Top 10 Things Masters of the Air Left Out

Despite a nine-episode run and a massive budget, this epic WWII mini-series left plenty on the cutting room floor. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking into changes and omissions that the show “Masters of the Air” from Apple TV+ and Steven Spielberg made, compared to its source material and WWII History. Our countdown of the things "Masters of the Air" left out includes The Real Sandra Wesgate, The Tuskegee Airmen, The Fate of Lt. Curtis Biddick, and more! What was your favorite moment from the show? How does it compare to its predecessors? Set your sights on the comments below and fire away!
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#MastersOfTheAir
#AppleTV
#TV
#WWII
#Drama
#Action
#BandOfBrothers
#Steven Spielberg
#AustinButler
#Barry Keoghan

[@WatchMojo]

Are you watching masters of the Air? What do you think of the series? Let us know in the comments! For more content like this, click here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZvUn2OLnNNlmNU Don't forget to play our Live Trivia (www.watchmojo.com/play) games at 3pm EST for a chance to win cash! The faster you answer, the more points you get!

[@StanHalen1936]

Cue the "love your content" piece of garbage.

[@StanHalen1936]

​@King.binge99 you're* Learn how to spell.

[@Reaperguy67]

​@King.binge99 you need to stop

[@Reaperguy67]

​@King.binge99 again never was backing him up. Also you are the liar because you lie about others. Get a life dude.

[@Cinezillaaa]

Some of these comments in this thread shouldn't belong here

[@killerbees177]

You can't compare The Pacific and MOA to Band of Brothers. Each show has it's unique story and flow. I enjoyed watching MOA and hope to see more miniseries

[@TheSocratesian]

MOA can't be compared to Band of Brothers or the Pacific because those shows were far superior and the creators cared about depicting actual events and not jamming in fiction. AppleTV should be ashamed of themselves.

[@killerbees177]

@@TheSocratesian yeah.... ok

[@matth9w]

@@TheSocratesianbro has been bitching all over this comment section, funny af

[@TheSocratesian]

@@matth9wLOL! You mad bro? It's funny af to a low information dope. Good luck with that.

[@christopherjohnferrer3771]

It's because they have the same Executive Producer of the show, means same production working on this series. So comparison on these TV shows is relevant.

[@JasonMcCord-qk3yb]

Actually you showed one of my favorite clips from the show: When the POW camp commander formally comes before the Colonel to surrender, he offers his hand for a handshake. The colonel does not even flinch at this, nor does he even look at the commanders hand. The Commander, realizing what is happening, immediately salutes the Colonel, who immediately returns his salute. The moral, and meaning? You shake the hand of a person you RESPECT. You salute the RANK, not the man. There’s a very powerful, yet subtle message there, that I bet was missed by many viewers. Loved it!

[@Bogie0315]

I caught it the same as Winters making Sobel salute and stating "You salute the rank not the Man" in the Band of Brothers.

[@golfhound]

I caught it. By 1945, all of US Army senior officers were aware of the treatment of POW's by the Germans. It was only in January 1945 during the Battle of the Bulge that it was common knowledge that Germans were executing soldiers and Holocaust prisoners at an alarming rate to get rid of eye witnesses of German atrocities. So yes, it is understandable why the US Army Colonel did not shake hands, but saluted.

[@JasonMcCord-qk3yb]

@@golfhound I knew I couldn’t be the only one! WW2 History is a hobby of mine, in fact, of my entire family, only My father (7 years old in ‘45) and my grandfather and grandmother survived the war. In all, 43 members of my family (father’s side, including 12 who were 10 years old or younger) were killed during WW2. My father died in Vietnam. War has not been kind to our family.

[@osric1730]

Not entirely sure how realistic it was though. Its possible of course but there was generally a good deal of mutual respect between the Luftwaffe and the Western Allies. It was the Luftwaffe who controlled the POW camps occupied by airmen and their treatment of prisoners was by and large exemplary, they went to great lengths to protect them from the SS-Sicherheitsdienst and this was well known to the allies. Now it may be that at the end of the war some senior US officer may have seen to much barbarism and tarred all Germans with the same brush and might have snubbed a Luftwaffe commandant in the manner portrayed, but it doesn't cast him in a good light given the reality of the behavior of the Luftwaffe with regard to POWs, who contrary to the portrayal in the film took no action against Allied servicemen who were unable to stay on the forced march between camps. Unsurprisingly the 240 Luftwaffe guards did not suicidally fire on the 74,000 prisoners or engage in firefights with the approaching 14th Armored Division. What actually happened was a couple jeeps burst through the gates meeting no resistance whatsoever where the guards were already assembled awaiting their fate and they disarmed them with no resistance. Later Brigadier General Karlstad formally accepted the unconditional surrender of the camp from Colonel Otto Burger. Whether a hand shake was either offered or refused is anyone's guess, but given the string of historical inaccuracies in the scene somehow I doubt it. The flag part, however is true, although nobody knows who raised it. So no, its not one of my favorite clips in the series, far from it, its largely cobblers. There is a powerful message here, don't mistake fiction for history.

