Daylight Bombing Raids On Europe - Full Documentary

[Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] 17 august 1942 strategic air power was born at 1526 hours the first daylight mission from a base in england was launched [Music] twelve flying fortresses carrying about 18 tons of bombs destined for railroad marshalling yards at rowan this was the initial test of the air offensive by day against the powerful german air force could strategic bombing be maintained would it achieve its objective the answer roared over germany just one year later to the day forts on their way to schweinford three months later 228 forts carried 500 tons of bombs to the same target bringing strategic air power to an impressive peak in the campaign against german aircraft production the factories at schweinford produce 52 percent of the total number of anti-friction bearings manufactured in germany this concentration of critical production capacity caused the allied chiefs of staff to assign a top priority to the target at this time the long-range fighter had not been developed fighters did not accompany the bombers to the target area this day saw the proof that the heavy bomber could not effectively defend itself and made the development of the long-range fighter and essential to our strategic bombing success wave after wave of enemy fighters attacked the unescorted bombers [Music] black over the target was intense but good visibility enabled the forts to make an accurate run and all 500 tons were dropped in the target area [Music] the bombing was very heavy that day many buildings were demolished by high explosive bombs there was much fire from incendiaries however our fleck batteries and fighters shut down 62 bombers inflicted major battle damage upon 17 and damage in varying degrees and 121 more personnel casualties in the attacking force must have been large 599 killed and 40 wounded a costly day this had been the heaviest single clash between air forces to date it's estimated that the enemy lost more than 300 fighter aircraft during the operation but the fact that this impressive effort to break a vital link in the german war economy failed in actuality is by no means the full measure of its impact upon that economy it was originally planned to destroy this target in one raid but the then existing size of our air force could not sustain the great losses inflicted upon it and so was prevented from taking advantage of a follow-up attack to destroy the ball bearing industry however the shattering rate of 14 october shocked the reich officials into immediate action and led directly to the dispersal of industry from schweinfurt and other centralized districts this dispersal of industry made possible the success of the allied air campaign against transportation and communications which in turn brought the german nation to its knees in the first week of march the american eighth air force by day and the raf by night hammered at the doom city of cologne third largest in the reich gateway to the roar bridge at the mighty rhine cologne was hitler's greatest fortress in the west now that fortress its factories its bridges its rail yards lies battered and burning in some of these scenes not only the smashed hoens island bridge but the spires of the cathedral are visible [Music] one of the german scarecrows meant to look like a plane hit by anti-aircraft the earliest directive of the combined british and american chiefs of staff relating to air policy stated that from time to time heavy bomber forces would be diverted from their main strategic objectives if other objectives of political or military importance presented themselves before the united states ended the war berlin was subjected to many night raids by raf heavy bombers these attacks were supplemented by fast british mosquito raids beginning in march 1944 the united states air force also sent numerous missions against the targets inside the city limits the attacks were designed to disrupt the war industries and the transportation system of this most highly industrialized area in germany outside the rural it was further intended to harry and disorganize the german high command during both february and march 1945 three large-scale attacks were made on the german capital the large rail centers near the governmental area were specific targets these attacks materially lowered the morale and will to resist at the german people and their leaders [Music] [Music] [Music] bombers of the eighth united states air force taking off from their drones in england continue their round-the-clock devastation of war plants in nazi germany [Music] in broad daylight mighty squadrons roar across the north sea over hamburg germany's principal seaport and number one war center tons of bombs rain from the skies aerial photographs show the results seven square miles of hamburg's war industries docks military installations flattened and in ruins water mains gas and electric plants destroyed hamburg as a war center a base for submarines is virtually wiped off the map [Music] battling their way home machine gunners blast enemy fighter planes from the skies [Music] the return of the squadrons jagged gaping holes in many of bomber testify to the intensity of the futile nazi defense even as a wounded yankee gunner is born from his ship raf ground crews are making ready night raiders to continue the assault from more than 40 airdromes 800 giant bombers wellingtons liberators lancaster sports take off to complete the destruction of the vital nazi seaport again the signal on target and the city of hamburg is fired by more bombs than fell on london in the 11 worst months of the nazi air attacks [Music] nine-year-old jimmy osbourne blind from birth has been a friend of american airmen stationed in england jimmy has played at concerts for the flyers amazed at his ability they have collected funds to send him to the united states when jimmy came to the airfield on a recent visit the commanding officer presented him with a check the airmen had subscribed