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Everyone probably has a general idea of the Luftwaffe's secret development in the 1930s, beginning with "commercial" aircraft, then sailplanes and the Hitlerjugend who were thrilled to fly them at the age of fourteen. Quickly militarized, the aircraft were used first against Poland, then France.
This program emphasizes how different, how effective, some of those weapons platforms were. The Ju-87 Stuka, for instance, is famous for its inverted gull wing, its noises, and its overall ugliness. The far more important point is that it filled a unique and invaluable role in the first year of the European war. It was used in the tactical role; that is, it supported the armor and infantry by attacking certain selected points designated by the ground forces. And it was highly precise, as no other airplane in Europe was. Level bombers could not hit small targets, whereas the Stukas could bomb the target and while the enemy was still recovering from the concussive effects, the ground forces would move in.
Another airplane played on important part in the Battle of the Atlantic, the long-range Condor. Goering turned over several of them to the U-boat commander, Dönitz, whom the narrator, Gerald McRaney, calls "Dough nuts." The Condor's problem was its structural weakness. It not only suffered structural failures in flight but sometimes broke in half upon landing.
The rest of the program rather hastily skips over the downfall of the Luftwaffe but gives convincing reasons.
It's a mixture of newsreel footage, one expert American talking head, and the reports of three or four German participants of the period, and it's well done.
This program emphasizes how different, how effective, some of those weapons platforms were. The Ju-87 Stuka, for instance, is famous for its inverted gull wing, its noises, and its overall ugliness. The far more important point is that it filled a unique and invaluable role in the first year of the European war. It was used in the tactical role; that is, it supported the armor and infantry by attacking certain selected points designated by the ground forces. And it was highly precise, as no other airplane in Europe was. Level bombers could not hit small targets, whereas the Stukas could bomb the target and while the enemy was still recovering from the concussive effects, the ground forces would move in.
Another airplane played on important part in the Battle of the Atlantic, the long-range Condor. Goering turned over several of them to the U-boat commander, Dönitz, whom the narrator, Gerald McRaney, calls "Dough nuts." The Condor's problem was its structural weakness. It not only suffered structural failures in flight but sometimes broke in half upon landing.
The rest of the program rather hastily skips over the downfall of the Luftwaffe but gives convincing reasons.
It's a mixture of newsreel footage, one expert American talking head, and the reports of three or four German participants of the period, and it's well done.
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- rmax304823
- Oct 1, 2016
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