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The Bloody Hundredth And The Mission To Munster:
The Bloody Hundredth And The Mission To Munster: October 10th 1943
#Bloody #Hundredth #Mission #Munster
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The Bloody Hundredth And The Mission To Munster: October 10th 1943
The 100th Bomb Group (BG) would strike Munster on the 10th October 1943. The raid came two days after Major Gale ‘Buck’ Cleven was lost on the Bremen mission on the 8th October. Major John ‘Bucky’ Egan, the Squadron Commander of…
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Before the attack, USAF dropped leaflets to evacuate the city.
Muenster was a midevil walled city.
They evacuated most of the works of art, city records ect….
The city was flattened, after the war the city was rebuilt exactly like it was before the war.
Go there now and it looks likes its hundreds of years old.
I went there in the 80s, while in the Army.
The Germans didn't destroy that mission. The American commander did.
Excellent video, very interesting and enjoyable, thank you, 👍.
Thanks for the excellent recap.
It was difficult to watch this episode in Masters of the Air. Imagine if they were told on Friday's brief that in the next 3 days, only 1 out of 20 of them would return, that would be wild!
I know Muenster well. I don't think it was ever a major industrial town. The city center is full of churches and historic buildings, which thankfully have been lovingly restored.
I watched a veteran from this raid on youtube a long time ago and he said the church was a main target because supposedly "high ranking" Nazi officials were known to attend the church and he was very clear how uncomfortable they were about this.
I live in Münster and was also born here. There is a large and very beautiful forest cemetery just outside the city. There are many gravestones there that bear the date October 10, 1943. As mentioned in the movie, the flak in Münster was small but accurate. Later, many guns were withdrawn to Berlin. Some large air raid shelters in the city have been preserved and are now used as commercial space. One of the bunkers was recently converted into a residential complex. May all those who lost their lives that day rest in peace.
Thank you for this really great documentary ! Where do you find aerial photos ? I know about the NCAP but do you use other archives ?
Very nice research and presentation.
According to Luftwaffe pilots the 100th was identified as shooting pilots in their chutes
So they were given special
treatment. I believe the pilot was Heinze Knocke.
Very impressive video – thank you. Have earned a sub.. 😉
Attacks on non military civilian populations was a Harris strategy and debated at the highest level. There was deep discomfort at all levels but everyone was persuaded. After the war the UK benched Harris (the only C-in-C not made a Peer ie. Senator) and refused to allow a Memorial to Bomber Command (until 1992).
A M A Z I N G !
I predict military historians of the future will render a different analysis of the Air War over Europe in WW2.
By autumn 1943 it was clear the heavy four-engine bomber was obsolete, whether American or British. The Germans produced extremely effective, heavily armed day and night interceptors that were blowing the bombers out of the sky. Why didn't the superior interceptors end the Allied bombing once and for all is because:
1) The creation of effective Allied escort fighters such as the P-51 Mustang due to its long range and exceptional design. But remember, early British and American strategic bomber doctrine did not rely on escort fighters. It was thought that fleets of heavy strategic bombers would always get through in great numbers to their targets.
2) The Americans were able to mass produce thousands of interceptors and train thousands of competent pilots.
3) The Germans were not able to produce their effective day and night interceptors in the numbers needed.
4) The Germans were running out of trained and experienced pilots and could not replace them.
5) The Germans were running short on fuel which was needed to train new pilots and to fuel the necessary fleets of interceptors.
So in a different or alternate history, where Germany could have produced thousands of interceptors with the pilots to man the aircraft and the ample fuel for training and missions, then the Allied bombing offensive could have been beaten back.
On the several rare occasions where the Luftwaffe was able to get four hundred interceptors into the air against American daylight bomber armadas which had only partial fighter escort – not all the way to the target; the interceptors inflicted unacceptable losses to the Americans. The Americans in fact had to stop their bomber offensive for three weeks in the autumn of 1943 to regroup and replace losses.
Episode 5 was a very tough episode to watch. 😞
Those brave and courageous young men did what nobody today could fathom doing…
Those Bomber Boys went through complete hell during these missions..They faced unbelievable high concentration of flak and then to have the nazi fighter planes repeatedly attacking the Bombers after they endured the horrible flak taking out numerous Bombers..
Top it off with the nazi fighter pilots using their newest air weapon the rockets which they shot directly into the Bombers Combat Boxes which caused chaos and completely decimated the Bombers it blew up near…
Those young men are FOREVER known as The Greatest Generation To Have Ever Walked The Earth!! 💙🙏🇺🇸❤
God Bless them all for what they did and what they endured over the skies of Europe during WW2 in the European Theater….