more than three thousand dollars to provide jimmy with a musical education in america the gifted little boy son of an english bus driver plays his own composition which he calls blitz concerto [Music] a liberator comes in for an emergency landing at a fighter field in corsica it's nose guns festooned with a vertical fin of another b-24 with which it collided over the marshalling yards at palmer italy crossing underneath during evasive action the b-24 caught its vertical stabilizer on this plane's nose the tail surface impaled on the gun barrels was torn away the thin hooded ship plunged out of control from 21 000 feet four of the crew succeeded in bailing out before the pilot was able to bring the crippled plane out of its dive at less than two thousand feet although the nose turret was badly battered the gunner escaped death by inches and was unhurt maneuvering through heavy anti-aircraft fire his air speed gone the pilot managed to make an emergency landing the tailpiece is carted off to the bone pile but the liberator after plastic surgery on its nose will return to action allied bombs smashed at german production to back up the offensive on the western front this time 850 british lancasters and halifaxes strike at cologne war factories the founding of key german centers like this check supplies rolling out to the vermont every burning factory here speeds the allied advance toward berlin [Music] this is ochen behind today's battlefront the nazi's refusal to surrender forced the american forces to storm the city among the pulverized targets at akin the cathedral still stands a tribute to allied marksmanship [Music] american-made mitchells in boston's roar over roarmund in another royal air force assault dutch pilots fly on a mission against a key dutch target pub of seven nazi highways bombs fall on the big road bridge over the river moss as allied flyers score another hit in the great air drive on enemy production and transportation the p-47 was equipped with wing tanks which extended its range three to four hundred miles the long-range p-51 fighter capable of escorting the striking force to and from its objective put in an appearance toward the end of 1943 after a lull during the fall of 1943 when increased numbers of p-51s were being assembled in the united kingdom we were completely equipped to effectively carry out the campaign against german fighter production attack against airframes was decided upon because airframes as a target system appeared more accessible intelligence with regard to engine production was not as thorough the earlier planted height of blick leipzig was the office in original factory of the complex making forty percent of the me 109 fighters turned out in germany the erla plant was attacked twice during february 1944 and once four months later in june attacks also were made against two other plants in the early complex those at makhan and de leitch after the february raids sixty-five percent of the factory floor space at heidelberg was destroyed many completed aircraft and a considerable amount of components were lost at this time about 450 workers were killed and many important airline company records were burned the germans made no attempt to restore the buildings at heidelberg instead the undamaged tools were moved to disperse the plants and an overall decentralization plan for the aircraft industry was put in effect the 27 main fighter factories were dispersed into 760 smaller plants during the spring of 1944 about half of the plant dispersal was accomplished with only minor disturbance to production but erla and other fighter companies were now compelled to rely upon rail and truck to implement smooth operation of production german voliti was beginning to grow target bullets continuing the main two-fold strategy of wrecking germany's aircraft industry and choking off its oil heavy bombers striking industrial installations over keel the nazis try to hide their targets behind smoke screens while the formation flies onto poland's over denmark twin-engine enemy fighters attack a b-24 is shot down and burns on the sea heavy flak marks the nazi's determination to protect their synthetic oil output for production of nearly half germany's liquid fuel and almost all of its aviation gas is concentrated in but eight huge plants all are vulnerable for they cannot be dispersed and relocated like aircraft factories their machinery is complicated the process continuous stores of hydrogen and fuel make the plants highly inflammable and heavy attacks stop production completely until the damage is repaired target bernberg on june 29 a thousand heavies escorted by an equal number of mustangs and thunderbolts fanned out to attack enemy war industry and aircraft production chief targets were bomber and fighter components and assembly factories in central germany this is the attack on bernberg where ju52s 87s and 88s are assembled at the junckers aircraft motorworks enemy fighter interception was stronger than it has been recently 15 bombers and four fighters failed to return against these losses our fighters claimed 33 german planes destroyed in the air 16 on the ground and now bombers got three [Music] wistful vista came home badly damaged during the raid it was hit in the belly by a large flak shell which carried away the ball turret and caused extensive damage to the fuselage [Music] [Music] march 1944 italy seven months after surrendering to the allies italian airfields resounded with growing american air might from rebuilt axis bases the allies were able to attack nazi targets beyond the working range of bombers based in england out of the many sky battles allied air forces had gradually achieved air superiority now theater air commanders general spots and acre arrived at fosu to plan new strategy with general nathan kleining the 15th air force cg spots an acre were handing pointing the biggest job his bombers had ever undertaken the 15th air force soon got the news they had been ordered to fly through hitler's back door and destroy