Masters of the Air (3 Viewers)

Brilliant show enjoying it, no need to compare to other shows as it is a whole different theatre.
 
While stationed in W Germany in 1980, my wife worked at Camp King near Oberursel. This was an interrogation center for captured allied aircrew as depicted in the series. The site was taken over by US Forces after WWII and returned to German control in 1993.

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Downed Allied airmen at Dulag Luft in Oberursel (later, Camp King). Photo by anonymous (c. pre-1944).
 
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I enjoyed the series, however I'm going to go out on a limb here........

I felt it was rushed and deserved at least a couple more episodes and more character development.

The anti Brit episode was un-necessary and IMO disrespectful, given the circumstances and topic and sacrifices by all allied airmen.

I also found the Jewish reference's un-necessary and the comment about 'Palestine' completely PC nonsense.

As for the episodes including the Tuskegee airmen I'm in two minds as to why they were singled out for this series.......

Just my five cents.......
 
A couple of comments. Jews who were displaced persons at the end of the War did say they want to go to “Palestine” but otherwise that little scene or the concentration camp part wasn’t necessary. I also found how quickly they returned to England a little hard to believe but maybe it did happen as I haven’t read the Miller book. I thought they could have used one more episode as they had in BoB and Pacific but perhaps the cost of making the series prevented that from taking place. I agree that the Tuskegee airmen part was unnecessary or it needed to be better developed. On the other hand I’m glad they received recognition.

Character wise, the series suffered because there wasn’t one central character like Winters and the principal characters didn’t stand out like they did in the other two series. This could be a function of who they were in real life, the nature of the action or the writing or all three. Overall, I enjoyed the series.
 
I enjoyed the series very much. I have always focused on the Army in Europe or the Marines and Navy in the Pacific as my interests, not so much the Air Force but I have to say what a great bunch of men they were. I was amazed on how much actual training they had before they were sent into combat. I do agree they should have had a couple more episodes but I suspect the cost to do this show was enormous.
Mark
 
Enjoyed it for what it was and I am happy that someone still makes a decent WW2 movie without all the WOKE BS.
 
I recently added Apple TV to my increasing list of streaming aps to check out Masters of the Air and catch up on the latest season of Slow Horses, an MI5 based series which I can highly recommend.

Firstly, why call the series Masters of the Air, I don't think any Allied Aircrew would have felt they were Masters of the Air over Germany, especially earlier in the European Air War. And of course there were the usual myths, e.g. the 'amazing' Norden Bombsight and B-17 Airgunners shooting down heaps of fighters, reminded me of the old 12 O'clock High TV series. It's well documented that the Brits and Germans had better Bombsights, the Germans already had examples of the Norden and considered it inferior to theirs.

Allied Bombers (Day and Night) rarely shot down German Fighters, especially in head on attacks which they tended to use against B-17s. Those 1/2 inch Brownings packed some punch, but I suspect they were more dangerous to other bombers than any enemy fighters. And of course there was the usual 'British' Night Vs US Day bombing argument, plus the now usual PC input. And don't get me started on any Lancaster Vs B-17 debate :wink2: ^&grin

Sooo, pretty much what I expected. However, as the series progressed I grew to appreciate how incredibly brave those guys were, they were often young and inexperienced crew led by young and inexperienced officers, and like the crews in Sherman tanks, they just kept coming at the Germans until the end :salute::
 
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After binge watching this series and thinking about my Fathers service in Bomber Command I recalled he and a few other RAAF guys spent some time with a family in Montana when completing some training in Alberta. I could only recall the family was named Haines, and they had a cabin at Flathead Lake. The internet is a surprising thing and what a pleasant surprise to find a picture of my father Peter Green, who is the tall guy at the back RHS, to the Left of Mrs Ruth Haines (and noting that the said Airman Jeremy Grady would have been Second from Right in the Front Row). My father was only 20 at the time, her Daughter Harriet Haines would have been 16 to 17. I've never seen this photo before..WOW!

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Four members of the Royal Australian Air Force stationed in Lethbridge, Alberta during World War II, have their photograph taken in 1944 with H.L. Ruth Haines, center, and Harriet Haines at Flathead Lake. The airmen visited Missoula in 1943 and 1944 to meet Americans, eat American food and see the sights. They especially liked eating steak, baked potatoes and apple pie. Ruth Haines stayed in touch with Airman Jeremy Grady, second from right, until her passing in 1989.

Photograph courtesy of Bill Haines
 
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Desertkiwi said:
I enjoyed the series, however I'm going to go out on a limb here........

I felt it was rushed and deserved at least a couple more episodes and more character development.

The anti Brit episode was un-necessary and IMO disrespectful, given the circumstances and topic and sacrifices by all allied airmen.

I also found the Jewish reference's un-necessary and the comment about 'Palestine' completely PC nonsense.

As for the episodes including the Tuskegee airmen I'm in two minds as to why they were singled out for this series.......

