Is anyone else waiting with great expectation? I saw some of the promo clips. Tremendous footage. It is nice to see they used veterans and family members to tell the story. Too bad no TIVO, gotta use the ole VCR.
Showing 9-23. Get ready:thmbsp:

I thought his Ken's Civil War series was terrific.

Thanks for the heads up.:thmbsp:

I'll be watching...

PBS, History Channel.......which channel is carrying it?

Yup I programmed my hard disk recorder to catch all 7 nights. :yes:

I have the preview from my local PBS station and it looks terrific. My HD DVR is set.

I can't wait to see it. Hopefully I can remember when it starts. Can I get a reminder call from someone? (he says half-kiddingly) :D

Here is the pbs.org link below. You can choose quicktime or windows media player to check out the snippets. Kickin' pics and movies:
http://www.pbs.org/thewar/?campaign=pbshomefeatures_1_thewarbrakenburnsfilm_ 2007-09-19

PBS, History Channel.......which channel is carrying it?

PBS, sir.
Sunday 23 September 8-10:30pm
Monday 24 September 8-10pm
Tuesday 25 September 8-10pm
Wednesday 26 September 8-10:30pm
Sunday 30 September 8-10pm
Monday 1 October 8-10pm
Tuesday 2 October 8-10:30pm

I got fresh blank videotapes lined up and ready. I've been waiting for months for this!

Tom

It should be very good.

They've been running other bits on ww2, ramping up I suppose. I also saw him talk at the Cleveland City Club (on pbs) and the guy is indeed a massive history nut. I was very impressed.

Pete

High Def DVR set and ready to go!

A terrific preview:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/entertainment/5152888.html

Edit: If you don't feel like recording it:

http://www.shoppbs.org/product/index.jsp?productId=2784344

I'm just going to soak it up while I watch, and then order the DVD set.

Edit2: Just found out my local PBS station has a simultaneous broadcast in digital! Woohoo!

I've got my VCR all set It's coming on at 8PM EST on channel 13 and 10PM on Channel 21. I'm going to be listening to the John Coltrane Birthday broadcast on WKCR FM in Ney york, but I'll be wathing with the TV sound muted listening to the radio. I can listen and watch later!

I am definately going to watch this one. I make a point of talking to WW2 vets whenever I find them. Last week, I was at a brithday party and got in a conversation with a fellow who was in Antwerp during the worst of the German V1 and V2 bombings (few people realize that Antwerp was blasted far more than London). One thing I came out with was a feel for the sound a V1 makes as it flys and then dives in. He described the sound as like that of an old tub washing machine cycling the clothing back and forth - a low frequency whoomp-whoomp-whoomp. To him the scariest part was when the anti-aircraft batteries managed to wing one - because the V1 would then spiral down and it was hard to figure exactly where it was going to land.

The V2, on the other hand, was totally silent and there was never any warning that one was coming in. Just a sudden huge explosion.

DH

Is anyone else waiting with great expectation? I saw some of the promo clips. Tremendous footage. It is nice to see they used veterans and family members to tell the story. Too bad no TIVO, gotta use the ole VCR.
Showing 9-23. Get ready:thmbsp:

Well let me give the first mini review.

This show should gain another Academy award for Mr. Burns and his partners I thought the first episode was awesome. I love how he tells the whole story including the home front from various points of view. His use of archival film and stills is as always amazing.

It is also a no holds look at our actions in battle. Something people need to know. War is messy.

Can't wait for the next installment

A few V-1s landed back where they came from, the Spitfire and Hurricae pilots would hook a wingtip under the V-1's wing and flip it around. I watched it the first time - from 1939 to 1945.

This show should gain another Academy award for Mr. Burns and his partners

Ahem....Yes, I'd like to thank The Academy...

But seriously, a great start last night. :yes:

A few V-1s landed back where they came from, the Spitfire and Hurricae pilots would hook a wingtip under the V-1's wing and flip it around. I watched it the first time - from 1939 to 1945.

That's amazing.

Pete

Well I like the burns films and he did aonther war film before I seem to recall, but this one didn't show or tell anything new from all the other WW2 films I've watched. Seemed just more of the same to me, but I watch Victory at Sea every time it runs and probably will . I'm a War baby, born 1942 Aug 14. Lotta WW2 events were on or near Aug 14 or 15 of other yrs.
Good film but no Academy award. Seen it all before.

