By Dr Luke Truxal

Editorial note: On 26 January 2024, Apple TV+ launched the much-anticipated series Masters of the Air. This series follows the actions of the US 100th Bomb Group during the Combined Bomber Offensive in the Second World War. As the series is being aired, our Book Reviews Editor, Dr Luke Truxal, the author of Uniting against the Reich (2023), will critically review each episode.  

Episode six of Masters of the Air was a transition episode. From now on, the television series will focus on the stories of three main characters and the stories around them. Additionally, the show is now trying to broaden its perspective from the US 100^th Bomb Group to tell other stories related to the air war. Overall, this episode did a good job of setting up this new format, but whether the show will benefit from changing its approach to storytelling remains to be seen.

John Orloff’s thesis in episode six is about three men running from their fates. The show begins with Major John Egan trying to evade German police, military, and civilians. For the first time in the show, Egan faces the consequences of his actions as he encounters German civilians who either fear him or want to kill him in retaliation for the American air raids that are killing civilians as collateral damage in their bombing campaign or more directly trying to kill them to bring pressure on German morale as we saw in the last episode. There are several moments where it seems like Egan will escape his fate by evading his captors, but Egan is not so fortunate. He must face the brutal experience of being a prisoner of war at Stalag Luft III.

While Egan tried to escape capture, Lieutenant Robert Rosenthal attempted to run from the burden of leadership. During the episode, Rosenthal and his crew are sent to a ‘Flak Farm’ to recuperate after being the sole plane from the 100^th Bomb Group to return from the 10 October 1943 Munster raid. Rosenthal spends much of the episode distancing himself from his crew. While Rosenthal makes it clear to those around him that he feels a deep sense of duty to continue flying and fighting the war, he is also reluctant to really engage with his men during this time off. Ultimately, Rosenthal comes to terms with the reality that he is not just a pilot fighting the war against Germany but also a crucial leader for his crew and the 100^th Bomb Group. This is shown in Rosenthal’s final scene. He is standing at the door of his plane and gathering the inner strength to get inside one more time. This matters to his men, and the new crews witness someone who barely survived ‘Black Week’ going back into battle with a workman-like attitude.

Finally, Captain Harry Crosby spends the episode running away from his demon, survivor’s guilt. Crosby does not discuss losing his friend, Captain Joseph ‘Bubbles’ Payne. At the beginning of the episode, he is sent to attend a series of Oxford lectures designed to encourage greater cooperation amongst Allied personnel. During this episode, he meets Subaltern Alessandra Westgate. Her role in the war is never clear, but much speculation exists. Crosby spends much of the episode trying to bury his feelings about the loss of Payne by attending lectures and parties, but he finally unloads his guilt on Westgate. He questions why he survived, and Payne did not. Ultimately, Westgate reminds Crosby that this is not his fault. It is the fault of Germany for starting this war and bringing about the destruction that has affected so many lives as a result.

While a solid episode, some problems need to be discussed. First, the show has gone to great lengths to try and separate the Luftwaffe and the actions of the SS and Gestapo. This plays into the ‘clean Luftwaffe’ myth, which historians like Victoria Taylor are trying to debunk with their research. The head of the Luftwaffe, Reichsmarshall Herman Goering, was one of the early members of the Nazi Party and participated in the Beer Hall Putsch in Munich. He was one of the most senior-ranking members of the Nazi Party at this point in the war. The Luftwaffe that he created embraced the ideals of the Nazi Party. The show fails to show that the Luftwaffe interrogation techniques were different because the Luftwaffe believed that they were more effective at acquiring information from American airmen. Also, this is the same Luftwaffe that executed 50 British prisoners during the Great Escape. Donald Miller wrote about why the Luftwaffe used a different interrogation approach in his book Masters of the Air.[1] This is another instance where the show might have benefited more by adding a little bit more context, but unfortunately, it failed here.

Overall, this episode showed three new aspects of the air war through the attempts by Egan, Rosenthal, and Crosby to evade their own personal battles in the air war. We see ‘Flak Houses’ covered in decent detail, the struggle of those who question why they were left behind, and finally, through Egan, we know the experience of those who try to escape but are captured. While there are problems that historians will have with this episode regarding the treatment of the Luftwaffe, this episode does highlight more aspects of the air war for audiences less educated on the experience of American airmen. Like with the first three episodes, the show struggles to put the experiences of American airmen into a broader context that audiences and scholars could really benefit from. This was another good but not great episode.

Dr Luke Truxal is an adjunct at Columbia State Community College in Tennessee. He completed his PhD in 2018 from the University of North Texas with his dissertation ‘Command Unity and the Air War Against Germany.’ His previous publications include ‘Bombing the Romanian Rail Network’ in the Spring 2018 issue of Air Power History. He also wrote ‘The Politics of Operational Planning: Ira Eaker and the Combined Bomber Offensive in 1943’ in the Journal of Military Aviation History. In addition, Truxal is researching the effectiveness of joint air operations between the Allied air forces in the Second World War. He can be reached on Twitter at @Luke_Truxal.

Header image: Callum Turner in Masters of the Air. (Source: Apple TV+)

[1] Donald Miller, Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2006), pp. 386-7.