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This is a
battlefront, a battlefront

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like no other in the long
history of mankind's wars.

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This is an air front.

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The working day begins, as
it will end, with the ground

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crews... as much a part of
the fortress as her wings.

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If you're a mechanic
you've got your own bomber.

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You get attached to it.

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But you know when your
ship goes out on a mission,

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you may never see it again.

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So you do your work as
well as it can be done.

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Perfectly.

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Because you wouldn't
want anything to go wrong

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that would be your fault.

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Today, the bombs will be
taken from these bomb dumps,

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somewhere in England,
and delivered

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to specific points in
Wilhelmshaven, Germany.

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To deliver them is the job of
the 8th bomber command, just

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a hauling job, yet one of the
most difficult and complicated

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of military operations.

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General purpose
demolition bombs.

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Impact velocity as high
as 750 miles an hour.

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Pierce five inches
of armor plate.

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Destroy a factory.

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Briefing at 0800.

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Pilots, bombardiers and
navigators take their places.

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The group commander,
Colonel Stanley Ray,

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steps up to the target map
and, for the first time,

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you learn where you're going.

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Sometimes your face turns
white when you find out.

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Sometimes the feeling
you won't come back

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tightens your insides.

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Not so long ago you
were sitting like this

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in a college or high
school classroom,

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not listening too hard,
perhaps even a little sleepy.

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But you listen here.

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And as you listen, you don't
have time to think of yourself.

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Fear fades.

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You concentrate on the mission...
Type of formation, assembly

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point, zero hour, route
to target, weather,

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enemy fighters, enemy
flak, route back home.

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If forced down in enemy
territory, destroy equipment.

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If taken prisoner,
give no information.

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Name, rank and serial
number... that's all.

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These are the passengers,
with one way tickets.

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And this is the crew
of the Memphis Belle.

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324th Squadron, 91st
Heavy Bombardment Group.

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Just one plane and one crew
in one squadron in one group

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of one wing of one
air force out of 15.

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United States Army air forces.

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Well, fellas we've never had
an easy ride over there yet.

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And today won't
be in a different.

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No escort except unfriendly.

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So keep your eyes peeled.

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Don't get excited and yell when
you're talking on the intercom.

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Save your ammunition and
make your shots count.

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And let me know what goes
on back there, Quinlan.

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Yessir.

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Stay on the ball,
gang, and she'll

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bring us back like
she's always done.

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OK?

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Let's go.

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They have
completed 24 missions,

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in this, the toughest
theater of air war,

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the big league of sky fighting.

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Their experience is priceless.

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And so, if the Memphis Belle
comes back this afternoon,

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they will be sent to bring the
vital lessons they have learned

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to thousands of air crew
men in training at home.

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Home is America.

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This is a battlefront, like
no other in this or any war.

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No monster armies,
no booming cannon.

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Only the roaring engine
sound of the bombers

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pounding through the
quiet English countryside.

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This is an air front.

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The wheels of the
Memphis Belle leave

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the soil of England
for the 25th time.

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The friendly soil of England,
with its ordered farms

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and rural hamlets, its
country estates surrounded

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by formal gardens
and well-kept parks.

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The England these Americans
knew only from the classics

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they had to read in school.

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The England of the towns
and cities whose people

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have depended their island's
freedom for over 1,000 years.

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But today their
countryside has changed.

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Today, their island
has been converted

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into a gigantic bomber field...
A super aircraft carrier,

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anchored off the shores
of fortress Europe

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with hangars and machine
shocks, with hundreds

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of dispersal points, perimeter
tracks and concrete runways.

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This is England in
its fifth year of war.

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And this is the new battlefront,
the air front, from which

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we seek out the enemy... not as
infantry or as artillery, not

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as panzer divisions,
but the greater menace...

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The industrial
heart of his nation.

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The foundation on which the
Nazi empire and its armies

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stand, the power behind the
German lust for conquest.

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The steel mills and refineries,
shipyards and submarine pens,

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factories and munitions plants...
Pinpoints on the map of Europe,

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which mean rubber, guns, ball
bearings, shells, engines,

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planes, tanks, targets...
Targets to be destroyed.

