• Air date: 13 Sep '65 29 episodes
      This series chronicles the adventures--in the air and on the ground--of the men of the 918th Bombardment Group of the U.S. Eighth Air Force. First commanded by irascible General Frank Savage--and later by Colonel Joe Gallagher, the son of a Pentagon General--the Group is stationed in England, and flies long-range bombing missions into German-held Europe.
  • List of Episodes (29)
    • 1. The Loneliest Place in the World

      13 Sep '65
      A straggling B-17 joins the formation and it turns out to be a captured plane flown by Germans. It strafes the lead plane flown by General Savage which is shot down. Later it is reported that Brigadier General Frank Savage the Group Commander has been killed and will be buried with full military honours by the Germans. Brigadier General Ed Britt from SHAEF HQ must decide who should take command of the 918. His candidates are the Deputy Group Commander Lieutenant Colonel Joe Gallagher, and the ot
    • 2. Rx for a Sick Bird

      20 Sep '65
      Maintenance problems plague the 918th. General Creighton from G-2 orders the 918th on a mission to drop a spy (Ilka Zradna) into occupied Poland. Aircraft Army 262 has to abort the mission, (Langaard & Hetz are killed) and only 3 crew (Komansky, Rodman, Booker) survive along with Ilka. Back at Group a furious Komansky slugs Podesta and both are busted to Private by Gallagher. General. Creighton informs Gallagher that 20 German saboteurs are known to be in England impersonating Allied airmen and
    • 3. Then Came the Mighty Hunter

      27 Sep '65
      After a tough mission, Gallagher needs a new gunner. Corbett, a replacement has a perfect gunnery score (1000, Komansky only has 400). He takes over from the wounded Staff Sergeant Abbott as Left Waist gunner & joins Gallagher's crew on a practice mission. He spots the target first but his gun jams. The other gunners kid him and he does not join in the after hours fun at the Star & Bottle. Komansky adopts Corbett and helps him, they go to another pub and Corbett meets Gillian. On the next practi
    • 4. The Idolator

      04 Oct '65
      A new pilot, 1st Lieutenant Joshua Melton McGraw, who is an old friend of Gallagher's arrives with a chip on his shoulder and buzzes the field. The bombers arrive from the current mission and the lead plane crashes and explodes killing the lead pilot Captain Newman. When Gallagher asks McGraw about the buzzing he says he had radio trouble, and Gallagher chews him out. He asks Josh how he wangled a transfer into the 918, He says he asked his father, a General to work on Gallagher's father and his
    • 5. Big Brother

      11 Oct '65
      The 918 lands at Mogador in North Africa to refuel and re-arm. Gallagher's plane lands 21 hours late after his stopover in Yugoslavia. The senior officer is Lieutenant Col. Preston ""Pres"" Gallagher (Joe Gallagher's brother). Pres explains that he has a mixed unit of Americans, British & Australians and he has been barely holding on but ""Infantry holds, that's what they do"". Now that Gallagher has landed safely Pres decides to pull out. Pres takes Gallagher's gas, and sends Captain Strader to
    • 6. The Hotshot

      18 Oct '65
      The 511th Fighter Group arrives at Archbury to escort the 918 on the home leg of the shuttle mission. On the way Troper attacks a train making him 10 minutes late for the rendezvous. The 511th does not give the proper recognition codes and one pilot is shot down. On the ground an angry Lieutenant Col. Troper slugs Gallagher. Gallagher tells Troper to forget about it. They are ordered to train together. In London Troper gets drunk, insults Gallagher, and takes off with Gallagher's date Fay. Galla
    • 7. Show Me a Hero, I'll Show You a Bum

      25 Oct '65
      On a mission 9 out of the 10 crew of the Piccadilly Lily are wounded save one - Komansky. Komansky fly's and lands the plane, becoming a press celebrity. A wounded Gallagher puts him in for the Silver Star. Kirby Wyatt, the 918th press liaison calls Susan Nesbitt, an American correspondent working for the BBC. She takes advantage of Komansky realizing this story could make her (he rescued General Gallagher's son). Kirby Wyatt goes along with Susan. Sandy is very uncomfortable with the celebrity.
    • 8. Runway in the Dark

