My granddad flew the P51 in the 359th. Never heard any stories from him but we found some pictures of death camps in his attic, presumably taken after they had landed and found abandoned camps. They were the small Polaroid type and I can understand why he never spoke of his time as a fighter pilot. Stacks of half burned bodies everywhere.

Are there any books about the 359th, or any resources that I can find to see what missions he specifically flew?

My dad flew 29 missions as a B-24 bombardier over Germany/Austria. My uncle flew 8 as a B-17 bombardier before being shot down over the North Sea. My dad's unit has a website with links to every mission he flew, and of course I found this years after he passed. If you have dad's who served in combat, talk to them before you can't.
https://www.b24.net/

New trailer

https://100thbg.com/our-mission/

It's available today!
Watching episode 1 now

Some history of the Bloody 100th

My FIL, class of '42, was a navigator on a B-24 during WWII. His plane was the "Fertile Turtle" . Flew 50 missions over Ploesti and north Africa. Won the Distinguished Flying Cross for bringing them back from a raid where they sustained heavy damage and no navigational aids. He did it just by sheer dead reckoning.

My wife never knew he was even in WWII until I asked him about it while we were dating. He did not like to talk about it. We did not find out why until a few years after he had passed away back in the early '90's. The Fertile Turtle was shot down a couple of weeks after he was sent back to the states and all crewmen were lost. He got his 50 missions in before the rest of the crew by volunteering to fill in on other planes while the Turtle was grounded.

He used to complain about old war movies. All of the old movies had older movie stars playing the parts of the pilots and crew. He said the oldest guy on their plane was only 22.

They truly were "The Greatest Generation"

This is the obituary for the father of one of the best bosses I ever had.

Harold A. Radetsky, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel, died early Friday morning, May 30, 2014. Mr. Radetsky was 95. Service: 1 p.m. Tuesday in the Kornbleet Memorial Cemetery Chapel located in Ahavath Sholom Cemetery, 411 N. University Drive, with Rabbi Andrew Bloom and Cantor Shoshana Abrams-Kaikov officiating. Harold, or Hal, for those that knew him, was a man of love, honor, and integrity. His life was a memorable one, filled with devotion to his family, friends, religion, and country. He was a pillar of strength for us all. Col. Radetsky was born in Denver, Colo., and by the grace of divine kindness, lived four score and 15 years, blessed with vigor. After graduating from the University of Denver, he entered the U.S. Army Air Corps as a flying cadet in March 1941 and retired from the Air Force in October 1967, after more than 26 years of continuous service. Most of his World War II years were spent overseas, initially participating as an "A-20" bomber pilot with the first U.S. military unit, 15th Bomb Squadron, to attack occupied Europe from England on July 4, 1942. The squadron was subsequently deployed to North Africa and conducted bombing missions against General Rommel's retreating German forces. Returning to the U.S. in early 1943, he joined a newly formed bomb group which deployed to England in early 1944 for pre and post D-Day combat activity in both A-20 and A-26 attack bombers against German military targets in France and Germany until VE Day. The bomb group was then ordered to the Far East to participate in the invasion of Japan, and was in transit when the war ended. Subsequent assignments included: director, Armament Officer School; planning officer, Air Staff, Pentagon; Chief U.S. Air Force Advisory Group to Danish Air Force, Denmark; and he spent the last 14 years in the Strategic Air Command. He commanded B-52 Bomb Wings respectively at Minot AFB, N.D., Dyess AFB, Abilene, and Altus AFB, Okla. He was a command pilot, B-52 instructor pilot, KC-135 tanker pilot, and wore the Ballistic Missile Badge. His final assignment was director of Material, 2nd Air Force (SAC), Barksdale AFB, La.

His military decorations include the Legion of Merit with oakleaf, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with 6 oak leaves, Air Force Commendation Medal, Croix de Guerre with Palm, Chinese Government Commendation, three Presidential Unit Citations and various campaign medals. After retirement, he was employed by General Dynamics, Logistics Department, Fort Worth, until November 1980. Hal was a member of the Air Force Association, Congregation Ahavath Sholom, B'nai B'rith, the Jewish War Veteran Martin Hochster Post 755, and was an honorary member of the Teller Masonic Lodge of Denver.

I wonder if he was aware of what was happening to Jews in Europe as he was flying over France and Germany?

Generally getting rave ratings. This review does have one reservation, though.

