Target For Today (1944)

Target for Today is a 1944 documentary film billed as being filmed by and acted by the United States Army Air Force, all while under fire. It was directed by William Keighley. The film documents the October raids made by the Eighth Air Force on targets in Anklam, Marienburg and Gdynia in Poland, all industrial centers for the Nazi war machine. The raids were made by B-17 and B-24 heavy bombers. General Hap Arnold called the series of attacks "the greatest strike ever". According to Arnold, they helped cripple German aircraft production and signaled the beginning of the end for the Luftwaffe. The documentary documents these three air raids from planning, to briefing, preparation, and then reveals in unparalleled sequences the brutal battles waged at 30,000 feet.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Target_f...

[@patriciamartin761]

😀This was the very raid my father was part of on October 9, 1943. He was the co-pilot of the B-17, Miss Nonalee II. His group's mission was Marienburg. His was one of the B-17s that did not return. The plane went down in Denmark on their way back from Marienburg. The crew bailed out and he was captured soon after and spent the rest of the war as a POW in Stalag Luft III.

[@billkaldem5099]

Is the same Stalag that the movie The Great Escape is about sir?

[@patriciamartin761]

@@billkaldem5099 yes

[@patriciamartin761]

He was there from Oct 1943 until the end of Jan 1945, so he was there during the great escape.

[@billkaldem5099]

@@patriciamartin761 I would haves loved to hear what he had to say about that. I can’t help but think what an incredible morale boost that would have been.

[@patriciamartin761]

@@billkaldem5099 You mean the Great Escape? No, it was actually quite scary because Hitler wanted all the POWs executed after the escape. They settled on fifty, all British.

[@phmoffett]

In the 1970's I worked with a man who was a B17 pilot in the Eighth AF and was discharged as a Lt Col at 23 years old. I asked him how he got that rank so quickly. He said there were so many killed and wounded he kept receiving promotions in rank to take the positions left open. This indeed was an extraordinary time in American history.

[@gwh123]

It was a temp rank not permanent ... Eisenhower was a full General (4 star) ... his permanent rank was 0-5, Lt. Col.

[@westlock]

+ Try en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_D._Eisenhower#Promotions@@gwh123

[@RivetGardener]

That is scary.

[@RivetGardener]

@@gwh123 he was made a General of The Army permanently after overlord.

[@budb.8560]

True. I heard being a young Colonel or Major was no big deal back then. Being a LIVING Colonel or Major WAS a big deal.

[@forbiddenmeat5996]

28:00 is my great grandpa

[@Riverrockphotos]

How cool.

[@phmoffett]

Incredible

[@Firebrand55]

A compelling account of just one bombing effort, all the better for no actors.This film shows why Germany never had a chance, faced with such resource, organisation and determination. All in all, the Americans lost 80,000 men in it's bombing effort, strangely equalled by the RAF, a huge price to pay for freedom. These airman, laconic as they may seem, show the true face of courage; I for one, will always remember them with gratitude.

[@twstf8905]

Good 👍

[@johnhudson3484]

How Hollywood helped the US propaganda effort with English narrator.. Fascinating insight into US airforce daylight tactics. Some nice real footage intercut with post setups, stock aircraft exteriors and random pics of aerial destruction....great lighting and bad acting from real heros.

[@w.allencaddell6421]

Actually, Germany's biggest reason for losing was because of Adolph Hitler himself. Had he not attacked Great Britain first, launched Operation Barbarousa first, things would have been much different. Churchill hated Communism more than Hitler.

[@rosesprog1722]

@@w.allencaddell6421 Then Churchill should have accepted Hitler's invitation to join the fight against communism... Of course Churchill refused, he had been given the assignment to physically destroy Germany and its people by the financiers who saved him from bankruptcy twice. Starting Barbarossa earlier woukdn't have changed much, the US was providing everything Stalin may have needed to win the war through the Lend-Lease program, Germany's fate had been decided long before the beginning of the war, that is why 11 million Germans were killed after the war had ended, this was a US conceived programmed genocide as was clearly stated in the Morgenthau plan that later became JCS 1779.