his oil industry general twining and his staff took on the job we farmer boys who moved up from africa started the poestier siege on the morning of april 5th 94 b-17 swung into formation close by were 136 b-24s we were strong we expected the enemy's coastal radar network in albania and yugoslavia to spot us as we made our approach over the adriatic sea although it was still early in our 600 mile run to target we cut into flaxseeds they're a kind of insurance climbing to altitude we skim the yugoslav mountains mighty peaceful peaceful until they bristle with flak [Music] guns [Music] we were soon to find out the hard way that plowest had become the third best defended spot on the continent this was a high altitude mission 21 to 24 000 feet as we neared the target we edged into tighter formations each had top cover we all remembered a 1943 blue sd mission with 177 liberators in which we lost 54 planes would this be like last year's mission this one might be worse 250 enemy fighters outnumbering ours three to one attacked [Music] [Music] the enemy fighters almost had enough by the time we crossed the sofia belgrade line our lightnings moved in for the knockout punch [Music] then we ran into flock 256 heavy guns fill this guy with black deadly [Music] mushrooms [Music] [Music] his intense black the enemy had added smoke we could almost smell the nauseating acid fog two thousand smoke pots effectively covered plowest accurate visual bombing was impossible at headquarters they knew something had to be done after many missions the target was still effectively protected on 10 june operations decided on a new tactic using p38 [Music] for four hours 1200 miles we buzzed the balkans the smoke screen had to be linked [Music] we climbed the bombing altitude and some of us dumped our wing tanks as we got close to the enemy after hitting the refineries we attacked german fighter units on the ground our p-38s got through the smoke the mission was successful we had destroyed 29 enemy planes and had damaged three refineries but the job wasn't done operations increased servicing went around the clock the plan called for the bombers to be on target during the morning hours and stop poesti's working day the man ate it slapped it cursed it especially the flack and smoke the four-month campaign since april had cost 1900 men the crews of 189 bombers and 41 fighters early in august general 20 called a meeting of our group commanders the strategical air force during the next three days will attack continuously night and day with maximum effort against all primaries in the area [Music] we got over flowesty all right but the enemy gave us a warm welcome they rammed up more than 45 000 rounds of flock that didn't stop us during three days of smoky air siege we lost 30 more planes 23 to flock but now we had over 100 mustangs as escorts the enemy jabbed and r51 swooped into the battle [Music] hit hard enemy fighter strength fell apart displaying courage far beyond the call of duty our boys drove the enemy into the ground [Music] black kept our bomber crews on their toes we waited through it all the way to the target the full weight of our attack fell on [Music] proesti that did it the steady pounding whittled away 90 of romanian oil production the global and greedy designs of an axis dictator were consumed in a blazing oily plosty this was the crowling climax to our air siege in only five months this had become the graveyard for one-third of hitler's oil oil a pre-war weak point in the nazi military supply system became a bottleneck under repeated allied blows the bombs had crushed gasoline producing storage and shipping centers mainly germany's 350 000 slave workers tried to repair the damage but now all the refineries in the rich plosty cluster were damaged or knocked out we hurt them but they heard us too the plosty campaign had cost us 270 heavy bombers 49 fighters and their crews each plane and each man helped to shorten the war as we hit the donut line we were still flying the mission and we wondered about our missing air crews how many would come back the answer came sooner than we had expected 12 days after the last bombing of plosty we got a real thrill an air lift of 56 transport converted b-17s were bringing back our buddies who had been forced down romania had surrendered to the russians in just three days more than 1100 returned as part of operation reunion this was the first mass prisoners of war liberation of the first 600 only 10 were stretcher cases all in all considering what they've been through they were a lighthearted bunch it was good to be back [Music] yes it was a day to remember that day at pogee airport these were the first and general twining made it plain how glad he was to have his men back he had planned something special from his coral sea experience he remembered what privation meant first he gave his men medical care and food then god speed on their next mission their new checkpoint was the statue of liberty their target was whole target on board during the polits mission a force of b-17s climbs 25 000 feet over clouds and heads via helgoland for hamburg oxygen is used during four of the seven hours flight at hamburg the target again is oil important oil storage and refining plants are hammered with excellent results sustained bombings have reduced german oil production by two-thirds this drop is extremely serious since romanian production has been virtually checked and german production alone has never been sufficient to build up a substantial reserve the absence of the luftwaffe in normandy is believed to have been caused by germany's acute fuel shortage [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] in the middle of february 1945 a plan was worked out which called for the destruction of all railroad workings in the roar and surrounding areas on 22 and 23 february 1945 allied air operation clarion was carried out against all small and medium rail points in germany by more than seven thousand aircraft from all the american and british air