The 392nd Bomb Group (8th Air Force) - 20th Century Crusaders

[@davidlavigne207]

After yesterday's foray I am once again amazed that many British people have such an affinity with the 8th Air Force history. We have been transported back in time by Phillip's presentation. I really related to the pictures and stories of the Ordinance Mechanics and their efforts in rearming the B-24s between missions. I was an Aircraft Armament Repairer for many years with U.S. Army Aviation Units. While I loaded my fair share of rockets, missiles and 20 and 30 mm ammunition in my day, I never realized how much effort was involved in replenishing the .50 Caliber rounds in a large bomber. I have experienced similar conditions, and worse at times, as the line shacks and the mud etc. This was telling it like it was guys. Thanks for a great episode.

[@WW2Wayfinder]

Fantastic episode Paul and great to see the 392nd brought to the centre stage as the men who took the B-24’s into combat never get the recognition they deserve! Now to find the flak episode!!!!

[@ryanohara4740]

Hi, thank you for this video! I'm an American in Philadelphia PA, originally Pittsburgh. My grandma's brother was KIA on the Friedrichshafen mission on 18 Mar 1944 during the collision over France you discuss in the video: 2/Lt Frank Cummings (Francis, Uncle Fran), navigator of the of the Feran crew. The incident is well known in my family, as is Sgt. Payne from the Dalton crew and his journey to survival and the risks taken by the French resistance to get him to safety. Family chose to have Uncle Fran reinterred here in the US but I suspect the gov't chose the St. Louis, Missouri location as Virginia would've been much closer to his hometown of Pittsburgh. My dad is going out to France to visit the memorial of the incident this fall. -Ryan

[@talcoge67]

I’m sorry I missed this live, my dad was Waist Gunner for the 8th Air-force 392 Bomber Group 577th Air-force stationed at Wendling Field. WJ Talcott. If it wasn’t for the 392 Bomber Group Website I would of never known about all of his missions. Everything I learned about his WW2 life learned from them. He died in 93’ We were just starting to all about life! Thanks for the video!

[@billmcdonald7103]

Happy to see this. My father was also a waist gunner in the same group. Thanks fir writing.

[@georgecooksey8216]

Excellent presentation and discussion. Thank you Paul and Philip.

[@reiniergroeneveld7801]

Fascinating presentation with lots of great details.

[@patm8622]

Brilliant episode, Fantastic levels of information and insights.

[@markhofman]

Thank you for investing time to put this together. My great uncle was on the crew of a 392nd (579th squadron) bomber shot down 8 October 1943 over the North Sea during the mission to bomb Vegesack. The crew was MIA-KIA, not POW. I was able to research the mission and then tell his only surviving sister what happened to him. The route map at 18:09 into the video explains why there is a photograph of their ship (7470) with the handwritten word "Africa" at the bottom, although probably scribed on that photo by mistake.

[@brianfitzgerald6142]

Wow! You guys reopened a chapter of my family history! Yes, I'm a Yank and my cousin was killed on the Friedrichshafen mission on 18 Mar 1944. He was involved in the mid-air collision over occupied France. He was a waste gunner on the Dalton crew and his name is Harner Hildebrand. Sgt. Payne survived but Harner did not. My aunt Ramona is the mother to whom the French resistance officer sent the letter. After the war, she had his remains reinterred here in Virginia, US. Thanks for all of this! Phillip, where did you get the 392nd polo shirt? I'm gonna need one now!

[@WW2TV]

Thanks for the nice comment Brian

[@ryanohara4740]

Hi Brian, I'm a Yank too here in Philadelphia PA, originally Pittsburgh. My grandma's brother was KIA on the Friedrichshafen mission on 18 Mar 1944 during the collision over France too: 2/Lt Frank Cummings (Francis, Uncle Fran), navigator of the other aircraft as part of the Feran crew. The incident is well known in my family, as is Sgt. Payne's journey to survival and the risk taken by the French resistance to get him to safety. Family chose to have Uncle Fran reinterred here in the US but I suspect the gov't chose the St. Louis, Missouri location as Virginia would've been much closer to his hometown of Pittsburgh. My dad is going out to France to visit the memorial of the incident this fall. -Ryan

[@bobbyl6972]

Excellent show as always Woody. Thanks for the outstanding presentation Philip.

[@bruceday6799]

In all these B-17/B-24 debates the one thing that people leave out is what the difference in when they were designed actually means. The Boeing design is a peacetime design, to keep the contract the planes have to last years. The Consolidated design is a ''war imminent'' design, if it lasts 2 years its too outdated for combat. One is made as a keeper, the other is a throwaway.

[@Chiller01]

Great episode. My father maintained the electronics on B24’s including the top secret H2X radar system, a higher frequency adaptation of the British H2S ground scanning radar. He was stationed in Italy near Foggia, a part of the 15th Air Force.

[@scottgrimwood8868]

Excellent presentation! I am glad to see the B-24 units being highlighted.

[@jonrettich4579]

Not just the fascinating facts but the reality and humanity. As anything worthwhile the ramifications of these experiences extend into other aspects of one’s life and ability to understand more. Thank you as always for your great undertaking and the people you bring with you

[@philbosworth3789]

A great episode presented by Phil. I've always had a soft spot for the B-24 so really enjoyed this. Its also great to see Brits (Phil today, Paul & Mike yesterday) showing appreciation and admiration for the efforts and sacrifices the Americans made during the war, as things don't always come across that way. Another great show in what has been a great week Woody.

[@timbrown1481]

“Honey Pot”? Interesting name. 😂. I love these presentations with pics of then and now. What a bustling place these airfields must have been. Amazing stuff Philip! Great pic of a 24 and 100th BG B-17.

