P-47 Pacific Theater Missions

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Two videos on Juggernauts in the Pacific in a 24 hour window. Awesome.

This video, coupled with the last one, makes it crystal clear. The drop tanks were an option and could absolutely have been used in Europe at the time.

Once again, it’s very sad how many good men died because of ego and stupidity. These videos are just fantastic.

these last 2 videos on the P-47 have really been two of your best, and I've watched them all. Not just because of the thorough debunking of the "helpless without Mustangs" myth in ETO, but in the very clear, methodical way you've collected, derived, and presented the facts in support of your arguments. Unfortunately, the debate wasn't a serious conversation, despite your best efforts. These latest videos, however, are ground-breaking revisions to our understanding of the air war in WW2....history being re-written -- truthfully this time -- as we watch. Thank you.

It's really nice seeing someone really advocating the P-47 and clearing the misconceptions about it. The P-47 is my favourite allied fighter of the war and quite sad to see it overshadowed by P-51 and Spitfires. Like many other people, I have heard too much about how the P-47 is lacking range to escort bombers, but I always wondered 'then how did the 47s fly their missions in the pacific if they are really that short ranged' and your videos really explains it. I first found your channel since the first P-47 series dropped and been following since.

One of your best videos. The extra details of the PBYs and Kenney, the different mission profiles, the stimulants, and the fog war, all combine to tell a great story.

That was a home run in my opinion.

Awesome work! AND acknowledging Australian contributions, something 3 generations have waited for. Seriously. And maximum bonus points for correctly pronouncing Brisbane.

This makes what the ground troops went through in new Guinea even more impressive, and didn't realise how big it is compared to europe

Back when I was about five years old I had book from the 1940's called I believe, "How we fight and bomb." I don't know where the book came from, but I had until I was a teenager and read it until it fell apart and was tossed. This was not a kids book. It was a fairly detailed look at the thinking of the AAF just before the war, with details such as the proper approach to a target to ensure that you do as much damage possible with your bombs. (Perpendicular to any roads, railroads and telephone lines.) The book showed things like how the B17E gun positions could protect the plane and mission profiles for fighter intercepts. Pretty heady stuff. In any case, some things were clear when I think about them. The bomber mafia never really considered before the war the environment that they would be dealing with. They expected that the bombers would have the advantage of surprise and when they were developing doctrine, things like RADAR and the Dowding system didn't exist. So they never conceived of an integrated air defense that started when the bombers were forming over England. So they never saw the need for an escort figther. The book makes clear that even the most modern fighters of the time, the P38 and P39 were to be used for pursuit and interception, something that they almost certainly believed would be more difficult than it turned out to be. The idea that fighters could be put in the air and directed to the bombers for coordinated attacks was simply not something that they thought about very hard, until they were forced to deal with it. Thus you had the Eighth Airforce and 1943.

I love how Greg just keeps shoving salt in the wound 😂

You really do love that plane Greg, I hope someone lets you fly one some day !!

The Bomber Mafia should stand as a case study of the dangers in allowing doctrine to become dogma.

Catalina is like that movie extra that shows up in every movie.

Kenney was a brilliant commander. In addition to the achievements mentioned here, he also promulgated the idea of using medium bombers as strafers and skip-bombers against shipping, which annihilated Japanese shipping in the battle of the Bismark Sea. He also used parachute retarded fragmentation bombs, ie para-frags, which no else in the USAAF knew what to do with or wanted, against airfields, Which decimated the IJAAF at Wewak, on a raid they never recovered from.

Always glad to see Oz get a shout-out! I wish that Australia would get more credit for all they accomplished in the PTO.

This part of ww2 is often forgotten, thank you Greg for covering this

Greg, your fundamental assessments on drop tanks in various theaters of war is entirely consistent with my own readings. The 5th AF in the Pacific were always more open and resourceful than the hidebound and dogmatic 8th AF in Europe. (BTW, this remains true to this day.) The bomber mafia were true believers in the pre-war dogma that the 'bombers will always get through' and that bombing could be decisive. It took bloody reality to teach them they were wrong. To their credit, they did eventually make many of the changes needed.

I'm really enjoying this series on the P-47 in the Pacific, Greg. Thanks again!