forces this resulted in the saturation of repair capabilities of the german rail system and precipitated a general disorganization of transport allied heavy bombers continued to strike at marshalling yards eason was bombed in spite of bad weather with devastating results to both the link between the roar and southern germany and the rail connection between the koblenz area of the rhineland and leipzig and berlin [Music] [Music] out of the west thirteen hundred and fifty american bombers of the eighth air force streaked their vapor trails into the dawn [Music] for two full days miles of these bombers hammered right factory and railroad centers in the east chemnitz magdeburg cockbus the veteran first division of the eighth air force today carried its 200 000 ton of bombs to help in a lie now they hit dresden hardest of all the blitz here blasting away from the russians now 45 miles away links the two front allied drive from east and west on berlin [Music] [Music] the day arrived when a huge bomber mission with full fighter escort flew a round trip to berlin without challenge by a single enemy fighter fighters returning from unchallenged escort missions were ordered to seek targets of opportunity since the enemy did not come up to fight down they went to blast his planes and burn them in his eardrums it was the most savage and devastating fighter attack on record and the wreckage of nazi aircraft littered the fields of europe until the german air force was broken forever [Music] from france to the philippines makers of many of this wars headlines have been b-24 liberators and the men who fly and fight them [Music] the lib is heroin too of many a wing in a prayer story flak gutted 24 brings back airmen glib beats off eight enemy fighters comes home on two engines to some people it sounds as if the liberator comes home itself while pilot and crew relax and enjoy the ride to some people but not to the pilot and crew the men who flew safely back from battle in these planes know the b-24s ability to take punishment is only half the story a good solid half but the other half is know how it's the sum total of information you have about any plane that will determine whether you can bring it back after it has been badly shut up men who have piled up combat missions have said that if they had to do it all over they'd spend more time during training learning their airplane from one end to the other they know time invested that way pays off how it pays off is shown in the following scenes taken by combat camera crews during operations against the enemy in europe and the pacific the camera catches a pilot peeling off at moratai for a belly landing demanded by a smashed hydraulic system and other damage that prevented manual lowering of the gear and he's down the 24 greased in on her belly by a skipper who knows the formula slow air speed to minimum and use full flaps pick a smooth hard surface a runway if available and make a normal approach in landing while the co-pilot reduces the danger of fire by cutting all mixture controls and ignition switches just after contact a walk away success as a gear up landing should be for a pilot and crew who know their stuff [Music] bomb damage at the bloom and boss submarine yards in steinberger just across the elbow from hombor the entire factory area bordering on the hamburg harbor shows the effects of the pulverizing raids however on 27th may supreme headquarters announces that the port of hamburg is expected to be open to allied shipping by first june [Music] the damage shown here is in the harbor willemsburg industrial zone also part of greater hamburg the use of humborg will shorten the land communications for all northwest europe heretofore antwerp had been the allies primary port the heart of europe's foremost seaport is a bombed-out shell founded in the year 808 by charlemagne hamborg had a free war population of more than a million and a half reich marshall hermann gehring at seventh army headquarters in augsburg germany after surrendering to the us 36 division the war crimes commission has declared guring indictable on at least eight different counts on 11th may the erstwhile chief of the luftwaffe answers questions put to him by some 50 allied correspondents asked whether adolf hitler is dead or alive gerring expresses the opinion that he's dead discussing the air war he says the greatest surprise of the war to us was the long-range fighter bomber which could take off from england attacked berlin and returned to its home base [Music] [Applause] from islands north of australia new guinea new britain vitally important munda on new georgia island come dramatic official films of the allies great sea and their offensive against the japanese in the south pacific planes over kahili sight and bomb a japanese cruiser swift b-24s swarm over the chat base at lay on new britain breaking shore positions again and again enemy landing barges bringing reinforcements are machine gunned out of the water [Music] over the shores of munda the bombers see american destroyers move in and bombard the big japanese airfield on this vitally important island [Music] the smoking shoreline reveals the effects of the naval bombardment [Music] working with precision and exactness in a coordinated attack the destroyers now move out as medium and heavy bombers soften the way for the allied troops advancing on land [Music] a giant bomber unloading a never-ending cargo of death upon the enemy perhaps this is what president roosevelt and prime minister churchill meant when they said decisions reached at the quebec conference would have a far-reaching effect in the war against japan here is allied air power already smashing the outlying defenses of the japanese empire [Music] targets the truck group in the carolines on june 19th as part of a series of raids throughout the carolinas to prevent the japs from interfering with operation of our task force in the marianas b-24 has dropped 115 tons of bombs and one of the heaviest single strikes ever made on