Big Week, Day 1 - The USAAF and RAF Hit Leipzig - Animated

foreign [Music] at 11 PM on the 19th of February 1944 561 lancasters 255 halifaxes and seven mosquitoes of RAF bomber command begin rolling down runways at airfields across Eastern England silhouetted against the night sky the 823 bombers take off and form up to head east across the cold Waters of the North Sea their target for tonight is the Eastern German city of Leipzig and its four Messerschmitt factories this is the opening raid of big week the largest Air Battle of the second World War big week codenamed operation argument is intended to annihilate the luftwaffe once and for all in preparation for Operation Overlord the invasion of France Supreme Allied Commander Dwight Eisenhower has taken direct control over the combined bomber offensive and has authorized a campaign to attain air superiority over the continent in contrast to the first months of the Strategic bombing campaign the main objective of big week is not just the destruction of industry but to draw the luftwaffe's fighter Force into a decisive battle where it can be destroyed this is to be a six day period of Maximum effort bombing missions by RAF bomber command the U.S 8th Air Force from Eastern England and the U.S 15th Air Force flying out of southern Italy the first targets of big week are the fighter assembly and component manufacturing plants in Leipzig industry which must be defended by the lustfather the bomber command raid is on route to bomb the city at night while the 8th Air Force will strike during the following day but first a quick word from this week's sponsor War Thunder a free-to-play military vehicle online combat game take command of a vast Fleet of more than 2 000 historically accurate playable tanks aircraft helicopters and ships spanning over 100 Years of development from the 1920s to the present day an exciting combat arms battles enjoy great 4K Graphics authentic sound effects with realistic physics and dynamic damage models instead of General hit points Vehicles suffer 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cover to group and command headquarters back in England some aircraft carry oboe transponders which communicate with a pair of radar stations on the ground in England to triangulate their position one station known as cat adjusts the formation's flight path in real time while the other station Mouse drives the Bomb release point however Leipzig is too far for a full oboe guided Mission and the bombers will need to rely upon onboard's navigation once the formation is out of range the Airmen agree that this Mission will be a shaky do miles ahead of the primary bomber stream on its way to Leipzig are the 17 halifaxes of 35 Squadron a Pathfinder unit escorted by twin-engined Bristol bowfighters there are 138 Pathfinders on this mission Squadron leader Julian sale and his Navigator flight Lieutenant Gordon Carter are on their 51st mission in the Halifax bomber the Pathfinders have a critical Mission they are tasked with properly identifying the target area and dropping flares to designate where the bombers will release their payload it is a dangerous job which requires the Pathfinder to fly at a much lower altitude and with less protection Carter had been shot down over France last year and narrowly escaped capture to return to service in the RAF he has been secretly struggling with the mental strain of combat and has decided to ask for a leave of absence after this mission he tries to stay focused Carter watches as the clouds above are brightened by flares fired by German AA systems as they attempt to illuminate his bomber against the night sky suddenly a Searchlight zeroes in on another Halifax in the formation and tracks the aircraft as flax starts to explode around the Pathfinders the pilot takes evasive action and gets the Squadron clear but German ground controllers now Vector their night fighters from Keel to intercept the bombers within minutes ju-88 and bf-110 Knight fighter interceptors swarm the formation at 2 43 am a ju-88 rakes Carter and sales Halifax with cannon fire causing the overhead fuel tanks to explode with the Flaming bomber entering a dive most of the crew bails out into a sky lit by crisscrossing traces and bursting flag shells as he parachutes down to earth Carter's first thought is of relief despite his precarious situation he is no longer faced with the prospect of letting his comrades down the Pathfinders take heavy losses but continue undeterred to the Target when they arrive over Leipzig just before 4 AM they are shocked to find much of the main bomber stream already circling the city the main Force had been propelled by a 100 mile per hour Tailwind rather than the 40 mile per hour wind predicted in the pre-mission weather report as such the bomber stream has arrived at Leipzig 20 minutes earlier than expected and has been forced to orbit to wait for the Pathfinders German flag is taking its toll shooting down 20 bombers while four others have collided in mid-air the city is obscured by heavy clouds forcing the Pathfinders to Sky Mark the target with the aid of their H2S sets the first Airborne ground scan radar system the Pathfinder Halifax's first drop red target indicators to act as blind markers for the bomber stream because the clouds cover over the target is so thick following aircraft then release red and green secondary flares known as wanganui markers the bomber stream has been instructed to bomb as close to these flares as possible the parachute flares have been nicknamed Christmas trees by the Germans below once released the six of flares air burst and illuminates the areas marked for bombing they carry out this task despite the hailstorm of Fire coming from the heavily defended City with the targets finally marked the bomber stream assumes formation at 23 000 feet the first lancasters and halifaxes dropped