[@w.allencaddell6421]

@@rosesprog1722 Why did Churchill refuse? Because he very much understood what the Nazis were. And at the time the Nazis began there Invasion, the Soviet Union wasn't nearly ready either. Germany lost because of Hitler's drug abuses which led him to really believe that the Germans were of Aryan heritage. If he hadn't declared war on the United States after Pearl Harbor, the USA wouldn't have had to send the American military to Europe, which Japan would have had the entire US military to deal with. That's not the only Hitler blunder either. Not understanding the logistics of Russia by not providing winter uniforms, not finishing the battle of Moscow before moving on to other battles. Basically Hitler didn't let his military Generals do there job of expertise, and fighting from Berlin instead of closer to the battlefield. Again, Hitler did it to himself by biting off more than he could chew.

[@charlescoulson]

Industrial warfare at its best. Whilst the Brits bashed away by night, the Americans bashed away by day. This extraordinary film(a amalgamation of many clips) gives an insight into the brutal but essential way in which the allied forces of the UK and the USA systematically deconstructed Germany's ability to wage war. Little to none of British involvement, but acknowledgement is there within the commentary . This is the basis of the special relationship that to this day exists between the English speaking nations of the free world.

[@jeffreyjohnson7277]

Amazing and appreciated to see my father in this video, multiple times

[@woodrowpreacely7521]

My old man was on Okinawa, uncle in Sicily and godfather on New Guinea - they all went through abject hell in that war. All of them had PTSD and drank too much - my father to his grave. We all need to remember nothing we got today is as bad as what they went through back then.

[@imapaine-diaz4451]

27:23 one of the most thankless duties any soldier can get. Company CQ! I always went with my helmet on and a Billy in my coat sleeve. US Army, 1968 - 1972

[@boblongdickder6178]

Thank you for your service you will not be forgotten

[@GB-bx6gz]

Never forget and never repeat that page of history !!! 🔊☮️

[@timpeterson2738]

Sorry communists will never stop trying to rule the world.

[@boblongdickder6178]

We are repeating history right now the history of 1930s to 1940s God help us

[@boblongdickder6178]

God bless every single one of you guys I don't care if you are peeling potatoes or cleaning the crapper you're all heroes in my book thank you

[@brahilly]

This is the first time I've seen this film. Its visual acuity is surprising. Yes, the men were brave and dedicated. So sad to see so many young lives lost fighting in wars we could have avoided if we had only acted sooner to stop them.

[@None-zc5vg]

Wars are immensely profitable: the Bush family and its associates saw nothing wrong with investing in Nazi industries right up to Dec.,'41. As for the immense cost of the war (forgetting the 70-odd million deaths), it's illustrated by the outlay on the fleet of 18,000-odd 'B-24' bombers: just making them cost some $90,000,000,000 in today's money, and that leaves out all the outlay on training the crews and servicing the planes. Soon afer the war, the U.S. and German elites were using the 'Cold War' excuse to 'amnesty' many of the German industrialists who'd funded Hitler, together with many, many of the S.S. and army killers who'd caused millions of civilian deaths. The U.S. and Allied fighters were betrayed after all their sacrifice.

[@brahilly]

@@None-zc5vg "Betrayed after all their sacrifice.". Not so. Western Europe hasn't been at war with itself in 75 Years and the threat of Nazi domination was turned back and eliminated. Was it a just war? I think so, but that it happened at all is not. Much could have been done to prevent it. In the 1930's, Churchill's warnings were largely ignored by the British and French governments.

[@None-zc5vg]

@@brahilly I still hold that there was a sell-out and as for the 75-year 'peace for our time' there have been ongoing lesser wars ever since WW2., including the big one in the former Yugoslavia back in the '90s.

