Masters of the Air: The True Story of the Tuskegee Airmen, the Heroic World War II African-American Pilots.

Airing on Apple TV+ from January 26, Masters of the Air is a spectacular series of the year that you might not have watched yet. Produced by Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, this war fiction follows in the footsteps of two previous successes: Band of Brothers and The Pacific.

The trio of producers and screenwriters John Orloff tells the incredible story of the men of the 100th Bombardment Group of the US 8th Air Force (nicknamed the “Bloody Hundredth” due to significant losses), responsible for the industrial and strategic bombing of Nazi Germany. Armament sites during World War II.

The Masters of the Air series tells about real heroes

Masters of the Air is mainly inspired by Donald L. Miller’s eponymous book, but it also draws on other key resources from historical museums, including the Smithsonian, historical experts, as well as the recollections of some former war heroes and the testimony of their families. .

Among the real-life war heroes who appear in the series are Majors John Egan (Callum Turner), Gale Cliven (Austin Butler), Harry Crosby (Anthony Boyle), Robert Rosenthal (Nate Mann) and Sergeant Ken Lemons (Raph Lowe).

As Austin Butler reminds us, this series also serves the duty of remembering this dark period in history and these heroes:

“It’s a part of World War II history that I wasn’t very familiar with, especially the statistics. The fact that 77% of the 100th Bomb Group never returned, as well as the bravery shown to get those planes back that day. Day after day, it’s just incredible. And the world wouldn’t be the same without the sacrifices they made.”

The 100th Bombardment Group flew nearly 300 missions between June 1943 and April 1945. They lost more than 700 pilots and more than 170 aircraft during their dangerous missions, leading to some of them being captured as prisoners of war, before being released and finished. the war

Other War Heroes: Tuskegee Airmen

It’s not just the pilots of the US 8th Air Force’s 100th Bombardment Group who are featured in Masters of the Air. Another group of master pilots, although less emphasized in history, has come to the fore.

It was impossible for Gary Gottzman not to include the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African-American aviators who distinguished themselves during World War II, in his history of airmen:

“When we found out they were close to our guys from Stalag Luft III (a World War II POW camp where Allied Air Force personnel were imprisoned, editor’s note), it was just incredible to think we could add them. story. So we made the choice and it was incredible.”

Among the Tuskegee Airmen highlighted in the series are, in particular, Second Lieutenants Richard D. Macon (Josh Cross), Alexander Jefferson (Branden Cook) and Robert Daniels (Nkuti Gatwa).

About 1000 pilots

African-American aviators received this designation from the fact that they were trained at Moton Field in Tuskegee and Tuskegee Institute in Alabama under the direction of the US Army Air Corps. Between 1941 and 1946, nearly 1,000 fighter and bomber pilots of the 99th Fighter Squadron risked their lives in North Africa, the Mediterranean and Europe.

With the support of several institutions, union leaders, associations, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the government agency National Youth Administration, and public figures such as Bayard Rustin, the government accepted integration. African Americans in the Air Corps.

“Alleged intellectual disability”

Despite this openness, then-President Franklin D. Because of Roosevelt, Tuskegee Base experienced segregation and racist speeches from pseudoscientists who argued that African Americans could not supervise and conduct complex combat flights because of their “supposed intellectual inferiority.”

The Tuskegee Airmen repeatedly demonstrated their aerial prowess and heroic courage throughout World War II. In September 1941, Time magazine even devoted an article to them, highlighting the innovation of African-American pilot training.

Like the 100th Bombardment Group of the US 8th Air Force, Tuksegai’s airmen flew many missions (about 1500), suffered heavy losses and also captured prisoners of war. It is in the eighth episode that they are introduced to the Masters of Air series and teamed up with the 100th Bombardment Group.

Comments collected by Megan Choquette on January 22, 2024 in London.

The ninth and final episode of Masters of the Air will be available on March 15 on Apple TV+, the platform and via myCANAL.

Find all the series available on Apple TV+.