CONTEXT

The advent of the P-51 was a definite game changer in the skies over Europe due to its speed and range. The fighter was able to escort bombers to the targets and back for the first time. Prior to the P-51, the Luftwaffe fighters habitually waited for the Allied escort fighters to turn around due their limited range. Then the bombers were attacked.

The P-51 defended the bombers and attacked the Luftwaffe fighters. This was a crucial step in attaining air superiority as the P-51 accelerated the destruction of the Luftwaffe. Often the P-51 pilots got the go ahead of going on air to ground attacks after the escort duties. This facilitated the destruction of many targets on the ground to include Luftwaffe planes on tarmacs. Then the P-51s were used on dedicated air to ground missions which helped the US Army as well.

The P-51s would eventually fight the ME 262, jet fighter/bombers. In a nutshell the overwhelming number of P-51s would make sure the ME 262 would not determine the outcome of the war. The ME 262 were often engaged at takeoff, landings, and when they sat on the tarmac. A significant number of them were not operational due to the lack of reliability of the aircraft. It was too little, to late.

I hope this paints the picture for you.

What it took to defend a B-17.

GUTS

74OA said:

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What it took to defend a B-17.

GUTS

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Quote:

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Gunners also achieved success, with the Eighth Air Force claiming 6,259 enemy aircraft destroyed by bomber gunners, more than for its fighter pilots. There is no doubt, however, that attributing fighter 'kills' was tricky in the heat of combat. Often, multiple gunners would open fire on the same target, observation of confirmed wreckage was far from guaranteed, and there was no gun-camera footage. Limited recognition of gunner aces reflected these realities, but at the same time, their enlisted status (for the most part), meant they were often also omitted from official lists of USAAF aces.

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Watching that show points out a few things. First, it took a lot of intestinal fortitude to be a crewmember on a bomber, especially that guy in the turret gunner slot. Pilots get the most of the recognition, and medals, with those in the back often being afterthoughts. With a 10 man crew it's hard to meritoriously recognize everyone so often it's the pilot with the medal, while those doing the grunt work get handshakes. I had trouble staying in my seat as that bomber was going down and the turret gunner was trapped in his seat.

Wow, episode 3 is brutal

Good summary of the mission. 3rd Air Division Commander, Colonel Curtis LeMay, was in the lead plane.

https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/schweinfurt-regensburg-raid-august-17-1943

Btw, how were time hacks done in the 1943 watches worn, and what was the source of the time hack?

(Accurate time hacks are very important for celestial navigation). Not important for navigation on bombing missions, but just curious...

Curtis R. Biddick

Curtis Rundle Biddick was born in Livingston, Wisconsin, on April 20, 1915, the son of Ernest and Delphis Biddick. He attended the University of California, Davis from 1932 until 1937, where he majored in Animal Science. In 1940 Biddick was working as a buyer in the wholesale meat industry in San Francisco. In January 1942 he enlisted as an Aviation Cadet in the United States Army Air Corps, graduating as a pilot in September of that year. He was assigned to the 100th Bomb Group in Wendover Field and departed the US with the 100th in the spring of 1943.

On July 24, 1943, Biddick piloted B-17 42-30184, nicknamed "Muggs'", on a twelve-hour mission to Trondjheim, the first Eighth Air Force attack on a Norwegian target. On his return, Biddick crash-landed in the vegetable patch of an RAF commanding officer in Aberdeen. The crew were returned to Thorpe Abbotts the following day.

On August 17, 1943, Biddick's B-17 42-5860 "Escape Kit'" took part in a mission to Regensburg. The 100th Bomb Group was assigned to "coffin corner", so called for its vulnerable position at the rear of the formation. Approximately 40 miles north of Regensburg, Biddick's plane suffered an oxygen fire caused by 20mm damage to the nose and fuselage, trapping those on the flight deck. Four of the crew were killed in action, including Lt Biddick.

I watched all three episodes last night. They were interesting and historically accurate to my knowledge. It was a shame that the US Army Air Force generals believed unescorted bombing runs were appropriate and the bombers could defend themselves. This belief and assumption stymied the endeavor to field escort fighters. You can see the staggering bomber losses: Eighth Air Force (Heavy BG) Losses During World War II | Aviation Trails (wordpress.com)


- The Germans were brilliant. Sometimes they stood up working factories a few days after the factories were bombed.

- The US would determine that it was easier and more impactful to bomb population centers as opposed to bombing factories. Cities were much larger targets than industrial centers.

