“LIBERATORS OVER EUROPE” B-24 44th BOMBARDMENT GROUP / 8TH AIR FORCE WWII COMBAT FILM XD12064

[@earlyriser8998]

My Uncle flew with the 8th air force and survived. Greatest Generation...but never forget what they fought for and the evil they fought against.

[@LesterMoore]

Brave, valiant young men of the 8Th Air Force. You'll not be forgotten, ever. RIP. You all have earned it.

[@oliverbourne9599]

Amazing to see authentic original footage and try and even imagine what it was like to live that

[@airstation2030]

an instructor pilot of mine was a 44th Liberator pilot- he was home before Thanksgiving of 44' so he missed this one but as I watched a 44th ride in on the nose gear I recall how Glenn had the same deal coming back from a raid over the Continent- outa gas all shot to hell and they couldn't kick out the over center on the nose landing gear alternate extension system- it was all jammed up so no choice but to land on the nose- no time left in the tanks- gotta roll in without a nose gear. Trained to go like hell - and live to tell-

[@cowboybob7093]

After learning about the Polesti raid, watching Liberators flying in so low makes me queasy. Great clip, thanks Periscope!

[@hefflewes]

On Thanksgiving day 2023, I went to the 100th birthday of Morris Schwartz, a forever family friend, who was a lead navigator of one of the groups on this mission. March 24th was his 30th and final mission. There were several groups of planes dropping supplies. With a total of about 1000 planes. IP was the cathedral in Wessel. Wonderful video

[@PeriscopeFilm]

Thanks for the comment, it's wonderful to read about Mr. Schwartz -- God bless him!

[@deepbludude4697]

Great upload!

[@nokomarie1963]

My dad was a Liberator pilot right through WWII. He flew out of Britain and low across the channel and commented on seeing sea spray streaming off of his wings and tipping bombs off course. He later flew missions across Italy and felt very conflicted about the civilians. By the end of the war, he said the crews he was getting were of all nationalities, and he stopped trying to get to know them or even learning their names as so many crew members died during missions.

[@olentangy74]

My uncle, Sgt Willis Steburg was in the 44th, as a ball turret gunner. He had 2 confirmed kills before his B-24 “Toad” was shot down on May twenty fifth 1944. He was one of only three that survived. He spent the remainder of the war as a POW.

[@bloqk16]

Those twin vertical stabilizers in this video don't do justice to the HUGE size they are. I saw the Collings Foundation B24 at a local airshow and was astounded how large the vertical stabilizers were on that aircraft.

[@haroldmclean3755]

They Really were The Mighty 8th 👍

[@RF-hm3st]

My dad's twin brother was killed on this mission. He was the navigator. The plane was shot down and crashed in a field. There were no survivors. My dad never talked about it.

[@PeriscopeFilm]

So sorry to hear about the loss of your uncle. May he rest in peace. #hero

[@nogoodnameleft]

RIP. He was a hero. I think MacArthur or Patton said that the only heroes in war are the deceased. They and other veterans who didn't die are merely survivors.

[@Oligodendrocyte139]

1:29. This assault involved US, Canadian and British troop formations. Half of the re-supply mission shown here was for the British 6th Airborne.

[@veronicabennett4359]

Was the B-24 'Diamond Lil' shown at the start of the film the same B-24A 'Diamond Lil' that flew over to UK in (I think)1992. She was supposed to appear at a number of air shows but went unserviceable on arrival in Scotland, was eventually repaired and flew down to Biggin Hill in Kent, a famous Battle of Britain airfield, where she went unserviceable again. I had never seen a B-24 so I drove down to Biggin to find her with a drip tray under her port outer engine. By the time she was again repaired it was time for her to return to the USA. Here in UK there is now only one USAAF heavy bomber still flying, the B-17 'Sally B' based at Duxford Cambridgeshire. She is a flying memorial to all USAAF aircrew who lost their lives flying from the UK in World War II.

[@tholmes2169]

Yes, she was owned by the Confederate now Commerorative Air Force for decades. Originally a transport version and modified to appear as a bomber version. My Dad has some old slides when it was very clearly still in transport configuration.

[@jacksons1010]

@@tholmes2169 Diamond Lil was actually built as a bomber, designated as an LB-30 under lend-lease and intended for the French, but diverted to the British after the fall of France. She was intended to be used for training British aircrew, but was badly damaged in a landing accident and sent back to Consolidated for extensive repairs. Deemed too badly damaged to be rebuilt as she was, the airframe instead became the prototype for the C-87 transport. So Diamond Lil was both a very early B-24A _and_ the first C-87.

[@slow-mo_moonbuggy]

"Freedom Bombs"

[@jasonshuster4748]

Anybody know the crew list of the 2 B-24's shot down

[@huwzebediahthomas9193]

Very tragic, high death rate... VERY! 😐

[@willowsloughdx]

Great color footage, laughable 1960's music track.

[@michaelmckeel3992]

The pride one feels for the firebombing of the German people to further the goals of our mortal enemies.

[@StephenCowley001]

@@braininavatnow9197 If you discount our atrocity propaganda. we were about equal, morally speaking.

[@jacksons1010]

Umm…dare I ask who the heck you are referring to as “our mortal enemies”?

[@StephenCowley001]

@@braininavatnow9197 I seemed to miss this comment when it was made. One relevant fact would be Hiroshima. No, I think German constitutional practice was more authoritarian than the Anglo-Saxon tradition, so it is good that it did not prevail.

[@kennethjohnson9370]

I great episode of the bombing of Germany the reason they could bomb them is because they did not have Air plants to defend Germany