The War Boats - flying boats

Wings: The War Boats - flying boats series, episode 3

[@dougfromcanada3534]

My mother worked on the PBY Catalina Flying boat during WW2 at a Boeing plant in what is now Richmond BC. She was 5ft 1 and about 100 lbs so her job was installing the wiring harnesses in the wings as she was small enough to slide in on her back.She was originally paid 50 cents an hour and was proud to show me her pay stub when she got a raise to $ 1 an hour

[@justcheck6645]

Very good documentary. Could have added the Berlin Airlift, where Sunderlands were the only planes that could fly the 37 tons of salt needed everyday as they were the only aircraft proofed for salt water, the salt quickly corroded other aircraft fuselages. They flew from the River Elbe near Hamburg to Havel Lake in the heart of Berlin. They also carried coal and food supplies. During the airlift, Sunderlands transported 4500 tons of food, evacuated 1,100 refugees and flew 395,751 miles. It was a massive effort by the USAF and the RAF, including RAAF, the French Air Force, the RCAF, the RNZAF, and the SAAF. Crowds of people used to line the shores to watch them land helping to sustain moral.

[@justforfux]

I have read about the Berlin airlift. The various air forces did a great job.

[@burntsider8457]

Today's documentary producers would do well to pattern their work after this one. No silliness, no jaarring jump-cuts, no nonsense -- just a factual presentation with a serious narration. Well done.

[@samiam619]

Burntsider NO recap of what you saw before the “and now a few words from our sponsor”.

[@lostinpa-dadenduro7555]

Sam I am Yeah man. I hate that. They waste 25% of the program on the recap.

[@timmayer8723]

Burntsider there is a category in the Oscar presentations for best documentary. The subject matter ranges far and wide and the quality ranges even further. These war 2 docs are a dying breed. For sheer gut wrenching terror there is no equal. Exotic enemys. vast o

[@TheGordem]

@@lostinpa-dadenduro7555 That's because they have to fill a standard one hour TV slot minus the ad breaks when they only have 25 minutes worth of material.

[@Lego_Raptor]

Ngl I watch this as a movie 😊

[@tonyadams8043]

Was at Seletar, Singapore 1957-59 when they scrapped the Sunderlands. As a young teenager I spent many happy hours sitting in the cockpits of the partially dismantled aircraft.

[@Whiteshell204]

Remember when.....television used to be INFORMATIVE! Just watching these old shows...set's into stone how far television has strayed from educational programming.

[@livvidd]

+Hemi204 this was no accident.

[@thunberbolttwo3953]

I miss those days.

[@PhillipCowell01]

Yes, but now we have the internet:) And that's even more informative than TV ever was. TV is dead. I know what you mean though, and agree wholeheartedly.

[@djones9122]

Phillip Cowell the screen is to small

[@PhillipCowell01]

Donna Jones If you can't find a solution to that one, I'm afraid I can't help you:)

[@spaceman6215]

I always think there is something romantic about the seaplanes and flying boats of the past. When the world was a bigger place.

[@kylebman321]

What an amazing documentary. I love the old school feel of it all. the narrating, music, interviews... and all without stupid effects and sound effects like todays garbage. This whole thing put a smile on my face. How id love to be able to experience the pure romance of a simpler time. I am a young man (29) and I feel I was truly born in the wrong era. God bless each and every man and woman who contributed to such an amazing machine and to the valor of every soldier during WWII. *Truly* the greatest generation of all time, and certainly the best the USA will ever be. Thank you again for sharing this with us.

[@dualoz7004]

As a former HU-16D crew chief, albeit the end of the flying boat era, thanks for the memories.

[@samboslc]

Time is 2018 and nobody gives a FLIP anymore. Thank you humble and decent men and women veterans for all you gave. Very moving video for someone like me in my 60"s. Can only hope America could ever be what it was at such a crucial time. I have to wonder.

[@ChuckHydro]

The Catalina Flying Boat, the perfect boat for an imperfect time! No one knows how many servicemen that boat has either directly saved or furnished the information in order to save our serviceman's lines. What a wondrous sight it must have been to be at sea in a dinghy or raft only to see a Catalina landing to take you to safety with it's enormous 4,000 mile range and 18 hours flying time to do! A Big Thumbs up to Consolidated, American ingenuity at it's best!

[@Mrfrenchdeux]

@ChuckHydro Well said, the rescue stories of this fantastic war horse are incredible.

[@jacktattis1190]

Chuck Don't forget the Sunderland

[@astrobot4017]

My granduncle was shot down and killed while attacking a Sunderland Flying boat with his FW-190 G3

[@kd5you1]

My grandfather flew PBYs during WWII searching for and picking up downed servicemen.

