douds] The Americans are gonna sell it 199 00:09:43,917 --> 00:09:46,002 as this round the clock bombing. 200 00:09:47,170 --> 00:09:48,963 And this utterly appeals to Churchill, 201 00:09:48,963 --> 00:09:52,383 with the idea that his adversary will never catch a break. 202 00:09:52,383 --> 00:09:56,262 [dramatic music] [plane rumbling] 203 00:09:56,262 --> 00:09:59,641 - [Tom] Attacking an enemy from 25,000 feet 204 00:09:59,641 --> 00:10:01,643 presents unique challenges. 205 00:10:01,643 --> 00:10:03,311 [bomber rumbling] 206 00:10:03,311 --> 00:10:06,606 Temperatures dip below -50 degrees Fahrenheit. 207 00:10:07,607 --> 00:10:09,442 If an airman's supply of oxygen 208 00:10:09,442 --> 00:10:11,528 is cut off for more than 60 seconds, 209 00:10:12,987 --> 00:10:14,531 he will die. 210 00:10:14,531 --> 00:10:17,200 [suspenseful music] 211 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:19,452 - [Robert] You look out the window as a crewman on a B-17 212 00:10:19,452 --> 00:10:21,287 and you begin to see black puffs. 213 00:10:21,287 --> 00:10:25,208 [suspenseful music] 214 00:10:25,208 --> 00:10:27,085 And they might not look too dangerous. 215 00:10:28,169 --> 00:10:29,462 [explosion banging] 216 00:10:29,462 --> 00:10:31,673 Until one actually makes contact. 217 00:10:32,924 --> 00:10:34,843 - [Martin] The most infamous German weapon of them all 218 00:10:34,843 --> 00:10:37,762 was the Flak 88 millimeter gun. 219 00:10:37,762 --> 00:10:39,722 [anti-aircraft gun firing] 220 00:10:39,722 --> 00:10:44,269 It's capable of sending 29-pound explosive projectiles 221 00:10:45,562 --> 00:10:48,273 to altitudes approaching 30,000 feet. 222 00:10:48,273 --> 00:10:49,357 [suspenseful music] 223 00:10:49,357 --> 00:10:52,402 [anti-aircraft gun firing] 224 00:10:52,402 --> 00:10:53,570 - [Col. Douds] The dilemma with flak is 225 00:10:53,570 --> 00:10:55,363 you can't maneuver to avoid it, 226 00:10:56,281 --> 00:11:00,493 so the best you can do is sit tight and grit your teeth. 227 00:11:00,493 --> 00:11:03,705 [suspenseful music] 228 00:11:06,875 --> 00:11:09,919 - Once the flak stops, there's silence. 229 00:11:11,171 --> 00:11:14,841 It's a deathly silence because they know what's coming. 230 00:11:15,967 --> 00:11:17,760 - [Pilot] There's four of 'em, one o'clock high. 231 00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:18,636 - [Gunner] They're coming around. 232 00:11:18,636 --> 00:11:20,180 [suspenseful music] 233 00:11:20,388 --> 00:11:23,933 - [John] German fighter pilots are seasoned combat veterans. 234 00:11:23,933 --> 00:11:27,562 Many of them have hundreds of kills 235 00:11:27,562 --> 00:11:31,107 'cause they've been engaged in this war since 1939. 236 00:11:31,107 --> 00:11:32,525 - [Col. Douds] The best way to kill a German fighter 237 00:11:32,525 --> 00:11:35,945 is to send Allied fighters to shoot them down. 238 00:11:35,945 --> 00:11:38,740 But when the United States starts to bomb Germany proper, 239 00:11:38,740 --> 00:11:40,366 their fighters don't have the range 240 00:11:40,366 --> 00:11:43,995 to be able to escort bombers all the way to a target. 241 00:11:43,995 --> 00:11:45,455 [suspenseful music] 242 00:11:45,622 --> 00:11:48,791 - [Robert] So the B-17 is bristling with machine guns 243 00:11:48,791 --> 00:11:50,210 around the fuselage of the aircraft. 244 00:11:50,210 --> 00:11:51,878 [bomber rumbling] 245 00:11:51,878 --> 00:11:53,838 - [Pilot] Three planes, nine o'clock, coming around. 246 00:11:53,838 --> 00:11:55,882 [machine gun firing] [suspenseful music] 247 00:11:55,882 --> 00:11:57,759 - [Pilot] Too fast, six o'clock up, coming in. 248 00:11:57,759 --> 00:11:58,927 [machine gun firing] 249 00:11:59,093 --> 00:12:01,429 - [John] It really is a flying fortress. 250 00:12:01,429 --> 00:12:03,014 [machine gun firing] 251 00:12:03,014 --> 00:12:07,018 - [A.J.] Bomber crews were these interdependent societies 252 00:12:07,018 --> 00:12:09,229 in which every person was dependent 253 00:12:09,229 --> 00:12:10,647 upon the person sitting next to 'em 254 00:12:10,647 --> 00:12:12,440 and the person sitting behind them. 255 00:12:14,567 --> 00:12:16,277 - [Pilot] Breaking 11, breaking 11. 256 00:12:16,277 --> 00:12:17,445 - [Gunner] I got him. 257 00:12:17,445 --> 00:12:22,200 [machine gun firing] [suspenseful music] 258 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:25,370 - [Pilot] B-17 out of control at three o'clock. 259 00:12:25,370 --> 00:12:28,164 C'mon, you guys, get out that plane, bail out. 260 00:12:28,164 --> 00:12:30,250 Come on, get out of there. 261 00:12:30,250 --> 00:12:33,795 [suspenseful music] [bombers rumbling] 262 00:12:33,795 --> 00:12:36,839 - [John] A few miles from the actual target, 263 00:12:36,839 --> 00:12:39,175 the bomber will start what's called the bomb run. 264 00:12:42,178 --> 00:12:44,389 It's all done visually. 265 00:12:44,389 --> 00:12:46,683 You have to hold altitude, hold air speed, 266 00:12:46,683 --> 00:12:48,893 and hold heading so the bombardier can dial in 267 00:12:48,893 --> 00:12:50,728 on the Norden bombsight. 268 00:12:50,728 --> 00:12:52,647 'Cause if you don't hit the target, 269 00:12:52,647 --> 00:12:53,773 you gotta come back again. 270 00:12:53,773 --> 00:12:54,565 [machine gun firing] 271 00:12:54,565 --> 00:12:55,525 [fighter planes roaring] 272 00:12:55,525 --> 00:12:56,734 [machine gun firing] 273 00:12:56,859 --> 00:12:57,652 - [Robert] War sometimes breaks down to 274 00:12:57,652 --> 00:12:59,487 individual moments of terror. 275 00:12:59,487 --> 00:13:00,613 [suspenseful music] [fighter plane roaring] 276 00:13:00,613 --> 00:13:01,864 [machine gun firing] 277 00:13:01,864 --> 00:13:03,116 You're watching other planes 278 00:13:03,116 --> 00:13:05,576 being literally blown out of the sky. 279 00:13:07,245 --> 00:13:10,123 And you have to drop the bombs with precision 280 00:13:13,251 --> 00:13:16,754 and then make it out again on the way home. 281 00:13:16,754 --> 00:13:19,841 - [Bombardier] Bombs away! 282 00:13:19,841 --> 00:13:21,843 [bombs whistling] 283 00:13:21,843 --> 00:13:25,930 [explosions booming] [bombers rumbling] 284 00:13:25,930 --> 00:13:28,683 [pensive music] 285 00:13:28,683 --> 00:13:30,518 - [Tom] In combat conditions, 286 00:13:30,518 --> 00:13:32,729 the accuracy of the Norden bombsight 287 00:13:32,729 --> 00:13:36,274 is not as precise as the Air Force predicted. 