earlier 1945 our b-29s began full-scale operations against Japan 1,500 miles to targets and 1,500 miles back from basis at Saipan Tinian and Guam here 21st bomber : concentrated its massive air power and planned the ultimate crushing defeat of Japan down to the last bomb here was the beginning of the end of the road to Tokyo after six months of reoccupation there were few signs of war along the quiet summer shores of Guam the liberated Chu morons were back in their clean native villages American citizens again smiling and friendly unaware that a miracle had happened around a miracle that moved mountains of material equipment and supplies across the Pacific that changed their dirt roads into broad highways that manicured their jungles into acres of blacktop deer fields and nearby new communities of American citizens had set up housekeeping with various types of self-service the latest labor saving devices fuel laundry problems and no modern inconveniences by midsummer 21st Bomber Command was in business big business under general amaze direction the long arm of Bomber Command began punching the enemy with appalling power from Guam Tinian and Saipan 600 plane missions increase the bombing weight 100% in two months behind this expanding power was planning the LeMay plan began on the ground with maintenance assembly-line technique cut engine change time from three days to less than half a day in shops and hard stands ground crews work day and night during the Blitz weeks to keep more b-29s on the line by July Lemay's Bomber Command is an efficient well-oiled well-drilled machine of destruction here's a vital cog of that machine eleven men and a bomber while they wind up for action let's find out where they're going and some of the things they're going to do and why and with what how do they set up the longest toughest bomber mission and history it began about 12 hours ago in the war room at Guam with general LeMay and a staff receiving a report on tomorrow's weather in Japan tomorrow's forecast is typical Nagoya eight-tenths cloud above 10,000 feet in the East Tokyo area will be 6/10 of 22,000 3/10 at 14,000 feet closing up solid after 11 a.m. Osaka and everything west is reported completely socked in how will the general solve that one his b-29s are up against a blank wall except for a possible opening around Tokyo the old man considers every vital factor and makes his decision four wings will strike Tokyo at 10 o'clock they'll go in under that weather and bomb at 12,000 now it's a question of target selection first priority in the Tokyo area is number 5 7 3 intelligence informs the general that 5 7 3 is already 3/4 destroyed at the moment number 5 7 4 still untouched would seem more important operations checks the tactical plan for 5-7 floor general LeMay orders the required changes okay's the target and commits all executive details to his staff operations with his deputy chief of staff and project officer goes to work setting up the changes in that plans folder is a mountain of preparation by special sections of intelligence and operations a thousand hours of research collated facts and figures have been distilled in the tactical plan five seven four aircraft will assemble is briefed with three groups of p-51s for escort smoke markers at one-minute intervals will be dropped by lead planes to expedite departure from assembly point one squadron each wing will carry m47 incendiary clusters balance of squadrons 500 and 1,000 pound GP bombs fused a quarter second nose and tail altitude of attack 12,000 feet planes of 314th wing will carry capacity fuel loads of approximately 70 300 gallons per plane calibrated airspeed of 210 miles per hour will be flown by all aircraft on bombing run radar landfall 3450 north and 140 east will be the same for all planes to afford a good land water contrast Check Point the Navy is requested to furnish the following facilities for air-sea rescue purposes three surface vessels to proceed to positions X for submarines assigned a lifeguard duties at positions Y to Dumbo's to orbit at Station C for b-29s will orbit a super Dumbo's at the following positions each section of the plan has double-checked to supervise certain aspects of planning lieutenant colonel captain a former lead crew pilot was recently brought over to staff as project officer this officers extensive combat experience now helps to iron our operational kinks he will accompany this mission to observe new smoke signals at assembly point a field order is now dispatched to the wings takeoff time as flash to controller who coordinates the vast network of communications gathered here at the heart and nerve center of command here in the control room status panels and a mission board are maintained to show at a glance that countless up-to-the-minute details of all daily operations prior to takeoff each mission is set up on the poor to