Historian Dan Snow has explained how 2024’s acclaimed World War II miniseries, Masters of the Air, celebrates the unsung heroes of D-Day with an accurate depiction of how it happened. D-Day was the biggest operation for the Allies during the war as they stormed the beaches of Normandy, France. In addition to the soldiers on the ground, though, there were also thousands of planes flying to ensure the landings were successful, some of which were lost in the attack. The critically-acclaimed Masters of the Air covered the invasion in episode 8, following planner Captain Harry Crosby.

Speaking with History Hit on their series “Deep Dives,” Snow explained how Masters of the Air celebrates the unsung heroes of D-Day with an accurate depiction of both the planning stages for the invasion, and showing the planes flying that day.

Starting at 23:49, the historian speaks to how Crosby’s experience of staying up for three straight days while planning Operation Overlord was an accurate depiction of what military members would do in such a scenario. He also praised the show for its accuracy in showing the planes during D-Day. Check out what Snow had to say below:

Masters of the Air is a very recent…very good depiction of the experiences of a group of bombers and air crew through the Second World War. I’m glad to say it does cover D-Day briefly, and it’s a really valuable contribution to how D-Day is portrayed on film and TV.

We see one of the main characters here is a navigator named Harry Crosby, and he’s preparing for D-Day by plotting all the different bombing routes that the B-17’s would take. They’re pretty heavy bombers, they’re focused on destroying the railroads, the bridges. What they want to do is stop the Germans’ rushing reinforcements to those D-Day beaches. And this is one of the most successful bomber offenses of the war, with just smashing this infrastructure in France.

The planners don’t tend to be the ones we remember. They don’t tend to be the ones who we celebrate their heroism, they didn’t necessarily charge up the beach and take German positions at bayonet point. But without that planning, without that gigantic, meticulous preparation, D-Day wouldn’t have been possible.

We see him staying up three straight days to plot the routes, and he actually has to abuse medication to keep awake. This is not unrealistic, I’ve talked to people who would take primitive amphetamines and things to stay awake, to boost their awareness of the military situation. It just shows the hard work, the dedication, the sacrifice that even the planners put in as they’re preparing for the largest amphibious invasion in military history to that point.

Pilot Robert Rosenthal accurately says there were virtually no Luftwaffe or aircraft on D-Day. There’s something like 11,000 allied planes and aircraft at D-Day. There were low hundreds of Luftwaffe or aircraft. And this wonderful scene here, you see the scale of the invasion. You see bombers going overhead, you see fighters moving in small groups in between, you see ships and boats crowding the beaches, you see men and munitions and vehicles going ashore. That is a wonderful depiction.

Why Masters Of The Air Showed A Different Side To D-Day

The war miniseries’ overall focus is on the US Air Force’s 100th Bomb Group, the group during World War II who lost the largest number of airmen. While this makes Masters of the Air‘s cast quite large, the characters that have a primary focus are based off real soldiers who were part of the 100th for a majority of the war. Crosby, for example, was a real B-17 Flying Fortress navigator, who contributed to the war and worked his way up to becoming a Lieutenant Colonel.

As for the show’s decision to depict D-Day, it manages to be different from a vast number of World War II movies that have shown the event happening in great detail. Instead of being on the ground with troops, Masters of the Air pulls back to give additional credit to planners and pilots who were heavily involved in making the operation possible. This unique rendition of the invasion onscreen helps contextualize the meticulous and stressful work that went into its planning, as well as the relief around the Allied victory.

It also helped that Crosby is Masters of the Air‘s narrator, giving his heavy involvement in D-Day more weight when depicted onscreen. The contributions made by a character who has appeared since the start of the show help emphasize the struggle even planners had while trying to ensure victory during the invasion. With an accurate depiction of the event put to screen, it makes sense why the series is so acclaimed for its depiction of pilots during the Second World War.

Source: History Hit/YouTube