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And these are the
destroyers, each

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with a belly full
of bombs, and 10 men

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like the crew of the Memphis
Belle... Pilot Captain Robert

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Morgan, industrial
engineer from Asheville,

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North Carolina... he's flown
this ship across the Atlantic;

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The other pilot,
Captain Jim Verinis,

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business administration
student at the University

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of Connecticut; Radio operator
and gunner Sergeant Bob Hanson,

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construction worker from
Spokane, Washington;

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Navigator, Captain
Chuck Leighton,

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chemistry student
at Ohio Wesleyan;

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Engineer and top turret
gunner Sergeant Harold Loch,

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from Green Bay,
Wisconsin... used to be

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a stevedore... besides
keeping the bill in order,

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he covers the sky above; Tail
gunner Sergeant John Quinlan,

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of Yonkers, New York,

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clerk for a carpet
company but he

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quit, December 8, 1941; Ball
turret gunner, Sergeant Cecil

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Scott, pressman for a rubber
company, in Rahway, New Jersey.

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Pilot to crew:
10,000, put on oxygen.

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They're climbing
higher now, 300 feet a minute.

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The strain on the planes
and on the men is mounting.

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The rest of the crew: Bombardier
Captain Vincent Evans,

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operated a fleet of
trucks in Fort Worth,

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Texas; Waist gunners... on the
right, Sergeant Bill Winchell,

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chemist for a paint company
in Chicago, and on the left,

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Sergeant Tony Nastal... used
to repair washing machines

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in Detroit when he was a kid.

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Now he's 19 and has two
Nazi fighters confirmed.

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It takes all of a
pilot's strength

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to keep a 30-ton fortress
in tight formation.

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But the formation
is the bomber's best

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defense against enemy fighters.

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The planes are deployed
to uncover every gun,

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stepped up and down,
echelon to the right

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and left, the range to overcome
the danger of gunners firing

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into friendly ships, the range
so concentrated cones of fire,

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from the caliber
50 machine guns,

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cover the sky for 1,000
yards in every direction.

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The friendly coast of
England slips by below.

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It doesn't look like much now.

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But in a few hours, when you
come back, if you come back,

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this would be the most
beautiful view in the world.

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Higher and higher, climbing
to reach your best operational

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altitude... 25,000 feet...
Five miles straight up.

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So high you can't be seen from
the ground with the naked eye.

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So high that after one
minute without oxygen,

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you lose consciousness.

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After 20 minutes, you're dead.

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From now to the target, you
go about your routine duties...

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Plot your course, check
your equipment and wait.

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And think.

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Higher and colder.

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Temperature, 40
degrees below zero.

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Take off your glove and
you loose some fingers.

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You look out at the
strange world beyond,

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reflections in
plexiglass like nothing

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you ever saw before...
Outside of a dream.

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Higher and higher, into
the lifeless stratosphere,

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until the exhaust of the engines
mixing with the cold thin air

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condenses and streams the
heavens with vapor trails.

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To the men in the ships,
they're far from beautiful,

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for they point like
beckoning fingers

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to the formation,
signposts in the sky

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for the enemy to spot us.

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For these bombers to
accomplish their mission,

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a plan is needed
carefully worked out,

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timed to the minute.

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The job is to bomb
Wilhelmshaven, effectively

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and economically.

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The enemy is strong, skillful,
determined to stop us.

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Here are his defenses...
Air drones, well dispersed,

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each plane indicates a
or squadron of fighters,

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heavy anti-aircraft, highly
trained and accurate, all

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along the coast and defending
his vital installation,

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radar to warn him of our coming.

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Here is our plan to
divide his defenses

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and weaken his opposition.

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At 13:30 hours, shortly after
takeoff, six groups of planes

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will be heading
toward the enemy coast

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from six directions...
The blue force,

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100 B-24 liberator
four engined bombers;

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The white force, 300
B-17 flying fortresses;

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The green force, 300 B-17s,
with an escort of six squadrons

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of P-47 thunderbolts; A
force of B-26 marauders,

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twin engine medium bombers with
six squadrons of RAF Spitfires

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escorting... almost 1,000 planes
and over 8,000 men in the air.

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The enemy alerts
all its air drones,

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but which is our main force?

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What are our targets?

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Where should the
Nazi controllers

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send their fighters?

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It's our job to make them
guess and guess wrong.

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A half hour later at 1400
hours, the blue force

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will be heading east
across the North Sea

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with the white force following.

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These enemy fighters are tied
down, waiting to meet them

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00:17:37,800 --> 00:17:40,800
and will not be able to
attack the green force.

