I hope I'm reviewing the right film. I'm tapping into what's available on YouTube and the credits for each video are usually missing, as they are in this case. The Classic Media series, by the way, is above average as far as its documentaries go. Nice job overall.
Well, one program about the Junkers 87 Stuka dive bombers is likely to be much like another. They were ugly dive bombers developed by Germany first in 1935 and refined throughout the war.
The Stuka has lost some of its luster since the war because it was cumbersome, underarmed, and slow, easy prey for Allied fighters. However, in the early years of the war, it proved a phenomenal presence. It was used in conjunction with the infantry and panzer units in lightning attacks aptly named "Blitzkrieg" by a journalist. The served as flying artillery ahead of the troops and they were extraordinarily accurate. The payload was effective too -- either a 1,000 pound bomb under the fuselage or a 500 pound bomb plus two smaller bombs under the wings. Actually, I've never understood why the Allies never developed anything similar, except in the Navy.
It was tested in Spain, improved, and then used in the invasion of Poland, which precipitated World War II. Subsequently they were used in France. The airplane not only bombed specific targets like artillery batteries but individual tanks and ships. It was much feared. When the Germans learned about the fear factor they attached loud sirens to the wings that unnerved civilians and soldiers alike. A secondary benefit of its frightfulness was that populations fled from likely targets and choked the roads, making military movements difficult.
They opened the Battle of Britain by attacking radar installations along England's southern coast and by sinking a sufficient number of ships in the Channel that shipping was curtailed. Naval units were drawn away from Dover to safer havens.
The film points out little interesting oddities of the sort usually ignored. For instance, missions over the channel were particularly dangerous the Stukas and their crews. They couldn't very well ditch because their fixed undercarriage would catch and bring the airplane to a violent stop, usually flipping it over. If the crew bailed out, they'd left their raft and other emergency equipment back in the airplane. Goering made the mistake of using them over inland targets, strategically instead of tactically, and it was a role for which they were not designed. It didn't work.
Stukas were used in North Africa, equipped with external cannons, as tank busters, until the German withdrawal from the continent. In the invasion of Russia they played the same role as they had in the European Blitzkrieg. Very effective at the beginning, their contribution lessened as the supply lines across Russia were stretched. And the coming of winter more or less defeated the Luftwaffe. The Russian winter was so bitterly cold that it snapped and buckled the metal fuselages. Instead of detonating on impact, bombs shattered. For Germany, the rest of the war was a noisy silence.
It's a pretty good documentary, consisting almost entirely of combat and newsreel footage. No talking heads. The narration is balance and intelligent.
Well, one program about the Junkers 87 Stuka dive bombers is likely to be much like another. They were ugly dive bombers developed by Germany first in 1935 and refined throughout the war.
The Stuka has lost some of its luster since the war because it was cumbersome, underarmed, and slow, easy prey for Allied fighters. However, in the early years of the war, it proved a phenomenal presence. It was used in conjunction with the infantry and panzer units in lightning attacks aptly named "Blitzkrieg" by a journalist. The served as flying artillery ahead of the troops and they were extraordinarily accurate. The payload was effective too -- either a 1,000 pound bomb under the fuselage or a 500 pound bomb plus two smaller bombs under the wings. Actually, I've never understood why the Allies never developed anything similar, except in the Navy.
It was tested in Spain, improved, and then used in the invasion of Poland, which precipitated World War II. Subsequently they were used in France. The airplane not only bombed specific targets like artillery batteries but individual tanks and ships. It was much feared. When the Germans learned about the fear factor they attached loud sirens to the wings that unnerved civilians and soldiers alike. A secondary benefit of its frightfulness was that populations fled from likely targets and choked the roads, making military movements difficult.
They opened the Battle of Britain by attacking radar installations along England's southern coast and by sinking a sufficient number of ships in the Channel that shipping was curtailed. Naval units were drawn away from Dover to safer havens.
The film points out little interesting oddities of the sort usually ignored. For instance, missions over the channel were particularly dangerous the Stukas and their crews. They couldn't very well ditch because their fixed undercarriage would catch and bring the airplane to a violent stop, usually flipping it over. If the crew bailed out, they'd left their raft and other emergency equipment back in the airplane. Goering made the mistake of using them over inland targets, strategically instead of tactically, and it was a role for which they were not designed. It didn't work.
Stukas were used in North Africa, equipped with external cannons, as tank busters, until the German withdrawal from the continent. In the invasion of Russia they played the same role as they had in the European Blitzkrieg. Very effective at the beginning, their contribution lessened as the supply lines across Russia were stretched. And the coming of winter more or less defeated the Luftwaffe. The Russian winter was so bitterly cold that it snapped and buckled the metal fuselages. Instead of detonating on impact, bombs shattered. For Germany, the rest of the war was a noisy silence.
It's a pretty good documentary, consisting almost entirely of combat and newsreel footage. No talking heads. The narration is balance and intelligent.