288 00:13:37,608 --> 00:13:41,070 The casualties are greater than they feared. 289 00:13:41,070 --> 00:13:44,282 [pensive music] 290 00:13:44,282 --> 00:13:46,409 [plane rumbling] 291 00:13:46,409 --> 00:13:49,787 - These missions would come back with 10, 20% losses. 292 00:13:52,165 --> 00:13:54,792 And of course the pilots are highly trained, 293 00:13:54,792 --> 00:13:57,837 highly technical people that are very difficult to replace. 294 00:13:57,837 --> 00:14:00,548 [dramatic music] 295 00:14:02,884 --> 00:14:05,386 - [Dan S.] No one in history has ever tried strategic bombing 296 00:14:05,386 --> 00:14:06,721 on this scale before. 297 00:14:08,723 --> 00:14:11,225 As generals, and strategists, and air marshals 298 00:14:11,225 --> 00:14:13,269 are working out the future of air war, 299 00:14:14,228 --> 00:14:15,521 these man are guinea pigs. 300 00:14:15,521 --> 00:14:17,482 [dramatic music] 301 00:14:20,568 --> 00:14:23,654 [suspenseful music] 302 00:14:24,322 --> 00:14:25,740 - [Tom] Mission by mission, 303 00:14:25,740 --> 00:14:29,035 the Eighth Air Force slowly develops the methods 304 00:14:29,035 --> 00:14:31,746 needed to damage their intended targets. 305 00:14:32,955 --> 00:14:35,333 But Adolf Hitler's attention remains fixed 306 00:14:35,333 --> 00:14:37,210 on his battle with the Soviets. 307 00:14:38,294 --> 00:14:42,715 - [Martin] He had seen the German losses back in 1940 308 00:14:42,715 --> 00:14:45,051 when the Luftwaffe was attacking England. 309 00:14:46,803 --> 00:14:49,764 And to him it looked like strategic air power 310 00:14:49,764 --> 00:14:52,642 doesn't win wars, ground forces win wars. 311 00:14:53,434 --> 00:14:56,104 So Hitler's viewpoint about an air force 312 00:14:56,104 --> 00:15:00,608 is that it exists to support the ground troops. 313 00:15:00,608 --> 00:15:02,735 [pensive music] 314 00:15:02,735 --> 00:15:04,695 - [Tom] With the loss at Stalingrad, 315 00:15:04,695 --> 00:15:08,324 including the capture of his entire 6th Army, 316 00:15:08,324 --> 00:15:11,035 Hitler is focused on the Eastern Front. 317 00:15:13,162 --> 00:15:14,497 But the Allied raids 318 00:15:14,664 --> 00:15:17,917 do alarm Luftwaffe air marshal Hermann Göring. 319 00:15:17,917 --> 00:15:20,253 [pensive music] 320 00:15:20,253 --> 00:15:21,963 - [Robert] Göring is hearing from his local 321 00:15:21,963 --> 00:15:23,589 and regional Luftwaffe commanders 322 00:15:23,589 --> 00:15:25,883 that they really need more fighter aircraft. 323 00:15:27,009 --> 00:15:29,137 But in a sense, Göring's trapped. 324 00:15:29,137 --> 00:15:32,265 If he detaches air power from the Eastern Front, 325 00:15:32,265 --> 00:15:34,559 a situation that is already critical 326 00:15:34,559 --> 00:15:36,727 is soon going to turn mortal. 327 00:15:36,727 --> 00:15:39,689 [dramatic music] 328 00:15:40,857 --> 00:15:43,568 - [John] The Germans now are gonna streamline procedures 329 00:15:45,153 --> 00:15:47,363 and make things more efficient. 330 00:15:47,363 --> 00:15:51,159 They start producing more aircraft, more armaments 331 00:15:52,493 --> 00:15:54,912 in the middle of the Combined Bomber Offensive. 332 00:15:57,123 --> 00:16:01,377 So from 1943 on, there's an exponential increase 333 00:16:01,377 --> 00:16:03,129 in German industrial output. 334 00:16:04,922 --> 00:16:07,967 - [Robert] With German fighter production on the upswing, 335 00:16:07,967 --> 00:16:10,887 the Allied government is becoming increasingly concerned 336 00:16:10,887 --> 00:16:12,722 and they're getting a little tired 337 00:16:12,722 --> 00:16:14,724 of hearing their airmen say, 338 00:16:14,724 --> 00:16:16,642 "We can bring Germany to its knees," 339 00:16:16,642 --> 00:16:19,312 when they don't see any evidence that that's true. 340 00:16:19,312 --> 00:16:22,190 [dramatic music] 341 00:16:26,402 --> 00:16:28,487 - [Tom] In May, Churchill and Roosevelt meet 342 00:16:28,487 --> 00:16:31,657 to finalize plans in the Mediterranean. 343 00:16:31,657 --> 00:16:33,242 They also commit to a 344 00:16:33,242 --> 00:16:36,162 cross-channel invasion of France. 345 00:16:36,370 --> 00:16:38,414 - [Robert] Since America came into the war, 346 00:16:38,414 --> 00:16:40,082 they've had a strategy 347 00:16:40,082 --> 00:16:44,253 to land a gigantic force somewhere in Northwestern France 348 00:16:44,253 --> 00:16:47,548 and then driving straight into the heart of Germany. 349 00:16:49,050 --> 00:16:51,719 - [Tom] Code named Operation Overlord, 350 00:16:51,719 --> 00:16:54,305 the attack is scheduled for spring of the next year. 351 00:16:55,473 --> 00:16:58,851 Achieving air supremacy over occupied Europe 352 00:16:58,851 --> 00:17:01,520 is crucial to the success of the invasion. 353 00:17:02,813 --> 00:17:04,482 - [Col. Douds] At this point, 354 00:17:04,482 --> 00:17:06,400 everybody recognizes amphibious operations can't happen 355 00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:09,319 unless you control the seas and have control of the air. 356 00:17:09,319 --> 00:17:11,239 - So the top commanders all agree 357 00:17:11,239 --> 00:17:15,242 that the number one priority is destroying the Luftwaffe. 358 00:17:15,242 --> 00:17:18,287 - [Dan S.] And that means the bomber force is given the job 359 00:17:18,287 --> 00:17:20,705 of smashing the infrastructure 360 00:17:20,705 --> 00:17:22,959 of the Luftwaffe on the ground, 361 00:17:24,001 --> 00:17:25,795 so that when the Allies land on D-Day 362 00:17:25,795 --> 00:17:27,672 and in the ground fighting that follows, 363 00:17:27,672 --> 00:17:29,882 there'll be no German aircraft interfering. 364 00:17:29,882 --> 00:17:32,885 [suspenseful music] 365 00:17:34,512 --> 00:17:37,431 - [Tom] The RAF and Eighth Air Force join efforts 366 00:17:37,431 --> 00:17:40,393 for what they term Blitz Week, 367 00:17:40,393 --> 00:17:43,312 attacks on various cities across Germany. 368 00:17:47,233 --> 00:17:50,528 Their first joint target is a busy port with dockyards, 369 00:17:50,528 --> 00:17:53,406 submarine pens, and manufacturing. 