[@reaverman]

1:30 Whoever is claiming that Elizabeth the II was the Crosby's love interest, has been on the benzine! Elizabeth was born in '26, and by the end of WWII, would have been about 19. And that's before we take into account, she would have had a very public live. Anyone around Britain would have twigged her, from all the news reels in the cinemas!

[@scottp.5055]

I think she did drive and work on trucks during the war. But you're right no way she could've been a spy like Sandra was portrayed.

[@reaverman]

@@scottp.5055 Oh agreed, she did stuff, but like you said!

[@TheSocratesian]

@@reaverman The Crosby/Wingate arc was an enormous waste of time. Episode 8 sucked and combined with 7 and 9 it turned a great series into one that was just good.

[@Vultor]

Elizabeth was a driver and mechanic during WWII

[@reaverman]

@@Vultor exactly, not a spy

[@Atpost334]

Well, If you read Miller’s book “MotA” and Crosby’s “A Wing and a Prayer”, there are a ton of important elements left out. That being said, tough to cover 35 - 40 hours of material in 9 hours. All and all, a good series, but certainly could have used some of their budget and time much more wisely. Should have been 12 episodes without so many unnecessary side stories. One of my favorite scenes in the series was from Crosby’s book when he kicked open the door to get the parachutes and then mellow Crosby proceeds to get really pissed at the supply officer. Captures Crosby’s righteous indignation at that moment really well.

[@Tank50us]

Let's also not forget that while it's obvious they could've done much more, much of the filming was done during the latter half of the pandemic, which complicated filming schedules and ballooned production costs. Imagine what they could've done with the money spent, and no virus to deal with during filming

[@Cucuy222]

For me this show is up there with its sister series. The series finale might be one of my fav episodes across the whole trilogy.

[@GZA036]

You're deranged.

[@golfhound]

My favorite scene from the series was when Buck, Bucky, and Rosen fly a mission to Belgium and drop food packages. All of the pilots are together/reunited and they are finally flying a peace mission.

[@Fariswheelanwar]

They flew to the Netherlands

[@jackmcgonegal8728]

Studies conducted by the 8th Air Force itself actually revealed that the ball turret position was the safest on the B-17, suffering a casualty rate of 4%. Waist gunners had the highest overall casualty rate but the most dangerous positions in the aggregate were forward, which is not surprising, as the Luftwaffe focused its attention on head-on attacks to kill the pilots.

[@ericcrichardson]

Regarding the Norden Bomb Sight, while it was considered secret he Germans actually had spies in the US and in 1941 an agent was able to deliver the plans for it. In fact the German bomb sights were quite similar . In the US Sperry corp actually had a much better bomb sight but previous attempts were sub standard so they were not given a chance.

[@NicoakaRedCat]

the Swiss camps are one of the most terrifying stuff in Miller's book...I am not even sure the public is ready for this.

[@thedude1316]

Is that the "prison sock" incident?

[@mypl510]

The should have covered a different fighter group, one that actually escorted them from England and possible follow an Ace pilot, like the top Ace in the ETO, Gabreski. His story is certainly worth telling, and he flew the P-47 Thunderbolt, something other than the same thing they keep showing, the P-51 Mustang. And yes, the three most expensive projects during the war where, The Boeing B-29 Bomber, The Manhattan Project and the Norden Bombsight. All of them had their issues, but the Bombsight was the worst!

[@rtyler1869]

did you actually watch the show or read the book? Buck did not fight the British officer- That was Kurt who died on the same flight as Babyface. Buck actually agreed that Daylighht Bombing was sucicide but needed to be done.

[@digitalbuzz]

A huge historical miss in the series--no B-17G (chin turret) models were shown. The B-17G became more prevalent in combat from 1944 on. The B-17Fs in the show were mostly phased out in 1944 and almost never seen in all natural metal finish like in the last episode.

[@kiwiruna9077]

Have a look at ww2 tv here on youtube, they have discussions with the some of the major people in the production including John Orloff, he said in the end it came down to money.

[@ericsalsman1243]

You could use some help with simple timelines. Documented figures 100% disagree with you, sorry. Maybe pay more attention to the dates of the story.