afford a visual progress of the flight from takeoff to target and return colored yarns one for each wing are laid out to indicate the flight lines which pass close to iwo jima the halfway point and proceed as specified in the field order to the proper target other symbols are used to mark air-sea rescue positions a timetable of statistics for each wing as planned and flown as recorded from hourly reports on the status panel beginning with takeoff time two veteran crews it's just another day's work one more 1,500 mile haul up and down the ruddy pacific 15 hours 7,000 gallons for engines 11 guys knock wood a water jump across 20 degrees of the globe a continent of ocean destination Tokyo it's like taking off in Mexico four targets in Canada the 314 is airborne 145 planes one minute apart 67 tons each those b-29 takeoffs are a tough sweat that first long moment is the words some swear it takes luck like a wife stocking to beat it at ten yen a hundred miles north two more b-29 wings prepare for takeoff 134 aircraft from the 58th week a hundred more from the 313 twig at Sipan a few minutes later the veteran 73rd wing lines up for takeoff 153 more bombers are added to the mission striking force you you the last b-29 is airborne at 15:40 the tower at Saipan relays this information to the controller back at Guam first and last takeoff times of each wing are recorded here and go to make up the first of a series of tabulated mission reports copies of these reports are dispatched to headquarters Washington and posted on the control-room report board during that first hour the b-29s have settled down for the big grind saving precious gas cruising a thousand feet off the water ability experience confidence ride in each plane a plan of action for 11 men trained and tested to function as one the navigator sets the course logging island checkpoints as they climb past the northern marianas taken assumption morgue the parolees after about four hours of flight the bombers pass closer Iwo Jima the hot rock of black gritty porcha pathway to hangzhou eight square miles bought and paid for by our Marines we made some quick changes cutting away that sulfurous volcanic crust and rolling evil surface into one enormous flattop three big air strips now launch our p-51s four bomber escort over Japan general Moore and his staff a 7th Fighter Command run the show and direct all air sea rescue operations in close collaboration with Bomber Command a last-minute briefing check just to make sure today's fighter escort knows all air-sea rescue positions are on the line general Moore's 50 ones are warming up for the longest fighter flight on record seven hours on one engine extra belly tanks extra nerve and stamina in the cockpit about the time our bomber wings are passing Iwo Jima the peashooters are taking off schedule to join them three and a half hours later off the shores of Japan after a rendezvous at Keita the p-51s head for assembly point led by b-29s designated as navigator ships farther west our bomber wings grind ahead on the last lap to the Empire reports to the controller back at guam give their flight position which is kept up to the hour on the mission board still at low altitude the b-29s are approaching the bad weather belt where unreported storms and cold fronts appears suddenly across the bomber course my litter crew are gonna start our client check oxygen equipment joparky pick out his daughters as they begin their slow climb to altitude the crews prepare for the vital business ahead and from now on till they come off target and head home it's all business the central fire control system is warmed up superhuman brain power at the flick of a switch each gunner flexes his sights and tries the coordinated fire controls with a few short bursts to clear the gun after pushing up to altitude the Bombers arrive close to assembly point air in the pressurized cabin is comparable to 8,000 feet but oxygen masks are adjusted and ready for instant use from the southeast our fighter escort appears with its navigator ships which now turn off to wait for the fighters return at rally point the Mustangs climb in formation to take positions above the boxes of b-29s LEED bombers begin to circle dropping the new smoke markers for a symbol the project officer observes this part of the tactical plan in action from various zone positions the group's separate and form on their lead ships and nine or eleven playing waves which had for initial point the big parade is on landfall is picked up along with the first flag burst from enemy coastal batteries Fujiyama the familiar white beacon marks the turn for initial point flag becomes heavier and more accurate and now the first jab snoopers appeared diving head on into the formations some are suicide fighters trying to ram obama's other jet fighters drop phosphorus bombs set to explode in front of the oncoming b-29s