The 100th Bomb Group is Wiped Out - Münster 1943

Thank you World of Warships for sponsoring this video.
During registration use the code BRAVO to get for free: 500 doubloons, 1.5 million credits, 7 Days of Premium Account time, and a free ship after you complete 15 battles!
Applicable to new users only.

The US 8th Air Force has until now attempted to hit military targets and infrastructure by daylight with precision, aiming to prevent civilian casualties. Today marks a shift in policy. The 8th Air Force will hit Munster. Their aiming points will be the city centre, a residential area of workers housing, and a marshalling yard. This will be the first time the 8th will deliberately target civilians as the primary target. After the diversionary raid over the North Sea fails, and the fighter escort fails to take off, the Luftwaffe is ready and waiting to punish the attacking bomber formation.

[TheOperationsRoom]

Thank you World of Warships for sponsoring this video.
During registration use the code BRAVO to get for free: 500 doubloons, 1.5 million credits, 7 Days of Premium Account time, and a free ship after you complete 15 battles!
Applicable to new users only.

[richardtedyell]

I'm currently watching this video on the top floor of the yellow building that is at 1 o'clock to the top tip of the blue star that is the moat of the Schloss in the west of Münster, and funnily enough when I moved into this flat and redecorated the walls, I noticed that most of the the walls seemed to have originally only been built up to half their current height. Didnt think too much of it though, and went about my life.
A few months later I was in the kiosk (basically a kind of seven-eleven) round the corner, and an ancient man came in. We chatted for a moment, he asked me where i live, and i told him the adress.
''ha! That's where we used to run! The whole street would meet in that cellar, cause it had the communal bomb shelter.''
I told him that now that he mentioned it, there was one part of the cellar that had a big iron door, and he nodded.
''But we were never worried, the boys on the roof always nailed it'' he said with a slight grin, and plodded away.

I'm now almost positive, that the half-story that was added after the war was to build up the part of the roof that used to hold the flak-battery.

Smol world innit.

[TheOperationsRoom]

Can I ask you all a favour? If you enjoy this episode, could you please hit the like button and/or leave a comment, it helps us massively. Appreciate you all!

[geronimo]

Thumbs up for the merge of animation and historical photographs @16:44. Montemayor did the same in his Pearl Harbor video.

[gusfarnell]

My grandpa flew B-24s in china during WW2. I recently found a book that features him on a raid. On this mission the plane “Chug-a-Lug” was shot up so bad the navigation papers flew out the cockpit, and most of his crew was injured. He made it back to a friendly runway but the plane was so damaged he had to land going 140 with no flaps and the plane went into a spin upon hitting the ground. Funny enough even while crash landing he managed to put the plane into the designated parking area. He crashed on another mission and was taken POW, he didn’t tell my dad much of anything about that, but I can bet it was not a good experience. He died when I was 3 but I imagine he was a cool guy. My dad said his PTSD was bad. RIP Leland Borden Farnell

[theborg]

i wasnt a huge fan of master of the air, but this mission was absolutely done well in the show. theres no other words i can use to describe it than sheer insanity. the variety and scale of suffering of wwii really outstrips human comprehension

[hertzair]

These graphic re-enactments of significant battles is one of the few channels I will watch immediately when they come up….outstanding way to understand the complexities of battle.

[janp]

"Not everybody saw himself in the murder business.. but most men trusted their leaders" almost sounds like there were similar thoughts on both sides.

[privatebandana]

You missed a part of the mission. They were told by command that one of the main targets was the Cathedral of the town, at noon.. on a Sunday, the reason behind this was never explained according to the pilots, but for obvious reasons it was to maximize the civilian casualties.

[MichaelLoringhoven]

Although Americans don't know or use the letter "Ü", it is essential to distinguish the city of Münster (the bombed city) and Munster (200km away from Münster).

[TheMaristBoy]

Band of Brothers made me fear winter, The Pacific made me fear the jungle, Masters of the Air makes me fear flying. I hope they do a series on WW2 submariners next. They could do three perspectives or an anthology: U-boats, merchant marine convoys, and American submariners in the Pacific.

[brosefmalkovitch]

Even in Vietnam we were still dropping thousands of tons of ordnance just to temporarily knock out railways and logistics facilities, turns out near misses are still just misses even when it comes to high explosives.

[Bob.W.]

My uncle was killed in a mission to Munster on Nov. 5, 1943. Flak took out 2 engines on his B-24 and the German fighters finished the job. The plane was found about 15 years ago off Holland.

[gargoyle]

Day raids were never to "avoiding civilian casualties", it was about more higher chances for hitting the target.

[RCAvhstape]

Rosenthal handling his Fort like a fighter plane, with only 2 engines, dodging rockets and getting his men home. What a boss.

[MastersOfTheWinds]

I've studied in Münster. Lived in the residential area that was one of the target points.
The area around the railway station is today known as Hawerkamp and houses a lot of Münster's clubs.
Not interesting I guess but still an eerie feeling.

[IgOr-rqfg]

I grew up in Münster and live in Coesfeld (the town they bombed by mistake).
I will always remember my grandmothers stories from her youth.
She sat with her sister on a farmhouses roof in the vicinity of Münster, and they watched the bombing. It was the sisters’ birthday, and they invented that the bombing were fireworks for her. The sister died a year later of hunger.
There are so many stories she has to tell from back then, and most of them are pretty terrifying.
The cathedral has (or had, I’m not up to date) the pictures of Münster the following days.
Luckily, the old town was rebuild and it has a pretty medieval flair in the city-center.

[oliverhughes]

When Yarnhub and Operations Room inadvertently do the same topic the same weekend-

[jvl]

Thank you for this well done documentation of a controversial bombing mission; namely, targeting civilians. This was unknown to me and hits home. As an American living in Berlin, my German mother-in-law (102 years old!) is from Münster and I am often there. My father landed on Utah beach on DDay and would have never imagined having a son who would one day be living in Berlin married to a German woman. Thank their sacrifices that we now live in peace. I do appreciate those, like yourself, who bring to light the unimaginable sacrifices and losses of those who came before us. You have a new subscriber…. Pass the word! Great job!!

[GunnerHeatFire]

This is far better than masters of the air.

One of the only channels i actually click on when i get the notification.