[@raymondsmith6870]

A good series with only one criticism being the anti British and anti RAF slant of the series. The reason they flew night missions is not to get even with the German bombing campaign of England but because they were being blown out of the sky with high losses when attacking in daylight. A situation that was repeated by the US Air Force who thought they were going to show the RAF how much better their planes were. The losses for the US airmen were so high that a 4 month stoppage in raids occurred to regroup and allow the entrance of the P-51 Mustang which saved the day. The most interesting part is that their bombing accuracy wasn't much better(20% on target) than the RAF at night though the series tries to show dead on hits many times. The other point is RAF planes could carry very large bombs up to 4000 lb, 8000 lbs and 12,000 lbs while the B-17 could only do 1000 or 2000 lb bombs which meant the US air force would not be able to knock out hardened targets protected by concrete blast walls but the RAF took them out with their larger ordnance. The RAF was no slouch and outdid the US Air Force in many occasions(Dambusters and V-2 facilities) and all without any fighter escorts. The unsung hero of the RAF was the Mosquito fighter bomber who could do various missions in pathfinding, harassing German night fighters and bombing raids. Now that should be a series.

[@Davionious]

Yes. The British had the benefit of the Butt Report that showed how shite precision bombing was. The Americans bought the idea that the Norden bombsight worked when it didn't. But biggest British failing was getting rid of Dowding from Fighter Command. That killed the long range Spitfire project which could have flown to Berlin and Back in 1942.

[@scottp.5055]

Actually, the ball turrent wasn't the most dangerous position on the B-17.

[@justincoleman7856]

You're actually right. According to a video from Premier History, it was actually the waist gunner position (basically the middle of the plane).

[@ChienaAvtzon]

@@justincoleman7856 - Yup, especially since the window at the waist were wide open.

[@craigw.scribner6490]

The tail gunner was right up there too; he couldn't wear his parachute and was physically cut off from the rest of the crew.

[@ericsalsman1243]

Too bad the data on loss of control and crash events 100% disagrees with you

[@Thenogomogo-zo3un]

The most dangerous place on a B-17 was on a B-24 Or a B-26

[@Ar-kx4hp]

Loved this series. Live in the area. When you get a moment turn your computer map to Colchester England, set to satellite view. Scroll slowly upwards. You are looking for compressed diamonds with a long line, and a short line at right angles. (The runways). Now look for the holding loops where the planes stood around the edge. Those are the USAAF bases. Get your eye in and see how many you can find in East Anglia. It is a lot. Also bear in mind that 2 of the bases kept going after the war and are still fighting that same fight right now as you read this. Mildenhall and Lakenheath. Different enemies but still ready for the same fight. We watched them fly out in F111's to Libya and fly back along the river valleys at Mach 1. Nearly broke the house windows. We watched them in desert camo fly out to Iraq with so many missiles under the wings we wondered how an earth they got airborne. Nice friendly people, they have my respect.

[@user-iv7pl2uo7q]

The Spielberg films of the second world war are a fabulous connection to what must be remembered; however all contain glaring inaccuracies.

[@hawlikd]

Princess Elizabeth was a (Red Cross?) truck driver during WW2, she was never a commissioned officer.

[@gtesorieri]

Well, the importance of the missions are tell on the series, maybe no so academic but Croz on a voice over said that first the targets where industrial Germany and later Col. Bennett tells Rosie that they are gonna be bait to destroy the Luffwaffen

[@TheSocratesian]

The strategy changed when General Doolittle took command of the 8th Air Force in January of 1944. The mission was to destroy the Luftwaffe so that the D-Day invasion could take place.

[@F4FWildcat]

Maybe my favorite part of the series, was the fact that inspired me to find out more about my late uncle. He was a copilot on a B-17G in the 388th BG and flew 36 missions from January 1945 to May 1945. These included two "Chow Hound" missions to the starving of Holland and a POW mission to Lenz, Austria at the end of the war. Regardless of the shortcomings of the series. Masters did shed some light on the sacrifices made by allied air forces. It also took a peek into the world of destruction in which the civilians of both sides toiled. God rest my uncle who survived the war and God rest those of his fellow flyers and crew that did not live to see the end of that war.

[@Wayne-t-347]

In my universe The Pacific had the interviews from the Marines 🤔😅

[@justin36004]

The interviews are from the special features of the DVD/Blue Ray version of the Pacific.

[@filupe01]

There were interviews from the Marines (or their relatives) on KZbin either during or just before The Pacific started (in Australia anyway). It was a great way of knowing the characters before you started the show and I'm surprised that formula wasn't followed for MotA.

[@CmdrBrannick]

I absolutely loved the series. Still can't top Band of Brothers, but that nearly impossible to do. I hope we get more, and I would love to see one from the British forces.

[@terryswartz960]

It's in the works but it will take longer. The Brits have to stop for tea everyday at 4 p.m. For reference see "A Bridge Too Far".

[@GoBirds1995]

Thank you to the men of the Army Air Corps for your service.

[@Pseudonym-aka-alias]

And the RAF.

[@HollywoodMarine0351]

*Army Air Force. The Army Air Corps seized to exist on 19 June 1941.

