Callum Turner and the Regensburg-Schweinfurt Mission | Making Masters of the Air

The National WWII Museum's Making Masters of the Air podcast dives deeper into the making of Masters of the Air and explores the history behind the new Apple TV+ series. The Making Masters of the Air podcast is co-hosted by Playtone’s Kirk Saduski and Donald Miller, author of the book Masters of the Air.

In this episode, Callum Turner discusses his starring role as Major John Egan, and hosts Kirk Saduski and Donald Miller have a conversation about the Regensburg-Schweinfurt raid as depicted in Episode 3.

Based on the best-selling book by Donald Miller, Masters of the Air is an Apple Original series from the executive producers of Band of Brothers and The Pacific. Now streaming on Apple TV+.

Special thanks to Apple TV+ for clips and musical score for this podcast.

Topics Covered in This Episode:

• The Regensburg-Schweinfurt Raid
• The Eighth Air Force
• 100th Bomb Group
• General Curtis LeMay

Listen now on Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts.

FEATURED GUEST: CALLUM TURNER
Born in London, England, Callum Turner grew up in the Chelsea neighborhood of that same city. He began acting in 2011, stating that his mother instilled in him a love of film and gave him the impetus to attempt acting as a career. Turner appeared in the 2018 film Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald and again in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore in 2022. Most recently, Turner starred in the film The Boys in the Boat. Turner plays the role of Major John “Bucky” Egan in the Apple Original series Masters of the Air.

CO-HOST: DONALD MILLER, PhD
Best-selling author and historian Donald Miller, PhD, is well known to friends and members of The National WWII Museum for his works such as Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany; D-Days in the Pacific; and The Story of World War II.

CO-HOST: KIRK SADUSKI
Playtone executive and producer Kirk Saduski was the executive-in-charge for HBO’s Band of Brothers, co-producer of HBO’s The Pacific, and co-producer of Apple TV+’s Masters of the Air.

About Making Masters of the Air

From the executive producers of Band of Brothers and The Pacific comes Masters of the Air, a new series from Apple TV+ following the airmen of the 100th Bombardment Group during World War II. Join The National WWII Museum each week for the Making Masters of the Air podcast to dive deeper into the making of Masters of the Air and explore the history behind the series. Hear from special guests from the series as you get to know the American bomber crews who risked it all fighting the air war over Europe and forged a brotherhood through courage, loss, and triumph. The Making Masters of the Air podcast by The National WWII Museum is co-hosted by Playtone’s Kirk Saduski and Donald Miller, author of the book Masters of the Air.

The National WWII Museum's Making Masters of the Air podcast is presented by Boeing.

[YiggityYins]

Incredible. Episode 3 was one of, if not, the best episode in the entire Band of Brothers series. Incredible way to honor these young men.

Proud to say my two grandfathers fought in the aerial campaigns of WWII. Thank for honoring these veterans.

[Isleepdiagonally]

the part where he says that the actual buck and bucky were like “we should be the ones getting married” is so cute

[Cplblue]

Episode 3 was fantastic. Lovin the series so far

[conniecooley]

This is the best series. Just love it.

[ssstripe]

I've been watching MASTERS OF THE AIR and enjoying it. The bloody 100th Bomb group got its name from an incident not mentioned. My reference is FLYING FORTRESS by Edward Jablonski published in 1965, when I bought the book as a kid. The names in the series are all mentioned in the book. On August 14, 1943 in BIG WEEK on the mission to Regensburg, the plane of Cap. R. Knox initiated the infamous legend of “Bloody 100th”. Knox found himself in serious trouble after one of the fighter attacks. His plane lagged behind with 1 engine out, becoming a focus of sustained attacks. 2 engine went out. The wheels of the plane were lowered, signal to the Luftwaffe that plane had surrendered and according to the code of the air, the attacks would cease and he would be guided to landing at a German field. A few fighters pulled up alongside. Then for some reason the engine trouble cleared up, the gunners aboard the fort blasted the escorting German planes. The wheels went up and they made a dash for home. Within seconds the maddened fighters tore the fort to pieces and it went down. The legend is that after this the Luftwaffe marked the 100th for extinction, ignoring all other forts in formation concentrating on the 100th. Back in England ant airman of the 100th had trouble getting dates with English women, because they believed they wouldn't live long.

