WWII Aviation Buffs! Objective Burma DVD!

[MDFrench]

Hey guys,

Just picked up Errol Flynn's war classic Objective Burma on DVD. Of course it's a great film, but one of the extras on the DVD is the vintage short film "Rear Gunner" with a very young Ronald Reagan and Burgess Meredith.

Rear Gunner is one of those U.S. War Bond shorts from the period that highlights the efforts of one enlisted man who wants to become a turret gunner in a U.S. bomber. A great reference for an education on WWII gunner training. This little film is filled to the gills with great rare footage of B-24 Liberators in flight as well as a bit of film that forced me to do a double take and quick rewind:

Towards the end of the film there is a shot of around six or seven B-17 flying fortresses in the air. You see them from the underside and just as the shot ended I realized what I had seen and backed it up - sure enough, this is a shot of what are definitely either B-17Cs or B-17Ds flying formation - you can make out the small tail wing with the striped paint on the rudder and the gun blisters along the fuselage. Amazing! I've seen photos of them in flight, but never moving footage!

A must-have for WWII aviation enthusiasts!

Mike

 

[hk47]

 

[Stearmen]

Hey guys,



Towards the end of the film there is a shot of around six or seven B-17 flying fortresses in the air. You see them from the underside and just as the shot ended I realized what I had seen and backed it up - sure enough, this is a shot of what are definitely either B-17Cs or B-17Ds flying formation - you can make out the small tail wing with the striped paint on the rudder and the gun blisters along the fuselage. Amazing! I've seen photos of them in flight, but never moving footage!

A must-have for WWII aviation enthusiasts!

Mike

If you love early stinger tail B-17s, you need to watch Air Force (1943) A typical propaganda film, but lots of flying action, mostly the real deal, with a few models thrown in! Plus, some early P-39 Airacobras.

 

[Tiki Tom]

Cool stuff. I do not think I would have liked being a tail gunner in one of those birds. Hats off to the men who performed that work. I guess somebody had to do it.
P.S. --- Errol Flynn once bought my dad a beer. Actually, he bought a round for everyone in the place. That counts, doesn't it? It was in Kingston, Jamaica, just after the war ended.