[@O-DogKubrick]

Wait a minute! What about that husky dog named Meatball? He didn’t showed up in the series finale!

[@NicoakaRedCat]

do you see many stray rabbits round here?

[@O-DogKubrick]

@@NicoakaRedCat What do rabbits have got to do with this tv show?

[@NicoakaRedCat]

@@O-DogKubrick if you watched the show more carefully you would know 😝 did you like the soup?

[@O-DogKubrick]

@@NicoakaRedCat 🍜? I’d give that show 7.7 out of 10 stars. The only parts I don’t like, are how these krauts are totally sour.

[@DisneyTurtle]

They also had a duck as there mascot

[@SirsasthNigam.]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 86% of 94 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Soaring high with its immaculate production design and acutely well-observed characters, Masters of the Air can stand proud alongside its sibling series Band of Brothers and The Pacific."[4]

[@CzechImp]

That's why we don't look at Rotten Tomatoes!

[@ray101892]

They focused on the wrong lead character. Cleven and Egan were shot down before 25 missions and imprisoned just as Rosenthal was starting out. By the next episode I was suprised he already completed 25 missions and 52 by the end and they didn't show any of it. I guess filming a prison camp where nothing happens is cheaper.

[@nataliajimenez1870]

The highest casualty rate for the 100th and the 8th in general were before they were able to get fighters to escort them all the way, so they had to cover that initial period of 1943 and show how it severely affected morale.

[@ChienaAvtzon]

@@nataliajimenez1870 - That is still irrelevant, as the 100th was most famous for Rosenthal. He was their poster boy for the majority of the war. Even before he flew his first mission, the squadron leaders all fought over who would get him, because he was a prodigy. Also, the only reason the 100th sustained heavy casualties, is due to poor leadership and lack of training. Cleven, Egan, and Harding were unprofessional and cocky. None of them cared if the pilots could hold the box formation. It had nothing to do with a lack of fighter escort.

[@Atpost334]

@@ChienaAvtzon All bomber groups had extremely heavy losses in ‘43 and into ‘44, not just the 100th. Yes, it had a lot to do with lack of fighter escort.

[@ChienaAvtzon]

@@Atpost334 - In the 100th case, it was specifically the lack of disciplined flying. As the Luftwaffe would purposely target loose formations. That is exactly what happened at Munster. The after reports from Rosenthal and the other bomb groups prove it, as does Crosby’s memoir.

[@Atpost334]

@@ChienaAvtzon Agreed, formation and tight boxes were extremely important in combat. I’ve read / studied pretty much all material available on the 100th, so don’t need the background. Again, your specific statement I take exception with is “it had nothing to do with lack of fighter escort”. That statement is completely incorrect/ not accurate.

[@lwjg46daze]

My favorite scene is in the last episode where one guy quotes Nietzsche: "while fighting a monster take care not becoming a monster yourself." That Was intense. A great follow up would have been the bombing of Dresden to really underline this quote. That is a lost opportunity but since it is an US Show probably too much to ask any reflection 😂

[@rodolfohernandez3303]

Personally I liked Masters of the Air, it took very much flak because of CGI but come on, it's a series. Also comparing it to Band of Brothers it's not very fair, The Pacific which is a more darker series took also mixed reviews but in the end are series that portray historical moments of WWII. Every movie or series will always take some liberties within the storyline.

[@AzraelGFG]

"took much flak" i see what you did there

[@m4_sherman]

Unfortunately both the Pacific and Masters of the Air are incessantly compared to the masterpiece that is Band of Brothers. I personally loved all 3

[@TheSocratesian]

It is taking a lot of 'flak" because of the horrible writing in the last 3 episodes. It was atrocious and full of fiction and unnecessary garbage. They took a great serious and turned it into one that was just good.

[@CzechImp]

''comparing it to Band of Brothers it's not very fair'' Well, that's what Apple TV did! They sold it to us as being from the same producers as BoB and Pacific, so they left themselves open to some well-deserved criticism.

[@JADEK111]

Because it's a series, does it mean it's fine to not criticize the so-called "effort"? Apple TV approved a budget of around 250 million dollars for the production. That is twice as much of what HBO approved for BoB, and still even bigger than The Pacific. While taking liberties is fine, it is also important to act accordingly with those liberties, which wasn't really the case in MotA, because 1) the production was halted several times due to COVID-19, and b) time constraints had the production rushing to finish the show in time, which is pretty much visible in some episodes, if not in all of them. Sure, that are good things in MotA, still not as good compared to other air combat media available out there.

[@mattwestfall9216]

Crosby's book wing on a prayer is excellent and fills in the gaps well

[@nostrebornod]

One of the dumbest things I saw when watching this show was reading an article from an entertainment site the questioned the boldness of the creators "killing off Austin Butler's Buck Cleven, a major actor so early in the series". It was obvious that the author of the article had no grasp on reality, thinking that show must have been a work of fiction.