[@ianjones4071]

My mother served on Catalina repair base ,lake boga Victoria Australia, also she went up in a Sunderland she and I loved them ,mom,s job was cooking, thank you for making this video, cheers mate 👍

[@michaeldougfir9807]

It surprises me to say, my father wasn't always a good story teller. Videos like this, and other good ones, help flesh out Dad's stories. OK, so he was a US Navy torpodoeman in the Aleutians. But he was never stationed on a ship. Ohhhhhh NOW I see, he prepared torpedoes and fitted them to Catalinas and other planes, for their patrols. Now I get it. And this sort of video helps me to understand what I should be appreciating. From my heart, thank you for this video.

[@pills-]

"The Thousand-Mile War" Great book about WW2 in the Aleutians. PBYs were used quite a bit there.

[@Darrell1019]

I've had a special place in my heart for these flying boats!

[@johnshields6852]

They were a great asset for our troops, versatility that helped the war effort, I love there's docs on the planes of war. Thank you. 🇺🇲🙏

[@jims9406]

I had to giggle when the retired pilot said " I'm getting up there, I'm 82.

[@mikearmstrong8483]

My mother built Catalinas and Coronados during WWII. I flew Orions during the Cold War. My nephew flies Seahawks off a carrier now.

[@williamhumble1175]

As a young bloke I spent time in 1946 at RAF Mt. Batten, Nr. Plymouth. We had amazing experiences, sitting in Sunderland Flying Boats, taxiing lifts in Sea Otters, pinching Rations for Aircrews from the Hangars. What wonderful childhood experiences. How I sometimes yearn for the 1946 1952 era.

[@andybienefeld]

+William Humble Thank you for sharing your memories with us. Best wishes!

[@servicarrider]

Thank you for the fond memories but there must have been terrifying moments as well if you were there prior to 1946. Glad that we all made it through the struggle, together.

[@trainfan-ks5hk]

Sir what if someone tried to bring them back?

[@tatevolk7553]

William Humble tank you for your service..

[@stevenlarratt3638]

It is now a run down council estate and a park, shame how we sell off our assets and not actually use the time to advance our civilisation

[@rhett4027]

The PBY is a beautiful ship. Perfect styling with purpose

[@almilani4300]

The PBM was the real workhorse of the flying boats. Bigger faster and better.

[@davidwiley3440]

While stationed in Key West, I got to see an old PBY....at the Naval Station Annex...being an ADR I was duly impressed.....

[@wotevrpnt]

The PBY was an ingenious design, and very stream-lined. That led to the 4000 mile range. I love how the floats were lifted into the wingtips. It was a blessing to Coastal Command in Britain and the U.S. Navy. It did not supplant the Sunderland, which had a bigger bomb-load. Rather, it augmented it. PBY's were fantastic scout planes and U-boat chasers. They could remain aloft for 18 hours! PBY's found the Bismarck and the Japanese fleet off Midway, among many other contributions.

[@dannz2603]

+wotevrpnt Yes indeed, the folding floats was a brilliant design idea. I've only ever seen one actually flying and then landing on the water.

[@jacktattis1190]

Wotev : Catalina 3100 miles @100mph [ Gunstons combat Aircraft] Sunderland 2900 miles. The Sunderland could land in rougher seas. They both worked well together;

[@bigdmac33]

I can never understand how some commentators refer to the Cat as being "ugly." To me, its design looked futuristic.

[@derekheuring4646]

Growing up on the West Coast of Canada afforded me many opportunities to see various flying boats over the decades. The RCAF flew the Grumman Albatross and the Mallard, Goose, and Widgeon were often seen in various commercial and private hands as was the various iterations of the PBY. The huge Martin Mars water bombers were only a day trip away to see when they weren't buzzing around the Lower mainland and Canadair CL 215's were occasionally seen. I missed the 'Golden era' of flying boats when a variety of Vickers flying boats patrolled the between-war waters from their base at Jericho beach and Supermarine Stranraers were flown by Queen Charlotte Islands Airways. We had most of the fuselage of a Stranraer at the Museum of Flight and Transportation when they were still located in Surrey, B.C.

[@florentmagen5993]

The most accurate film have seen about "the wars fying boat". And an hommage of the unknowns heros of the second wars., like" The Black cats" ans the safety .. Thanks a lot..

[@gacj2010]

Oh what a beautiful thing that PBY ...I love it so much

[@JohnShields-xx1yk]

The flying boats were fascinating, to be able to land and takeoff on water is a beautiful sight to see.

[@CaptHollister]

From back in the days before the Hysteria channel decided it likes ghosts, aliens, and UFOs more than it likes history. Perhaps an interesting point missed by most documentaries is that German flying boats were equipped with diesel engines. This made it possible to refuel them from any ship or u-boat, making them theoretically capable of reaching North America.