[@brahilly]

@@None-zc5vg A person born in the EU today is far less unlikely to see any of the suffering experienced by those who lived through the two world wars. Yes, there were people who profited, just as they do in all wars. But there's scant evidence that they caused the wars. On a recent visit to the national war museum, I was surprised to see very few, if any, examples of human suffering. No pictures of the "Napalm Girl", no images of the corpses of children piled alongside adults in any one of the Nazis concentration camps, no Hiroshima children with their ribs showing through burned flesh etc.. That would be too much for the visitor. What causes war is our inability to maintain an emotional memory of its pain. It's a human failing shared universally. When we forget the pain of past experiences, the probability of our reproducing them increases. This is what is now confronting us in the 21st century. We need to well educate our children on the horror of what it means when we set out to kill each other in the name of - whatever. And that education needs to be graphic and in our face. Children have sensitive minds. Let's show then the evidence and let them understand what these things really are. BTW - there are better war museums. My wife and I visited one in Caen, France. A photo that stood out for me was of a 16 year old Ukrainian girl, a resistance collaborator, being strung up at the hands of an SS officer. This is the hell we descend into when we forget.

[@None-zc5vg]

@@brahilly The German extermination teams that followed the Army into Poland and the U.S.S.R. were led by highly-educated people, such as economists and lawyers*, who argued that they couldn't disobey orders and that the killing was necessary for the survival of the Reich ('them or us'). * One of them, Dr. Six, survived to work as an executive for Volkswagen

[@larrywhited3070]

During the pre-flight briefings as the faces were being scanned by the camera I was left wondering which airmen would not make it back. These were not actors, so undoubtably we saw men who would never be seen again. If family members back in those days watched this, some of them would have seen their loved ones for the last time. I was overwhelmed with the amount of information having to be digested by the flight crews and the incredible efforts necessary to achieve the required coordination. I had an uncle who flew 36 bombing missions, so he would have been in the midst of all this. He died perhaps 10 years after the war, but as a young boy I don't recall the one visit he had with our family. Wish I could have heard his stories, assuming of course that he would have been willing to tell of this. My dad was in the Army and fought in the Philippines, and was shot in the arm. He spoke very little about his experiences.

[@charlesferebee263]

What I want to know is how you had time to write all that information down while flying. Bombing. And shooting down fighters. And not freezing to death through all that. JUST SAYING. ? ? ? UNBELIEVABLE. !

[@Riverrockphotos]

That was the Navigator and radio man's job.

[@Mercmad]

Gdynia, another of those places which hanged nationality and names over the last 100 Years.German: Gdingen; Kashubian: Gdiniô, 1939-1945 gotenhaven .Great beachs but damn cold in Winter.

[@donlum9128]

Kassel Mission 9/24/44 sad day for 8th Air Force. RIP.

[@davegeisler7802]

There were alot more than just that one. Try the Bremen raid in 1943 when 19 Forts of the 100 BG departed for Germany only to return back to Thorpe Abbotts with just 6 Fortresses left. 😔😢

[@jamesmatticks70]

“Most changeable, treacherous weather in the world.”? Obviously this guy has never flown in the Alaskan Aleutian Island Chain!

[@matthias8537]

I was born in Anklam in the 80s and today it's a lovely little town. I grew up in a village near Anklam and there were also fighter pilots stationed there. They shot down some bombers and after the war children played in the wrecks 🙈

[@LuvBorderCollies]

32:37 You should be able to see the rail line and main road" That's easy for him to say! Its a LOT harder to spot ground features even at 8,000 ft much less their flying altitude. Throw in a tiny bit of haze and the ground turns into a messed up jigsaw puzzle. I think its safe to say weather reporting & forecasting greatly improved. Its still is difficult, as a weather guy said at an FAA safety seminar, "don't worry about the 7 day forecast, we have enough trouble with the 3 day forecast".

[@thinkablebaileylim6168]

I decided to count the amount of B-17s and B-24s that went out and came back. Around 156 dispatched, around 29 downed, so around 127 return

[@petepal55]

I can't help but think that every kid in the theater was yelling about how that was fighters shooting down those planes, not the bombers, lol.

[@innaziobazz8696]

Muy bueno !! Thank's very mach

[@kindnessfirst9670]

Although it was called "precision bombing" it should be noted that only 20% of bombs dropped in daylight on Europe by the US hit within 1,000 feet of the intended point. In one US bombing raid on Japan only ONE bomb of 376 dropped actually hit the target.

