WWII in HD
About The Air War
WWII in HD: 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.
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