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These fighters must come up
to attack the green force

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00:17:43,800 --> 00:17:47,800
and thus will be no threat
to the blue and white forces.

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The B-26s and Spitfires will
bomb and strafe a key rail

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junction diverting
these six

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And preventing the enemy from
concentrating too many fighters

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on the green force,
which is scheduled

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to bomb an aircraft
factory at Hanover.

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00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:11,000
At 1430 hours, the blue
force will threaten

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00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:14,400
this entire coastal area
of Northwestern Germany.

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00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:19,400
Which target will it be?

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00:18:19,400 --> 00:18:21,000
Flensburg?

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00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:23,800
The Kiel Canal?

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Or will it turn
suddenly and bomb

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00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:28,800
Hamburg, or Emden?

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00:18:28,800 --> 00:18:31,800
Actually, it carries
no bombs at all.

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00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:35,000
It's a decoy and keeps the
fighters from the northern area

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00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:38,200
busy while the white
force, the main effort,

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00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:40,000
heads for the submarine
pens of Wilhelmshaven.

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00:18:42,600 --> 00:18:47,400
At 1500 hours, while the white
force is over its target,

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00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:50,000
only a fraction of the available
German fighter strength

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00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:54,400
of the area can intercept
it, because of the blue force

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00:18:54,400 --> 00:18:58,200
diversion and the simultaneous
bombing of Hanover

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00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:01,400
by the green force.

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00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:06,200
This is the plan of battle for
today, drawn up by the combined

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00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:09,200
operations planning
committee and approved

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00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:12,800
by the commanding general.

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00:19:12,800 --> 00:19:18,400
The white force, lead
group, low squadron.

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We've crossed the invisible
line of enemy radar,

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the Hun is expecting us.

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Steel helmets go
on, watchful eyes

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00:19:35,200 --> 00:19:41,800
strain, tight formations
are held tighter still,

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00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:44,000
tense gunners more
alert, because, here it

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00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:52,000
comes... the enemy
coast From up here

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00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:56,600
it looks the same as any
other... houses, roads,

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00:19:56,600 --> 00:20:00,200
green fields,
factories, waterways.

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00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:01,800
But they are houses
and fields of those

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00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:03,800
who invade and oppress.

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00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:08,000
They are the factories and roads
of the people who twice in one

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generation have flooded
the world with suffering,

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00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:14,400
suffering in such quantities
the history of the human race

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00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:17,800
has never known, brought
torment and anguish

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00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:22,200
into countless American
homes... gold stars

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00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:23,800
and telegrams from
the war department.

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00:20:29,800 --> 00:20:35,000
The first flak just harmless
looking silent puffs of smoke,

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00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:37,200
only each puff is
a shell exploding

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00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:42,400
throwing shrapnel around the
sky exactly the range accurate

245
00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:44,800
flak by radio prediction.

246
00:20:44,800 --> 00:20:47,000
Five miles down, Nazi
anti-aircraft batteries

247
00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:50,200
have calculated the
altitude, speed and course.

248
00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:51,800
Where will the next one hit?

249
00:20:51,800 --> 00:20:53,000
You try not to be there.

250
00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:04,400
The docks and submarine
pens of Wilhelmshaven.

251
00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:06,600
Approach to the target starts.

252
00:21:06,600 --> 00:21:08,800
No smokescreen can protect it.

253
00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:17,200
Now the enemy knows the
path of your approach

254
00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:19,800
and walls that path
with a flack barrage,

255
00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:23,000
but you fly right through
it... flak so thick,

256
00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:24,400
you can get out and walk on it.

257
00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:38,200
Morgan changes course every
15 seconds... evasive action

258
00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:39,400
to confuse the flak batteries.

259
00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:45,400
Bomb sites set for correct
altitude and speed,

260
00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:49,000
bombay doors open, the
bombing run begins.

261
00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:52,800
"Pilot to bombardier.

262
00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:56,600
OK, Vin, you've got it."

263
00:21:56,600 --> 00:21:58,400
Now Evans flies
the Memphis Belle,

264
00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:00,000
controlling it
through the bomb site.

265
00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:03,800
And now we are most vulnerable.

266
00:22:03,800 --> 00:22:08,000
Committed to our bombing run,
we can't dodge flak or fighters.

267
00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:09,200
Here's the first.

268
00:22:18,800 --> 00:22:22,400
Top turret fires at it.

