THUNDERBOLT

[Music] this picture was photographed in combat zone by cameramen of the mediterranean allied air forces and by the force who during mission operated automatic cameras in their planes behind the pilot shooting forward and back under the wing in the wing timed with the guns in the wheel well [Music] in the instrument panel photographing the pilot himself [Music] to the italian man in the street or what's left of the street this is the fulfillment of a promise the promise of the fascists to build a 20th century roman empire conceived in tyranny and dedicated to the proposition that some men were meant to be slaves of other men [Music] special victims were the children they saw things not meant for children's eyes from the air italy is more remote the airmen never sees the face of the people only the face of the country from the air you look down at the mountains look down and wonder how our men on the ground ever got through mountains and rivers the volcano lot of american blood in that one natural barriers made other campaigns tough too exhausted hannibal's elephants caesar's legions and where the country was flat the germans made a barrier by flooding the water is still there although now the war is gone from italy now italy rebuilds now the sun flashes in anzio's shell holes and bomb craters watered by recent rains the green grass grows in the tank traps where the armor forted out it's all ancient history now over a year old only geometric patterns in anzio's neat cemeteries american and british remind you shortly like box scores for the airmen the ground war is remote the only war you really understand is the air war you can see a pattern to it lots of the country never been touched little towns that walk the ridges like tightrope artists to keep from falling off this one didn't matter when something didn't matter that was another story this is how we changed the face of italy from the air getting these bridges was important not berlin not nazi factories just bridges but we destroyed them hundreds of them we had a good reason they boasted italian trains ran on time not these this is what we did to the face of italy there's a story behind why we did it and how we did it the story starts on an island 60 miles off italy's coast the island of corsica corsica rugged primitive mountainous malaria here they still remember a local boy who put corsica on the map 150 years ago this island part of france was liberated by the french in september 43 not much fighting but you can still find a few germans good germans left by the wayside where they fell in the shadow of our eardrums [Music] alto air base sunday morning here sunday is like monday and monday is like every other day in the week a working day [Music] the engines wake you at dawn in your sack you can hear the crew chiefs pre-flighting your planes [Music] getting them ready for the day's missions this is how you live when you're an airplane driver fighting an air war 20 minutes from the germans in italy you're used to it you've been washing out of your helmet since july 42 from the holy land to africa across the desert egypt and el alamein to libya and tunisia 300 miles you moved when the infantry moved sicily and italy 58 moves in two years now corsica this is the best deal ever had call it the country club [Music] when you talk about air power this is what you mean you mean spanky amanda major francis s mander of met more new mexico squadron operations officer not a desk job but over 170 missions working for 200 he's 22. [Music] you mean captain howard hickok of ames iowa he's a flight leader just had 30 days in the states time to get married and come back he's 23. or in his italian general's trailer gil wyman louisville kentucky hardly looks old enough to vote but he's boss of a squadron he signs his letters gilbert o wyman lieutenant colonel air corps commanding the old man he's 24 [Music] sunday morning for the 57th fighter group three squadrons a thousand men another day begins at alto air base you could close your eyes and see it this way spread out like a diagram been home sweet home for some time good steel mat runway 150 by 6 000 feet tower call sign is breakneck lots of jokes about that we share the field with a french fighter group don't speak the same language but we fly the same airplane against the same enemy each lost a man yesterday we get along group commander lieutenant colonel archie j knight west point team 40. he's 27. first mission today is a 6'5 squadron show briefing right after breakfast informal short to the point park yourself in a bomb crate and get your escape kit enemy money instructions to get you back through the lines just in case the s2 tells you about your target he doesn't have to draw it for you you do this every day sometimes two or three times a day [Music] gil wyman will lead the show so he lays out the job that's a nurse's hat his girls wears it for luck eat all you can get [Music] the brass upstairs plans the war they want something done they pick up the phone you do it don't always know why they send you out on a mission to always care but you know there's a reason a good one today the missions are going out because in italy our armies have been stopped cold at the gustav line across the narrowest and most mountainous part of the peninsula us fifth army british eighth army [Music] for five months adanzio a hundred thousand men sweating it out we couldn't move stalemate march 15th we bummed casino our immediate objective good job of bombing didn't work our infantry didn't advance it was the wrong use of air power wrong because we were not taking advantage of the airplane's greatest asset its ability to get behind the enemy that's what the airplane has wanted to do get behind him lieutenant general iris c aker commanding all the air in the mediterranean british french and american major general john k cannon uncle joe commanding the 12th air force and brigadier general gordon p seville 12th tactical air command the brass upstairs who run the air war they said let's not hit him here let's hit him here let's isolate the battlefield let's weaken the entire german front by depriving it of supplies fuel food ammunition reinforcements they call the plan operation strangle this is what we want to do with airplanes how a lot of railroads in italy this is the enemy keep the trains from getting through lot of rivers in italy and over 700 major bridges we figured if a train came to one