[@RooJJu]

Actually they were veteran's interview at the beginning of each episode in "The Pacific". For some reason they were removed on later releases (I believe in one of the DvD releases you have the option to include them again).

[@Kevin-Brent]

11. The Luftwaffe's Me 262. Not even mentioned. Yet, they did to their credit display the first use of air-to-air rockets.

[@ericsalsman1243]

What hello kitty bullshit version of history are you thinking of? What else do you want the space shuttle to make an appearance???

[@Kevin-Brent]

@@ericsalsman1243Would you like a new box of Tampons, Karen?

[@richarddexter7641]

I don't have AppleTV, so I haven't watched the series yet. However, none of what you've mentioned in here would make me think less of the series. Hoping to pick it up once it's released on Blu-Ray (or hopefully, 4K, which I'd love to see them do with both BoB and The Pacific as well).

[@brianboehme1172]

The pacific did have interviews with the soldiers

[@HollywoodMarine0351]

*Marines

[@Evil.Totoro]

Wish the show was a few more episodes to delve deeper into more missions, and character development, but I did enjoy it immensely. I hope they do a series on the battle of the Atlantic next. Greyhound was great, but I want more in-depth stuff from more perspectives or crossings.

[@rickw.1920]

The Tuskegee airmen should have their own series.

[@gerhardgotzmann8880]

Overrated

[@Simulator96]

Garry Keoghan? Come on this episode was a trainwreck, how rushed was this?

[@allannorman2359]

I so enjoyed the show , and would look forward to any outakes from the series..

[@pvtjohntowle4081]

When you said Subaltern A.M Westgate was possibly Princess Elizabeth, I knew this video was full of shit.

[@Bogie0315]

I agree with you not sure what nit wit came up with that.

[@oliverkeyes432]

Great show, but they should have made a bigger point on how important having fighters escorting the bombers was to gaining air superiority and reducing the losses of bomber crews.

[@bazm425]

So the bombsight was second only to the atomic bomb in secrecy. I think Bletchley Park would have something to say about that.

[@michael-4k4000]

Wouldn't breaking the Enigma code be the most important secret and variable to the war effort? Better weapons are great and all, but knowing what your enemy planning without them knowing you know is so much more important.

[@samuelgm98]

I’m quite surprised that they didn’t have the piggy back story involved with the show. Both of those forts were part of the 100th

[@lisknapp]

I loved it, it was a mini series there were limited to add certain events but other than that I truly enjoyed it

[@rudyyarbrough5122]

I read that the Germans actually got the plans for the Norden sight and built it but found it to be worse than the one they were using. I remember reading that their accuracy was almost a joke. One that survived the war was put into a modern plane and tested and found to be not very accurate.

[@RudolfSBG]

I enjoyed masters of the air a lot, but I was really disappointed that the me262 the first operational jet fighter didn’t appeared even for 1 second. Even though it was bomber focused story which was really interesting and something new. It feels like a missed opportunity. Nonetheless I had fun, does someone have similar movie or shows suggestions? Thx in advance and have nice day :)

[@Grandizer8989]

I was hoping that they would show a vertical stabilizer being smashed by a bomb after the B17 drifted off course and under another B17. Would’ve also appreciated the B24s getting some recognition

[@Thenogomogo-zo3un]

Nah, just not pretty enough. Doesnt matter that it carried more bombs, was faster, more of them etc. and film Star Jimmy Stewart flew one notching up missions, no one cares about the unloved 'Liberator.'

[@davidjackson8183]

BoB is still my personal favourite,, and TP was very close. MoA came very close but unfortunately spent a lot of time in POW camps which took away the pacing of the storyline. Still a very good story and well represented though

[@bartonwishart9994]

On 10 September 1944, Rosenthal's B-17G Terrible Termite (s/n 42-97770), flying on a mission to bomb Nuremberg, was hit by flak and crash-landed around Reims in German-occupied France.Along with all the officers on his plane he was seriously injured. Suffering from a broken arm and nose, he was pulled from the cockpit unconscious by Free French, flown back to England, and woke up at a hospital in Oxford.Rosenthal would receive his second Silver Star after this mission. He returned to duty as soon as he had healed. Rosenthal was assigned to a desk job at wing headquarters, but he managed to return to the 100th Bomb Group and take command of his old squadron, the 418th.

[@Robin-zh1pz]

Really would've loved to see some of the B-24 groups experiences in the 8th. A B-24 crew ( Hot Stuff) was the first to complete the 25 mission tour, the Memphis Belle, was actually the third, behind the B-17 (Hell's Angels)

[@ericsalsman1243]

Pretty sure you're reading the wrong book....... the complete wrong book

[@DrWandering]

The last comment about how the show showed just a meat grinder of missions and not the nuance of the overall strategy is not a good point. While we can all agree strategy and the people coming up with it to guide those doing the fighting for the outcome your side wants is important. It does not make since when telling a story about those actually enduring those plans and meeting the enemy. So the meat grinder of missions is the best way to show what it was like for those there. As someone who has experienced it no plan survives first contact.