269
00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:26,400
Evans must ignore the battle,
crosshairs lined up on target,

270
00:22:26,400 --> 00:22:27,800
adjustments for wind drift made.

271
00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:35,000
The Two more fighters
diving from 9 o'clock.

272
00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:36,800
Flak now has the range, too.

273
00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:42,200
They've hit this fort.

274
00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:44,600
But he keeps on his bombing run.

275
00:22:50,200 --> 00:22:53,400
As lead bombardier,
Evans' aim must be good.

276
00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:54,800
Every other ship
in the group will

277
00:22:54,800 --> 00:22:58,600
drop its bombs
when he drops his.

278
00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:01,000
Now one pointer on
the bomb site moves

279
00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:03,400
toward another
stationary pointer.

280
00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:05,800
The instant they've
touched, bombs will release.

281
00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:24,000
They touch.

282
00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:25,000
Bombs away.

283
00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:36,600
The first half of the mission
is over... the easy half.

284
00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:37,800
Now, to get home.

285
00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:46,800
The flak stops.

286
00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:50,600
That means fighters out
there somewhere a...

287
00:24:50,600 --> 00:24:54,000
Lurking behind that cloud
or hiding up in the sun

288
00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:56,000
where the glare
blinds you and you

289
00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:59,200
can't see them waiting
to dive down on you.

290
00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:02,400
Fighters at 6 o'clock...
This is what a gunner sees,

291
00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:04,200
a speck in the sky...
That's a fighter...

292
00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:06,000
And then a blink...
That means he's

293
00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:09,000
firing at you, 2,300
rounds a minute.

294
00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:18,600
In a running battle, one of
the most important instruments

295
00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:19,600
is the interphone.

296
00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:26,000
There's four
of 'em, 1 o'clock high.

297
00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:27,200
They're
comin' 'round.

298
00:25:27,200 --> 00:25:28,000
Watch...

299
00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:34,000
Two
fighters, 6 o'clock up,

300
00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:36,400
coming in...

301
00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:38,600
B-17 in
trouble out at 2 o'clock.

302
00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:39,600
Watch it.

303
00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:41,400
Got an
engine on fire.

304
00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:49,800
There's two more,
diving through the 94th...

305
00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:51,600
Three planes,
9 o'clock, coming around.

306
00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:54,600
Keep your eye on 'em, boys.

307
00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:57,000
Comin' around at 10.

308
00:25:57,000 --> 00:25:57,800
Watch 'em, Chuck.

309
00:25:57,800 --> 00:25:58,600
Keep your eyes open.

310
00:25:58,600 --> 00:25:59,800
They're
breaking at 11.

311
00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:00,600
Breaking at 11.

312
00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:01,600
I got 'em.

313
00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:04,400
Coming around
underneath at 10 o'clock.

314
00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:05,000
I see 'em...

315
00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:06,400
There
go two at 2 o'clock.

316
00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:07,600
Watch em, Scottie.

317
00:26:07,600 --> 00:26:08,800
I got my sights on 'em.

318
00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:10,000
Check
that B17, Chuck.

319
00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:10,600
Three o'clock.

320
00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:11,400
Motor's smoking.

321
00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:13,200
Fighter at 10:30, coming around.

322
00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:15,400
Are those
10:30 upper or lower?

323
00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:22,800
B-17 out of
control at 3 o'clock.

324
00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:30,400
Come on you
guys, get out of that plane.

325
00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:31,400
Bail out.

326
00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:33,200
There's one,
he come out of the bombay.

327
00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:34,200
Yeah, I see 'em.

328
00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:35,600
There's
tailgunner coming out.

329
00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:36,800
Watch
out for fighters.

330
00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:40,800
Keep your eye on 'em, Bill.

331
00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:42,200
See any
parachutes, Quinlan?

332
00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:43,000
Some
parachutes open, chief...

333
00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:44,200
Some
flak at 9 o'clock.

334
00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:50,200
Eight men
still in that B-17...

335
00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:51,400
Come on,
the rest of you...

336
00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:52,600
For Christ's
sake, get out of there.

337
00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:53,600
Guys.
Come on, bail out.

338
00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:54,400
So far.

339
00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:55,600
There's
three more shoots.

340
00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:56,600
Flak, 11 o'clock.

341
00:26:56,600 --> 00:26:57,800
Fighters, 6 o'clock...