[@ANickerson411]

Great ww2 footage and upload, thank you.

[@Donaldperson7]

What a nightmare! To have to go through all these details? So much information to go through is insane! How many people are involved in this?

[@kaptainkaos1202]

At 40:22 you can tell the briefer is an office guy. Look at that immaculately pressed uniform.

[@muzzmac160]

There sure seems a lot of blue on blue fire with those P47's.

[@johnmitchell4769]

The captain doing the briefing at 31:00 is definitely from Massachusetts. Listen to him say Tahget aka Target .

[@donald7212]

i dont know about the rest of the crew but the piolot was an acctual bomber plane flyrer who was killrd while leading a mission latter in the war he was also very tall for the day.......

[@hugowiberg1843]

😅

[@NineInchTyrone]

The post war treatment of Bomber Harris is a cautionary tale

[@donaldstorm4959]

This was a very good mission very well controlled thoroughly going over before and after I give the success rate a 93% total Destruction and yes we did lose some planes an Airman with it

[@davegeisler7802]

How about the Bremen raid in 1943 when 19 Forts of the 100 BG headed for Germany and when they returned back to Thorpe Abbotts there was only 6 Forts left . As you would say we lost some Airmen that day.

[@billkaldem5099]

@@davegeisler7802I have no words to express how I feel about that. God bless them all.

[@jajajaja2624]

Over 100 air airmen didn't make back.

[@donaldstorm4959]

That's not good if that happened that's a damn shame

[@wsurferdude_ct]

Great footage. Haven't seen before. Thanks!

[@Donaldperson7]

It’s amazing all the complications you have to calculate to be able to do all this when my IPhone probably could figure this all out if I just knew how to do it?

[@lukek4851]

the side gunners must have bumped into each other and there must also have been friendly fire between the planes

[@jerryrichards8172]

Can't help for the flight crew in briefing. Must have been nerve racking. So many lost

[@mentalretard2359]

By December 1944 Germany had only 100 operational fighters. Hardly any fuel mostly rookie pilots. Hardly any airfields or ground crew.Constant bombing raids, the RAF by night the USAAF by day. The USAAF had more than 500 fighters based in England alone. The US cld replace any shot down Fighter or Bomber in a day. Hundreds thousand pilots under training in the US. It's a wonder that the Luftwaffe continued operations right until 2nd May. It's incredible that the Luftwaffe was shooting down US planes as late as April 1945!! It's mind boggling.

[@mannygreywolfsdb9936]

Wow, since the Masters of the Air on TV started, KZbin gives us also these. Helps understand the show better. I wonder how many characters in the TV version are actually here in this YT vid.

[@shaunjohnson9407]

On this very day how many year ago 🤔

[@simonharwar8083]

This was so informative . my uncle was in a B-17, but I only heard about it after he died . i've always wandered what position was his . the casualty rate was appalling.

[@revilolanza1874]

This is a good video thank you for uploading

[@adorable6385]

You never informed us how many dead during this effort

[@scottjoseph9578]

Curtis LeMay designed these boxes of bombers. An unlikely genius, but a genius.

[@KarlHubschrauber]

like it! very nice "movie"

[@Wayzor_]

This should be watched before Masters of the Air.

[@jokerpokerwinner]

Good job.

[@Feyser1970]

Heroes

[@cleekmaker00]

50:07 tick, tick, tick... nice watches!

[@janinsweden8559]

How many men is the aircrew on a B17?

[@michaelklein3148]

10. Bombardier, navigator, pilot, co-pilot, engineer/top turret gunner, radio operator/gunner, ball turret gunner, left waist gunner, right waist gunner, tail gunner.

[@janinsweden8559]

@@michaelklein3148 Thank you!

[@patriciamartin761]

@@michaelklein3148my father's plane had a crew of 11 the crew plus a photographer

[@motelluver945]

I enjoyed this one and the Sea Bee video, thanks.

[@davidfisher12865]

These gunners trained right here in Kingman az. Millions of 50 cal ball all over the place.

[@TimperialBroadcastingAgency]

27:36 - Captain Kirk was Eighth Air Force? Dayumn. ;)

[@begbieyabass]

Help me Knobi wan Kanobi, your my only hope.