and it wasn't there be kind of tough to get across medium bombers got many of the important ones but bridges are long narrow targets difficult to hit and destroy took a lot of trips bombs planes men we started to use a special weapon a fighter bomber the p-47 thunderbolt one engine one man one bomb on each wing extra fuel tanks for range six five crew chiefs taxi from the dispersal points to the end of the runway line up their squadron [Music] all the pilots have to do is climb in and take them away [Music] if you're a crew chief you've got your own p-47 sometimes you think of it as your personal airplane the pilots are very you lend it to every day you let him fly around in it and you expect him to bring it back in good condition no bullet holes or black holes after you've been lending your airplane to one pilot for a long time you get attached to him too [Music] if you're a pilot no matter what your rank or how many hours you've had what counts here is the combat flying you've done unless you've done plenty you're a beginner you call a sprog and you remain this frog until you're wise to the tricks of the trade after you put a few missions behind you you become a sport then with plenty of action 50 or 60 missions if you're still around you're promoted you become an old sport a veteran the big shots like gil wyman are called wheels no one knows exactly why this fella's a wheel too says so in his plane major richard o hunziger of tucson arizona got 179 missions your crew chief can't go along so you always like to tell them what you're going to do got a triple threat mission today each section section's going after a bridge i'll come in on a course of about 40 degrees same old thing go out there and dodge around in the yak dive bomb out of a left hand turnabout and carry the bombs right on down we're flying top cover on the other two sections while they bomb and then we go in ourselves weather's supposed to be cavu so maybe we'll have a good show all set to go but you don't you wait you wait for five minutes that's the way it's planned time to settle down relax you'll be busy later so if you've got anything to do and who hasn't now's the time to do it [Music] [Music] yeah all this till i get back takeoff is always rough thunderbolt's a heavy airplane besides you've decorated it like a christmas tree belly tank rockets guns 500 pound bombs cameras hello breakneck we clear to take the runway for a takeoff roger cola leader from breakneck you're clear number one to take off the mile of steel runway will shrink to nothing under you halfway down the tower you'll be committed that means you can't slam on the brakes and stop once you're committed you usually go up first pair wyman and gustafsson [Music] first pair off second pair taxis out golfs and burgess made it okay amanda and richardson [Music] smith and atwood come on get her up [Music] hickok and borrow [Music] last pair wellbase and hunziger the squadron is airborne over corsica then out to sea on the deck [Music] 60 miles east to italy flying from corsica you go only 60 miles and you're 150 miles behind the german front turn again on that castle now you're heading north into the mountains [Music] leader section red section black section formation flying a game of follow the leader the squadron leader he navigates makes the decisions doesn't tell you what to do does it you follow wing tip to wink tip he turns you turn he climbs you climb climbing still to 10 000 through the clouds up into a world that belongs to you getting close start looking for the target stuck down there in one of those ravines all look alike [Music] wingman he's back keep the formation spread out there's a checkpoint that road followed down to the river your first bridge should be down there somewhere there it is pass over it come back and attack from the opposite direction one of the tricks you've learned [Music] leader section goes into loose string formation one plane behind the other then wyman peels off the rest of the section follows at two second intervals [Music] last man goes in 500 miles an hour sees wyman pulling out of his dive [Music] no bomb site on the p-47 pilot does his own aiming bomb bursts from the planes ahead a couple of misses direct tip hope your aim is good drop your bombs pull out [Music] they black you out for a second blood drains from your head but you're young it comes back fast you're all right now [Music] leader section reforms top cover watch his red section bomb a miss another miss [Music] a hit [Music] black section goes down straddle the target concussion should do the trick no more bombs still got plenty of gas plenty of ammo go in the prowl ease down on the deck see what you can find [Music] [Music] railroad tracks following tracks not a bad way to find a train you spot one kick her over give it a few squirts might kill somebody plus the locomotive first train can't move now let's see what's in this box cars 12 of you you'll all crisscross in everybody takes a few passes try the cars one at a time might be something interesting in them usually is [Music] got it burning nicely now take another pass [Music] strafing spreads the squadron over the sky every man his own general looks like we're out of trains lighthouse out there i wonder if i've got any ammo left yep radio station a lot of few tubes somebody in that field for who they are no friends of mine scary vehicles parked in that farm yard more in back must be a headquarters houses around it look kinda suspicious might be something in them nothing in that one nothing in that one could be wrong [Music] what do you know back at alto no one is sweating out 6'5 squadron 6'6 is taking off [Music] no one will sweat them out either there are too many missions nine for today when you don't fly you've got things to do try to make some sort of life for yourself and trying you've improvised in the american community step off the field you're in corsica step back on [Music] you're in america [Music] this is part of war two the endless detail of living the dust is a problem it keeps the bads full of customers dust is good for the laundry business and laundry branches everywhere community laundry three-day service and for the rugged individualist water supply pump [Music] heating unit washing machine the sergeant used to sell he's in new orleans he's keeping his hand in the barber shop [Music] and for the next customer always something to read never more than a year old bus line lunch