370 00:17:56,492 --> 00:18:00,037 It's also a home to over a million people. 371 00:18:00,037 --> 00:18:02,456 [suspenseful music] 372 00:18:02,456 --> 00:18:06,043 - [Dan S.] Hamburg is a real center of aircraft production. 373 00:18:06,043 --> 00:18:07,628 So for the Americans, 374 00:18:07,628 --> 00:18:10,131 there's lots of specific military industrial targets 375 00:18:10,131 --> 00:18:11,007 they can attack. 376 00:18:12,508 --> 00:18:14,218 But the Brits look at the types of housing there 377 00:18:14,218 --> 00:18:16,679 and they think they're very vulnerable to fire. 378 00:18:17,805 --> 00:18:21,475 So they're going to burn neighborhoods. 379 00:18:21,475 --> 00:18:23,728 They're gonna de-house German people. 380 00:18:25,229 --> 00:18:27,440 And that means workers are gonna be killed, 381 00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:29,775 factories will grind to a halt, 382 00:18:29,775 --> 00:18:31,569 supply chains will break down 383 00:18:34,238 --> 00:18:37,116 - [Tom] It's codenamed Operation Gomorrah, 384 00:18:37,116 --> 00:18:38,451 after the Old Testament city 385 00:18:38,451 --> 00:18:41,203 that was destroyed by fire from above. 386 00:18:43,247 --> 00:18:45,082 - [Col. Douds] This is gonna be eight days and seven nights 387 00:18:45,082 --> 00:18:47,335 of pounding the city of Hamburg. 388 00:18:48,210 --> 00:18:50,254 - [Robert] It's very carefully planned. 389 00:18:50,254 --> 00:18:53,132 First, there are high explosives to blow out windows, 390 00:18:53,132 --> 00:18:55,593 to blow out roofs, to knock down buildings. 391 00:18:55,593 --> 00:18:57,428 - And they'll drop incendiaries, smaller bombs, 392 00:18:57,428 --> 00:18:59,847 that just burn like firecrackers. 393 00:18:59,847 --> 00:19:01,474 And with these roof tiles gone, 394 00:19:01,474 --> 00:19:03,643 the wooden structure of the roofs is exposed, 395 00:19:03,643 --> 00:19:05,728 and these little incendiaries will land in those roofs 396 00:19:05,728 --> 00:19:07,271 and just set fires. 397 00:19:08,606 --> 00:19:09,774 - [Robert] The British want revenge on Hamburg 398 00:19:09,774 --> 00:19:11,317 for the Blitz. 399 00:19:11,317 --> 00:19:12,693 The Americans have been singing 400 00:19:12,693 --> 00:19:15,905 the strategic bombing song for years, 401 00:19:15,905 --> 00:19:18,532 and now they can show the destructive nature 402 00:19:18,532 --> 00:19:21,869 of the Combined Bomber Offensive 403 00:19:21,869 --> 00:19:24,205 to wipe a city off the map. 404 00:19:27,625 --> 00:19:30,169 [pensive music] 405 00:19:31,754 --> 00:19:35,257 - [Tom] In the summer of 1943, 406 00:19:35,257 --> 00:19:38,969 Allied air forces launched Blitz Week, 407 00:19:38,969 --> 00:19:41,681 the largest series of raids on Germany to date. 408 00:19:42,807 --> 00:19:44,225 - [Robert] The British and American air forces 409 00:19:44,225 --> 00:19:46,352 have supposedly been working together, 410 00:19:46,352 --> 00:19:48,979 the British bombing by night, the US by day. 411 00:19:48,979 --> 00:19:52,525 But they haven't been bombing the same target cities. 412 00:19:52,525 --> 00:19:55,444 That changes in the summer of 1943. 413 00:19:55,444 --> 00:19:56,904 [suspenseful music] 414 00:19:56,904 --> 00:19:58,948 - [Tom] The Allies' first joint target 415 00:19:58,948 --> 00:20:00,241 is the city of Hamburg. 416 00:20:02,910 --> 00:20:06,080 On the night of July 24th, the raids begin. 417 00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:08,791 [suspenseful music] 418 00:20:08,791 --> 00:20:12,044 The RAF drops incendiary bombs. 419 00:20:12,044 --> 00:20:13,796 [explosions banging] 420 00:20:13,796 --> 00:20:15,631 But in the following days, 421 00:20:15,631 --> 00:20:19,760 American B-17s are unable to hit their targets. 422 00:20:20,845 --> 00:20:23,806 [dreary music] 423 00:20:23,806 --> 00:20:25,474 - [Robert] The Americans intended to bomb 424 00:20:25,474 --> 00:20:27,393 aircraft factories, 425 00:20:27,393 --> 00:20:31,105 but the use of incendiaries created so much smoke 426 00:20:31,105 --> 00:20:33,649 that the Norden bombsights were essentially blinded. 427 00:20:35,317 --> 00:20:37,236 - [Col. Douds] They can't actually see their targets. 428 00:20:37,695 --> 00:20:40,531 So they're almost reduced to doing area bombing, 429 00:20:40,531 --> 00:20:41,907 not unlike the British. 430 00:20:41,907 --> 00:20:43,492 [bomber roaring] 431 00:20:43,701 --> 00:20:47,955 - [Tom] On July 27th, a heat wave sends temperatures soaring 432 00:20:47,955 --> 00:20:52,042 as the RAF returns for a fourth night of strikes. 433 00:20:52,042 --> 00:20:54,920 [suspenseful music] 434 00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:56,172 - [John] It's very hot, 435 00:20:56,297 --> 00:20:58,841 it's very dry, and the meteorological conditions 436 00:20:58,841 --> 00:21:01,010 are ripe for firestorm. 437 00:21:01,010 --> 00:21:04,054 [fire blaring] 438 00:21:04,054 --> 00:21:06,640 This time the fires burn so hot 439 00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:10,394 the oxygen that these fires demand causes a windstorm. 440 00:21:12,480 --> 00:21:15,441 - Winds are over 150 miles an hour. 441 00:21:16,442 --> 00:21:19,403 - [Dan S.] The firestorm works a little bit like a blast furnace. 442 00:21:19,403 --> 00:21:21,155 It's a localized weather system 443 00:21:21,155 --> 00:21:22,907 that will see that fire spread 444 00:21:22,907 --> 00:21:24,283 at the speed of a galloping horse. 445 00:21:24,283 --> 00:21:27,244 [suspenseful music] 446 00:21:27,244 --> 00:21:30,122 - [Robert] A gigantic updraft results 447 00:21:30,122 --> 00:21:33,250 that robs people cowering in their shelters of oxygen 448 00:21:33,250 --> 00:21:36,003 and leads to death by asphyxiation. 449 00:21:36,003 --> 00:21:38,881 [suspenseful music] 450 00:21:40,758 --> 00:21:44,345 - [Dr. Grant] Temperatures go up to a thousand degrees Celsius. 451 00:21:44,345 --> 00:21:46,347 [fire blaring] 452 00:21:46,347 --> 00:21:48,766 It's the most devastating firestorm 453 00:21:48,766 --> 00:21:50,434 that's ever been created. 