Up until this episode, you never saw fighter escorts for the B-17s on the show. Well, there were.... P-38s and P-47s did such duty BUT had limited range so that they couldn't follow the bombers during their entire mission. As a result, they were left unprotected and lost many bombers. Later in the war, the P-51 Mustang was the first fighter with a range long enough to escort the bombers completely. This episode is about the beginnings of such combined missions.
The General had designated that Colonel Gallagher and Lt. Colonel Troper (Warren Oates) work together to formulate tactics and coordinate the bomber/fighter combined missions. However, early on it becomes apparent that although Troper is talented, he's not exactly a team player and the sees little value in working with bomber crews. Regardless, it's the mission and orders are orders. But again and again, Troper is insubordinate and tries his best to make his fighter pilots equally resentful of the bombers. Will he succeed or will Gallagher put Troper in his place? Or, is there some other possible option?
This is a very good episode of "12 O'Clock High". I am sure some fighter pilot did resent having to guard bombers instead of racking up more victories by flying fighter-only missions. My only complaint is a common one for me....the P-51 Mustangs they showed in the episode were the wrong model. The early Mustanges had a swept back canopy and only the later D models sported the bubble canopy you see in most of the show. I say MOST because in one scene, a P-51B becomes a P-51D in mid-flight due to a sloppy use of stock footage. Although they both were Mustangs, the planes really did look radically different. Still, only nutty history lovers like me would probably notice!
The General had designated that Colonel Gallagher and Lt. Colonel Troper (Warren Oates) work together to formulate tactics and coordinate the bomber/fighter combined missions. However, early on it becomes apparent that although Troper is talented, he's not exactly a team player and the sees little value in working with bomber crews. Regardless, it's the mission and orders are orders. But again and again, Troper is insubordinate and tries his best to make his fighter pilots equally resentful of the bombers. Will he succeed or will Gallagher put Troper in his place? Or, is there some other possible option?
This is a very good episode of "12 O'Clock High". I am sure some fighter pilot did resent having to guard bombers instead of racking up more victories by flying fighter-only missions. My only complaint is a common one for me....the P-51 Mustangs they showed in the episode were the wrong model. The early Mustanges had a swept back canopy and only the later D models sported the bubble canopy you see in most of the show. I say MOST because in one scene, a P-51B becomes a P-51D in mid-flight due to a sloppy use of stock footage. Although they both were Mustangs, the planes really did look radically different. Still, only nutty history lovers like me would probably notice!