time special [Music] and for the intellectually minded there's time for the more serious things like practicing your yo-yo if there's anything you want don't ask for it build it build as though you'd be here forever knowing you may get orders to move tomorrow six six found this canyon made it the living area nobody said they couldn't nobody says you can't have a house build it nobody says your squadron can't have a beach club build one nobody says you can't dam up a river to make a swimming hole this american community has everything [Music] when you come off your shift and somebody else is carrying the ball you try to relax enjoy yourself in danger a couple hours a day the rest of the time you're out of it beach club is a busy place so is the mediterranean mussolini once called it mari nostrum our sea but that was yesterday [Music] the yachtsmen an old wing tank and a few odds and ends make quite a boat the crew chiefs scrounge parts scrounge is polite for steel scrounge him from wrecked jerry planes banged up italian cars old parachutes for sales they use only the best quality junk sometimes when you can get a px ration of beer you drink it then you look like this [Music] alto's the best deal he ever had the country club other laughs a lot of sun your american community has everything except the things you really want there are times you'd rather be flying than waiting around killing time because when you're flying you don't have that feeling of the day and weeks and months slipping by slipping by and leaving you standing still these are your years years to get started find yourself your job profession [Music] get married kids home of your own these are the years that count so you have your pets to give and receive affection in return for affection [Music] see rations as always in affairs of the heart some have peculiar tastes [Music] six six squadron heading out six five squadron heading home a meeting in the air comes and goes fast [Music] six five leader section one plane light when you reformed after strafing you noticed it nobody saw it happen maybe he spun in maybe he bailed out you'll think about it later now you're waiting for that first sight of home that's sarah base that's pivenko you're on your own street alto's first turn to the left three fields down keep the formation tight when you fly over those other outfits you want to look good show them how it's done [Music] alto home you come in low and peel up you peel up to reduce speed space the plane to 20 seconds apart for landing second and third flights go on past the field they'll circle back when the first flight is down drop your gear [Music] second flight peels up third flight will circle again [Music] this is all the flying the ground crews see you like to give them a kick sometimes you're tired land them [Music] rough it's embarrassing the colonel's not happy about the flack holes new airplane this crew chief will be mighty sore and how will you explain this away then after the interrogation you relax grab off some donuts and coffee jive with a red cross girl who meets every mission and fly the show all over again on the ground wyman goes back to work at being a colonel missing an action report to sign a telegram from the war department has to start somewhere by mid-april every rail line in italy was blocked we drew a line of interdiction across the country no train could move south of it south of it the railroad system was dead but the german had to keep the supplies moving still had highways he took to the roads so we took to the roads this is what the germans fear most you don't blame them this is the way ronald got it he isn't the only one when you clobber a highway you burn plenty of ammo cyclic rate of fire 800 rounds a minute you've got eight guns 106 bullets a second [Music] rockets [Music] those aren't just trucks and germans you're stopping ammunition before expired on the fifth army front and you're doing it 200 miles behind that front in the weeks that followed from corsica to italy was like a trip to the corner drugstore you could do it in your sleep we averaged eight and nine missions a day at the 57th the french flew about as many lafayette escadrilles the 324th and the 86th over in italy the 79th next door it was good to look up and watch him go by [Music] but there were other things there were those pillars of smoke never knew when you'd see one that's a wreck a p-47 is cooking and there's a man in it when they hit like this there's nothing to do let them burn and stay clear of the exploding ammo keep on landing you have to no place to park up there why did it happen engine cut out for a second 200 yards from the runway 200 yards from home flight damage might have caused it you'll never know for sure all you know is for some the war is expensive you wish that people back home could at least see it [Music] we kept up the pressure and by the beginning of may the roads were practically closed if one man on a motorcycle appeared on the highway by day he was a dead pigeon the german took to the sea so we took to the sea [Music] barges along the inland waterways they carry supplies too [Music] by may 11th nothing could move by both or far by may 11th two months after we started the strangle was on the germans had barely enough supplies for two weeks that's when our ground forces attacked allied troops took casino we linked up with a beachhead at anzio and in three weeks we're in rome the men on the ground pushed north and as they moved up they saw what had been done to help them 10 000 enemy vehicles destroyed or damaged [Music] in every town they took no marshalling yard [Music] how many german tanks went out of business because of the gasoline these trains never carried they advanced and they saw the bridges how many german shells were never fired because they couldn't get across the rivers the ground forces exploited their breakthrough in plain language they shot and killed germans [Music] and they ate up the country almost 250 miles in one non-stop offensive the ground forces won a battle but they still had a war to fight and you were still flying missions [Music] up from first light to last light only the coming of darkness would stop you only the coming of darkness would bring the last missions home to alto then the long work day would end some men hit the sack early [Music] and some spent another quiet evening at the club colonel wyman's country club for air players you and me [Music] you