Beloved by pilots and crews for its durability and high altitude performance. The B-17 Flying Fortress was the dominant heavy bomber in the early years of World War II. This program looks back at the development and the history of the B-17. Through the experiences of the pilots and crews who were there, it recounts battles that raged in the skies over Europe and German interceptors faced off with the B-17 gunners in a life or death struggle.
The B-24 Liberator was meant to be the bomber that would finally break the back of the Germans. Watch as you are hurried back in time, right into the devastating air battles of World War II. Told through the eyewitness accounts of B-24 played in pulverizing the German war machine from the air.
A big, bare-knuckled brawler of a fighter, the P-47 combined rugged durability with devastating fire power. Built to be the ultimate fighter of the war, the thunder-bolt helped drive the Luftwaffe from the skies of Europe. The P-47 also proved to be a lethal fighter-bomber, destroying tens of thousands of trucks, tanks and trains.
The P-51 Mustang rose from obscurity to become the greatest long-range fighter in aviation history. Able to outfly even the best of the Axis aircraft, the Mustang decimated its enemies and drove them from the skies over Europe and Japan. But in its infancy, the Mustang flashed non of its war-winning potential.
Follow us as Churchill's famous "Few" relate their incredible experiences during some of the greatest air campaigns of World War II. From the battle of Britain, to the seige of Malta and the flaming fighter bomber cauldron over Normandy, the brave men of the RAF helped turn the tide against the Luftwaffe and paved the way for ultimate victory.
The success of the German army in the first half of the World War II was due in large part to German Supremacy in the air. The Luftwaffe, working closely with German army units on the ground, seemed on the verge of world domination. However, with America's entrance into the war, the battle for the skies over Europe was on. Even within Germany throwing advance warplanes such as the Me 262 jet at the allied planes, the Luftwaffe was falling apart at the seams. Relive the harrowing accounts of these battles as told by both German and American pilots.
Find out what its like to be a POW in Germany during World War II. First person accounts, rare photos and archival footage are woven together to tell the story of these brave young men. From their disastrous final missions to their joyful liberation, see what life was like for those locked up behind the wire deep in enemy territory.
Follow the evolution of air combat tactics during World War II through the experiences of the pilots who flew the nimble and deadly fighter aircraft. See how aircraft performance dictated tactics and determined who would live and who would die in the skies over Europe.