454 00:21:52,561 --> 00:21:56,690 - [Dan C.] Stories are of people trying to run out of shelters 455 00:21:56,690 --> 00:21:59,193 with children near them, burning, 456 00:21:59,193 --> 00:22:01,946 with their hands and feet stuck in melting asphalt, 457 00:22:01,946 --> 00:22:04,824 with the buildings falling down on top of them. 458 00:22:08,369 --> 00:22:12,081 - [Dan S.] The city of Hamburg 459 00:22:12,081 --> 00:22:13,374 is devastated. 460 00:22:16,043 --> 00:22:18,838 [pensive music] 461 00:22:18,838 --> 00:22:22,842 - [Tom] Operation Gomorrah kills over 40,000 civilians. 462 00:22:26,053 --> 00:22:29,473 Almost 2/3 of the city's houses are burned to the ground, 463 00:22:31,892 --> 00:22:34,395 leaving a million residents homeless. 464 00:22:43,070 --> 00:22:44,572 - [Dan S.] Churchill is worried about 465 00:22:44,572 --> 00:22:46,282 the human cost of what they're doing. 466 00:22:47,533 --> 00:22:50,244 He's worried about how history will look at it. 467 00:22:50,244 --> 00:22:51,996 - [Dan C.] And there's a line from Churchill supposedly, 468 00:22:51,996 --> 00:22:54,290 where he looks at some of the movies of Hamburg, 469 00:22:55,249 --> 00:22:57,710 and goes, "Are we beasts?" 470 00:22:57,710 --> 00:22:59,962 - The striking thing about air power 471 00:22:59,962 --> 00:23:04,008 is it makes all of us combatants. 472 00:23:04,008 --> 00:23:06,135 It's not just about the battlefield. 473 00:23:07,052 --> 00:23:10,973 The battlefield is actually civilian populations. 474 00:23:15,519 --> 00:23:18,606 - [Tom] The destruction stuns Nazi high command. 475 00:23:18,606 --> 00:23:20,316 [pensive music] 476 00:23:20,316 --> 00:23:22,401 One of Hitler's ministers tells him 477 00:23:22,401 --> 00:23:25,487 that "Hamburg put the fear of God in me." 478 00:23:26,614 --> 00:23:29,366 But Hitler refuses to visit the city 479 00:23:29,366 --> 00:23:31,785 or receive a delegation of civilians 480 00:23:31,785 --> 00:23:34,330 who had saved lives during the fire. 481 00:23:34,330 --> 00:23:37,374 - Hamburg is a shock to the entire German war effort. 482 00:23:37,875 --> 00:23:39,793 Göring has told Hitler repeatedly 483 00:23:39,793 --> 00:23:42,922 that he had this bomber problem under control, 484 00:23:42,922 --> 00:23:45,883 and now here lies the second largest city in Germany 485 00:23:45,883 --> 00:23:47,968 in ashes. 486 00:23:49,845 --> 00:23:51,680 - [Tom] Accounts of the bombing of Hamburg 487 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:53,474 spread throughout Germany. 488 00:23:54,308 --> 00:23:57,436 Hitler begins to transfer German fighter planes 489 00:23:57,436 --> 00:24:00,105 from the Eastern Front and the Mediterranean 490 00:24:00,105 --> 00:24:01,482 to the fatherland. 491 00:24:01,482 --> 00:24:03,484 [planes rumbling] 492 00:24:03,484 --> 00:24:05,694 [pensive music] 493 00:24:05,694 --> 00:24:08,906 - [Robert] In addition, the Germans ring their major cities 494 00:24:08,906 --> 00:24:12,201 with these gigantic monumental flak towers, 495 00:24:13,994 --> 00:24:18,999 150-feet tall, 11-foot thick concrete walls, 496 00:24:18,999 --> 00:24:21,043 bristling with guns. 497 00:24:21,043 --> 00:24:22,544 Not only are they highly effective 498 00:24:22,544 --> 00:24:24,755 against incoming bombers, 499 00:24:24,755 --> 00:24:27,508 their guns barking the sound and fury 500 00:24:27,508 --> 00:24:30,886 remind the people that Hitler is looking out for them. 501 00:24:30,886 --> 00:24:31,720 [anti-aircraft gun firing] 502 00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:35,015 [fighter plane roaring] 503 00:24:35,015 --> 00:24:37,726 [pensive music] 504 00:24:40,521 --> 00:24:41,814 - [Dan S.] Back in Britain, 505 00:24:41,814 --> 00:24:43,732 there was big disagreement at the time 506 00:24:43,732 --> 00:24:45,442 with how the raid on Hamburg goes. 507 00:24:46,527 --> 00:24:50,155 From Harris's point of view, this is a war-winning strategy, 508 00:24:50,155 --> 00:24:52,324 that if you hit people hard enough, 509 00:24:52,324 --> 00:24:56,245 you can cause a breakdown of their will to fight. 510 00:24:56,245 --> 00:24:59,415 - [Robert] But for Arnold, Hamburg was not a success. 511 00:24:59,415 --> 00:25:02,042 It proved the inefficiency of area bombing. 512 00:25:02,042 --> 00:25:04,670 He wants to strike precise targets, 513 00:25:04,670 --> 00:25:07,506 the factories that are keeping the Luftwaffe in the air. 514 00:25:07,506 --> 00:25:09,091 [pensive music] 515 00:25:09,091 --> 00:25:10,592 - [Col. Douds] Henry Arnold thinks 516 00:25:10,592 --> 00:25:12,761 strategic bombing can work. 517 00:25:13,721 --> 00:25:15,014 We just need to do it harder. 518 00:25:18,225 --> 00:25:19,685 [dramatic music] 519 00:25:19,810 --> 00:25:22,271 - [Tom] The combined American-British raid on Hamburg 520 00:25:22,271 --> 00:25:27,067 levels a city but does little to destroy the Luftwaffe 521 00:25:27,067 --> 00:25:28,610 before the invasion of Europe. 522 00:25:32,197 --> 00:25:35,451 By August of 1943, the Eighth Air Force 523 00:25:35,451 --> 00:25:37,536 is receiving enough planes and personnel 524 00:25:37,536 --> 00:25:40,456 to launch the large formations required 525 00:25:40,456 --> 00:25:43,042 to decimate German aircraft production. 526 00:25:45,961 --> 00:25:49,673 Bomber Baron theory is about to be put into practice. 527 00:25:50,799 --> 00:25:52,134 - What is keeping the Luftwaffe in the air 528 00:25:52,134 --> 00:25:54,011 are the factories behind it. 529 00:25:54,011 --> 00:25:56,388 That's what Arnold wants to strike. 530 00:25:56,388 --> 00:25:58,307 And he thinks the way to do that 531 00:25:58,307 --> 00:26:02,227 is to double down on daylight precision bombing, 532 00:26:02,227 --> 00:26:06,231 more planes, more raids, more attacks on the same target 533 00:26:06,231 --> 00:26:08,442 until the Germans break. 534 00:26:08,442 --> 00:26:11,320 [suspenseful music] 535 00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:14,156 - [Tom] Arnold now demands maximum effort 536 00:26:14,156 --> 00:26:16,075 from the Eighth Air Force. 