The Air War presents the untold story of the American 8th Air Force’s bloody battle to defeat the German Luftwaffe in the months leading up to D-Day.
Founded in Savannah, GA, weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the 8th Air Force began with seven men and no planes. Less than a year later it is tasked with destroying the German Luftwaffe – the most powerful air force in the world – in preparation for the D-Day Normandy invasion. Without aerial supremacy, Allied leaders feared that the invasion would fail.
Told through the gripping, first person accounts of three American airmen and Stars & Stripes reporter Andy Rooney, The Air War showcases breathtaking aerial combat – original, color footage, never before seen by most Americans – of the B-17s “Flying Fortresses”, P-47 “Thunderbolts” and P-51 “Mustangs” on missions such as Regensburg, Schweinfurt and Berlin. Never-before-seen 8mm footage of the airmen on the bases, the devastation in Germany, and the Luftwaffe perspective is also highlighted.
Flying 25,000 feet above the earth in oxygen-devoid air, and temperatures as low as 50 below zero, the 8th Air Force fought a war unlike anything ever before experienced. By the end, they would suffer more than 26,000 combat deaths – more than the US Marines lost in all of World War II.
Founded in Savannah, GA, weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the 8th Air Force began with seven men and no planes. Less than a year later it is tasked with destroying the German Luftwaffe – the most powerful air force in the world – in preparation for the D-Day Normandy invasion. Without aerial supremacy, Allied leaders feared that the invasion would fail.
Told through the gripping, first person accounts of three American airmen and Stars & Stripes reporter Andy Rooney, The Air War showcases breathtaking aerial combat – original, color footage, never before seen by most Americans – of the B-17s “Flying Fortresses”, P-47 “Thunderbolts” and P-51 “Mustangs” on missions such as Regensburg, Schweinfurt and Berlin. Never-before-seen 8mm footage of the airmen on the bases, the devastation in Germany, and the Luftwaffe perspective is also highlighted.
Flying 25,000 feet above the earth in oxygen-devoid air, and temperatures as low as 50 below zero, the 8th Air Force fought a war unlike anything ever before experienced. By the end, they would suffer more than 26,000 combat deaths – more than the US Marines lost in all of World War II.