This is an Academy Award-nominated documentary, which shows the 21st Bombing Command and its role in the B-29 bombing of Japan and the Pacific Theater of Operations (PTO). It is 36 MINUTES LONG, The beginning is the planning and preparation for the bombing raids on Tokyo. You can see a young Kurt LaMay in the early briefing. At about 15-16 minutes they are running into flak as they prepare to hit the targets. There is some great P-51 combat and strafing footage and then very good footage of the bombers in action. Recovery back at the take-off bases is excellent footage also. A 36 minute gem for those who would like to trace the dots from Pearl Harbor in 1941 back to Japan in 1945 -- the Last Bomb. This is amazing footage. Notice the actual photos of the spent shell casings streaming out of the bottom of the P-51s.
My friend's 95 year old Father, Lt. Kilkowski, who was 21 in 1945 had this to say:
It's incedible that after 67 years I have finally received an account of one of our missions to Japan. Most of the P-51's shown are from my old unit. We were Blue Nose and our sister SQD were yellow nose. #205 shown in flight parked right next to "Little Maggie" on the flight line. I believe some of the fighter gunnery film is mine, particularly the shot of firing the Betty Bomber and the staffing of the boats. These pictures brought on such strong emotions that I had to stop watching twice. This was our job to do. A hot tub bath, rest and ready form the next trip. Try to watch all 36 minutes. The young men shown here would appreciate it. When asked what Japanese Betty was doing in the film, Lt. Kilkowski replies:
Good question. The Japanese realized that they had nothing to match the P-51 and lost precious AC in every encounter. They adopted a two fold strategy to save their birds for the coming invasion of their homeland. First, hide those they could in hangars and local barns; second, fly the others north out of our range. The two engined Betty bomber I shot at had just taken off from the airbase we were strafing. Something must have delayed its departure.
We did not have the capability on Iwo to develop the technicolor Gunnery film. It had to be sent to Guam. I now finally realize why our really good footage always seemed to get lost or be reported destroyed in processing. Those rascals stole it and put it in this documentary. Wish I could embed but here is the link:
The Last Bomb
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Topic: The Last Bomb (36minutes) (Read 623 times)