[@ignaciocortez8200]

CaptHollister dont mind the ghost/ufo/conspiracies, I just hate all those other shows like pawn stars, ice road truckers and junk like that

[@nightlightabcd]

Interesting point!

[@davidlomax4202]

thats why they lost the war.

[@timmayer8723]

I know the navy and coast guard diligently patrolled the US coast line. It is also common knowledge that both the Japanese and Germans made it to our coast line in their subs. Some even grounded and were found wallowing .

[@jmcfintona999]

Good point. They wouldn't be able to do much damage but like in ww1 when then the Germans were conducting zeppelin and bomber raids against Britain though costly the benefits far outweighed the cost as Britain was forced by public outcry to divert considerable assets to air defence that would have been deployed elsewhere in the war. Havent watched the history channel in ages but im sure by this stage its pawnshop ghost hunters and ancient alien loggers

[@gacj2010]

I wish I could go up into a flying boat .... I love them

[@darwinsmonkeybutler2113]

My father did his mechanical engineering apprentiship in Short Bros on the Medway from 1939-41 then went in the RNFAA and serviced Fairy Swordfish (including the one that had hit the Bismarck’s rudder), Grumman Avengers and Seafires that shot down Condors, from 1942 at Worthy Down and Macrahanish on the Mull of Kintire (801-2 squadron?). But he was offered a job curating at Hendon because, when we went to visit when I was young, he knew more about the Sunderland we were shown round - the one that took Churchill to Yalta - than the guy who let us go inside. I sat in Winston’s seat in the bomb Bay Area. My mum was an airframe mechanic WRN after she’d worked in the WO for Jasper Macalin, a magician who disguised aircraft factories. She was blown 20 yards by a doodlebug. Covid-19 be buggered.

[@stewartw.9151]

I met a man about 30 years ago who flew PBYs out of San Diego during WW2. Bob Livingstone and his wife came to South Africa for an "aviation holiday" in 1991 along with several other pilots and we hosted them for about 2 weeks, lending light aircraft to them and flying along with them to various parts of the country. It was a wonderful time and I have many happy memories. Bob then was over 80 years old and still flew his own aircraft out of San Diego but now it was not a PBY, rather a Grumman AA5B Tiger. His wife ot a similar age, had recently passed her flight test to get a US Private Pilot Licence! A lovely and gracious couple. Bob mentioned his PBY flying out over the Pacific looking for threats but said that he never saw a damn thing to worry about and got extremely bored on 18 hour long missions! But someone had to do it, so he did his duty.

[@bigdmac33]

Absolutely first rate documentary.

[@craigkdillon]

I consider the PBY Catalina as among the best planes of WW2. It is right up there with the Mosquito (the absolute best, IMO), the Mustang, and the Hellcat.

[@markparry63]

Couldn't agree more.

[@thekale52]

Since I was a kid (I'm 64 now) I've been fascinated by flying boats... I built every model of world war 2 from tanks to planes... but it was the ships and more exact the flying boats that stroked my interest... and to this day I'm still love them..

[@glummy99]

I just feel privileged to see and absorb this wonderful footage. To all allied services I know I my freedom to you. THANKYOU

[@craigkdillon]

The story of the Clipper that went from the Pacific to New York after being caught in the war, is a rousing and wonderful tale. I am surprised no movie has been made of it, and the passengers & crew that were on it.

[@randalmontgomery4595]

I read about it too and had the same thought - would be a great movie. It was quite the adventure.

[@higgydufrane]

I can't believe that I didn't know about the wing tips. You can learn something every single day. Thanks for posting this video!

[@darrylhayes3662]

I’ve always admired the flying boats for their capabilities of long range and sea fairing in anti submarine deterrent

[@Mrbfgray]

SO many fascinating aspects to this era, this is an excellent perspective.

[@carlshuey630]

Bo McGillacutty

[@JesHill]

At 17:25 that Sunderland is taking off in Plymouth Sound, my home Town. The hangars and other RAF Mountbatten buildings, including the slipways, are still there, with marine businesses keeping them as still busy areas.

[@dzyanist]

REALLY Excellent Doc'.., THANK YOU !!! 😉👍

[@bamboosa]

"Hey, Zamanski - you bastard! You just shot off half the rudder!" - Seriously: I lived in Inglewood California from 1953 to 1959 and I would see Catalinas just abut everyday - when we went to the beach (Manhatten, Redondo, Hermosa) I would see Catalinas in the white and orange colors of the Coast Guard. True story. I love the Catalinas, they are beautiful.

[@davemojarra4734]

A very good program, thank you!

[@BigRedPower59]

My father was stationed on a sea plane tender (AV-10) during WWII. These aircraft have always fascinated mr.