[@kaptainkaos1202]

@@begbieyabass wrong meme I think. But wasn’t Kirk busy with gremlins on his wing?

[@richardmontgomery7963]

Maybe they named him after a REAL HERO. I knew some of these guys when I was growing up, and families of some who didn’t make it home. Knowing you probably won’t make it back and saddling up anyway - that’s a hero.

[@ronald-vt8ew]

What about the muntions factory at Rindlesguard? Papa bear took care of that.

[@johnlynch3759]

44.46 Pulmadique!

[@pipeliner624]

My grandfather is in this film he's exactly at 30 minutes 1 second his name was Corporal John R perry guy on the end of the table jet black hair...

[@invisiblehandofadamsmith]

Wow what a movie ✌️✌️✌️

[@cheiatianbriem2078]

"fuse this properly"

[@dinkeydink9376]

Were they really flying over neutral Sweden like that?

[@MrPh30]

Sweden were up to Stalingrad much axis neutral,,long story.,after Stalingrad they were more seeing axis would not win and since axis had transported men and material via Sweden. That the allied flew over was something they were bit quiet over there.

[@gragor11]

So where's the date when this video was posted?

[@frankmc5021]

September 29, 2011

[@gragor11]

@@frankmc5021 Thanks. Where on the page did you find the date? It seems to me that now a days the date is sometimes posted and sometimes not. Have you noticed that or is it just the way MY YT is set up?

[@frankmc5021]

@@gragor11 there is an arrow on the right of the screen, and that is the video description.

[@Ja_s-per]

🇺🇲"God Bless Our Veterans and Active Warrior's!!!"🇺🇲 🫡

[@Donaldperson7]

Command shouldn’t tell everyone else what’s going on! Just tell them where they are going and come back! No other information is needed! If they get captured and say anything else the other men are screwed! Why tell them the whole plan? Just say other planes will be around their area ?

[@yurinovojenov6310]

у этого фильма будет миллион просмотров и лайков если перевести на русский язык.потрясающий документальный фильм.

[@davidprice7162]

I love how they show the gunners knocking fighter after fighter out of the sky, then switch to guncam footage of fighter only dog fights

[@alexwilliamson1486]

In reality they didn’t knock them down fighter after fighter, it’s mainly fun camera footage, and most of the film of the gunners engaging isn’t for real, the majority don’t have full protective clothing on? Gloves etc? It was -40 plus 5 miles up. Hands would stick to metal.

[@a.p.3004]

The British should very thankful that these Americans left their homes to come and defend others. I hope they're appreciated. They didn't have a stiff upper lip as the RAF pilots did. The US pilots were down to earth, good natured people. Respect RAF pilots but they had that "class" problem.

[@anthonywilson4873]

Are you talking about those allies who fought and died together to defend democracy of course they did and still do, we had been fighting for two years before Pearl Harbour brought US into the war. Lend Lease helped keep us supplied and we paid every cent back. The allies won the War and and that includes the Russians. Democracy means I may disagree with what you say but defend to the death your right to say it. My US cousin you need to remember that after your election. How many lost their lives to defend democracy, time to heal and go with the vote, the alternative is unthinkable.

[@a.p.3004]

@@anthonywilson4873 Good morning. I'm not from the US but glad to hear that they're appreciated. I'm also happy to hear, that includes the millions of Russians too, because recently there are attempts to forget about them, and change things. Good day to you.

[@a.p.3004]

@@stormywindmill Yes i agree with you. BUT look at how they treated the Polish pilots ? They underestimated them just because they were simple but doing the job they were sent to do, without for a moment considering their lives. Thanks to all allied men and women.

[@stormywindmill]

A lot of the RAF pilots and aircrew were lower-middle or clever working-class boys made good, plus our colonial kith and kin, They often had the rank of sergeant not commissioned officer. The typical film star portrayal that every flyer was at least a pilot officer in an MG sports car with a girlfriend called "Bunty" and a frightfully posh accent is a bit of a myth. Anyway a sincere and humble thanks to ALL Airmen who fought and sacrificed in the allied cause.