[@sarnieken]

Buck wasn't in the fisticuffs by the way. it was one of the other pilots.

[@brett3152]

Curtis Biddick was shown actually punching the Brit in this episode.

[@FlyingCrow]

Sorry, Tuskegee Airman NEVER flew with the 100 BG.

[@SeanM375]

Spielburg has shown that he has a big problem with the British, he has shown that repeatedly in Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers, and this show.

[@Pseudonym-aka-alias]

Totally agree - it seems he's anti British. You'd think the "mighty eighth" won the air war on its own.

[@gazza1196]

Yes I’m afraid you’re right. He probably wanted the swap the Germans with the British to make them the evil empire. Awful series. The good ole u, s, of a had to be the heroes. As that cringe thing with the flag at the end…

[@ericsalsman1243]

someone sounds angry that history isn't how they prefer it. Oh no

[@SeanM375]

@@ericsalsman1243 first up it is a tv, and spielburg does have a problem with how a represents the british. And as for your comment about, it is a TV SHOW, where they always take massive liberties with the truth - grow up.

[@Thenogomogo-zo3un]

Couldnt believe the first scene when I saw it on Saving Private Ryan First shows US Flag flying, second French Tricolour flying, I'm now waiting for the Union Jack to come up.......Nothing nor any of the other nations flags who fought there. Youd see them all if you go to Normandy on the 6 June I think your right on this SeanM375 They can keep they're Ryan's privates I'll have the Longest Day

[@ramman5784]

You can't compare MOA to the others. BOB war time was less than a year. A little longer for some in the Pacific. In comparison MOA was including all aerial Combat was from 43-45.

[@abasudoh7459]

The Tuskegee Airmen deserve their own show/movie not just being shoehorned in the last few episodes

[@Dopecheetah]

Word yo👍🏾

[@renesten2980]

They did make a movie about the Tuskegee airman.

[@renesten2980]

The Red Tails

[@writingref]

The point was to show that though they were a segregated unit, they ended up integrated if they became a POW. Yes they could have done this in their own show - and maybe they will. But Its an aspect of their history not even their movies showed me. I had never thought about them as POWs before ... so it was helpful to see. The show also needed something about what it was like to be a fighter pilot. So I just wish they had shown them escorting bombers a bit more and saving some of them

[@cassidy109]

The Tuskegee Airmen have already had two movies made about them, as well as innumerable documentaries. There's other outfits that deserve recognition and to have their story told. If you got a hard on to go the DEI route there's the Neise 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the predominately black 761st Tank Battalion.

[@AHBVLOGS22]

The Tuskegee airmen should really get their own show

[@DDiamond8374]

Well, they have their own movie.

[@JADEK111]

@@DDiamond8374Even two, or rather two and half (The Tuskegee Airmen, Hart's War, and Red Tails).

[@Thenogomogo-zo3un]

By the looks of things, they'd have us believe they had their own Air Force For a single fighter group to get so much publicity without producing a single ace?, c'mon man

[@elliotwhite5230]

I enjoyed the show, but they missed Big Week!! Where the Allies really start to establish air supremacy to prep for D-Day, where Doolittle enacts using bombers as bait, they don’t show much of what happened from early winter to spring of 44’ then jump to D-Day. Otherwise the range of nations and peoples who contributed is always something that would be nice to see, but it is understandable from the story they are telling. I’d enjoy the series to be even longer, it felt rushed at times. You could make an entire show on the planning, execution and consequences of Big Week, but there is so much history in all of this, I get the writers struggles😂

[@Forogar]

A secret suppressed for a long time was that the Norden bomb-sight was actually junk and inaccurate in the extreme. It was the manufacturer's propaganda that kept the Air Force buying it.

[@M29WeaselDriver]

There’s some irony in that the Germans already had a copy of the nordan bomb sight and they didn’t like it. Also nothing against the Tuskegee guys (they should And have several movies specific to their sacrifice) but that time should have been used on primary character building. They could have also given a short snip at the end to those Brit kids. I understand when they grew up they helped save that airfield and turn it into a museum. It’s over all a very good series though. Now they need to do a multi part series on Bob Hoover and his exploits during and after the war. Or Jimmy Doolittle A 3-4 hour series on those guys would be excellent. Both would be solid action to the end. With Hoover stealing a German plane in the war and Doolittle commanding the 8th AF

[@kinnertubbyson]

Statistically the ball turret and the co-pilot were the SAFEST places on the whole fort. The nose (bombardier and navigator) and the tail gunner were the most dangerous positions on the whole plane.