Just my five cents.......
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Hey Toddy,

I agree with your comments, and despite the 'usual stuff' we mentioned I did enjoy the series. I guess the Tuskegee airmen will continue to overshadow the other P-51 Squadrons same as 617 Dambusters Squadron seems to hog much of the RAF Bomber Command 'glory'. The P-51D Mustang with Merlin engine is my pick of best single engined fighters of WW2, Twin engined would be Mosquito with of course the Lancaster as best Bomber. Of course others may differ, a bit like having a favorite Football team. That said, if I had to go up in a Bomber during WW2, I'd pick the B-17 as it could take more damage than a Lancaster and easier to get out of.
 
OzDigger said:
I recently added Apple TV to my increasing list of streaming aps to check out Masters of the Air and catch up on the latest season of Slow Horses, an MI5 based series which I can highly recommend.

Firstly, why call the series Masters of the Air, I don't think any Allied Aircrew would have felt they were Masters of the Air over Germany, especially earlier in the European Air War. And of course there were the usual myths, e.g. the 'amazing' Norden Bombsight and B-17 Airgunners shooting down heaps of fighters, reminded me of the old 12 O'clock High TV series. It's well documented that the Brits and Germans had better Bombsights, the Germans already had examples of the Norden and considered it inferior to theirs.

Allied Bombers (Day and Night) rarely shot down German Fighters, especially in head on attacks which they tended to use against B-17s. Those 1/2 inch Brownings packed some punch, but I suspect they were more dangerous to other bombers than any enemy fighters. And of course there was the usual 'British' Night Vs US Day bombing argument, plus the now usual PC input. And don't get me started on any Lancaster Vs B-17 debate :wink2: ^&grin

Sooo, pretty much what I expected. However, as the series progressed I grew to appreciate how incredibly brave those guys were, they were often young and inexperienced crew led by young and inexperienced officers, and like the crews in Sherman tanks, they just kept coming at the Germans until the end :salute::
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While not disagreeing with your post regarding German fighter casualties I would point out later B-17 models such as the G, had chin turrets.
 
Great series and glad they told the story of the air war. But the series lost a lot of credibility for me with the POW camp liberation fantasy scenes. I didn't have to read the book twice, which I did, to know this was pure Hollywood.
 
Terp152 said:
While not disagreeing with your post regarding German fighter casualties I would point out later B-17 models such as the G, had chin turrets.
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True, the B-17 did have better defences than most Allied Bombers, especially with the later Chin turret. However, the Best defence against Fighters is other Fighters, the arrival of the long range P-51s and P-47s etc was a game changer in the European Air Theater.
 
Terp152 said:
Great series and glad they told the story of the air war. But the series lost a lot of credibility for me with the POW camp liberation fantasy scenes. I didn't have to read the book twice, which I did, to know this was pure Hollywood.
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Agreed, however I am still thankful that the U.S. series was produced, the Allied WW2 Bombing Campaign was one of the first casualties in the Political Correctness Battles. It's now like it never happened in Australia, and to a lesser degree in the U.K. I've started watching the series again as I was doing other things when I first watched it, I do tend to multitask.
 
OzDigger said:
Agreed, however I am still thankful that the U.S. series was produced, the Allied WW2 Bombing Campaign was one of the first casualties in the Political Correctness Battles. It's now like it never happened in Australia, and to a lesser degree in the U.K. I've started watching the series again as I was doing other things when I first watched it, I do tend to multitask.
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I'm with you and found the aerial scenes well done, CGI is most improved. I liked that they highlighted the food relief missions to Holland. Twenty thousand people died of starvation and millions were impacted, including Audrey Hepburn. We turned the harbingers of death into angels of mercy. A fitting end to the air war.
 
Terp152 said:
I'm with you and found the aerial scenes well done, CGI is most improved. I liked that they highlighted the food relief missions to Holland. Twenty thousand people died of starvation and millions were impacted, including Audrey Hepburn. We turned the harbingers of death into angels of mercy. A fitting end to the air war.
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I also enjoyed watching the food relief missions. I'm lucky to have my Fathers Log Book, together with a list of mainly Night Operational Sortees whilst with 460 Squadron and later 156 (Pathfinder) Squadron. He recorded a lot of Non-Operational flights including a Food Dropping flight to Rotterdam on May 2, 1945, and on May 26 he recorded taking part in Operation Exodus to Juvincourt, France to collect POW's. Last flight in his log book was a 'Cooks Tour' on May 30, 1945 overflying Boulogne, Mons, Karlsruhe, Manneheim, Hanau, Frankfurt, Weisbarden, Coblenz, Cologne, Aachen, Lille, Dunkirk and Calais. These later flights would have been during Daylight, providing a rare opportunity for him to see the incredible amount of damage done.
 
Very interesting History and even more so because it's part of your History.
Thanks. War (esp. WW2) stories are always welcome.
Paddy
 
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