[@varun2440]

@@anthonywilson4873 my British fellow, what democracy are you talking. The "great" british raj which killed and systematically deindustrialized India and Africa. Countries where rights were taken away from citizen after brutality. So stop using democracy as a tool both for usa and uk to justify everything from raj to invasion of iraq or Afghanistan. India and Africa till today go through instability because of divide and rule and poor borders. Whatever it is , you will never be able to use democracy as a tool against India because you will come for the biggest democracy in the world. No hate but a reality check. I know its out of context but stop this fake democracy. Atleast india dont shout minority right after killing its own in civil wars like in America

[@janinsweden8559]

Heroes ❤️

[@paulobajko3527]

What dont have legend ???

[@elykeom1]

Q: “Did you see any other guns fire on these two aircraft?” Gunner: “No sir these are my babies”

[@patriciamartin761]

This KZbin video is misleading. The mission was #26 and took place on October 9, 1943, not in 1944.

[@shaunjohnson9407]

Now fix it up and make it better for them poor people's

[@shaunjohnson9407]

I luv the dark cooler and night couler but that' just me I have alway been that way

[@shaunjohnson9407]

Is blue

[@alexwilliamson1486]

How did the twin engines hold up? Well until the P-51 turned up….

[@jhare18]

🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇

[@M80Ball]

Eudope

[@Primelles]

Please, in spanish.

[@Feyser1970]

learn english, I did

[@timmybailey2514]

american accents that no longer exist

[@westlock]

Even more so, British accents. Electronic communications have destroyed regional accents.

[@iplayefootball178]

I dont understand why ww2 had to start imagine fighting and killing people over a land😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@lucmartin6611]

TOTAL AIR WAR WW2

[@avalanche9026]

We admire the airmen yes. But how many of you. Think what happened to those below those bombs ? How many innocent civilians ? Just mind blowing. The destruction and killing around the clock .,. Hmm

[@berlin1926]

Exactly. Sad.

[@cheiatianbriem2078]

civilians always suffer the most. i'm sorry, i dont make the rules. god, of course, does. talk to her

[@neo-YoutubeStoleMyHandle]

In other words, the AMERICANS bombed the hell out of Germany...

[@benparadude2028]

It’s sad to think all of these aviators are all departed from this earth....what’s even more sickening is that the Biden administration will hand what’s left of this country over to China. All of their bravery will be a short forgotten piece of history.....

[@mahzorimipod]

hahah you are fucking triggered

[@benparadude2028]

@@mahzorimipod Nope, just a guess considering all the dot connecting. Having served a majority of my military career in a conflict zone, it amazes me that the haters have never served anywhere but time in their parents basement or jail.......

[@mahzorimipod]

must have been huffing too much glue while in uniform

[@benparadude2028]

@@mahzorimipod that’s what most pilots do.....

[@artmcteagle]

Biden is reforging ties with Allies who Trump neglected, especially the European ones. He is recommitting to Nato. Trump was full of BS on China, a man who paid more taxes there than he did in the US! Putin had a hold over him as well. Generally the US military high command is glad that Trump is gone.

[@michaelkaiser4674]

lame

[@GeirSkau-rv9ye]

The bombing of Germany has nothing to do with heroism, but rather a criminal act.

[@anthonywilson4873]

It’s called war and the Nazi Germany started it and bombed other nations cities flat for years They got the same in return civilians paid with their lives everywhere. If you know a better way to stop the likes of the Nazi then share it with those in power. I am sure these guys would rather they did not need to be there.

[@stormywindmill]

And the merciless bombing of Rotterdam, Warsaw, Coventry plus a thousand other cities by the Nazis wasn't? a war crime.

[@janwozniak322]

So what was the bombing 1 September 1939 unarmored city Wieluń in Poland and several other cities. In order on the topic, it is good to know the historical facts. The Germans started this war and suffered the cosequences of that.

[@SlimjimMK11]

Harold I think you are from Bizarro World.... I heard that place works in reverse...

[@Doolittle1954]

Look at it this way. We bombed Germany so idiots like you can voice your stupid opinion.