Synopsis
Strategic bombing was essential to the U.S. victories in Europe and Japan during World War II. But aside from ultimate success, the air wars fought in the Pacific and Atlantic shared very little. This authoritative program uses extensive expert commentary, interviews with veterans and remarkable footage to tell the story of strategic bombing in World War II. From the planes the battle-proven B-27 in Europe and the modern, high-flying B-29 in the Pacific to the underlying strategies, explore the astonishing differences between the two theaters. See the results of the devastating firestorms at Dresden and Tokyo, where incendiary bombs produced temperatures of over 1,000 degrees centigrade, winds that sucked away trees three feet in diameter, and more deaths than Hiroshima. OUR CENTURY profiles the role of the bomber in WWII, from nighttime raids over Berlin to the historic missions that unleashed the atom bomb on mankind.