our p-51s go out after them and know they're tangling with experts the p-51s job is to protect the b-29s but some of those [ __ ] fighters filled it through and meet the blast of bomber gun you a tail gunner pleads with a net fighter to come in a little closer from the turn at initial point the tight bomber waves moves steadily on and get ready for business flak and fighters fall off but those clouds are beginning to close in and it looks worse ahead then just east of Hachioji the Tokyo area breaks clear the Bombardier is begin to draw a bead on 574 the plane sit tight for the bombing run here's where we pay off - [ __ ] aircraft plants and an airdrome 12,000 feet below are about to receive 4,000 tons of destruction the first waves of b-29s have already found their objective succeeding bomber groups at their devastation to the smoking tires tactical plan 574 is now an accomplished fact the Bombers turn and go downwind across the burnt acres of Tokyo close up camera show the scars of those spectacular fire strikes last March 51 square miles of LeMay treatment across the bay and a tail wind speeds themselves down the Chiba Peninsula this is fighter country with the first call on the intercom our Mustangs peel off and go to work with the big bombers homeward bomb our p-51s drop down for strafing runs concentrating on definite objectives from here to the enemy coasts skimming along at maximum speed the fighters pair off and go to work cutting vital [ __ ] lifelines blasting away at communications radio installations power lines swooping down on enemy transportation railroad marshalling yards small suburban factories and airfield then on the shipping targets freighters fishermen trawlers harbour and coastal craft destroyer or lucker it's the same enemy after strafing our fighters climbed back to rally point and the waiting b-29 navigator planes with the first side of evil fuel gauges are down close to empty but fighter spirits begin to rise they wind up and finish with a kick coming past Suribachi at whiplash speed and zoom in to their victory wolves once over for each [ __ ] kill after the last fighter groups are in all hands sweat in those first limping b-29s that runway is a beautiful sight as they let down with engines out low and gas or beat up by flak and fighters in three months nearly 2,000 crippled or gasps shy b-29s Haven dirty war you can understand why those four fanboys bless those Marines and even named their planes after them the lucky ones have fueled and depart for home bases in an hour but II whoa still has its hazards weather can turn this station into a hopeless Dame a fog and quick overcast often blacks out the airstrip during these crucial periods that means orders to bail out or with luck a b-29 might drop in for a copybook bitching from here you can see how the cloud cover up there smothers the runway and realize what one pilot went through sometimes a battle-scarred bomber staggers back to he will only to flatten out at the last heartbreaking second by some miracle the whole crew got away from their stations to safety before 2,000 gallons of flaming gas enveloped them firefighters risked their lives to save the ship this - takes courage beyond the line of duty part of the South most of the wings are nearing their bases exhausted crews wait out the last endless hour when time seems to stop the position is radioed in and the controller gets word of the approaching flight at last the familiar Ariana's appear on the horizon llamas fly across Guam and turn into the landing pattern fifteen hours ago they left the other end of that runway it's a pleasure to be back a pleasure to rule on solid familiar blacktop it's good to feel a sudden humid heat to be among the living swapping details with the ground crew flag fighters the close call the one that got away but some of those Beach one and I'm crews won't be able to talk it over today eleven men and a bomber that didn't quite make it rescue squads tear away the hot metal somehow on that burning wreckage a man has lived to feel those eager gallant hands one life saved and 10 lost that's part of today's tool and there were many other days and nights that took their to love young American lives and the service of our relentless expanding air power by the end of July our b-29s had all but obliterated the enemy's ability to make war thousand plain missions were going to hit Japan with twice the monthly tonnage that ever fell on Germany the question was how much longer would have beaten Japan hold out in August we made a test that never was applied to Germany while great land sea and air forces gathered for the last invasion our b-29s dropped two atomic bombs which hastened the surrender of Japan and saved untold thousands of American lives so the mission of our air forces which began nearly four years ago was accomplished
Great footage and interesting insight