- Firebombing cities created hell on earth. The bombings were so vast it created its own weather. Super-heated winds and fire ravaged the cities. Nobody could outrun the wind. People out in the open disintegrated. Sometimes bomb shelters turned into ovens. The effects of firebombings in Japan were similar in nature.

- The bomber crews dreaded the fact that the mortality rate of flying in the bombes was so high.

- The advent of the P-51 marked escorted bombers and the start to air superiority.

Gale Cleven's military career mirrored that of his best buddy John Egan; beginning at Randolph Field Texas in March 1940 where he signed up as a Flying Cadet, and where he also picked up the nickname 'Bucky'.

In Episode 1 Gale is seen with his girlfriend Marjorie, who was a student at Texas Tech. They were married after the war and she died in 1953 of Polio. She is buried in Shannon Rose Hill Memorial Park, Fort Worth.

Episode 4; less combat and more character development.

Always have to ruin a good war movie with a love story

They must have been dead men walking with such heavy losses. The US and UK lost over 8,000 bombers each. I will try to give perspective to the campaign.


From Google:
The United States Army Air Forces incurred 12% of the Army's 936,000 battle casualties in World War II. 88,119 airmen died in service12. 52,173 were battle casualty deaths: 45,520 killed in action, 1,140 died of wounds, 3,603 were missing in action and declared dead, and 1,910 were non-hostile battle deaths1. The total ETO Air Corps battle deaths were 24,963, including 23,805 KIA, 510 died of wounds, 109 POW KIA/DOW, and 537 Declared Dead3.

This will break down deaths by branch of service:
US Military Branches Manpower And Deaths | World War II Data (ww2data.com)

Consider yourselves already dead...

I read some of the English who were subjected to V-2 rockets were aghast at the complete violence and destruction caused by the allied fire bombings. Dresden: World War Two bombing 75 years on | ITV News (youtube.com)

I wonder what I will learn with tonight's episode.

I was a young soldier in an army aviation unit. My boss was CW4 and wanted to know if I wanted to go to the 3 week Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) training. I said hell no because I was going to OCS. That training is quite unpleasant for a reason.

Tanker123 said:

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I wonder what I will learn with tonight's episode.

I was a young soldier in an army aviation unit. My boss was CW4 and wanted to know if I wanted to go to the 3 week Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) training. I said hell no because I was going to OCS. That training is quite unpleasant for a reason.

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It's a very good episode, 3 main characters with all different challenges

Today's episode covers Stalag 3, bombing raids over Berlin and the affect on morale, and introduction of the P51 Mustang

80 years ago today, the 100th Bomb Group flew mission #81 to Berlin. 35 aircraft from the group began their departure from Thorpe Abbotts starting at 0745. By 1200 hours the A Group and B Group were under heavy fighter attack from FW-190s and ME-109s. Most of the high squadron was shot down and the lead ship was knocked out of formation. Over Berlin, the primary target was not located, and bombs were away at 1323 hours on a target of opportunity a factory district near Berlin. The costs were high, and 15 aircraft from the group did not return to Thorpe Abbotts that afternoon. We will never forget the 59 airmen who gave the ultimate sacrifice on March 6, 1944.
#100thbombgroup #mastersoftheair

ABATTBQ87 said:

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Today's episode covers Stalag 3, bombing raids over Berlin and the affect on morale, and introduction of the P51 Mustang

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The scenes of numerous P-51s and German fighters were amazing. It looked like a cavalry charge but in the sky.

Joe W Bradford TAMC 1939
Army Air Forces
Rank: Staff Sergeant
Specialty: Tail Gunner
Unit/Group: 91st Bomber Group, Heavy, 322nd Bomber Squadron
Casualty Type: Died as a Prisoner of War under German control
Location: Germany or German-held territory or transport

After the first sweep by enemy fighters, the plane was hit in the left wing and peeled off to the left, apparently under control but out of view. No parachutes were observed.

Staff Sergeant Bradford graduated from Arlington High School, North Texas Agricultural College, and the A&M College of Texas (now Texas A&M University) as a member of the Class of 1939 majoring in Agricultural Education. He taught in the Gatesville public schools before entering the service.

Bradford received gunnery training at Tyndall Field in Florida. He had completed 19 missions when he was reported missing over Germany on June 21, 1944. The family received notification that he was a prisoner on July 17th and had died on July 22, 1944.