537 00:26:16,075 --> 00:26:17,951 [plane roaring] 538 00:26:17,951 --> 00:26:19,369 [planes rumbling] 539 00:26:19,495 --> 00:26:21,246 - Normally there are planes that are being worked on, 540 00:26:21,246 --> 00:26:23,207 or repaired, or air crew that are resting, 541 00:26:23,207 --> 00:26:25,667 so that every now and then they get a day off. 542 00:26:27,002 --> 00:26:29,171 But now when you go maximum effort, 543 00:26:29,171 --> 00:26:31,882 it means you put everything in the air every time. 544 00:26:33,217 --> 00:26:37,888 - [Tom] Previously, around 90 B-17s would fly each mission, 545 00:26:37,888 --> 00:26:41,809 but that number will soon double and triple. 546 00:26:41,809 --> 00:26:43,727 [dramatic music] 547 00:26:43,727 --> 00:26:45,145 - The Americans are obsessed 548 00:26:45,145 --> 00:26:47,564 with this view of the German economy 549 00:26:47,564 --> 00:26:50,526 as a series of interconnected hubs and spokes. 550 00:26:51,735 --> 00:26:55,280 So if they hit the right domino, they'll all come down. 551 00:26:56,490 --> 00:26:59,034 - [Dr. Grant] These are called bottleneck industries, 552 00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:03,831 industries where just a few plants and locations 553 00:27:03,831 --> 00:27:05,833 control all the production. 554 00:27:06,917 --> 00:27:08,544 - [Robert] Bombing bottleneck targets 555 00:27:08,544 --> 00:27:11,797 seems to be a more efficient use of your air force. 556 00:27:11,797 --> 00:27:14,758 One big raid, one factory destroyed, 557 00:27:14,758 --> 00:27:17,803 a crucial sector of the German war economy crippled. 558 00:27:18,929 --> 00:27:20,722 - [Col. Douds] Probably the most consequential 559 00:27:20,722 --> 00:27:25,477 bottleneck industry with regards to the Luftwaffe 560 00:27:25,769 --> 00:27:27,563 is ball bearings. 561 00:27:28,188 --> 00:27:29,857 [pensive music] 562 00:27:29,857 --> 00:27:32,276 Anything that moves needs a ball bearing. 563 00:27:32,276 --> 00:27:34,653 Anything that turns needs a ball bearing, 564 00:27:34,653 --> 00:27:37,155 including German aircraft engines, 565 00:27:37,155 --> 00:27:40,200 propellers turning, landing wheels, 566 00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:42,244 and also all the machines and machinery 567 00:27:42,244 --> 00:27:43,787 that build those products. 568 00:27:44,788 --> 00:27:46,039 So it's a twofer. 569 00:27:48,041 --> 00:27:50,711 [dramatic music] 570 00:27:50,711 --> 00:27:53,881 - [Tom] On August 17th, one year to the day 571 00:27:53,881 --> 00:27:56,800 from their first attack on occupied Europe, 572 00:27:56,800 --> 00:27:59,553 the Eighth Air Force launches a dual raid. 573 00:28:00,429 --> 00:28:01,930 The first strike on Regensburg 574 00:28:01,930 --> 00:28:04,725 is meant to draw off German fighters 575 00:28:04,725 --> 00:28:08,395 so that the rest of the force can hit the primary target, 576 00:28:08,395 --> 00:28:12,399 Germany's largest ball bearing factory in Schweinfurt. 577 00:28:13,400 --> 00:28:14,735 Three weeks later, 578 00:28:14,860 --> 00:28:18,071 the Eighth strikes another plant in Stuttgart. 579 00:28:19,573 --> 00:28:21,283 In these raids alone, 580 00:28:21,283 --> 00:28:24,286 the Eighth loses nearly a hundred planes 581 00:28:24,286 --> 00:28:27,122 and a thousand crew killed or captured. 582 00:28:28,415 --> 00:28:30,375 Ball bearing production is interrupted, 583 00:28:31,877 --> 00:28:33,128 but only temporarily. 584 00:28:34,254 --> 00:28:36,757 - [Robert] The Allies are always surprised at how rapidly 585 00:28:36,757 --> 00:28:39,176 the Germans rebuild their cities and factories. 586 00:28:39,176 --> 00:28:41,803 [dramatic music] 587 00:28:41,803 --> 00:28:45,641 But they do so with this almost inexhaustible supply 588 00:28:45,641 --> 00:28:46,808 of slave labor, 589 00:28:49,227 --> 00:28:52,105 prisoners of war in the hundreds of thousands. 590 00:28:53,482 --> 00:28:55,275 They're barely fed. 591 00:28:55,275 --> 00:28:58,070 When one dies, they can be simply discarded 592 00:28:58,070 --> 00:29:00,197 and another one put in their place. 593 00:29:01,365 --> 00:29:04,451 - [Tom] Forced laborers from occupied countries 594 00:29:04,451 --> 00:29:08,246 are ordered by the Nazis to reconstruct German factories. 595 00:29:11,124 --> 00:29:12,709 - [Col. Douds] They also dispersed 596 00:29:12,709 --> 00:29:13,877 the German aircraft industry 597 00:29:15,087 --> 00:29:17,631 so that it can't be taken out in any one strike 598 00:29:17,631 --> 00:29:19,216 'cause it's not all in one place. 599 00:29:20,467 --> 00:29:21,843 And they put it underground. 600 00:29:23,387 --> 00:29:25,222 They used old salt mines. 601 00:29:26,723 --> 00:29:28,642 They used old quarries. 602 00:29:28,642 --> 00:29:30,018 - [Martin] Now you can't hit it. 603 00:29:30,018 --> 00:29:31,478 Now you can't bomb it. 604 00:29:31,478 --> 00:29:33,689 There is nothing you can do 605 00:29:33,689 --> 00:29:36,650 because you can't bomb a facility when it's underground. 606 00:29:36,650 --> 00:29:39,403 - [Col. Douds] This ultimately means German aircraft production 607 00:29:39,403 --> 00:29:44,074 will continue to increase. 608 00:29:44,074 --> 00:29:47,160 - [Tom] By the fall of 1943, the Eighth Air Force 609 00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:50,163 is bombing targets deep inside the Reich 610 00:29:50,163 --> 00:29:52,374 and returning to ones they've already hit. 611 00:29:52,374 --> 00:29:54,167 [bombers rumbling] 612 00:29:54,167 --> 00:29:59,256 In early October, they fly a series of maximum effort raids, 613 00:29:59,256 --> 00:30:02,509 including a second strike on the plant in Schweinfurt, 614 00:30:03,468 --> 00:30:04,761 all in a single week. 615 00:30:04,761 --> 00:30:07,681 [pensive music] 616 00:30:07,681 --> 00:30:08,765 - [Robert] There is a limit 617 00:30:08,765 --> 00:30:11,685 to how much the human psyche can take. 618 00:30:11,685 --> 00:30:15,355 And on many occasions, bomber crews reach that limit. 619 00:30:15,355 --> 00:30:17,607 [suspenseful music] 620 00:30:17,607 --> 00:30:21,403 You're five miles up and you're braving death every second. 621 00:30:21,403 --> 00:30:22,362 [explosion booming] 622 00:30:22,362 --> 00:30:24,948 Fighters, flak, fighters, flak. 623 00:30:24,948 --> 00:30:26,366 [explosion booming] 624 00:30:26,491 --> 00:30:29,119 An adrenaline rush overloading your nervous system. 