[@arnenelson4495]

I've heard the PBY could stay aloft 30 hours max.....it had bunks, stove, food locker, large drinking water supply, toilet, many more features.

[@rogerdavies6226]

Years ago I had occasion to visit the Officer's Club at what was home of the international seaplane training in Brownsville Texas. This club was covered with the unit insignia from all over. I spent a goodly time reading these plaques. It is one of my more pleasant memories of my time.

[@atreyuprincipalh4043]

this pilots are true heroes,timeless,and honorable for ever"

[@BuzzSargent]

This is so good to watch. The Flying Boat is such an important piece of world history. Happy Trails

[@dobiedude7479]

A great documentary. There are still some flying boats out there working as water bombers. New designs.

[@dannz2603]

I remember the one and only Sunderland I ever saw flying, it was in 1957 when my mother rush us kids out of the house to watch this flying boat fly at not more than 1,000 - 1500ft directly over our house, it must have been something special as there were also two Vampire jets in the air at the same time. Probably this experience was why I became a pilot years later.

[@dannz2603]

+flip inheck Yes I can well believe and understand how he must have felt.

[@robriby]

+Dan NZ I'm sure that you've read it but my uncle bought me "They shall not pass unseen" and it was a revelation! I'm only 47 and still look out for anything Sunderland related after reading that!

[@dannz2603]

+robriby I do understand, and even nowadays when I get a chance to walk through one of these awesome aircraft at a museum and sit in the cockpit I can imagine what it must have been like all those years ago, it is in some way humbling I feel.

[@gacj2010]

+Dan NZ To me they are like a magic thing that can be a boat and fly ...magic

[@dannz2603]

+gacj2010 Yes indeed, they were a magnificent achievement of man's ingenuity and imagination.

[@davemacnicol8404]

There are Great sister docs to this one. Wings of the red star has one aircraft every episode and it's done very well and German war files had great aircraft episodes too. I love the old monotone shows. Interesting enough to keep watching but monotone enough to fall asleep to at night. The episode on the soviet backfire bomber and the the bear are great!

[@lynnbernhard9725]

As a child my father took us to watch PBM operations at NAS Norfolk. The takeoffs were exciting to watch. There was a Kawanishi H8K perserved in cosmoline there with some other aircraft as part of a corrosion test in the late 1950's. It was impressively HUGE!

[@romansroad2007]

Old Stan M. Has probably past away, up in Heaven fly with his buddies. My Dad was in WW2 thinking about him too watching this . The men really put everything together and got things done as one. I still live in San Diego California and would love to see the planes fly back then...

[@wrongtrack6095]

When I was 9 years old we rode on a grumman goose from Chalks airways Miami to Bimini will never forget it.

[@michaelgill3604]

Those planes were badly maintained, that's why a wing fell off on approach to landing killing everybody on board

[@ne0ns1RCflying]

2 years ago I made a Martin Mars XPB2M-1 seaplane. It has a 10 foot wing and I flew it this year. Flies on rails and a great crowd pleaser. Very nice plane with the 1942 design twin rudders. It was converted mid war to the JRM version. 2 remaining well known still in existence.as Coultran water bombers. 3 years ago I built a Kawanishi H8K2 Emily. Electric RC with a 8 foot wing. It flew great and still does.I was amazed to see so many Emily's in color in this video. Look my plane up under my name

[@51WCDodge]

As of 2017 there is at least one PBY-5A operating in Europe. The sight of her coming into the Former RAF Station at Biggin Hill Big white and beautiful is something to treasure. As far as Bismark goes one of the crew was USN Ensign Leonard 'B'' Tuck, Smith the aircraft was RAF 209 Sqd PBY AH545 based at Loch Erne Northern Ireland. A lot was kept very quiet as Rossevelt whilst publicly supplying PBYs under lease Lend, could not admit to allowing US personnel into combat, also the Eire , again being neutral, did not want to admit they were allowing RAF combat aircraft from Loch Erne to fly over their territory en route to the Atlantic or that along the coast facing the Atlantic were what were called Coastal Lookout stations, covinently showing large air ident panel and codes so aircraft flying trans Atlantic could get an accurate fix on landfall.