[walterm]

I have had my copy of "Flying Fortress" by Jablonski since 1967. This episode was very very good. Love the wav. file they use for the .50 cals THUMP THUMP THUMP

"Against 20 Russians trying to shoot you down, or even 20 Spitfires, it can be exciting, even fun. But to curve in towards 40 Fortresses and all your past sins flash before your eyes. And when you yourself have reached this state of mind, it becomes that much more difficult to have to drive every pilot of the Geschwader, right down to the youngest and lowliest NCO, to do the same."

Hans Philipp in a letter to Hannes Trautloft, 4 October 1943. Philipp was KIA 4 days later, possibly By Robert S. Johnson, during a raid on Bremen.

[meggankittmer]

This podcast is FANTASTIC. I look forward to it as much as I do the MOTA episode releases!

[jobst-hinrichjacke]

At 33:55 it is said "you reach Hannover which is on the German border to Belgium". Hannover is far away from the Belgium border. It might have been the furthest point fighters (though only in later stages of the war with much increased fighter range) could follow when the bombers arrived Germany from the north across the Northern sea instead of crossing the Channel.

[jaretnegron]

> Sponsored by Boeing 😂 uhhhh they're not doing so hot recently

[SticksAandstonesBozo]

Damn. Listening to this already making me legitimately sad realizing we may not get another series and if we do it’s at least 9-15 years away. Damn.

[rickmidkiff]

In the early 70's I was stationed in Schweinfurt ( Ledward Barracks) . Same of the bombed out buildings were still there.

[SM-lgtw]

Boeing sponsoring a podcast about a show featuring dozens of their planes crashing. Fitting.

[jimbraslow]

I would attend the Combat Pilots Association meeting with Lt.Col Robert Read. (B24 pilot Foggia Italy) I met many WW11 Pilots, American, British, Polish and German.
They never talked about the horror of war. Murdest Manny Segal (top Corsair pilot) was the speaker told jokes for an hour.

[christiancruz]

Wow that psycological aspect was more horrific than the war itself. Just to get on the plane again ...what a heroes. Best gen ever without a doubt

[davidbourland]

What is the value add of a shuttle mission? I don't see the benefit.

[Bobbydawriter]

Spoilers! They pretty early on begin discussing the fourth episode. So, if you don’t mind that you’ll enjoy it but I had to tap out.

[DiecastVideos]

I’m amazed this episode is getting good reviews. The cuts were jarring, the combat was lacking in arguably the most famous 8th airforce cock up. This mission deserved 2 episodes personally to actually show the true brutality of it. Instead it was like being on fast forward.

This episode should of been MOAs Band of Brothers Bastogne. It skips most of it, doesn’t portray the sheer nightmare 4 hours they endured or the suffering. The one episode to really focus on the air combat was this one, as unluckily for the 8th, this was the Luffwaffe at its strongest and had something like 150 fighters come at them.

So bizarre. Memphis Belle is still a better watch.

[zantawolf]

Actors did not have the same motivation as the pilots. We almost lost. They wanted to defeat Hitler, Mussolini, Japan.

[davidlavigne]

Interesting discussion, but why didn't the subject of the totally inaccurate portrayal of Curtis Biddick and his co-pilot Dickey come up? The manner of their demise during the mission is a dishonor to the way it is presented. Dickey was actually killed trying to bail out from the cockpit window and then struck the horizontal stabilizer as he jumps. Biddick did ride it down with his plane, but actually crashed trying to avoid hitting a German village. These are the actual accounts from several books about the 100th. Why did the writers take such license? Why spend all this money on CGI and special effects only to do such a disservice to two heroic men. I mean Biddick wasn't even from New York, but was a Californian transplant from Michigan. Really guys?

[STEVEX]

He had it right the first time.. it’s football lol