625 00:30:29,119 --> 00:30:30,495 [machine gun firing] 626 00:30:30,495 --> 00:30:33,290 [explosion booming] 627 00:30:33,290 --> 00:30:34,708 And then you land. 628 00:30:36,043 --> 00:30:36,960 And it's quiet. 629 00:30:38,295 --> 00:30:40,172 You're back at a base in East Anglia. 630 00:30:41,256 --> 00:30:42,841 You have a hot meal. 631 00:30:42,841 --> 00:30:45,177 You sleep in a comfortable bed. 632 00:30:45,177 --> 00:30:48,930 And then maybe you'd do it again tomorrow. 633 00:30:48,930 --> 00:30:50,640 [suspenseful music] [bombers rumbling] 634 00:30:50,640 --> 00:30:53,310 More fighters, more flak. 635 00:30:53,310 --> 00:30:54,186 [explosion booming] 636 00:30:54,186 --> 00:30:55,479 You think you were gonna die 637 00:30:56,605 --> 00:30:58,482 10 times in the course of this bomb raid. 638 00:30:58,482 --> 00:31:00,692 [bomber rumbling] [explosion booming] 639 00:31:00,692 --> 00:31:03,612 And that night you'd be drinking scotch 640 00:31:03,612 --> 00:31:06,198 with a couple of friends at the commissary. 641 00:31:06,656 --> 00:31:09,493 It was almost impossible to reconcile. 642 00:31:09,493 --> 00:31:11,244 - The longer you did it, 643 00:31:11,244 --> 00:31:13,163 you would become more and more aware 644 00:31:13,163 --> 00:31:15,040 of how vulnerable you were. 645 00:31:15,040 --> 00:31:17,751 [pensive music] 646 00:31:19,920 --> 00:31:21,671 - [Tom] By the end of the month, 647 00:31:21,671 --> 00:31:24,800 the Eighth Air Force has endured horrific losses. 648 00:31:26,718 --> 00:31:29,513 The men call it Black October. 649 00:31:32,516 --> 00:31:34,684 - [Robert] If you're an American airman, 650 00:31:34,684 --> 00:31:36,436 you have a 20% chance of being killed 651 00:31:36,436 --> 00:31:38,730 on any mission you undertake. 652 00:31:38,730 --> 00:31:41,733 One in five, that is forbidding math. 653 00:31:43,485 --> 00:31:45,153 Adding to that, 654 00:31:45,153 --> 00:31:48,323 they don't appear to be having an appreciable impact 655 00:31:48,323 --> 00:31:50,826 on the German war effort, 656 00:31:50,826 --> 00:31:54,329 leading to an incipient collapse of airman morale. 657 00:31:55,247 --> 00:31:58,041 - [Col. Douds] They start to see the losses around them and go, 658 00:31:58,041 --> 00:32:00,043 "We're just gonna fly until we're dead." 659 00:32:00,043 --> 00:32:02,546 [bomber rumbling] 660 00:32:02,546 --> 00:32:05,507 [explosion booming] 661 00:32:08,635 --> 00:32:11,429 [machine gun firing] [explosion booming] 662 00:32:11,429 --> 00:32:14,307 [dramatic music] 663 00:32:15,767 --> 00:32:18,770 - [Tom] A series of American raids in Black October 664 00:32:18,770 --> 00:32:22,149 shows the cost of daytime precision bombing. 665 00:32:23,483 --> 00:32:24,776 - [John] The loss rates, 666 00:32:24,776 --> 00:32:27,279 the limitations of the Norden bombsight, 667 00:32:27,279 --> 00:32:30,073 the weather, all these things play in the factor 668 00:32:30,073 --> 00:32:35,036 in how ineffective the bombing campaign is in 1943. 669 00:32:35,036 --> 00:32:37,164 You could easily say that the Luftwaffe 670 00:32:37,164 --> 00:32:38,915 still owned the skies over Germany. 671 00:32:40,333 --> 00:32:41,918 - [Tom] In the late fall, 672 00:32:41,918 --> 00:32:45,964 bad weather forces the Eighth Air Force to suspend missions, 673 00:32:45,964 --> 00:32:49,176 giving ground crews the winter to patch battered planes. 674 00:32:49,176 --> 00:32:51,344 [pensive music] 675 00:32:51,344 --> 00:32:53,722 [bombers rumbling] 676 00:32:53,722 --> 00:32:57,392 But the RAF launches its largest campaign yet, 677 00:32:58,602 --> 00:33:01,521 a sustained assault on Berlin. 678 00:33:03,440 --> 00:33:05,025 - [Col. Douds] These are gonna be massive raids, 679 00:33:05,025 --> 00:33:08,069 16 of them in the heart of Germany. 680 00:33:08,069 --> 00:33:09,529 [plane engine rumbling] 681 00:33:09,529 --> 00:33:11,281 - [Robert] The British goal over Berlin 682 00:33:11,281 --> 00:33:13,909 is to destroy German morale. 683 00:33:13,909 --> 00:33:15,452 That's the way to beat Germany, 684 00:33:15,452 --> 00:33:18,121 not to destroy individual factories. 685 00:33:18,830 --> 00:33:20,582 Harris thinks these Berlin raids 686 00:33:20,582 --> 00:33:23,043 will cost 4 to 500 bombers, 687 00:33:23,043 --> 00:33:25,003 but they'll cost Germany the war. 688 00:33:25,003 --> 00:33:27,881 [suspenseful music] 689 00:33:27,881 --> 00:33:29,716 [explosions booming] 690 00:33:29,716 --> 00:33:32,302 - [Tom] The RAF winter raids to Berlin 691 00:33:33,887 --> 00:33:37,224 push the limit and stamina of British air crews, 692 00:33:38,225 --> 00:33:40,227 with modest results. 693 00:33:40,227 --> 00:33:41,228 [gun firing] 694 00:33:41,228 --> 00:33:41,937 [explosions cracking] 695 00:33:41,937 --> 00:33:42,771 [gun firing] 696 00:33:42,771 --> 00:33:45,023 [explosion booming] 697 00:33:45,023 --> 00:33:48,235 [ominous music] 698 00:33:48,235 --> 00:33:50,737 - [Col. Douds] Harris is presciently accurate. 699 00:33:50,737 --> 00:33:55,450 They lose 400 to 500 aircraft and almost 5,000 airmen. 700 00:33:58,203 --> 00:34:01,748 - [Robert] The Berlin bombing campaign is an epic effort 701 00:34:01,748 --> 00:34:05,043 but unfortunately an epic failure. 702 00:34:05,043 --> 00:34:07,587 Both air forces are finding their plans 703 00:34:07,587 --> 00:34:09,839 are not corresponding with reality. 704 00:34:11,007 --> 00:34:14,678 They're having almost no impact on the Luftwaffe at all. 705 00:34:14,678 --> 00:34:17,973 They're simply getting more of their plane shot down 706 00:34:17,973 --> 00:34:20,850 and more of their crewmen killed or captured. 707 00:34:20,850 --> 00:34:22,643 [dramatic music] 708 00:34:22,643 --> 00:34:25,272 - [Tom] After months of heavy losses, 709 00:34:25,272 --> 00:34:28,275 the Eighth Air Force is at a crossroads. 710 00:34:29,192 --> 00:34:33,446 - [Dr. Grant] Arnold realizes the bombers can't do it alone. 