[@charlieindigo]

Ref: 51WCDodge. Absolutely right, sir! However, just a few little add-ons to keep the viewers informed: Ensign Smith was the Observer while F/O Dennis Briggs, RAF was the pilot. Lough Erne in Northern Ireland was the only possible base for patrolling the Western Approaches, but because of Irish neutrality, they had to operate via a very narrow air corridor through Eire Airspace arranged between Eire and the UK and kept totally SECRET. In essence, there were two bases at Lough Erne - Killadeas, from where the Cats operated, and Castle Archdale (just a mile or two away) which was the base for Sunderlands. Both bases were part of 15 Group RAF Coastal Command. Pilots and crews came from various Commonwealth countries as well as the USA, and the general idea was that The RAF would train the others in Operational and Sunderland flying, while the USA would train the RAF in flying Catalinas and BABS (Blind Approach Beacon System - an early form of ILS). Another interesting aspect is that at all times during this co-opted training, they were also Operational!!! A visit to these bases - now long defunct - will reap great rewards, as many of the jettys, refuelling booms, mooring blocks and slipways are still there.

[@charlieindigo]

Alex' Challis. That's a nice little addition - also probably helpful to me. Last year, I was anxious to know all about BABS, and learnt that it was a mobile ILS. From a released Archive, BABS' rough location was shown, but the Op Plan was very indistinct, so I set about trying to pinpoint it using the only direction indicator that could be determined. It took several weeks of trial and error, working on linear and aerial photography (there was no GPS at the time)! I managed to pinpoint the location as well as the actual "corridor" that our airmen were compelled to fly - it was just over a half-mile wide! A second release from the National Archives showed how the system worked, along with the Base instructions (which were pretty meaningless), so I was able to produce a fairly complete Powerpoint presentation showing the approach routes, with maps, photos &etc. I'm currently thinking on how I might put it onto KZbin.

[@lycian123]

Not sure the PBY's were part of the 'lend-lease'. The US supplied forty-something ageing destroyers and then took the money and ran.

[@charlieindigo]

Mr Saunders; Not sure why you brought destroyers into the subject, but re your comment on them, the USA took the money from the UK FOR EVERYTHING!!! We only stopped paying the USA a few years ago for their part in BOTH world wars! Whether the PBY's were part of Lend-Lease, is neither here nor there in the whole scheme of things! They still own some 20-or-so of our military airfields, we gave them ENIGMA, and contrary to what they say, it was the Royal Navy who captured it, not the Yanks! Yes, we needed the Amis in WW2, but we sure as heck neither need them nor want them nowadays - almost everything that's British is owned or run by them (that's my tuppence worth)!

[@markparry63]

To say nothing about Radar, jet engine, the Merlin, the all flying tailplane from The Miles M1to enable Capt. Yeager to break the sound barrier, cancelling our own project. The technical expertise from British scientists to build the Atomic Bombs.... cutting us out of the nuclear club until we built our own. Closest ally my arse, they only ever exploit and give nothing in return. They forced us to cancel TSR2, the Canadians to cancel the Avro Arrow all to force allies to buy the F1-11 or the Voodoo. Vastly inferior aircraft to the 'foreign' models but American, God Dammit!.

[@anim8torfiddler871]

My dad was a bombardier on a PB2Y Coronado for several years during the war. He got to be friends with Stan Mahoney. They kept in touch for decades, and Stan sent a copy of his self-published book "I'm in Aviation NOW!" It's a great memoir of the time. (BTW, the Coronado had the wing-tip Fold-up Floats similar to the Catalina's.)

[@PaulAJohnston1963]

What an excellent piece of work and history. Biased I know because the Catalina was always my favourite plane!

[@williamc.1198]

Flying boats, Blimps and Navy rigid airships have always fascinated me. By the time I enlisted in the Navy they were all gone! :-( I was stationed for 3 years at the old NAS Coco Solo in the Panama Canal Zone. The large parking areas with ramps to allow the PBYs to taxi out into Manzanillo Bay for take off were still there.

[@granskare]

and the parking lots were filled with great cars!!

[@johnmerton3630]

When i was very young my parents took up a few times to watch the Sunderlands taking off on Rose Bay Sydney.

[@hillbilly4christ638]

My uncle was an engine mechanic for the pby during the war. He did 8 years in the Navy and never ever discussed his service openly.

[@Paiadakine]

That old Consolidated Pilot is wonderful.

[@ckom9]

Beautiful machines! I like the guy who retired and draws pictures of them. Flying boats make me want to buy a drafting board and get some drawing done. wow!

[@Taketimeout3]

In every way this is a very good film. The commentary and commentator cannot be bettered. This is quality.Really glad you uploaded it. Thank you.

[@peterdavy6110]

What was a very well kept secret at the time was that the Catalina which found Bismarck (14.40) was flown by an American pilot. He was a USN instructor in the UK to train RAF pilots on the plane. He agreed to fly the search mission as there were no qualified RAF pilots to do it. As the US was still neutral, it had to be kept very secret. Ludovic Kennedy tells the story in his book on the Bismarck .

[@markparry63]

That is an amazing thing to learn! Who knew? Did the officer receive any mention of decoration for his command of the aircraft?

