What Was Black Monday? Masters Of The Air’s Worst Day True Story: In the seventh episode of Masters of the Air, the troops of the 100th Bomb Group embarked on their most dangerous mission to date, which is now known as Black Monday. This mission has been committed by the 100th Bomb Group.
What Was Black Monday? Masters Of The Air’s Worst Day True Story
In spite of the fact that Major Gale ‘Buck’ Cleven and Major John ‘Bucky’ Egan were compelled to abandon their aircraft while they were on missions to Bremen and Munster, respectively, the 100th continued to undertake perilous missions.
An increasing number of these flights were carried out over Germany over the course of time, which resulted in a rise in the number of victims. Black Monday was the day that the Eighth Air Force took off, and the 100th Air Force suffered their greatest losses of the war at that time.
Despite the fact that Lieutenant Colonel Robert ‘Rosie’ Rosenthal and Major Harry Crosby were not directly involved in the Black Monday operation in Masters of the Air, the mission was still a defining moment for the soldiers in general.
That the majority of the 100th had been made up of replacements by the time Black Monday rolled along was something that was mentioned in episode 7. It was because of this that the majority of the airmen who were killed in this incident were almost entirely new to the unit when they died.
Given that they still had 29 missions to complete, Black Monday established a precedent that was unfavorable for the survivors. But in many respects, it was the gloom that preceded the dawn that would eventually come.
Black Monday was the first daytime raid on Berlin that required maximum effort during World War II.
- During the time period depicted in Masters of the Air, Black Monday was the most extensive daylight raid that had ever been carried out over Berlin. In contrast to earlier operations of the Eighth Air Force, which concentrated on smaller cities like Regensberg, Bremen, and Munster, Black Monday was completely focused on the capital of Germany.
- In light of this, the success of the Black Monday operation became even more crucial, but it also brought about an extremely high level of danger as a result of the increasing presence of the Luftwaffe.
- As a result of Black Monday, the outcomes were extremely inconsistent. It is important to note that the operation was responsible for the loss of the greatest number of American aircraft and airmen during the entirety of the Second World War.
- As per Masters of the Air, the 100th Air Force suffered the loss of roughly 15 aircraft as a result of the raid. Nevertheless, this operation was also seen as the one that marked the turning point for the United States Army Air Forces in their war against the Luftwaffe.
- Following the events of Black Monday, the Luftwaffe became more susceptible to attack, and the United States Air Force (USAAF) embarked on their lengthy journey to eradicate the Luftwaffe once and for all. As a result, Black Monday produced outcomes that were both extraordinarily terrible and extremely favorable.
According to the Eighth Air Force, how many people lost their lives on Black Monday?
- A total of 69 aircraft were lost out of the 1,758 aircraft that were deployed by the United States Army Air Forces on Black Monday. Taking into account the fact that a single plane had a crew of 10 men, it may be deduced that around seven hundred American airmen lost their lives on Black Monday.
- In total, fifteen of those seventy-nine planes that were shot down were members of the 100th Bomb Group. As a result, by the time Black Monday arrived, the squadron had lost 150 of its men. Black Monday was the day that saw the most deaths in a single day for the 100th mission, despite the fact that previous missions, such as the Munster Raid, resulted in enormous casualties.
- What makes these losses even more devastating is the fact that they are merely a small element of a much larger plan. After the events of Black Monday, Big Week occurred in the days that followed in the month of March 1944.
- According to the depiction in Masters of the Air, the Eighth Air Force, which included the 100th, was dispatched back over Berlin two days after Black Monday, the day after that, and once more two weeks after that.
- Over the course of Big Week, the United States Army Air Forces suffered the loss of roughly 400 aircraft, which resulted in the deaths of approximately 4,000 servicemen. The subsequent conflict was significantly impacted by these raids, which had a significant impact on German forces.
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As a result of the casualties that occurred on Black Monday, the Eighth Air Force continued to attack Berlin.
- Despite the fact that flying over Berlin resulted in a significant number of losses, the United States Army Air Forces never stopped flying missions over the capital city. This is due to the fact that, despite the fact that each mission was unsuccessful, it was a true success.
- In order for the Allies to move forward with their invasion, the Luftwaffe needed to be defeated, and the only way to accomplish this was for the United States Air Force to lure them out.
- According to Masters of the Air, in the end, it was a plan that was extremely hazardous and disastrous for the Army Air Forces; nevertheless, in many respects, it assisted in bringing the United States of America closer to achieving its goal of defeating Germany.
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