truck each plane concentrated its load of 12 500 pound general purpose bombs on the north and south moan air strip truck again was the principal target on the 22nd this time enemy fighters attacked some with phosphorus bombs none of which were effective there were no casualties although the bombers received minor damage from machine gun and cannon fire the camera ship carried nine 500 pound bombs and quantities of propaganda leaflets which were dropped on the paramilan fighter airstrip southwest of mohen island there was overcast and haze but 80 of the bombs hit the target area enemy fighters stayed with the formation for half an hour before returning to truck again on the 26th a camera crew flew one of the daily trips to truck as before the 24 staged out of wheat talk jab fighters made several passes but interception was on a minor scale and no bomber was hit [Music] enemy fighters made another ineffective phosphorus bomb attack [Music] the bomb run was from twenty thousand feet down to eighteen thousand five hundred over the target which was param island again by the end of june we encountered virtually no air opposition [Music] air force films show a helicopter being unloaded from a c-54 at north strip michigan on 22nd january the helicopter a yr4 was brought in from right field to be used by the air jungle rescue unit of the 10th air force before the arrival of the helicopter liaison cubs were used to reach crashed planes for rescue and marking purposes or men had to march through hills and jungles to get to them many times neither walking in or flying in was possible the helicopter has made it feasible to reach every plane a pilot comes in to mark a crashed b-25 so they'll not be reported to intelligence over and over again by pilots who might spot it and not know it had been reported the marking consists of a big yellow cross painted on a wing all usable and salvageable instruments are removed along with all secret documents or devices which might have been aboard on the way back to the home base saipan casualties are flown to kwajalein thence by c-54 hospital plane to the atc terminal hickam field honolulu where ambulances drive out to the runway and meet the a wounded c-54 taxis up to the apron after completing the longest air evacuation of the war in record time the ambulances line up and prepare to receive the casualties litter cases are handled quickly and smoothly trained course men shift and move the stretches adeptly according to a regular procedure a medical officer reads the tag and assigns each patient to a waiting ambulance [Music] the cars men use short quick motions in removing the litters from the plane they stop change holes then shift the litters again until the patient is placed on the ground these particular men have slight wounds fractures or tissue injuries in view of the long trip they're in very good condition a result of the excellent treatment they receive in the forward areas [Music] air corps films of b-24s from the 13th air force fifth bomber group striking at miri on the northwest coast of borneo pre-invasion bombing softens up [ __ ] installations and positions on the island [Music] important for its oil rubber and timber borneo is the largest and most sparsely settled of the netherlands east indies earning oil tanks in miri [Music] liberators at kuching in sarawak borneo the squarely shirley of the fifth group makes its 130th consecutive mission without a turnback bombs wrecked the kuching airstrip [Music] the invasion convoy moves on tara khan island off borneo's northeast coast e38 strafe and bomb the jetty area on the tarracon beach where initial landings are to be made this region is rich in oil wells and oil tanks and installations are smashed in the attack [Music] [Applause] a report in picture and sound on air ground liaison methods between infantry units and 820 planes of the third attack group prior to an attack on an objective known as hill 2380 southeast luzon strafing and bombing with napalm and parachute demolition bombs softens up jack positions on the hill before the artillery barrage and infantry attack they're flying too much too much uh from uh northwest too much from northwest to south east [Music] and they still insist on flying from west to east uh they get a little bit more of the southern part of the park at the southern face of the target they could switch their strike around flying near to the seventy near over [Music] was very nice it was right in the target area saipan island nine months after its capture by u.s troops walks roads quonset hut offices comfortable living quarters chapels and recreation buildings marked the area formerly a wilderness traffic signs are seen everywhere on the paved roads which crisscross the island for communications between harbor airfields workshops and living quarters the saipan air terminal air transport between the pacific islands is increasing constantly and our services on saipan make a main terminal for passengers and equipment an air view of saipan shows what this advanced air and naval base looks like today improved airfields air strips and revetments are everywhere on the island which only 1465 miles from tokyo has become a main base from which b-29 super fortresses are striking the [ __ ] homeland when our forces took saipan the entire island with the exception of three little towns was either wilderness or cane fields now all the strategic potentialities of the built up area are being used in the mounting air sea and land blows against the enemy [Music] so so [Music] so [Music] you

Channel: Documentary Base

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Rating: 4.7027864 out of 5

Keywords: Documentary, Documentaries. History, War, WW2, WWII, World War, Bombers, Flying Fortress, Flying Fortresses, Liberator, Air, Raids, Campaigns, Bombing, Air Force, RAF, US, American, Force, Nazi Germany, Nazi, Plane, Crash, 8th Air Force, 9th Air Force

Id: qgjKE1qgN-M

Length: 57min 53sec (3473 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 12 2019