[@geoffchurchman5211]

What about restoring the old flying boats for luxury trip throughout africa. Come on Richard Branson.

[@robertabraham7687]

My dad was a radio man & second gunman in a PBY during world war 2. He was involved with the Island hopping in the South Pacific. His crew got commendations for rescuing a Army Pilot in rough seas within 20 miles of a major Japanese Airbase. He was in a PBY 5. He talked very little about the war but he had a lot of nightmares that were war related during my growing up years. His speaking during one of them could only describe a shootout with a Japanese plain. I believe it was the foot soldiers who liked calling the sea planes flying boats. It wasn't easy to qualify for sea plane duty. It was a selective service to some extent.

[@georgeciarrocchi2833]

+Robert Abraham Hey my Dad was also a Radio man. I have his log book. He was in PBM 19 I believe, involved in recon in the Iwo Jima Invasion.

[@robertabraham7687]

George C, I know my dad left with a group who were gone for exactly a year between June 43 & June 44 & saw action in the Gilbert & Marshal Islands which is where his crew rescued a downed Army Pilot at sea. His crew received commendations for that rescue because it was in rough seas & within 20 miles of a Japanese held air base.

[@robertabraham7687]

My dad seldom talked about the war but had told some stories to my mom & brought back some pictures. He had war related nightmares off & on when I was growing up. From what I understand, it was to some extent a selective service to be part of a PBY crew. One story my mom knew about was while someone was in training for gunner he shot up one of the wings & their plane had to make a crash landing. Reportedly my dad was pretty shaken up about it. The person who did it got grounded. I had a uncle who tried out but didn't make the grade yet still served aboard a ship in the war.

[@dannz2603]

+Robert Abraham One of my uncles was a pilot during WWII and years later I was told by a third party that my uncle evacuated this person along with others from the Solomon Islands in a flying boat, probably a Sunderland, he did this with his wrist strapped to the control column with a belt as he had been wounded and he flew for some sixteen hours back to Australia thereby saving himself and the men he carried. My uncle did recover and survived the war only to be killed later while top dressing/crop dusting in Taranaki, New Zealand in 1958. I had two other uncles that were killed in WWII, one in Italy and the other in the Pacific, such a waste of life all around, let's hope that the need never arrises again for such sacrifices. My Grandmother never got over the loss of her boys and until the day she died she would look at their photographs hanging over the mantelpiece and tell me about them. Very sad.

[@robertabraham7687]

Thus was born the baby booming years & essentially good times by comparison with other times in the past. I was fortunate to of grown up during the baby booming years. I think that most in the world wanted to put the war behind them & live the good life. WW2 may well of effected everyone one way or another. My family also lost relatives & friends to that war. I know my dad lived as if the war was behind him & would seldom if at all talk about it.

[@bladecutter3821]

IMO, Dornier built the prettiest of the flying boats. I was disappointed they glossed over Dornier with one type here. No mention at all of the Martin Mars.

[@timmayer8723]

Blade Cutter there was about 5 seconds of a Martin Mars fire fire fighter dumping its load of water.

[@kenbellchambers4577]

My dad joined the RCAF at a young age. He learned Morse code and how to shoot a machine gun. He was a WAG, or wireless air gunner. He operated the radio and manned a machine gun aboard a Catalina seaplane. He also shot down Japanese incendiary balloon bombs. They were sent from Japan, and rode the air currents to the US and Canadian west coast. The bombs were set to drop over land by using a release system based on barometric pressure. The balloon bombs did kill some people and start some fires in Washington state, but they were easy targets for a 50 cal Browning machine gun. I am sure my dad had quite a good time shooting these down. His base was on Vancouver Island at Cole Harbour.

[@andrewtaylor940]

Wow! Y'know I had always noticed those windows up on the wing pylon of the PBY, but I never knew what those windows were for. I never imagined that that's where they stuck the flight engineer. That's wild.

[@jackkreighbaum783]

In the late '50s, working at a small airfield in Blythe, CA (a former WWII Army Airfield) I got to take a flight in an ancient PBY. Quite an experience for a 16 year old kid.

[@justforfux]

13:16 India is not mentioned. At the height of the war, more than 2.5 million Indian soldiers were fighting alongside the British.

[@DougsterCanada1]

Well done India. Thank you for your service and sacrifice.

[@taketimeout2share]

Yes. You were wonderful. Absolute respect. Especially in Burma. I think it was General Slim who said some of the toughest divisions fighting the Japanese were his Indian forces. Please note he emphasised "his: He was that proud of them, Rajeev. They helped prove the Japanese were not invincible in the Jungle. Back then people thought they were. The Indians and European forces showed they weren't. It was a very tough fight and even at the end of the War the Japanese Burma forces were still unbroken. It was perhaps the toughest arena. Some of us have not forgotten and thank you for pointing that out.