[@ericsalsman1243]

If you exclude the data from crash and loss of control events, sure

[@garysteinert8040]

I noticed a huge CGI problem that no one is talking about.

[@BikerGeek]

I waited for years for this series. I've read the book several times. This was a disappointment. It was like they were hurrying to put something out and skipped a lot of stuff. No depth and I found it difficult to identify with the characters.

[@laaarsu]

Attrition rates were normally high for the 8th Air Force during WW2. And the reason was as political as it was a result of formidable resistance by the Luftwaffe. I'd argue that the "Bloody Hundredth" sadly got its name because Army Air Forces High Command resisted developing the fighter escorts out of a stubborn insistence that "bombers will get through".

[@ericsalsman1243]

its called brand new doctrine for a reason, good input there general

[@jk28416]

I haven't seen this, but I assume they've completely written out the fact that the British where mostly involved in all events and the Americans in reality played a minor role

[@climaexpert]

The comment about Swiss POW camps where most likely filled by the Air Crews of the 250 planes which where mainly allied but also German Luftwaffe units. The US Air Force did bomb various Swiss cities during WWII and because Switzerland had a strict neutral policy, any foreign incursion would be engaged and be asked to land and if they did not comply then would be shot down.

[@Thenogomogo-zo3un]

Swiss swayed to Germany when the Germans were winning. Then swayed to the Allies when they were winning Neutral, my arse They gave downed airmen to the Germans

[@Nedski42YT]

Masters of the Air turned out to be better than I expected. It was almost as good as Band of Brothers and The Pacific. I have been severely disappointed with most movie depictions of the WWII Army Air Force. The Red Tails (2012), Memphis Belle (1990), 12 O'clock High (1949), and Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944) all seemed to me as patriotic propaganda movies with little realism. MotA al least showed some of what the day-to-day and minute-to-minute details that other productions left out. I would have liked it MotA had double the number of episodes.

[@pvtjohntowle4081]

OMG this video is so stupid , describing the ball turret as a "machine guns set up inside a Crystal ball" 04:02 WTF ? it's not a rock, it's not crystal, it's armoured plexiglass.

[@pepperjack6421]

I mean that’s what you get when you take over 10 years to complete the show. Well done, but could have been planned better

[@QU141.]

are all of these vids chatgpt? over 20k videos uploaded and literally fulllength videos every like 5 hours

[@flemit35]

The Germans were offered the norden bomb sight, knew all about it. they also knew it was shit as demonstrated the the Americans

[@jg119980]

8:13 this whole morality of daytime bombing over night time bombing is quit weak as proved in subsequent pacific raids there is no moral high ground when it comes to bombing.

[@ObamaTookMyCat]

I also think its a shame (but partly because of the lack of surviving members due to old age) that they completely left out the training aspect. Like how we got an episode and a half of Easy Company training in Georgia and England, or the Pacific with Basilone training his own unit. Or a small 5-10 minute showing on how these massive 200-1000 plane bombing missions and the formations were formed in the first place. They didnt even mention the use of assembly ships (planes painted bright, obnoxious colors and patterns) to assist in gathering all of the planes up after takeoff.

[@homeworxchannel4120]

Yes!!!

[@Thenogomogo-zo3un]

Yes, 'Judas goats' they called them I believe Jimmy Stewart flew some

[@filupe01]

My thoughts exactly. Forming up a formation of that size was NOT easy and dangerous to boot.

[@TannerRoberson]

I'm glad they didn't go into the Swiss prisons. The stories from Wauwilermoos churned my stomach and how men like Daniel Culler were treated afterwords by his own comrads is heartbreaking.

[@namelastname1085]

Ahh yes... Garry Keoghan

[@DarkRCP]

is Gary Keoghan the twin of Barry keoghan?

[@pvtjohntowle4081]

Why do we need to know about the Swiss Camps? Really we saw the POW camps, that was enough. How long do you want this series to be ? 20 episodes?

[@ChienaAvtzon]

The POW storyline should have been shelved. It was terrible.

[@filupe01]

20 episodes would be nice!

[@davidmoore1102]

The line that got me was right at the end we're going home so many good ones arnt 😢

[@Shteev91]

Who the fuck is Gary Keoghgan?

[@michaelmclaren7373]

I only wish they had included the Russia shuttle mission.

[@atunaco]

I wonder why in non-pressurized airplanes flying at high altitude and at an enormously low temperature we don't see the fog when the masks are removed.

[@thesnazzycomet]

The pacific had interviews with veterans

[@ChienaAvtzon]

While, “Masters of the Air” has an accompanying documentary with interviews of the veterans, from before they passed away.

[@derwinemro3855]

Personally, the CGI was kind of poor. Battle damage was overdone, compared to photos i have seen. Far too much of the series was taken up by the POW camps. A lot of stuff was skipped over, particularly the March 6,44 raid to Berlin. It could have been so much better.