their payloads at 408 am setting Leipzig a flame aboard a Halifax in 78 Squadron pilot Bernard Downs received instructions from his Bombardier left left steady hold it doing nicely Skipper three or four minutes to go Downs tries to keep the bomber on course while the wall of flack intensifies a Lancaster in front takes a direct hit and plunges towards the ground with no parachute sighted at the same time the rear Gunner reports that a Halifax next to him is being shot up by a German Knight fighter Downs must ignore the chaos around him and bring the bomber all the way to the Target the Bombardier once again comes over the intercom hold it skip write a bit OK bundles open the Halifax slows ever so slightly as the Bombay doors open the instructions continue left left steady steady before the Bombardier excitedly reports bombs gone the bomber jolts upwards as it's freed from its heavy load Downs begins to navigate for home relieves to be done with the Run the attack as a whole is far more difficult for the rest of the bomber stream the bombing is concentrated to begin with but the heavy Flack forces many of the formations to scatter as they approach the target therefore the attack is not as effective in the later waves and damage to the aircraft production facilities is less accurate the ref drops 2 300 tons of bombs on Leipzig but many of these Munitions fall on the mostly residential southern part of the city 970 German civilians will be killed in Leipzig on the first day of big week most of them during the night attack fly Sergeant Griffiths of 207 Squadron recalled seeing the city burning for 35 miles after his lancasters had left the target area for night Fighters again descend on the bomber stream as it leaves the flat cover of the city despite the efforts of the escorting bowfighters the RAF bombers are harassed all the way back to the English Channel The Raid will prove to be the costliest of the war thus far for bomber command one Lancaster pilot writes in his diary pretty deadly trip the older Mark II and Mark 5 variants of the Halifax will be withdrawn after the type suffers a 14 loss rate during the attack flight Lieutenant Carter Goes On The Run for another three days before he is captured meanwhile Squadron leader Julian sale had intended to bail out but had decided to crash land after realizing one of his comrade's parachutes was unusable sale is grievously injured in the crash landing but his crewmate survives and both men are captured by the enemy afraid he would spend the rest of his life disabled sail purposely leaps to his death from a pow Hospital in Hanover a month later he will be awarded the distinguished flying cross as the sun rises the last bombers return to their air bases by 7am 78 out of the 823 aircraft are shot down and 551 airmen lost the raf's Leipzig mission is an ominous start to bigwig just as the exhausted RAF Airmen collapsed into their bunks to grab some much-needed sleep the bomber Crews of the U.S 8th Air Force are underway for their own daytime mission to Leipzig hours earlier the commander of U.S Strategic Air Forces in Europe Lieutenant General Carl spatz gave the order for the start of operation argument with a simple message to his base commanders let him go although the U.S 15th Air Force has their mission scrubs due to weather 1003 heavy bombers escorted by 835 Fighters our airborne and formed up by 10 am and headed towards German territory three bombardment divisions will be sent to attack Targets in occupied Poland and throughout Eastern Germany but the main objective will once again be the assembly plants in Leipzig after the raf's rough go the night before spatz's Deputy Major General Fred Anderson predicts that the Americans will lose up to 200 bombers but this is not the same Eighth Air Force as it was in 1943. after suffering horrendous losses the previous year the American bomber Force has been rebuilt and its veteran Pilots are more confident in their abilities they will also have a key Advantage this time the p-51b Mustang after being re-engined with the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine and given drop tanks the Mustang is now able to escort Allied bombers all the way to their targets in Germany new 8th Air Force Commander Lieutenant General Jimmy Doolittle has been experimenting with new tactics involving sending escorts on fighter sweeps ahead of the bombers this way they can intercept enemy Fighters before they can get close to the formations of flying fortresses with the bomber strains augmented by p-51s and P-47 Thunderbolts carrying more efficient drop tanks it is hoped that the American fighter escorts will take the fight to the enemy the Mustangs and Thunderbolts are flying ahead of the main bomber stream in radio silence when the fighter pilots hear a strange humming sound in their headsets this is German radar tracking the formation a reminder that the enemy is watching them with the massive aerial Armada now well into the European continent it's only a matter of time before the German air force Rises to challenge the Raiders HP 47s of the 56th Fighter Group are escorting a formation of bombers when they reach the end of their range 30 miles west of Hanover just before the Thunderbolts turned back a pilot calls out Bandits seven o'clock low 15 bf-110s are skimming the top of the cloud layer in two echelons unaware of the American fighters lurking above in the words of Lieutenant bolt Johnson everything was shaping up for a perfect bounce the p-47s form up in a line of breast and dive into the German formation the 50 caliber machine guns erupt all at once ripping through the bf-110s they went down like wheat before a scythe recalled Johnson the American Pilots move onto the second Echelon which take similar losses the sky is suddenly filled with burning aircraft and blooming parachutes as the Thunderbolts Prey Upon the two