AMEN to that!Well let me give the first mini review.

This show should gain another Academy award for Mr. Burns and his partners I thought the first episode was awesome. I love how he tells the whole story including the home front from various points of view. His use of archival film and stills is as always amazing.

It is also a no holds look at our actions in battle. Something people need to know. War is messy.

Can't wait for the next installment

A nice job. Burns should be commended for bringing this generation a reality check on that war. As I've said before - the more I learn about it the bigger it gets. No matter how big you think it is - it was much bigger.

Although he uses almost all stock footage (that I've seen many times before} I still am amazed at some of it. A couple stand out:
1- A scene that shows some GIs sneaking past a wall. Suddenly, the front guys start sprinting across an open area in front. At the same time, an explosion from a German defensive shot goes off on the front of the wall. The guy just about to pass the wall is killed instantly - you can see it happen by the way he collapses.
2- A scene (in color, no less) showing a group of GIs and a JEEP. Suddenly they hear an artillery shell coming in and scatter in all directions. The shell explodes off camera and to the left - right where one guy was seen running - and a moment later you can just catch a glimpse of what is apparently that guys leg with his boot still on it tumbling by.

It's all very sobering. These scenes should all be required viewing by anyone running for office.

DH

I was born in 1930 so when I said I saw the first verzion I meant that I saw all the newsreels during the war. The period in '39 when the RAF along with the other Commonwealth AFs kept Hitler from invading England. There was a report that when Goering visited some of his airbases and asked his pilots if there was anything they wanted, one of them replied "Ja, Spitfires". Despite the peacetime attitude the British Supermarine company developed the Spitfire ostensibly as a pontooned racing plane but they knew it was to be a fighter. And Hawker also developed the Hurricane, that did not get the same press as the Spitfire but you did not want to be caught on the business end of one. The Hawker Fury, a biplane, had a 20MM canon firing through the prop hub.

This show should gain another Academy award for Mr. Burns and his partners.The latinos who fought in WWII certainly don't agree with you. They are most unhappy about their treatment (or lack thereof) in the documentary. However, what I'm most unhappy about is our crummy local PBS station only ran the intro. Not the program. Welcome to Philadelphia PBS, which spends all its time begging rather than running programs. They are terrible.

Unless I'm mistaken, the P-51 was deisgned using the British Spitfire as a model. One of the first examples of coorperation between two countries.

DH

http://www.military.cz/usa/air/war/fighter/p51/p51_m.jpg
http://www.einsteins-emporium.com/technology/aviation/1940-1945/images/aeg3d-br.jpg

I was born in 1930 so when I said I saw the first verzion I meant that I saw all the newsreels during the war. The period in '39 when the RAF along with the other Commonwealth AFs kept Hitler from invading England. There was a report that when Goering visited some of his airbases and asked his pilots if there was anything they wanted, one of them replied "Ja, Spitfires". Despite the peacetime attitude the British Supermarine company developed the Spitfire ostensibly as a pontooned racing plane but they knew it was to be a fighter. And Hawker also developed the Hurricane, that did not get the same press as the Spitfire but you did not want to be caught on the business end of one. The Hawker Fury, a biplane, had a 20MM canon firing through the prop hub.

In late 1939, with the likelihood of full scale war in Europe a major concern, the British Royal Air Force was looking seriously at methods of quickly increasing its fighter strength. In April 1940, the British Air Purchasing Commission approached North American Aviation with the intent of having them build P-40's for the RAF. Since the P-40 design went back to 1933, James H. "Dutch" Kendelberger, the president of North American offered to build an entirely new advanced fighter using the same Allison V-1710-39 engine, used on the P-40. It was said that "Dutch" got his inspiration for the P-51 after a 1938 tour of aircraft industries in Great Britain and Germany.1 North American's only previous fighter experience was with the NA-50A, but Dutch collaborated with J.L. "Lee" Atwood 2 to formulate an outline for the project. The British agreed on the new type, NA-73X, only on the stipulation that a prototype be on hand within 120 days. North American designers Raymond Rice and Edgar Schmued, the latter had worked for Fokker and Messerschmitt in 1925,3 immediately set about meeting the requirements. A prototype was finished in 117 days minus the engine. Wheels also had to be borrowed from an AT-6 trainer. Six weeks later, and after several modifications, the aircraft took to the air October 26, 1940.4