[@accousticdecay]

I bawled at the end.... moving tribute.

[@almilani4300]

WHAT? NO SPRUCE GOOSE? THE KING OF ALL FLYING BOATS !

[@georgebarnes8163]

Really, it never actually flew more than a few thousand yards and never took part in any wars, never a warplane but just a big silly useless boat .

[@johnlewis7160]

Amusing to see the Bismark sinking illustrated by a mrchant ship going down, ;)

[@adcunningham3848]

My grandfather was an ensign on the USS Tangiers. Always on the lookout for a documentary about the planes, but I really want to see more about those support ships.

[@JohnRodriguesPhotographer]

Great work! Love this!

[@pervertt]

Great documentary. Flying boats have a graceful shape unmatched by land based aircraft. As a boy in the 1960s, I would watch Short Sunderlands operated by RNZAF take off and land at Laucala Bay in Suva, Fiji. I can still remember the terrific roar of the engines as the big white boats took off. Sadly, none of these boats remain in flying condition.

[@mikecimerian6913]

I have admired Joe Stillwell since I read his memoirs. He led the retreat from Burma in 1942. He said, I will take you out alive but you will hate me until you die. He kept count of steps per minutes - hours and paced the retreat. He was in his 60s. I don't need comics for heroes... :)

[@Skyroamer00]

Thanks, this was great. I hold a multi engine seaplane rating, but too young to have flown in the heyday of flying boats.

[@jimgomez5396]

This is beautiful! Very well done!

[@constitutionalUSA]

Don't we envy the camaraderie they had.

[@granskare]

the Blom and Voss plane is impressive.:)and Stilwell had done a super job while the Chinese under Shak-kai-shek were wanting control of lead-lease. :)

[@anitadolan1361]

Yes, the BV 222 Wiking WAS an impressive aircraft. Pity it was misidentified as a BV 238, which was itself a fascinating and effective patrol aircraft. Also, Junkers JU87s just don't cut it as "land based torpedo bombers"!

[@granskare]

the Sunderland took part in the Berlin airlift - it lands in the waters of Berlin.

[@christianjheinbockel2384]

Was used to transport salt due to it's anti-corrosion construction.

[@thekinginyellow1744]

13:10 It's amazing how unconscious prejudice is today so notable in these old films. They mention Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, and South African contributions to the commonwealth war effort, but completely ignore the Indian contribution even though in terms of actual troops, the Indian contribution was about as large as all the others combined. It makes me wonder how people in the future will look back at us and say how blind we were to certain things.

[@williamrance5086]

Good point, Brian. Same thing happened with Bomber Command. Churchill gave Harris the job. Harris carried out the orders impeccably, and Churchill turned his back on him. Some Greatest Briton, right? Flying boats are like British tanks - one has the gear to brew a good cup of tea, or in our American friends' wonderful creations, a cup of coffee!

[@jacktattis1190]

Brian Yes the Indians were in North Africa Burma but I do not think they flew Flying boats

[@mebsrea]

Not mentioning Indian troops in a documentary on the Burma campaign or North Africa would indeed be a grave oversight. Indian aircrew were, however, nonexistent until near the end of the war, confined to action in the Burma-India theater, and never flew flying boats.

[@devbldg]

PBY sighted the BIZ BUT Swordfish crippled the Biz so the big naval ships could sink the BIZ which could only steam in circles .

[@tytewire]

True, Catalina spotted Bismark which R.N. lost in the night. Was squadron of Swordfish which torpedoed it.(2hits).

[@EldredTGlass]

As a child during WW II I watched a PBY fly off the coast of Connecticut every afternoon

[@vanwrinkle-01]

An amazingly informative documentary.

[@tedthesailor172]

Interesting video, thanks for sharing...

[@eduardoferreira1638]

muito bom documentário, e o Catalina é um dos aviões mais bonitos da época!

[@blackbirdpie217]

At 2:52 you can see how the enormous recoil of the powerful guns affects the forward movement of the light airplane. Amazing!

[@FreedomLovingTard]

This is possibly the best documentary I have ever watched. PBY Catalina is my all time favorite. -A naval aviation maintainer

[@schnarre0]

...My uncle used to work at Consolidated, back in the day.

