11/10 Premier of "The Air War"

[Sue Moyer]

Emmy® Award Winning WWII in HD RETURNS TO HISTORY® WITH THE AIR WAR Premieres Wednesday, November 10 at 9-11pm EST THE WAR AS IT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE FOUGHT 25,000 FEET ABOVE THE EARTH NARRATED BY ROB LOWE AND FEATURING THE STORY OF FOUR VETERANS, INCLUDING RENOWNED JOURNALIST ANDY ROONEY New York, NY, October 15, 2010 - HISTORY is announcing today the latest installment of its visually astonishing Emmy® award-winning series. WWII in HD: The Air War premiering on HISTORY on Wednesday, November 10 at 9pm EST presents the untold story of the American 8th Air Force’s bloody battle to defeat the German Luftwaffe in the months leading up to D-Day. Told through the gripping, first person accounts of three American airmen and Stars & Stripes reporter Andy Rooney, The Air War showcases breathtaking aerial combat – original, color footage, never before seen by most Americans – of the B-17s “Flying Fortresses”, P-47 “Thunderbolts” and P-51 “Mustangs” on missions such as Regensburg, Schweinfurt and Berlin. Never-before-seen 8mm footage of the airmen on the bases, the devastation in Germany, and the Luftwaffe perspective is also highlighted. Flying 25,000 feet above the earth in oxygen-devoid air, and temperatures as low as 50 below zero, the 8th Air Force fought a war unlike anything ever before experienced. By the end, they would suffer more than 26,000 combat deaths – more than the US Marines lost in all of World War II. This two-hour special is narrated by Emmy® nominated actor, Rob Lowe. Characters are voiced by: Casey Affleck (as B-17 bombardier Joe Armanini) Sean Astin (as P-47 fighter pilot Steve Pisanos) Chris O’Donnell (as B-17 pilot John Gibbons) Elijah Wood (as Stars & Stripes reporter Andy Rooney) To create this series, HISTORY launched an exhaustive worldwide search for color footage. As a result, WWII in HD: The Air War draws upon footage unearthed from archives and private collections across the globe. HISTORY preserved and restored this footage ― some of which has not been seen since the 1940s ― and converted it to HD for unprecedented clarity. An exceptional Dolby “soundscape” enhances the striking visuals and brings them to life as nev

[George G. Roberts]

It was a very interesting program, but they always referred to the first Schweinfurt mission as an example the great air battles and heavy losses. and also stated that the second week of February of 1944 was known as big week. The first big week was Oct 8 through October 14, 1943. These four missions (Oct 8 to Bremen, Oct.9 to Gdynia, Oct 10 to the Ruhr and Oct.14 to Schweinfurt cost the 8th AAF 148 bombers shot down. Sixty of this number were shot down on this Schweinfurt mission. Thsi is when 8th Air Force week is celebrated.

On the mission of August 17, 230 bombers went to Schweinfurt and the rest of the force (146) flew to Regenssburg Thirty six were shot down on the Schweinfurt mission and 24 over Regensburg. Hence total losses for the two missions was 60 bombers for the two forces. They did not mention that the 60 losses on August 17 was from two disticnt missions. Thirty -six at Sxhweinfurt and 24 at Regensberg. The missions of mid February
1955 we also classed as a big week as therye mere many missions flown against fighter production factories in the dentral and eastern sections of Gemansy
nniones flown

9Aug.17mission the first mission to Schweinfurt in I saw no mention of this. What was mentioned was the loss of 60 bombers on the firs