With Vance Breese at the controls, who was one of the most famous test pilots in his day, the XP-51 reached 382 mph, exceeding the P-40's top speed by 25 mph.5 The P-51 was an immediate success and it even outperformed the Spitfire.6 Unique to the P-51 was the laminar flow wing design which was developed by the US National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). Contemporary aircraft wings featured a wing cross-section with maximum thickness about a fifth of the way across the wing from the leading edge, with most of the camber on the top of the wing. The laminar flow wing, in contrast, has its maximum thickness well aft from the leading edge, and has almost as much camber on top as on the bottom. This feature reduced turbulent flow across the wing, thereby, reducing drag and increasing speed and range. Drag was also reduced by positioning a ventral radiator underneath the rear of the fuselage, to present the smallest possible fuselage cross section. The British Purchasing Commission was enthusiastic about the plane, and confirmed a production order for 320 Mustang Is. This was later increased by 300 for NA-83s, which differed only in minor details; the British designation was Mustang IA.7 Powered by the 1,100 hp Allison V-1710-39 (F3R) engine, the airplanes performance was only impressive up to 15,000 ft. However, performance would be dramatically improved once the airframe was matched with the Rolls Royce Merlin engine. This is not to say that the Allison wasn't a good engine as it performed very well on the Lockheed P-38. The problem with the Allison had more to do with the USAAF's heavy reliance on turbosupercharging. This requirement was impossible to meet for all aircraft, due to a shortage of metal alloys, such as tungsten. There was some experimentation with turbosupercharged P-40s by designer Donaldson R. Berlin and these planes outperformed the Spitfire and Messerschmitt Bf 109.8

A further improvement to the Mustang was introduced when a graceful teardrop canopy was installed to eliminate the dangerous blind area created by the faired cockpit. First tested on two P-51Bs, they became standard on the P-51D and all later models. 280 P-51Ds were given the RAF designation Mustang IV. The P-51D became the version produced in the greatest quantities, 7,954 being completed. The P-51D model carried six .50 cal. machine guns instead of the four mounted in the P-51Bs. Other refinements, such as moving the wing forward slightly and providing for rocket launchers, were included. The first P-51Ds types were delivered without dorsal fins, but this feature was added to compensate for keel-loss when the bubble canopy was adopted.

Later developments to the P-51 series included the final production type, the P-51H with several changes which made it the fastest production variant with a maximum speed of 487 mph at 25,000 feet. Five hundred fifty-five P-51H's were delivered before VJ Day out of an original order for 1,445 machines.13

A few V-1s landed back where they came from, the Spitfire and Hurricae pilots would hook a wingtip under the V-1's wing and flip it around.

Like this?


http://www.spitfirespares.com/SpitfireSpares.com/website%20products%2096/V1-spitfire-flips-V1.jpg

http://ipmsstockholm.org/images/spitfire_v1.jpg
DH

Our PBS station is running it five nights in a row -- more than I'm willing to give it -- or any other program. I'd prefer if they ran it every Sunday for five weeks. That said, I will get it on DVD as I think it will be a "must have" presenation! Too many people don't remember the incredible sacrifices made to defeat the Axis powers.

It makes me wonder how much WWII footage is there out there? I've been watching WWII Documentaries since I watched the "World at War" when I was a kid. It seems endless the amount they have.

Ken Burns did make one glaring mistake when he referred to the Springfield rifle (when he said a rifle designed in 1903 it was the Springfield rifle model 03-A3 by the time WWI rolled around) as a Single Shot Bolt action. It is in fact a bolt action rifle which cocks on close but is not a single shot but is a repeater with an internal 5 rd. Magazine feed by a stripper clip allowing a very quick reload in trained hands.

Yamaha B-2: that was a tremendous post concerning the P-51! Very absorbing and well-written. Kudos to you!

Contributions like that are another reason AK has so much 'depth'. There's no way to predict what niche an AKer resides in.