711 00:34:33,446 --> 00:34:36,658 If he wants these bombers to make a difference in this war, 712 00:34:36,658 --> 00:34:39,953 he's got to send fighters to the target with them. 713 00:34:39,953 --> 00:34:41,996 [bomber rumbling] 714 00:34:41,996 --> 00:34:45,792 - [Martin] The Allied air forces have the P-38 Lightning 715 00:34:47,543 --> 00:34:48,920 and the P-47 Thunderbolt, 716 00:34:50,672 --> 00:34:52,924 two absolutely excellent fighter aircraft 717 00:34:54,175 --> 00:34:55,927 capable of dog fighting 718 00:34:55,927 --> 00:34:57,929 just about as well as anything else in the sky. 719 00:34:57,929 --> 00:34:59,556 [fighter planes rumbling] 720 00:34:59,556 --> 00:35:01,975 They only had one limitation, and that was range. 721 00:35:01,975 --> 00:35:02,851 [dramatic music] 722 00:35:02,851 --> 00:35:04,728 [fighter planes rumbling] 723 00:35:04,728 --> 00:35:07,147 - [John] At the time, aeronautical engineers 724 00:35:07,147 --> 00:35:09,482 believed having an aircraft that could fly 725 00:35:09,482 --> 00:35:12,986 almost a thousand miles into Germany and back, 726 00:35:12,986 --> 00:35:14,112 with enough firepower, 727 00:35:14,112 --> 00:35:16,156 enough maneuverability, 728 00:35:16,156 --> 00:35:17,490 enough engine power, 729 00:35:17,490 --> 00:35:19,868 is an engineering impossibility. 730 00:35:19,868 --> 00:35:22,370 [dramatic music] 731 00:35:22,370 --> 00:35:25,373 - [Tom] But a new fighter is already being produced 732 00:35:25,373 --> 00:35:28,752 by the United States for the British, 733 00:35:30,128 --> 00:35:31,838 the P-51 Mustang. 734 00:35:33,965 --> 00:35:36,885 - [John] And the Brits test fly it, and they go, 735 00:35:36,885 --> 00:35:39,304 "Thanks, it's okay." 736 00:35:39,304 --> 00:35:40,680 [fighter plane rumbling] 737 00:35:40,680 --> 00:35:43,725 Below 15,000 feet, it's fine, 738 00:35:43,725 --> 00:35:45,602 but we're looking for something higher altitude. 739 00:35:45,602 --> 00:35:47,771 [fighter plane rumbling] 740 00:35:47,771 --> 00:35:49,439 Then we get the idea 741 00:35:49,439 --> 00:35:51,983 of putting a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine in this thing. 742 00:35:51,983 --> 00:35:56,404 So you have a British-made engine, an American airframe, 743 00:35:56,404 --> 00:35:59,240 made it together, and it's gangbusters. 744 00:35:59,240 --> 00:36:01,409 [fighter plane rumbling] 745 00:36:01,409 --> 00:36:04,120 - [Col. Douds] That's when it turns into this magical machine. 746 00:36:04,120 --> 00:36:05,664 [fighter plane rumbling] 747 00:36:05,664 --> 00:36:08,208 It's fast, it flies high. 748 00:36:08,208 --> 00:36:11,169 It's so efficient that it could escort a bomber 749 00:36:11,169 --> 00:36:13,880 all the way to downtown Berlin and back. 750 00:36:13,880 --> 00:36:14,923 It's the equivalent 751 00:36:15,090 --> 00:36:16,716 or better than anything the Germans have. 752 00:36:16,716 --> 00:36:18,134 [suspenseful music] 753 00:36:18,134 --> 00:36:20,762 - [Robert] The Americans and British are allies, 754 00:36:20,762 --> 00:36:23,348 but in many ways they've been working at cross purposes, 755 00:36:23,348 --> 00:36:25,433 especially in the air campaign. 756 00:36:26,309 --> 00:36:29,312 But now the US and British war efforts 757 00:36:29,312 --> 00:36:31,523 come together to produce an aircraft 758 00:36:31,523 --> 00:36:33,983 that is greater than the sum of its parts. 759 00:36:33,983 --> 00:36:35,402 It's the embodiment 760 00:36:35,402 --> 00:36:37,946 of the Anglo-American coalition in World War II. 761 00:36:37,946 --> 00:36:41,366 [fighter plane rumbling] 762 00:36:43,284 --> 00:36:46,913 - [Anand] The P-51 is a game-changer, 763 00:36:47,914 --> 00:36:49,165 but it requires, mind you, 764 00:36:49,290 --> 00:36:51,584 an entire rethink of American aerial doctrine. 765 00:36:51,584 --> 00:36:53,128 [suspenseful music] 766 00:36:53,128 --> 00:36:54,212 - [Dan S.] Allied planners realized 767 00:36:54,212 --> 00:36:55,672 that if they threaten targets 768 00:36:55,672 --> 00:36:57,757 that are essential to the German war efforts 769 00:36:57,757 --> 00:36:59,134 and they force the Germans 770 00:36:59,134 --> 00:37:01,803 to send up fighters to protect those targets, 771 00:37:01,803 --> 00:37:04,973 the P-51s can pounce and shoot them down. 772 00:37:04,973 --> 00:37:05,807 [machine gun firing] 773 00:37:05,807 --> 00:37:07,559 [explosion booming] 774 00:37:07,559 --> 00:37:10,770 - [Dr. Grant] The Allies have started out thinking B-17s 775 00:37:10,770 --> 00:37:14,816 will destroy the German air force on the ground. 776 00:37:14,816 --> 00:37:19,487 By early 1944, they realized the P-51 777 00:37:19,487 --> 00:37:24,242 is going to destroy the German Air Force 778 00:37:24,242 --> 00:37:25,243 in the air. 779 00:37:28,371 --> 00:37:30,874 [suspenseful music] 780 00:37:33,293 --> 00:37:36,045 - [Tom] Knowing that command of the air is crucial 781 00:37:36,045 --> 00:37:38,465 to the upcoming cross channel invasion, 782 00:37:39,674 --> 00:37:43,219 Allied air forces launch Operation Argument, 783 00:37:43,219 --> 00:37:47,599 a five-day series of bombing raids over major German cities. 784 00:37:47,599 --> 00:37:48,475 [dramatic music] 785 00:37:48,475 --> 00:37:51,394 [bombers rumbling] 786 00:37:53,480 --> 00:37:55,315 - [Dr. Grant] This is the critical hour 787 00:37:55,315 --> 00:37:58,067 for the Combined Bomber Offensive 788 00:37:58,067 --> 00:37:59,569 because the Allies now know 789 00:37:59,569 --> 00:38:02,322 that they're approaching the time for the D-Day landings. 790 00:38:02,322 --> 00:38:03,364 [fighter planes rumbling] 791 00:38:03,531 --> 00:38:05,366 They need to draw up the Luftwaffe 792 00:38:05,366 --> 00:38:08,828 so that the P-51 can destroy it in the skies. 793 00:38:08,828 --> 00:38:10,163 [fighter planes rumbling] 794 00:38:10,163 --> 00:38:13,750 The plan is to send thousands of bombers 795 00:38:13,750 --> 00:38:16,294 knowing that the Luftwaffe will have no choice 796 00:38:16,294 --> 00:38:19,255 but to send everything it has up in the skies 797 00:38:19,255 --> 00:38:21,132 to defend the homeland. 798 00:38:21,132 --> 00:38:24,052 So in a way, the bombers are the bait. 799 00:38:24,052 --> 00:38:26,846 [suspenseful music] 800 00:38:26,846 --> 00:38:30,892 - [Tom] Fitted with extra fuel tanks, the P-51 Mustangs 801 00:38:30,892 --> 00:38:33,603 are capable of penetrating deep into Germany. 802 00:38:33,603 --> 00:38:35,313 [fighter planes roaring] 803 00:38:35,313 --> 00:38:38,483 Their primary mission has been protecting the bombers. 