The Bloody Hundredth
The Bloody Hundredth
I have recently finished reviewing “Masters of the Air” and I can tell you this one about “The Bloody Hundredth” exactly is a true story about the Eighth Air Force airmen and actually was like watching the tenth episode in the series. This is not just about Hanks’ voice as the narrator, several of the historians appearing in the film as well as Spielberg and many of the pilots seen in “Masters of the Air” were also involved in this documentary. The film employs historical video materials which are both relevant and interesting. Indeed some of the historical shots were beautifully remastered and/or colorized to HDMI standards modern audiences expect.
One of the most striking faces of the documentary ‘The Bloody Hundredth’ is John Lucky Luckado who completed one round in 25 combat missions around 80 years back and is still alive today. For Lucky who now lives in Dallas Texas, 77 percent of the men from the 100th Bomb Group were either killed or taken prisoner during World War II. Not only is it amazing that Luckado reached the age of 102, but also, his expeditions as the pilot of the B-17 bombardier are incredible to witness.
The Oct. 10, 1943 raid on Munster marked the end of the 8th Air Force’s three worst days of the war and was referred to as “Black Week” when 88 B-17s were lost over Germany. As a matter of fact, there are certain statistics which showcase the Eighth Air Force suffered the highest losses than any other branch of the American Military: they were the 8th force to encounter the most defeat. The events leading to Muenster’s attack forced the 100th to adopt the epithet of The Bloody Hundredth because only one of the thirteen aircraft which provided escort was left. The lone aircraft was Robert Rosenthal’s plane.
There is real footage available in the documentary which depicts Rosenthal who was one of the heroes in key moments in the Masters of the Air, footage which was taken just before Rosenthal died at the age of 89 in 2007.
Not more than 25% of the bomber crewmen were able to carry out 25 missions. Heard the story of Rosenthal buzzing the tower after his 25th mission. Somehow, General Huglin was in the tower and dropped to the deck, cat soiling his uniform; but instead of being angry with Rosenthal, the general said: “That was one hell of a buzz job Rosie.” With his sight
focused on the war effort, Rosenthal volunteered for one more tour, finally ending up with 52 missions after being shot down twice.
With the P-51 Mustang introduced as a bomber escort in December 1943, air supremacy over Germany started to tilt towards the United States. The Mustang was a fast two, highly maneuverable fighter with u.k. Roll-Royce Merlin engines that could provide long-range flights with the bombers to deep into central Germany. The Allies understood that to even conceivably succeed in the D Day landings of western Europe, the Luftwaffe superiority had to be defeated.
Thus in 1944, once again aggressive bombers were active with their bombing missions and the American fighters would shoot as many German fighter planes as they could down.
They aimed to bring down enough German staunch fighters so as to render any further action of the Luftwaffe engaging in effective air cover. It was shocking to learn that in the western front between January and May 1944 the casuality ratio for Luftwaffe pilots was an astounding 99 percent.
On June 6, 1944, the allies made landings in Normandy France thereby opening a second front in the west against the Nazis where the Luftwaffe offered little or no resistance. After achieving air dominance, the Eighth Air Force bombed Berlin and other deep-seated military facilities in Germany with the aim of crippling the Third Reich through daily campaigns and sorties. The war continued after D-Day for almost another year until May 8, 1945 when Victory in Europe Day was declared.
According to Tom Hanks as the film ends, “World War II was the world’s most brutal war; the loss of human life exceeds that suffered in any other war”. However, when the time came to go back after the conclusion of the war, the people of England appeared in their Sunday dresses in appreciation of the presence of airmen from the Eighth Air Force who were, at that time, in various locations across Great Britain.
As the film wraps up we hear Frank Murphy, a pilot from the 100th Bomb Group, say these words: “The freedom which we enjoy today does not come free. Rather it is the hard earned right of my generation and the generations before me. It is for this purpose that I believe that the World War Two generation should be remembered”.
We actually do remember. Thank you for the sacrifices made; thank you for your courage; thank you for the tribulations you had to endure and for your generation’s determination to eradicate fascism and fight for liberty.
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- Genre: Documentary, History
- Country: United States
- Director: Laurent Bouzereau, Mark Herzog
- Cast: Tom Hanks, Robert Rosenthal, Steven Spielberg
