‘Masters of the Air’ Shows the Life-or-Death Drama of Real World War II Bombers

Apple TV+’s new Masters of the Air takes us into the sky with World War II bombers. The series stars Austin Butler, Callum Turner, and Barry Keoghan as soldiers in the 100th Bomb group, also known as the “Bloody Hundredth.”

The team who brought us The Pacific and one of the best WWII series ever, Band of Brothers, returns to Apple TV+ with Masters of the Air. Instead of focusing on ground forces in the European and Pacific theaters like previous shows, this series’ action happens in the sky. Masters of the Air follows the B-17 forces as they bomb against the German army. The large planes, also known as Flying Fortresses, would fly over Europe to try to destroy key locations of the Nazi war effort. Things like ball-bearing factories and railroads were often the targets of these flights. Although the B-17s packed a ton of power against the German fighter jets, like the Messerschmitt Bf 109, the planes were like sitting ducks. Every time the Americans left on a daytime bombing mission, crews knew there was a good chance they weren’t coming home.

What is Masters of the Air based on?

Masters of the Air is based on actual events and the people who experienced them. Much like the other World War II series, the names and places are real. To fit the narrative, the series made changes to other elements like dialogue or timing. The creators of Masters of the Air used two principal sources for the show. Historian and author Donald L. Miller’s Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany became a guide for the show and inspired the name. Miller gathered information from a multitude of primary sources to create what many feel is the definitive story of America’s bomber boys during WWII.

The memoir of Harry Crosby served as the other major source for Masters of the Air. Crosby published A Wing and a Prayer in 1993, detailing his accounts of his time in the 100th. As a navigator, Crosby started in the 100th before the unit deployed to Europe in May 1943. Battling things like air sickness, cold, and turbulence, navigators kept planes on course using maps and precise measurements while they went into battle. In Masters of the Air, Anthony Boyle plays Harry Crosby.

Masters of the Air premieres on January 26, with new episodes dropping every week.

(featured image: Apple TV+)