Great video! Very informative and I actually learned a few new things!!
Please continue to make these videos because these young men deserve to be recognized for their sacrifices and for their courage during the horrors of War….❤❤❤
All All brave men, but those with ‘Jewish’ names would’ve been severely mistreated had they parachuted in to enemy territory.
Keeping the story alive.
Lest we forget.
🦘🇦🇺👍
The Bloody 100th received special attention from the German Airforce because of an incident that happened early in their deployment. A B-17 with the 100ths markings had been badly shot up on a mission and had dropped its landing gear and flaps. This is a signal of surrender for aircraft in a combat zone. Two BF-109 took position on the wing tips of the B-17 with the intention of escorting the B-17 to a safe landing field. After a few minutes the gunners on the B-17 shot down both BF-109s. Other German fighters then shot the B-17 down. After that incident whenever German fighters identified aircraft with the 100ths marking special attention was given to shoot them down.
Really great work.
Shame they didn't have you on board for the TV series – it is truly awful!
great vlog with personal detils, subscribed. My uncle was a B-24 gunner who completed his tour. Came back to States & assigned to B-29s. Mastered the remote control gun system & made an instructor
Huge fan of “Masters of the Air”….and wow what a fantastic companion video you have put together! Can’t wait for the next episode. Very impressed by the attention to detail presented here. Great job and keep up the excellent work!!🤘🏻🤘🏻
Rosenthal went on to be a prosecutor at the Nuremberg War Crimes trials aftrr the war. He flew 52 combat missions.
What is brutal to think about is that the second Schweinfuhrt raid was 4 days later. It was called Black Thursday because of how many aircraft and crews died and got destroyed that day.
Would be good if the show would show a little bit about the escort fighters doing their jobs as well.
This episode made me feel sad it really kicked in at the end the sacrifice. Hitler was a dick to have ever started all this rubbish.
After Munster, the 8th went after Schweinfurt, the last of four missions of “Black Week.” After this, the Bomber Mafia had to rethink everything. Losses were unsustainable. They ceased deep penetration missions and went after targets in France, where escorts could provide cover to the target and back, until 1944.
Great video! Do you happen to have any information which single engine Jagdgeschwadern took part in this battle? The ~200 aircraft would have been mentioned in German sources, but I only know of such large formations from Battle of Berlin timeframe, not October 1943 :/
Thanks in advance!
I wonder why the TV show claimed that the target was to be the railway junction and that the cathedral just happened to be nearby, whereas in reality the aiming point was the cathedral.
Amazing video! Thank you for this. I'm glad my father missed the Bremen and Munster raids . He wrote about them in his diary and mourned his lost buddies.
A beautifully put together video.
I found it easy to follow, very well illustrated, sweetly detailed and well narrated.
My Highest Compliments to you.
Am impressed how accurate the TV episode was given this factual video
I'm here after watching episode 5 of MoA… what a great video to watch afterwards to get a better understanding of how the mission went. The episode was absolutely incredible. The bravery of these men is just so hard to fathom. Truly was the greatest generation.
Thanks for this video – brilliant and brutal history lesson. Such respect for these guys.
Awesome work Jon, I know your to do list gets longer from your videos, but I would be interested if you can do a short or reel on the caterpillar club, haven't heard of it before? Your work is great but unfortunately opens up a can of worms to ask🤣. Keep up the great work Jon👍
Another excellent video, Jon. Keep them coming.
Jon, I have just watched episode 5 of Mota and noticed that you had just uploaded this video, which was well put together and narrated.
Came here after watching the latest MOTA episode, subbed about 2 minutes in before watching the rest. Really really high quality vid man. Dont know how the algorithm hadn’t sent me to you before now
Really enjoyed this presentation ( although horrified at the American losses, man 88 bombers in 3 days!) Excellent combat footage, especially of the American crew members. Very knowledgeable narration.
Maybe your most sobering video yet. My wife had a relative who was a radio man in a B17 and flew out of a base at Kimbolton. He got shot down and was a in a POW camp for the duration somewhere near the North Sea I think he told me. Sounded like a very bad experience. It stuck with me him saying he would never buy a German car. Guess I can't blame him.
Great video with a ton of information. Thanks for all your hard work on the videos.
Drove through Munster, back in reforger in 1987
Had I’d known the significance, I’d look for the cathedral.
I would highly recommend "Wrong Place, Wrong Time" by George C Kuhl – who was a pilot in the 305th – it's an in-depth account of their raid on Schweinfurt on October 14th 1943.
I must have read this at least half-a-dozen times!
I live close to Muenster
Thanks for another informative video.