[@stanleybaker1520]

This video was AWESOME 😎🙂🙂🙂

[@JoeInCT418]

My Dad was drafted and reported for Basic Trng on Dec 10, 1941, the day Nazi Germany declared war on the USA; we were also at war as of Dec. 7,1941 b/c of the Pearl Harbor attack. He took Combat Engr trng at Ft. Belvoir in VA, just down the road from Geo. Washington's home. His unit was sent to Iceland in July to take over from the Brit Engrs. His unit's job was to build, maintain, widen and lengthen the existence airfields on Iceland, as well as to build several other new ones far away from Icelandic population centers for secrecy's sake. Being combat trained, they also were security troops and guarded the airfields. They took care of anti-aircraft guns and had vehicles holding twin and quad .50 cal. MGs, as well as flak cannons (3 & 4 inchers), howitzers and mortars. The PBYs were regular visitors to Iceland for refueling and to report important info via radio or cable to HQ on Britain. They kept the convoys covered as soon as they came within range, and rushed to cover any convoys hit by U-Boat Wolfpacks which overwhelmed their escort ships. Iceland also became stopover ports for the later-on Hunter-Killer Task Groups formed around baby flattops which could handle Grumman F4Fs (Brits called them Martinets) and Grumman Avengers, which could carry 2,000 lbs of bombs or the later-available depth charge bombs. Then the Atlantic was carpeted by the Navy version of the B-24 Liberator built by Consolidated at the Willow Run Plant designed and built by Henry Ford. The Navy version had not only fuel in their wing tanks, but they designed an extra fuel tank that fit in one half of the bomb bay; the second half of the bomb bay carried depth charge bombs, regular bombs, and depth charge mortars (didn't explode unless they hit the sub). IIRC, the bomb load of the B-24 was 8,000 lbs, so they had tremendous range and tremendous ordnance. They covered "Torpedo Alley" from Iceland; from then on, between the sonar, radar, Anti-Sub TGs, Catalinas, and B-24s, the Nazis started losing U-Boats left and right. IIRC, by war's end in Europe, the Nazis lost almost 900 U-Boats. In May, 1944, my Dad was xfrd to a unit in Britain for Overlord, and he landed on Omaha Beach on D+1; their first job was to build a huge airfield just past the beach at Omaha so that C-47s could bring over supplies, VIPs, etc, and take back to Britain the most badly wounded GIs. Fighters and medium bombers also began landing to provide Close Air Support to the front line units. A-36s, P-47s, P-51s, P-38s, B-25s and B-26s all would land, fuel up, take on ordnance, and contact Fwd Air Controllers to help the ground pounders when German tank columns and 88 mm flak artillery appeared and started hurting our guys. The only thing he would say about Omaha Beach was the fact that there were a lot of GIs with half moons on their helmets, floating in the red water (29th Div). That's all he would say. Until I was older and started seeing more Combat Camera footage of the Normandy Invasion, I didn't understand. When I saw more footage, and then when I saw "Saving Private Ryan", I fully understood why he would not tell us about it. It was so horrible, he wanted to put it behind him. Mom said he had bad PTSD for over 2 years, and immersing himself into supporting his family was probably what kept him sane. R.I.P. Dad. 1980+

[@HowardKelsey68]

Thanks for sharing this Joseph K.

[@JoeInCT418]

Howard Kelsey +1 When Prof Stephen Ambrose wrote his books in the 70s and 80s, we were losing them at the rate of 1,000 a day. Now we are down to 750 a day. All we have left is oral history. The GIs came home and wanted to put it all behind them. Understandable, except the power of their experiences is so very valuable, and our younger generations need to hear about what they did, so history is not repeated. All 3 of mine have heard me say, repeatedly: History must be learned, so we don't make the same mistakes again.

[@billduckworth6760]

My Dad was assigned to a landing craft maintenance group during WW 2. He wouldn't talk about the war. He served in the South Pacific. I remember him waking up at night yelling as he had nightmares. He was on the island of Biak during the invasion. He is dead now but I will never be able to know what horrors he experienced. Thank you Dad for helping to save the world from Jap and German domination. I miss you.

[@granskare]

an excellent video ad nice the German and Japanese flying boats were included..

[@motorcop505]

These guys were true heroes.

[@brianbentley13]

This account is excellent of a fantastic aircraft

[@justforfux]

Japan has designed a new flying boat, US2 for use in the 21st Century.

[@asdf9890]

Currently building a 1/72 plastic Catalina. I've often imagined the rare, very cool assignment on one of these as a 19, 20, 21 year old (if you had to be in war). These guys probably had no shortage of women wanting to ride on the ship in the water, and able to pick up a lot of other things like good food and booze! 😅 They probably had a great time, or at least memorable, all things considered. What other plane from that era was made into a luxury craft after the war (Landseaire)? This stuff wouldn't happen today, totally unique situation in time and space these heroes found themselves in.

[@williamlewis5114]

No mention of the US Navy's (AV) Seaplane Tenders, which kept 'em flying when away from home.

[@MichaelKingsfordGray]

My Uncle Richard flew 3 tours of duty in WW2 as a Sunderland skipper/pilot.