I'm too involved in football right now, but I'll probably spring the $$$ for the DVD set. Maybe a Christmas gift?

Its very well done, although its a real marathon. Its good that the local PBS station replays it overnight so I can record it.

I don't know about the rest of you, but, in general, war related, and specifically WW2 related programs really choke me up. I can only imagine.

dew.

Ken Burns did make one glaring mistake when he referred to the Springfield rifle (when he said a rifle designed in 1903 it was the Springfield rifle model 03-A3 by the time WWI rolled around) as a Single Shot Bolt action. It is in fact a bolt action rifle which cocks on close but is not a single shot but is a repeater with an internal 5 rd. Magazine feed by a stripper clip allowing a very quick reload in trained hands.

I caught that as well, but I assumed he was talking about two different rifles. Although I'm not familiar at all with any single shot rifle that was in use at that time. The Krag preceded the 03 Springfield, but that was a repeater as well.

I caught that as well, but I assumed he was talking about two different rifles. Although I'm not familiar at all with any single shot rifle that was in use at that time. The Krag preceded the 03 Springfield, but that was a repeater as well.

To the best of my knowledge the first rifle going backwards that was a Single shot would have been one of the Sharps used between the Civil war and the Spanish American War. So his statement is incorrect.

And his reference to being designed in 1903 has to refer to the Springfield which along with the 1917 Enfield were our two std. issue combat rifles during WW I and the interm years. I currently own a 1917 and have owned a beautiful O3-A3 made in 1942.

The latinos who fought in WWII certainly don't agree with you. They are most unhappy about their treatment (or lack thereof) in the documentary.

Last night's segment had a good chunk of it devoted to latinos who fought, including some very moving interviews with at least two latino vetrans. They talked about their experiences in the war, and what it meant to be a latino in the military at that time, and of their culture and patriotism. Latinos were unhappy with the movie's first draft, but Mr. Burns went to great lengths to address their concerns. So far, I think Ken Burns has handled a lot of racial issues around the war (American internment of Japanese citizens, latinos in the armed services, blacks in the armed services, etc.) great! It would be a shame to slander such a sweeping masterwork without a careful examination of the final product, and it's not even half revealed yet.

My wife surprised me by deciding to watch it with me. I know she has learned quite a bit from it so far. Well, I've learned more than a little myself. I think the most interesting thing so far was listening to the belly gunner tell his stories. He was really getting into it...I wonder how much of that he had told his family?

I'm waiting 'cause I couldn't watch the first one, but all taped so I will be!

If anyone has their interest peaked enough I would highly recommend "The Longest Day", Cornelius Ryan, the book, not the movie, a very human perspective of D-Day and a fairly light read that gives great insight. For the more serious "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" is excellent but will disgust you.

Pete

To the best of my knowledge the first rifle going backwards that was a Single shot would have been one of the Sharps used between the Civil war and the Spanish American War. So his statement is incorrect.

And his reference to being designed in 1903 has to refer to the Springfield which along with the 1917 Enfield were our two std. issue combat rifles during WW I and the interm years. I currently own a 1917 and have owned a beautiful O3-A3 made in 1942.

The U.S. Springfield Model 1884 in .45-70 was probably the last military single-shot. Same as the carbines used by the 7th Cavalry, but later issue. This was the predominant rifle through the Spanish-American war, when it began to be replaced by the .30-40 Krag Jorgenson. Then came the 03-A3, and then the 1917 Enfield.

My grandfather got my 03-A3 wrapped in wax paper and in the original Cosmoline through the old Civilian Marksmanship program, probably in the '50's. Still probably has less than 100 rounds through it!

A comment was made about the color footage. Kodachrome was on the marked in 1936 as was an Agfa film (though as of 1939 that would have only been available to the Germans) The military did use a LOT of the Kodachrome since color film was advantageous when trying to detect camouflage. There are any number of books about WW II all in color I have one that centers around the 8th Air Force. the film having been sent from a drug store in NY to the owners son or son inlaw with which he took all the photo's.

So color was used during the war it's just not seen as much as B&W. One reason I think is that for many things color is so much more graphic and real then B&W. A dead bloated body in B&W is one thing it's whole other cup of tea in full Kodachrome color!