342
00:26:57,800 --> 00:26:59,800
...at 3 o'clock.

343
00:26:59,800 --> 00:27:01,600
Keep
after 'em, Winchell.

344
00:27:01,600 --> 00:27:03,000
See 'em.

345
00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:04,000
I'm on 'em.

346
00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:06,000
Come on you son of a bitch.

347
00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:13,200
I got 'em.

348
00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:14,600
Quinlan,
confirm that fighter.

349
00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:15,600
He got 'em, chief.

350
00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:16,600
Look, he's bailing out!

351
00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:18,800
Damnit, don't
yell on that intercom.

352
00:27:18,800 --> 00:27:19,800
Fighters, 10 o'clock.

353
00:27:19,800 --> 00:27:21,600
Watch those
two at 12...

354
00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:22,400
They're coming in.

355
00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:23,800
They're
coming in, Scotty.

356
00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:25,800
Get that
ball turret on 'em.

357
00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:31,600
Save the
ammunition as much as possible.

358
00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:40,600
Watch that fighter
comin' in the 3 o'clock.

359
00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:42,400
He's comin'
in on a half roll.

360
00:27:42,400 --> 00:27:43,400
Pull her up, chief.

361
00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:45,800
Pull 'er up, hurry.

362
00:27:54,600 --> 00:27:58,000
This fortress is
hurt, engine on fire, losing

363
00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:01,000
airspeed and altitude,
drifting into the flak,

364
00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:04,400
alone and helpless, a straggler.

365
00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:05,800
In a minute, Nazi
fighters will swarm

366
00:28:05,800 --> 00:28:08,400
in like buzzards for the kill.

367
00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:12,000
You can watch, but you
can't go down to help.

368
00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:13,000
You keep your formation.

369
00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:22,600
Here, too, the
mission is being flown,

370
00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:24,600
none the less real
for being in the minds

371
00:28:24,600 --> 00:28:27,400
and hearts of these men behind.

372
00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:30,000
Ask anybody who's been
to a field in England,

373
00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:32,200
or anywhere else our
bombers are based,

374
00:28:32,200 --> 00:28:35,800
and he'll tell you that
there's drama here, too...

375
00:28:35,800 --> 00:28:39,800
Waiting to see
who's coming back.

376
00:28:39,800 --> 00:28:42,000
To watch them, you
might not realize

377
00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:44,800
how tense these
ground crews are.

378
00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:46,600
But they are tense,
and plenty worried.

379
00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:51,400
In Air Force talk,
this waiting is

380
00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:54,600
known as "sweating
out the mission."

381
00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:57,000
These men know the flight plan.

382
00:28:57,000 --> 00:28:59,600
Their watches told them when the
bombers were running into enemy

383
00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:02,800
flak, when they were
over the target,

384
00:29:02,800 --> 00:29:05,200
when they left the enemy coast.

385
00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:07,400
And now their watches
tell them the bombers

386
00:29:07,400 --> 00:29:10,000
should be nearing the field.

387
00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:14,000
Every ear strains for the
first sound of the engines.

388
00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:17,200
And then somebody hears
them, and somebody

389
00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:19,800
sees the first faint
specks in the distant sky.

390
00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:28,800
Every face turns
to see and count.

391
00:29:31,800 --> 00:29:34,200
The watches try to read
the numbers on the ships.

392
00:29:36,800 --> 00:29:39,600
These planes have
priority to land first.

393
00:29:39,600 --> 00:29:43,600
The colored flares
mean wounded aboard.

394
00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:46,200
In a hospital window,
these watching men

395
00:29:46,200 --> 00:29:48,000
know what that means.

396
00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:50,800
They know what it feels like
to lie on a bouncing fortress

397
00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:54,400
floor for hundreds of
miles, through the frozen

398
00:29:54,400 --> 00:29:58,800
stratosphere, in great pain,
with other men in your crew

399
00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:03,400
fighting to keep you alive
until they hit the field.

400
00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:05,400
The field.

401
00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:07,200
Home.

402
00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:09,600
It'll be OK then,
because they'll

403
00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:12,400
be medical care... the best.

404
00:30:12,400 --> 00:30:14,800
As soon as the wheels of
your plane stop rolling.

405
00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:29,000
Head wound.

406
00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:30,000
Concussion.

407
00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:34,600
20 millimeter cannon
shell exploded

408
00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:37,200
in his radio compartment.

