Even at the time, the idea was kind of crazy. Untold numbers of heavy bombers, flying in massive formations without any kind of fighter escort, would fly to heavily-defended targets inside Nazi Germany to drop a 6,000-pound bomb load and come home – all during broad daylight.
If that sounds like an incredibly dangerous mission to you, you’re correct. “Masters of the Air,” a new limited series from Executive Producers Tom Hanks and Steven Speilberg, will debut on January 26, 2024, on Apple TV+ and will show viewers just how devastating air combat over Nazi Germany really was.
Masters of the Air — Official Teaser | Apple TV+
The Harsh Realities of B-17 Bomber Crews
A B-17 Flying Fortress crew had a 50-50 chance of coming home alive during a bombing mission. The average age of a bomber crew was just 25 years old, and they were expected to fly over a target 25 times before they could go home.
Needless to say, there were a lot of airmen (and aircraft) that never made it to 25 missions. The chance of surviving 25 missions was just 25%. The United States built 12,731 B-17 bombers before and during World War II, and 4,735 of them were lost to accidents and the enemy before all was said and done, a loss rate of more than 37%.
“Masters of the Air” – The Glimpse into History
“Masters of the Air” is an Air Force companion to the acclaimed HBO series “Band of Brothers” and its Marine Corps counterpart, “The Pacific.” The only reason it will premiere on Apple TV+ instead of HBO is the cost of bringing the reality of the air war over Europe to life on the small screen.
Just like “Band of Brothers” and “The Pacific,” “Masters of the Air” is also drawn from real-world historical documentation. Historian Donald L. Miller’s book “Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany” was originally published in 2007 but is still among the top-rated and most purchased World War II history books. Its painstaking research and treatment of characters made it the perfect choice for an adaptation to television.
The show, like the book, focuses on the 100th Bombardment Group (Heavy), a B-17 Bomber unit flying out of its home airfield at RAF Thorpe Abbotts in rural England. The 100th suffered an astonishingly high casualty rate, high even among World War II bombers, that earned it the nickname “The Bloody Hundredth.”
In the 22 months the 100th Bomb Group spent fighting Hitler’s Luftwaffe and striking Nazi-occupied Europe, the unit would lose 732 airmen and 177 aircraft, leaving only four of its original 38 pilots to complete their 25-mission tours – a 10% survival rate. When all was said and done, the 8th Air Force would suffer 26,000 killed in action, more than the entire U.S. Marine Corps during World War II.
Learn more about the 100th Bomb Group in the book “Masters of the Air” before catching the new show. The first two episodes of “Masters of the Air” will debut on January 26, 2024, on Apple TV+. New episodes will appear every Friday through March 15.
Read About Other Profiles in Courage
If you enjoyed learning about B-17 Bomber Crews of World War II, we invite you to read about other profiles in courage on our blog. You will also find military book reviews, veterans’ service reflections, famous military units and more on the TogetherWeServed.com blog. If you are a veteran, find your military buddies, view historic boot camp photos, build a printable military service plaque, and more on TogetherWeServed.com today.
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Just found my father’s diary from WW II. He was radio operator on B-17 named “Eight Ball” Assigned to the 303 Bomb Group, 359th Bomb Squadron (Hells Angels) Anyone familiar with this ?
Didn’t Clark Gable fly one if his combat missions in “Eight Ball” (Airframe #41-24635) ?
I’m curious to know the source of the claim that B-17 crews were expected to fly 25 missions before they could go home. My father was the co-pilot of a B-17 in the 346th Squadron, 99th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 15th Air Force based primarily out of Tortorella Airfield in Fuggia, Italy. According to him, they were required to fly 50 missions in order to return stateside from the Mediterranean Theater of Operations. He flew 51 missions during his tour of 8 months and 16 days overseas.
25 missions were the most required in the earlier days, but by the time my own father, who passed away today at the age of 105 (he would have been 106 on Groundhog Day!) was credited with 51 missions (he got a few extra credits because he volunteered for some especially dangerous missions.) By the time he became active, the number had been increased to 50 missions because the Germans had lost the ability to shoot down so many bombers as earlier (the Tuskegee airmen helped with that), and also the Germans were running low on fuel. Dad flew missions bombing in Italy, Germany, Austria, France, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Greece. He volunteered for service because he had a job with the FBI and would not have had to go. He was a real hero, and I am grieving his loss.
I am doing research on a former neighbor who was a waist gunner on a B17. His daughter got back to me with some information. I thought he was stationed in England. She said he flew in Italy. I hadn’t even considered that. She said he flew 52 missions. I’m not having much luck finding any information on people based in Italy or the Mediterranean. If you have any starting points for me I would be grateful. Thank you, Ken Schik, Champlin, MN
The “Forgotten Fifteenth” in Italy was half the size of the more glamorous “Mighty Eighth” in England, though it’s losses were proportionate to those of the 8th. Crews of the 8th slept in barracks and spent their evenings at local pubs chatting up the English barmaids. Crews of the 15th slept in tents on the ground at their airfields and went to clubs (for enlisted men, nco’s, or officers) housed in other tents on the base. They couldn’t “chat” with the locals, both because they didn’t speak the language and because they were only a few months removed from having bombed the locals from their previous base in North Africa in the process of conquering southern Italy (Nazis still held Rome and the north of the country when the 15th arrived in Italy). The 15th was instrumental in taking the air war to Hitler’s oil fields and petroleum works in eastern Europe which the 8th couldn’t reach. The requirement of 25 missions was peculiar to the 8th. The 15th was required to fly 50 missions to be rotated out. That made for a lot of oak leaf clusters to add to a flyer’s Air Medal (if he lived that long). By the way, my father was a flight engineer on a B-17 in the 20th Squadron, 2nd Bombardment Group (Heavy), 15th Air Force and flew from Amendola Field just outside of Foggia.
Dear Sir/Ma’am,
My name is Steve Supchak. 208 mann dr., Chesapeake Va, 757-630-2081. I respectfully request any assistance helping to return some/all of my Dad’s B17 plane parts. When he was shot down on his 33rd mission, a young boy grabbed some of the wreckage. Eventually that boy and my Dad became friends while he was POW. The story is amazing and well documented in his biography (‘The Final Mission). My Dad and that gentleman reunited when he returned to his crash site where a plaque honoring he and his crew for ‘saving the town of insbrok.
I’m asking for any and all assistance contacting a gentleman named Ander Haas (Sp) in Austria . With assistance, convincing this gentleman, by bringing my Dad’s plane parts back to the US to be displayed in the avation museum where he’s enshrined into the distinguished flying cross society, would prvide closure to his heroic story.
Thank you kindly in advance.
V/r
Steve Supchak
CAP/ROTC/VFMA/USMC/USCG Ret.
Sent from AOL on Android
How do I locate information on the B-17 my father was a tail gunner on?
Prairie Blossom.
Looking for information on TSgt Dan M Tiller 34707336 Flight Engineer on B 17 during ww2. Need his bomber group, assignment area or how I can find this in formation myself. I have tried the archives dept in St Louis but records were more than likely destroyed in fire in the 70’s. Thank you