804 00:38:38,483 --> 00:38:42,654 Now they're ordered to actively pursue German fighters, 805 00:38:44,030 --> 00:38:46,282 even if it leaves the formations vulnerable. 806 00:38:46,282 --> 00:38:48,493 [fighter planes rumbling] 807 00:38:48,493 --> 00:38:50,245 - [John] The mission of the American fighters 808 00:38:50,245 --> 00:38:51,830 is to be aggressive 809 00:38:52,914 --> 00:38:57,001 and go after the Luftwaffe in the air to kill them 810 00:38:57,794 --> 00:38:59,712 in any way, shape, or form. 811 00:38:59,712 --> 00:39:00,713 [machine gun firing] 812 00:39:00,713 --> 00:39:02,048 [suspenseful music] 813 00:39:02,173 --> 00:39:05,760 - [Tom] Operation Argument, known as Big Week, 814 00:39:05,760 --> 00:39:07,470 begins a battle of attrition 815 00:39:07,470 --> 00:39:10,723 between the Allied air forces and the Luftwaffe. 816 00:39:10,723 --> 00:39:11,683 [machine gun firing] 817 00:39:11,683 --> 00:39:12,684 [explosion booming] 818 00:39:12,684 --> 00:39:13,643 [machine gun firing] 819 00:39:13,643 --> 00:39:14,727 [explosion booming] 820 00:39:14,894 --> 00:39:16,604 The success of the upcoming invasion 821 00:39:19,107 --> 00:39:20,984 hangs in the balance. 822 00:39:20,984 --> 00:39:25,321 [explosion booming] [pensive music] 823 00:39:25,321 --> 00:39:26,906 - [John] The United States is gonna lose 824 00:39:26,906 --> 00:39:29,868 about a quarter of the Eighth Air Force in that fight. 825 00:39:29,868 --> 00:39:31,077 The Germans are gonna lose 826 00:39:31,077 --> 00:39:33,121 about a third of their fighter force 827 00:39:33,121 --> 00:39:36,249 and 18% of their fighter pilots. 828 00:39:36,249 --> 00:39:39,210 This is something the Allies can sustain, 829 00:39:39,210 --> 00:39:40,670 the Germans cannot. 830 00:39:40,670 --> 00:39:42,714 [suspenseful music] 831 00:39:42,714 --> 00:39:44,924 - [Robert] From the US perspective, 832 00:39:44,924 --> 00:39:46,718 this is a war economy 833 00:39:46,718 --> 00:39:49,762 that is churning out hundreds and hundreds of heavy bombers 834 00:39:49,762 --> 00:39:51,472 every day of the year. 835 00:39:52,473 --> 00:39:55,268 Young men are signing up in droves. 836 00:39:55,268 --> 00:39:57,562 And so the cold-blooded calculation 837 00:39:57,562 --> 00:40:01,482 is that no matter how heavy US losses are, 838 00:40:01,482 --> 00:40:05,361 America can replace its planes and pilots. 839 00:40:05,361 --> 00:40:06,738 [suspenseful music] [machine gun firing] 840 00:40:06,738 --> 00:40:08,239 [explosion booming] 841 00:40:08,239 --> 00:40:10,408 - [Tom] In the month after Big Week, 842 00:40:10,408 --> 00:40:13,870 American fighters down more German planes over Europe 843 00:40:15,163 --> 00:40:17,123 than in the previous two years. 844 00:40:17,123 --> 00:40:18,833 [suspenseful music] 845 00:40:18,833 --> 00:40:22,211 The Luftwaffe is being destroyed in the air 846 00:40:22,211 --> 00:40:24,172 and on the ground. 847 00:40:24,172 --> 00:40:26,257 - [Col. Douds] It's really this symbiosis. 848 00:40:26,257 --> 00:40:28,676 Mustangs, they're killing German fighters, 849 00:40:28,676 --> 00:40:30,929 which means the bombers can now be more accurate, 850 00:40:33,514 --> 00:40:34,766 which means they're doing a better job 851 00:40:34,766 --> 00:40:38,394 of attacking the German aircraft industry. 852 00:40:38,394 --> 00:40:39,729 [explosions booming] 853 00:40:39,854 --> 00:40:42,482 It's a cycle that's destroying the Luftwaffe. 854 00:40:42,482 --> 00:40:43,399 [machine gun firing] 855 00:40:43,399 --> 00:40:44,233 [explosion booming] 856 00:40:44,233 --> 00:40:46,194 - [Tom] By June, 1944, 857 00:40:47,111 --> 00:40:51,866 there are few experienced Luftwaffe pilots left alive. 858 00:40:52,575 --> 00:40:56,829 - [John] By the time the D-Day comes, the Allies own the air. 859 00:40:56,829 --> 00:40:59,123 That's why you see very few Luftwaffe fighters 860 00:40:59,123 --> 00:41:01,834 over the beaches of Normandy on June 6th, 1944. 861 00:41:01,834 --> 00:41:04,253 [bombers rumbling] 862 00:41:04,253 --> 00:41:07,048 [pensive music] 863 00:41:10,718 --> 00:41:15,306 - [Tom] Control of the air is decisively established. 864 00:41:15,306 --> 00:41:17,517 The Luftwaffe will be incapable 865 00:41:17,517 --> 00:41:20,228 of opposing the upcoming Allied invasion. 866 00:41:22,188 --> 00:41:24,565 But again, the cost is high. 867 00:41:24,565 --> 00:41:27,193 [somber music] 868 00:41:28,695 --> 00:41:32,031 Fewer than a quarter of British and American bomber crews 869 00:41:32,031 --> 00:41:33,783 survive the campaign. 870 00:41:35,076 --> 00:41:37,161 - [Robert] The tragedy of the air war is that the bomber crews 871 00:41:37,161 --> 00:41:40,123 were essentially testing out an unproven theory. 872 00:41:42,083 --> 00:41:44,961 - [Dan C.] Anytime you're talking about high technology 873 00:41:44,961 --> 00:41:46,796 and cutting-edge weaponry, 874 00:41:46,796 --> 00:41:49,924 there is an element of experimentation involved. 875 00:41:49,924 --> 00:41:51,759 And some of the ways, unfortunately, 876 00:41:51,759 --> 00:41:54,721 that you learn in war is by dying. 877 00:41:56,305 --> 00:41:58,808 Sometimes in wartime, there's no other way to learn. 878 00:42:00,018 --> 00:42:01,352 - [Robert] When both the British 879 00:42:01,352 --> 00:42:03,771 and American air forces worked together, 880 00:42:03,771 --> 00:42:06,399 bombers and fighters together, 881 00:42:06,399 --> 00:42:09,610 they proved to be the most effective aerial instrument 882 00:42:09,610 --> 00:42:11,320 of war in history. 883 00:42:11,320 --> 00:42:14,240 [dramatic music] 884 00:42:15,241 --> 00:42:16,826 - The battle in the air over Europe 885 00:42:16,826 --> 00:42:20,413 isn't won by B-17s or P-51s. 886 00:42:20,413 --> 00:42:22,749 It's won by the men who fight in those planes 887 00:42:22,749 --> 00:42:26,544 and the men and women who support them on the ground. 888 00:42:26,544 --> 00:42:27,920 What they accomplished, 889 00:42:27,920 --> 00:42:30,506 the destruction of the German Luftwaffe, 890 00:42:30,506 --> 00:42:31,799 will make possible 891 00:42:31,799 --> 00:42:34,135 the greatest land and sea invasion in history.