* This Masters of the Air episode 7 recap contains spoilers * Buck and Bucky are united again, although now they're caught behind the wire at a German POW camp. Both men struggle with their demons and have very different ideas about how to handle life at Stalag Luft III, with Bucky determined to escape and his pal keen to wait out the war and return to Marge. Meanwhile, at Thorpe Abbotts, Rosie demonstrates the true meaning of courage as he turns down a ticket home...
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At Stalag Luft III, Buck, Bucky and hundreds of their comrades survive the harsh winter of 1943/44 on a diet of potatoes, turnips and the occasional cat that happens to wander into camp. It’s a chilling indication of what life as a POW was like, but our narrator is quick to point out that conditions were far worse at other camps.
One of the most sought-after commodities is news of the war and the men are able to keep track of the Allied operations via makeshift radios, which are often discovered when the Germans search their rooms. "They didn’t get the headphone," says Buck, after one of their receivers is uncovered in the opening scene of this episode. "Thank god for small miracles," says his pal.
'Black Monday...'
In the early months of 1944, Crosby explains how the Allied invasion of mainland Europe is just around the corner, with the 100th Bomb Group taking part in many of the preparatory missions. Unfortunately, more missions means more lost Forts, so there are plenty of new recruits arriving at Thorpe Abbotts.
Yet amid all the newbies, there are two familiar faces on the base, as Sgt Quinn and Sgt Bailey arrive back after being smuggled out of Flanders by the French and Belgian resistance. They won’t be allowed to fly again because if they were shot down for a second time, they could be tortured for information on the resistance’s escape routes. “The lucky bastards got a ticket home,” says Crosby.
One man who could also be returning home soon is Capt. Robert "Rosie" Rosenthal, who’s on the verge of completing his 25th mission. As the new recruits discuss his record on the other side of the bar, one of Rosie’s contemporaries tells them he’s the best pilot he’s ever seen fly a B-17. After the previous episode, we’d have to say we agree.
Luckily for Rosie and his crew, they’ll be sitting the next raid, which sees the 100th targeting the German capital of Berlin. It’s likely to be well-defended and is hundreds of miles to the East, making it one of the most dangerous missions yet. Over 100 men don’t return home and 6th March 1944 is dubbed "Black Monday".
One of the lost crew were on their 25th mission, while reports of the German fighters shooting men as they parachuted to earth begin to circulate the base. “We all found ways of distracting ourselves from the stress,” says Crosby, who starts a love affair with subaltern Sandra Westgate.
'They want us all to die up there...'
Despite the losses, there’s another mission to Berlin later that week. However, the new C.O. Lt Colonel Bennett says he’s not prepared to order any man on a mission he won’t fly himself, so will be command pilot for the entire wing.
This time Rosie will also be joining them. "You boys worry about the guns, I’ll worry about the plane," he says as he prepares his crew for their 25th mission. However, their chances are increased by the introduction of the P51 Mustang. “Hands down the best fighter plane of the war,” according to Crosby, in a statement that might raise a few eyebrows in Britain. The P51s certainly manage to provide the Forts with a bit more cover than they usually get and there’s a moment of jubilation when Rosie’s Riveters make it home, buzzing the tower in their way through. Tom Cruise, eat your heart out.
Yet that evening, Rosie’s party is somewhat marred when news arrives that top brass have raised the required number of missions from 25 to 30, which doesn’t go down well. “They want us all to die up there and no one gives a shit!” says one airman.
'Maybe you could be my best man?'
At Stalag Luft III, the men listen with interest as the US Air Force begins its first daytime bombing raid on Berlin, believing it an indication of how well the war is going. Yet that slice of good news is soon extinguished when the prison guards shoot an airmen, claiming he was outside his block when he shouldn’t have been.
Buck and the rest of the men don’t believe the Germans’ story. “These blues are going to take us out one at a time,” Bucky tells his friend, before agreeing to help him build a new radio.
When the post arrives the next day, Buck receives a long-awaited letter from his beloved Marge. He explains how he asked her to marry him in his last letter home before Bremen and has waited six months for an answer. She said yes, after all he’s quite a catch. “Maybe you’d be my best man?” he asks Bucky.
In the spring of 1944, the POWs hear of how the Brits in North Compound built three escape tunnels, with 70 or 80 men making it out. It’s believed there will be “severe reprisals” when the SS hear of it. It’s an event many people will be familiar with, as it formed the plot of iconic Steve McQueen film The Great Escape.
Buck and Bucky are later called into a meeting with the Head of the POW camp, who tells them 50 of the recaptured men have been executed. He also wants to take an inventory of Jewish prisoners. “There are only American prisoners in Stalag Luft III,” says the colonel. Yet the prospect of the SS taking charge of the POW camp isn’t a pleasant one.
'I can't go home until the job is done...'
As the repeated missions to Berlin continue to take a heavy toll on the 100th it becomes clear that dropping bombs isn’t enough and the US Army Air Force needs to completely destroy the Luftwaffe.
Being the absolute hero that he is, Rosie decides not to return home after his 25th mission. “How could I sleep at night knowing I get to go home while the brass up the numbers mid-tour,” he says, pointing out that a rookie replacement pilot may well get himself killed on his first mission. “I can’t go home until the job is done,” he says. What. A. Man.
Colonel Bennett then advises Rosie of the new strategy to destroy the Luftwaffe by shooting them from the sky and luring them into the air by using the bombers as bait. “That’s the mission,” he says. “Bait.” But Rosie doesn’t care and he also gets a promotion.