[@akangsamuel9021]

The Ball is the safest place on the B17!!!!

[@craigwoodhouse3813]

So I'm curious as I haven't seen this show but is there any historical accuracy in this show or is it just Hollywood make believe? Band of brothers and the Pacific both had inaccuracies but these seemed done more for atmosphere. But from what I've seen o this show from Internet reviews it dose seem very Hollywood. Can people please let me know if this is true

[@David-xy2ly]

Ten things they left out, for a start a good storylines and a mixed up load of rubbish with characters. Absolutely the worse war series I’ve ever seen.

[@CzechImp]

Some truly bad acting at times. I knew from that corny opening scene in episode 1 in some bar in America that we were not going to see BAFTA and Golden Globe winners...

[@robertmcnearny9222]

Not sure why they would release something like this on such a small viewing platform. I guess they don't want that many people to actually watch it.

[@raymondsmith6870]

HBO turned the series down and Apple is the only place that was willing to pay the money to produce it.

[@mikegreck2625]

They left out all the 8th Air Force fighter units.

[@gavinkarnage]

the greatest show of all time.

[@Caroline-rv8wy]

I'm sorry, did she say GARY Keoghan? 🤨

[@chriswhite-zv6ou]

I'm afraid, like most things these days, agenda's creep into everything. Although I have the utmost respect for the real characters that this show was based on, the narrative has been tampered with. Very disrespectful to the guys that gave up their lives. Good old USA, have to portray themselves in a certain way on film because in reality their foreign policy is disastrous. American viewers will love the show, the rest of the world will just see it as an amazing story about amazing men that has been tampered with by Hollywood types who just can't resist putting their political views into everything they do. Yawn. Not a patch on BOB that had none of the above. Sign of the times I'm afraid.

[@gradykeating1057]

Gary Keogan…

[@Adam1212C1]

The waist gunners had a MUCH higher death rate than the ball turret gunners. Another fact they messed up.

[@Caroline-rv8wy]

This video was wrong, yes but the series showed multiple waist gunners getting injured and killed - Clanton from Brady's crew and Saunders from Blakeley's crew both died and Rosie's waist gunners were so severely wounded in the Münster mission that they never returned to action.

[@OZOZOZ968]

As a Brit I understand it’s us focused and that’s fine but it painted the British / commonwealth empire forces borderline disrespectfully . 0 sacrifice shown .

[@TheSocratesian]

It would have been better just right off Buck and Bucky after showing them both in Stalag Luft 3. Their participation in the air war ended and their weren't enough episodes to give justice to the crucial operations leading up to and after D-Day.

[@jamesthompson1685]

What else they missed out…. The bomb sights weren’t the second most guarded secret, it was still wildly inaccurate. As much as they like to think they wouldn’t knowingly bomb civilians they did and they knew it. 5% of allied bombs landed within 5 miles of their targets… 2 most closely guarded secret of the war…. What a load of rubbish! American bombers were barely regarded as medium bombers, their bomb load was so small. They only bombed Berlin about three times…. This was such a disappointing series full of American proper gander. Memphis belle was more accurate

[@Skymedc]

They never showed what happened to Meatball.

[@ChienaAvtzon]

Meatball was not part of the Rosie-era of the 100th.

[@sdboy1978]

Well. If the viewers know history, no explanation is needed for the Brits’ night time bombing..

[@davideff6833]

WatchMojo, wow that was sh!t. Yet again, another singlular view of the RAF pilots and crew. My Uncle Harold was a "Commoner" who flew the Typhoon, but populists like you fail again to see the real history. My father, who was a dispatch rider and later on AAA (and had to run with misfired ammunition and throw it into trenches before timers went off) had a great deal of respect for "the Yanks". It's tripe like this that fails the memories of your ancestors. Avro Lancaster "S for Sugar" is in the Australian War museum complete with it's 135 mission markings. 617 Squadron ring any bells for you, or the Amien prison break where the DH Mosquitos flew the treetop height day raid. Band of Brothers is peerless TV (apart from the finger pointing at the Brits) with Pacific following in it's footsteps honourably. This is a CG extravaganza with a very narrow view which has been embarrassingly released internationally.

[@johnshepherd9676]

The show was about the 8th Air Force for American audiences. Conplaining that the show did not include the RAF makes about as much sense as Das Boot not giving the Royal Navy enough screen time. It was not made for you on the other side of the pond.

[@Boatperson]

The Swiss imprisoned both the Germans and the allies- anyone who landed in their territory!!! The Americans used the Swiss airspace which was not appreciated by the neutral Swiss, and fair enough!! Although, admittedly, many yanks were actually list! They also captured rare German planes as well.

[@Boatperson]

That’s LOST sorry…..