409
00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:38,800
Shock.

410
00:30:38,800 --> 00:30:41,400
Internal injuries.

411
00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:44,800
You'll be all right though.

412
00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:47,600
Flak bursts scattered
flying shrapnel.

413
00:30:47,600 --> 00:30:51,600
He's full of steel splinters.

414
00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:54,800
This pilot's leg is
not a pretty sight.

415
00:30:54,800 --> 00:30:56,400
Neither are the docks
at Wilhelmshaven.

416
00:30:59,200 --> 00:31:03,800
These men will get
the Purple Heart.

417
00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:05,800
And this man,
too... posthumously.

418
00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:18,000
A transfusion
right in the plane.

419
00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:21,200
This gunner is too
weak to be moved.

420
00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:25,000
The new life-giving blood
flowing into his veins

421
00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:27,400
might be the blood of a high
school girl in Des Moines,

422
00:31:27,400 --> 00:31:32,000
a miner in Alabama, a
movie star in Hollywood.

423
00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:34,200
Or it might be your blood.

424
00:31:34,200 --> 00:31:36,600
Whose ever it is, thanks.

425
00:31:41,400 --> 00:31:44,400
36 planes left this
field this morning.

426
00:31:44,400 --> 00:31:45,800
Now six more arrived.

427
00:31:45,800 --> 00:31:50,000
That makes 20 home,
and this one's 21.

428
00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:51,000
More wounded aboard.

429
00:32:00,800 --> 00:32:04,400
22, coming in with his
left inboard engine dead.

430
00:32:10,200 --> 00:32:17,000
23, with a feathered prop
on his left outboard engine.

431
00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:22,600
24, Southern Comfort,
with a chunk of tail gone.

432
00:32:22,600 --> 00:32:27,400
25, they flew home
on their luck.

433
00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:31,000
26, not a scratch.

434
00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:37,000
The control tower learns
that two more landed

435
00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:39,400
at a British field to the south.

436
00:32:39,400 --> 00:32:40,800
One, a crash landing.

437
00:32:40,800 --> 00:32:41,800
Crew safe.

438
00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:44,800
That makes 28.

439
00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:47,000
29.

440
00:32:47,000 --> 00:32:49,800
A rough landing, but
her pilot's badly hurt.

441
00:32:49,800 --> 00:32:51,600
It's a wonder he
brought her back at all.

442
00:32:55,200 --> 00:32:59,600
29 planes back... so far.

443
00:32:59,600 --> 00:33:03,200
29 out of 36.

444
00:33:03,200 --> 00:33:08,400
Our losses were heavy, but
the enemy's were far heavier.

445
00:33:08,400 --> 00:33:12,000
We destroyed a German aircraft
factory, a rail junction,

446
00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:15,400
submarine pens, docks
and harbor installations.

447
00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:18,600
That's specific,
known damage, but who

448
00:33:18,600 --> 00:33:20,600
can tell the number
of German torpedoes

449
00:33:20,600 --> 00:33:22,600
that will not be fired?

450
00:33:22,600 --> 00:33:25,200
The number of our convoys
that will get through now?

451
00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:28,200
The soldiers' and seamen's
lives that will be saved,

452
00:33:28,200 --> 00:33:31,200
or the battles that will be
won instead of lost, because

453
00:33:31,200 --> 00:33:33,800
of what these bombers
and airmen did today?

454
00:33:45,400 --> 00:33:48,000
Pilot and tailgunner.

455
00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:51,400
They can laugh now.

456
00:33:51,400 --> 00:33:53,800
Fire on the inboard
engine did this,

457
00:33:53,800 --> 00:33:58,600
flames streaked back and
burned the stabilizer, too.

458
00:33:58,600 --> 00:34:00,000
Another crew luck brought back.

459
00:34:16,200 --> 00:34:18,600
Here's old Bill.

460
00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:21,600
A pretty good airplane
when it took off.

461
00:34:21,600 --> 00:34:27,600
Lost its nose, lost its
navigator, bombardier wounded,

462
00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:32,000
top turret gunner and
pilot hit, hydraulic system

463
00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:36,000
shot out, no brakes, no flaps.

464
00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:37,200
But old Bill came back.

465
00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:48,800
Now, among the
returned crew members,

466
00:34:48,800 --> 00:34:51,800
talk flows like a
river, talking out

467
00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:54,400
every detail of the mission.