engine Fighters which are no match for the diving p-47s only one German pilot is able to escape into the clouds and run for home in just a few minutes a violent aerial combat 14 of the 15 bf-110s are shot down with no loss to the American fighters the pilots of the 56th Fighter Group will refer to the area west of Hanover as the Happy Hunting Ground this pattern is repeated across the bomber stream as the Mustangs join The Fray easily outperforming their German counterparts in a series of high altitude melees Hugh McGinty a B-17 tail Gunner watches with satisfaction as bf-109s and fw-190s are chased through the bomber formations by Mustangs unlike most of the battles of the previous year the Gunners on the flying fortresses must think twice before shooting at single-engined aircraft we had to be careful not to hit our little friends Doolittle's aggressive tactics are paying off and the American bomber stream arise in tax over Eastern Germany now it is their turn to Reign destruction on the center of the rice fighter production Lieutenant Bill Lawley is piloting the B-17 cabin in the sky 3. as his formation approaches Leipzig the weather is crystal clear with near unlimited visibility perfect for a Precision bombing run Lawley switches over to autopilot to let Bombardier Lieutenant Harry Mason guide the Flying Fortress over the target black puffs of smoke erupt around the bomber but the Flack isn't nearly as heavy as previous missions minutes later Mason spots the objective the Leipzig Messerschmitt assembly plants which are not concealed behind a smoke screen once over the target Lieutenant Mason hits the release switch but the two and a half tons of high explosives remain Frozen in the bomb racks Mason tries closing and reopening the Bombay doors before attempting to kick the bombs free but they still fail to release the heavily Laden bomber is now falling behind the rest of the formation which accelerates away after dropping their payloads within minutes cabin in the sky 3 finds itself alone as a dozen German Fighters gather for an attack an fw-190 strikes from 12 O'Clock High and peppers the cockpit with cannon fire the co-pilot is killed instantly and his body slumps forward against the control stick while Lieutenant Lawley is badly wounded the Flying Fortress enters a near vertical dive and the aircraft plunges 10 000 feet in a matter of seconds despite serious wounds to his right arm and face Lawley manages to pull back on the control column with only his left hand and level out with one of the engines dead and another on fire the wounded pilot orders his crew to bail out however Mason reports that two of the crewmen are in bad shape and won't survive the jump although Lawley is blasted with freezing air whipping through the shattered windscreen he has no choice but to try and nurse the B-17 back to base the rest of the bomber stream has better luck above the target aided by the clear weather the bombing results are good and the messersmith factories are hit hard the flying fortresses turned for home while the Mustangs and Thunderbolts continue to fend off German attacks foreign despite hundreds of sorties against the retiring bombers the luftwaffe is mostly unable to penetrate the thick defensive screen of p-47s and p-51s as such most of the b-17s will make it back to their bases without incident a complete reversal from the worst days of 1943 when the formations were hit hard on their way home meanwhile cabin in the sky 3 remains in dire state the fires have been extinguished but German Fighters continue to harass the wounded bomber as it runs for the English Channel although Lieutenant Lawley is losing blood and struggling to fly the aircraft alone he refuses morphine for his wounds while slipping in and out of consciousness every time Lawley passes out Lieutenant Mason revives him with a slap to the face because all of the maps have been blown out of the aircraft a near-delirious lawly must fly using only memory miraculously he manages to get the B-17 back to England with just one engine left spotting a small fighter base Lawley attempts to lower his landing gear but the wheels are jammed in place he instead goes in for a belly landing despite the full load of bombs still on board The Fortress strikes the tarmac and Sparks erupt from underneath the bomber but the bombs do not explode and the B-17 comes to a rest at the end of the short Runway all of the remaining crewmen Will Survive and Lieutenant Bill Lawley is later awarded the Medal of Honor Lawley is one of three Eighth Air Force Airmen to earn the Medal of Honor on this day he is the only survivor of the three the mood is tense at spatz's headquarters where his nervous staff are expecting the worst just as the sun begins to dip Beneath The Horizon the teletype machine begins relaying the casualty reports one of spatz's aides later recalled his Joy at reading the results Group after group reported no losses or only one or two we couldn't believe it only 21 b-17s and four Fighters have been lost while they're usually boastful escorts have claimed 61 German aircraft shot down in fact rarely they are actually undershooting the real number the luftwaffe has lost 74 fighters in the aerial battle however this is only the first day of the battle and the luftwaffe is already moving to adjust its defensive tactics play War Thunder for free on PC PS5 and Xbox series X and S follow the link to download the game where PC players will get a free large Bonus Pack including multiple premium Vehicles premium account boosters and more foreign

Channel: The Operations Room

Views: 238,809

Keywords: Time-Lapse, History, Second World War, ww2, Documentary, aircraft, time lapse, animated, war, masters of the air, 8th air force, b-17 flying fortress, usaaf, bomber

Id: H-aQjUvMaW8

Length: 21min 39sec (1299 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 01 2023