[@timbrown1481]

Good pics of support unit with the bombs. Like the aircraft maintenance teams, all these support groups are the unsung hero’s - without them.. well the aircraft would not fly.

[@TheVigilant109]

Excellent presentation. Many thanks

[@morganhale3434]

8th Air Force week was a resounding success. My expectations were met and exceeded because of the breadth of topics done. I am now starting on the El Alamein shows and can't wait to watch them.

[@richardrichard5409]

This guy has a resemblance to the fantastic gentleman who runs Jimmy's Cafe and also the 453rd museums at Old Buckenham airfield? Great video guys and many thanks for the upload.

[@woodylee9780]

Another great show!

[@donrussell1394]

Escape Corner. Very interesting. Really enjoyed this show.

[@masonraley4585]

Well done mate, always insightful

[@ashermil]

This one was awesome. Bravo!

[@MegaBloggs1]

So much sacrifice -all of them heroes -the ball turret gunners were exceptionably brave -I reckon they would have been incredibly uncomfortable

[@MegaBloggs1]

Can you please do episode on the VLR liberator and look at the frontal armament-I have seen footage of a quad 20mm mount replacing the two forward machine guns and several of the gunners and turrets were removed to save weight for big internal fuel bag to extend the range

[@WW2TV]

As with any subject, its about finding a guest. If someone comes along - sure

[@merc88]

Superior show many thanks

[@GazzaLDN]

An Excellent presentation by Philip Brazier, I was wondering about the 1,600 figure 17:07 is this for 8th Air Force B-24s in the UK or USAAF in Europe? If for the 8th Air force in the UK that would have them nearly equal in number with B-17s. I believe only 14 out of the 40 bomb groups in the UK were B-24s, which would suggest just over a 1,000 when peak establishment of 72 aircraft per bomb group was reached in 45.

[@MegaBloggs1]

there is a great story from the base at townsville north queensland where RAAF crews with combat experience with bomber command were assigned to liberators with trainers from us and the RAAF crews could fly heaps better than the instructors after one lesson

[@Thumpalumpacus]

Paul, do you have an episode on escape and evasion?

[@WW2TV]

Not yet, good idea though

[@Hi-lb8cq]

someone should do a video on the 464th bomb group of the 15th air force

[@WW2TV]

If you can suggest an expert, please let me know

[@MegaBloggs1]

Correct me if im wrong but i understood the major deficiencies were heavy controls-i.e it took two people to fly it and it was more vulnerable to damage than the b-17-it was easier to shoot down. Also there are lots of stories of deliberate sabotage \mechanical failure induced at the factories-not enough quality control .On the mission to polesti, the head navigators plane blew up unexplainably and the secondary navigator had to turn back due to mechanical failure

[@richardrichard5409]

B24 is still the most produced US combat aircraft of all time, and the highest production bomber globally to date, over 18000 I think? In comparison, 12,000 B19. ......16000 Bell UH1 'Huey' choppers second highest US combat aircraft.....DC3 is similar number but not all combat. P47 and P51 equal most produced US fighters bar a handful, 15500 of each type. For RAF bombers, surprisingly for me at least, the Wellington at nearly 12000 was the most produced bomber by a long way, then 7500 Lancaster and 6500 Halifax respectively.....although Mosquito at 8500 was in higher numbers than Lancaster but, being a multi role you can argue it wasn't produced as a bomber in higher numbers.... To put those numbers in context Airbus A320 around 11000 similar as Boeing 737, but over 44000 Cessna 172s.... the all time winner, or GOAT production aircraft😉

[@MegaBloggs1]

on swords into plough shears-lots of front turrets oses from the liberators and lincolns were turned into caravans in Australia-a common sight in the fifties and sixties

[@victoriaamitai2969]

Does anyone have photographs of 392nd bomb group B-17 named KITTY? Perhaps with the crew? My dad was tail gunner in that plane. Or photographs from Biggs Field with this group of men?

[@WW2TV]

Are you sure you have the correct BG? The 392nd flew B24 Liberators www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/unit/392nd-bomb-group

[@billenright2788]

B-24 was far better plane. Could be used as bomber, maritime sub hunter/killer, transport, med-evac, etc. Not as pretty as the 17 but beauty contests don't win wars.

[@caryblack5985]

Excellent presentation as usual and much interesting info and some out of the ordinary photos. For those who want to see more here is a film by Ford on the production of the B 24 at Willow Run kzbin.info/www/bejne/pmPdpp6qmr6VfbM

[@mathewkelly9968]

Not taking anything away from the poor sods in the 8th Air Force but I think its probably one of the most disastrous and overrated units/operational concepts in the history of warfare . So many men sacrificed in the name of dogma and the only way it was a 'success' is through sheer bloody minded perseverance.

[@WW2TV]

Hard to disagree with any of that

[@Chiller01]

A bit of a harsh and simplistic evaluation of the efforts of the 8th Air Force. I agree the initial efforts in 1943 resulted in needless losses due to the insistence on proving the “bombers will get through” without fighter escort and the precision of the Norden bombsight. However, as command was unified and fighter escort tactics refined I believe important tactical and strategic objectives were achieved by the 8th. Included among those were the damage to Axis transportation particularly the vital rail infrastructure, significant reduction oil access and the virtual destruction of the Luftwaffe.

[@bruceday6799]

@@Chiller01 Post war USAAF analysis of the Ploesti adventure indicated that production was cut by as much as 30%. The fields had been operating at less than 50% capacity. Slack production was brought online and the production was restored to pre-raid levels. The analysis showed the most signifigant losses to the german infrastructure there was the losses in rail tank cars and lost deliveries of product to the german war machine.