468
00:34:54,400 --> 00:34:58,800
These are the faces of
combat, faces of Americans who

469
00:34:58,800 --> 00:35:02,000
have watched their
comrades die, faces

470
00:35:02,200 --> 00:35:05,000
that can never forget the enemy.

471
00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:07,000
And they're in no mood to
have their picture taken.

472
00:35:12,600 --> 00:35:16,400
In the control tower,
Colonel Ray, the group CO,

473
00:35:16,400 --> 00:35:19,200
is still watching and waiting.

474
00:35:19,200 --> 00:35:23,400
And then he spots the last
flight, three more planes.

475
00:35:23,400 --> 00:35:26,400
And one of them is the ship
everyone has been pulling for...

476
00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:33,600
The Memphis Belle.

477
00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:36,800
The last few miles of this
trip have been a joy ride.

478
00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:38,600
The strain is over.

479
00:35:38,600 --> 00:35:40,600
They can leave their guns now.

480
00:35:40,600 --> 00:35:44,200
Now they know they're going
to go home... to Spokane, Green.

481
00:35:44,200 --> 00:35:46,800
Bay, Asheville,
Detroit, Chicago,

482
00:35:46,800 --> 00:35:48,200
Fort Worth and Yonkers.

483
00:35:56,000 --> 00:35:58,200
The Belle comes in
for her landing,

484
00:35:58,200 --> 00:36:01,600
but first Morgan
buzzes the field... cuts

485
00:36:01,600 --> 00:36:04,800
the grass with her
giant fortress.

486
00:36:04,800 --> 00:36:08,200
It's against the rules, but
this is a special occasion.

487
00:36:44,200 --> 00:36:46,600
The wheels of the
Memphis Belle come back

488
00:36:46,600 --> 00:36:49,600
to the soil of England
for the 25th time.

489
00:37:50,200 --> 00:37:52,000
This is a day they
will never forget.

490
00:37:58,400 --> 00:38:01,800
Another great day soon after,
Brigadier General Hansell

491
00:38:01,800 --> 00:38:06,000
visited the field and presented
the Distinguished Flying.

492
00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:07,800
Cross to every
member of the crew.

493
00:38:18,400 --> 00:38:20,200
And then there was another day.

494
00:38:43,600 --> 00:38:47,400
Their majesties, the king
and queen of England.

495
00:39:14,800 --> 00:39:16,600
Johnny Quinlan never
thought anything

496
00:39:16,600 --> 00:39:18,600
like this would happen to
him when he left Yonkers.

497
00:39:27,200 --> 00:39:29,200
The ground crew were a
little self-conscious

498
00:39:29,200 --> 00:39:32,200
about being dressed in
fatigues, but the queen

499
00:39:32,200 --> 00:39:33,400
thought they were very nice.

500
00:39:42,800 --> 00:39:45,400
Finally, two more visitors came.

501
00:39:45,400 --> 00:39:48,800
General Eaker, commanding
the 8th Air Force and General.

502
00:39:48,800 --> 00:39:52,000
Devers, US commander of
the European Theatre.

503
00:39:52,000 --> 00:39:55,400
The Belle crew received
them in flying clothes,

504
00:39:55,400 --> 00:39:58,800
as General Eaker read the order
for what he called their 26th

505
00:39:58,800 --> 00:40:02,800
and most important mission...
Return to America to train

506
00:40:02,800 --> 00:40:06,400
new crews and to tell the
people what we're doing here,

507
00:40:06,400 --> 00:40:08,600
to thank them for
their help and support

508
00:40:08,600 --> 00:40:11,800
and tell them to keep it
up, so we can keep it up,

509
00:40:11,800 --> 00:40:15,000
so we can bomb the
enemy again and again

510
00:40:15,000 --> 00:40:18,800
and again, until
he has had enough.

511
00:40:18,800 --> 00:40:20,800
And then we can all come home.

512
00:41:00,200 --> 00:41:04,400
To the men of the 8th Air
Force, who are now flying deep

513
00:41:04,400 --> 00:41:08,000
into Germany, bringing
destruction to targets almost

514
00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:14,800
1,000 miles from their
bases, destruction like this,

515
00:41:14,800 --> 00:41:18,600
and who have never once been
turned back by the enemy...

516
00:41:18,600 --> 00:41:22,400
To those men, this film
is gratefully dedicated.