Thunderbolt | Combat Footage filmed With Cameras Mounted On P-47 and B-25 Aircraft

Thunderbolt is a 1947 film directed by William Wyler and John Sturges that documented the American aerial operations of Operation Strangle in World War II, when flyers of the Twelfth Air Force based on Corsica successfully impeded Axis supply lines to the Gustav Line and Anzio beachhead. The film was originally shot in 16mm color by members of the Army Air Forces. The 12th Combat Camera Unit recorded the combat footage using cameras mounted on some of the P-47s and a B-25 medium bomber equipped as a camera ship to accompany the fighters.
Narrated by Lloyd Bridges and Eugene Kern, Thunderbolt! purports to follow a P-47 Thunderbolt squadron of the group through an interdiction mission from the time they wake up to their return to base afterward with one aircraft missing. The directors edited their footage to recreate a mission against an unidentified target in northern Italy that resembles that of a May 1, 1944, mission against a railroad tunnel at Rignano sull'Arno, Italy, in which Lt. Col. Gilbert O. Wymond Jr. was awarded the Silver Star for destroying an ammunition dump concealed in a house near Siena and incurred severe damage to his P-47, Hun Hunter XIV. Wymond appears prominently with his P-47 throughout the documentary.
Directors Wyler and Sturges, serving as officers in the AAF, were attached to the 12th CCU during the period it filmed the activities of the 57th Fighter Group. Wyler used his association as a "passport" to visit many areas of liberated Europe after the completion of the initial shooting.
Although shown to the press late in 1945, Thunderbolt! was not generally released until 1947 by Monogram Pictures, and was re-released in 1950 during the Korean War. Half of the 1947 profits from the film's release went to the Army Air Force Relief Society and the United States Treasury. The introduction to the film by James Stewart was filmed in late January 1947. Stewart had commanded a bomber wing as a colonel during the war.
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At the end of the war, Wyler conducted an unsuccessful letter-writing campaign trying to find a distributor for Thunderbolt. Recovering part of the hearing in his left ear, Wyler completed the film and attempted to drum up support for its release by showing it to Hollywood trade publications in October 1945. However, the continued lack of interest kept the film from being released theatrically until July 1947 when Monogram Pictures distributed it, donating a quarter of the profits to the Army Air Force Relief Society and returning another quarter to the U.S. government.
Thunderbolt was critically reviewed by Bosley Crowther in the October 27, 1947 edition of The New York Times. He noted: "The employment of tactical air power in support of ground troops is thrillingly demonstrated in 'Thunderbolt!' graphically describes the use of air power while giving a vivid portrayal of how fighter pilots lived, fought, and died."
P-47 Thunderbolt General characteristics
* Crew: 1
* Length: 36 ft 1.75 in (11.0173 m)
* Wingspan: 40 ft 9+5⁄16 in (12.429 m)
* Height: 14 ft 8+1⁄16 in (4.472 m)
* Airfoil: Seversky S-3
* Empty weight: 10,000 lb (4,536 kg)
* Max takeoff weight: 17,500 lb (7,938 kg)
* Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney R-2800-59 18-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 2,000 hp (1,500 kW)
* Propellers: 4-bladed Curtiss Electric C542S constant-speed propeller, 13 ft 0 in (3.96 m) diameter
Performance
* Maximum speed: 426 mph (686 km/h, 370 kn) at 30,000 ft (9,100 m)
* Range: 1,030 mi (1,660 km, 900 nmi)
* Service ceiling: 42,000 ft (13,000 m)
Armament
* Eight .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns (3400 rounds)
* Up to 2,500 lb (1,100 kg) of bombs
* Ten 5 in (127 mm) HVAR unguided rockets
#p47 #thunderbolt #aircraft

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[@huwzebediahthomas9193]

Monte Cassino was a disaster. Did it all wrong. The enemy just hid in the monastery cellar vaults during air strikes.

[@smokeyfuma]

Love This Type of Videos

[@amcds2867]

That was a great documentary.

[@david_W5QDF]

Watching you broadcast about Starbase/Starship is much more entertaining than the National news broadcast. Thank you dear📡🛰️🚀

[@huwzebediahthomas9193]

08:35 - group commander, 27.
He looks more 47. They aged quick at that time.

[@huwzebediahthomas9193]

Underwing rockets were the best for taking out bridges - you can hit them from any angle rather than trying to hit them from vertically above with usual. Hawker Typhoon style rockets.

[@huwzebediahthomas9193]

In living color! Nice. 👍😎

[@RandallSoong-pp7ih]

What a special time in aviation history

[@RandallSoong-pp7ih]

A very unique and cool video

[@throatspray69]

Dad did 80 missions in B-17's and B-24's ETO.

[@Dronescapes]

Bless him

[@rosie121000]

Different breed of men .thank god we had them.

[@IntheBlood67]

To wrap yer Brain around the Italian Terrain think KOREA!

[@huwzebediahthomas9193]

Shshshshurely not, it's James Stewart, ex-USAF.