      01 Nov '65
      On a practice for night mission, they are being tracked by Vendry's unit They change course and evade successfully but ""Chub"" has to correct as he was off target. Chub is distracted because of his girl Kitty. On the actual night mission into Norway to pick up legendary resistance leader Arn Borg, they are told to look for the King Frederick light. It seems to be a trap as the Germans are waiting. The plane gets shot at lands and picks up Borg who brings his son Christian back with him. Gallagh
    • 9. I Am the Enemy

      08 Nov '65
      The 918 is on its 8th mission to bomb the sub pens at St Nazaire. This mission is led by Major Kurt Brown who has never aborted for any reason. Richards, Brown's bombardier is badly wounded and Brown tells his Navigator to hold him to the bomb sight. He completes his mission but is annoyed at the cost and argues with Colonel Gallagher. On 8 missions they have lost 34 aircraft. Later in the Star & Bottle Gallagher asks Brown to drive Liz home. On his next mission (43rd) he aborts as his Navigator
    • 10. Grant Me No Favor

      15 Nov '65
      On a bombing mission into Norway, Lieutenant Col. Christy aborts the mission after 10 out his 21 planes get shot down. When he returns, Gallagher sends an angry note to newly promoted Major General Britt asking why the target is secret, ""How can his men keep risking there lives for a secret target"". Summoned by Britt to what turns out to be Britt's promotion party, he is surprised to see his father Lieutenant General Max Gallagher. General Gallagher intercedes with General Pritchard to keep Pr
    • 11. Storm at Twilight

      22 Nov '65
      Harv and Lieutenant Colonel Rogers, the 918ths acting commander, watch the latest mission come back very chewed up and missing at least 6 six planes. Harvey feels responsible. Sandy hands him a telegram, his son is an MIA. Harvey goes to see General Britt and requests to go back on flying status. He gets an age waiver. Gallagher comes back and is furious with Harvey. He passes his physical by memorizing the eye chart. Gallagher puts Harvey through the wringer but Harvey passes his flight test. O
    • 12. We're Not Coming Back

      29 Nov '65
      The start of the Shuttle raid Gallagher briefs his crew . They will be bombing Wessellhafen then flying into North Africa, refueling, bombing a target in France, & then returning. Over Wellhausen, Oberst Falkenstein leads a training group to attack the formation. Gallagher is forced to land in Yugoslavia. Captain Lowell is wounded. Partisans help them, Lowell dies. Mara falls for Gallagher. Yellich wants Gallagher to take Mara with him. She stays. As the Germans close in Gallagher takes off.
    • 13. The Jones Boys

      06 Dec '65
      Off the base, JayDee Jones is working up the nerve to go on his next mission. He gets Jan Warner to sneak him back on base. He gets spotted by Chapman who is stealing 3 45 pistols to sell . JayDee's older brother Frank talks to him and tells him to straighten up. JayDee says he has had enough, he wants out. Jones & Chapman make briefing at 04:30. On takeoff JayDee over-revs engines, and they don't have enough speed to take off, his co-pilot tries to help but the plane flips over killing the bomb
    • 14. Between the Lines

      13 Dec '65
      Flying back from Russian sector for the Invasion of Europe is coming and Stace & Krasker are returning with information about Russian troop strength. Plane is shot down, one general jumps, the other rides the plane down with Trask is afraid to jump Sandy is afraid of snakes. Trask is a clerk cryptographer for Stace.
    • 15. Target 802

      27 Dec '65
      On the way back from a bombing run over the Ruhr valley, bombs are accidentally dropped on Ste Monique. 1st Lieutenant Parks the bombardier is interrogated. A single bomb falls in the village square killing resistance leaders Pierre Fecamp. Two pilots hiding in St Monique escape Major Coefield from the 918th and Captain Pollard from the 511th Fighter Squadron. Pollard has fallen in love with Claudine, the woman who rescued them. She has brought her son to England, he is badly wounded and may los
    • 16. Falling Star

      03 Jan '66
      On the way back from a mission, a mentor of Joe Gallagher's, Colonel Gus ""Pappy"" Wexler is flying as an observer. Gallagher asks Fowler to let Wexler fly in the co-pilot seat. They are attacked by ME-109's and Joe is wounded, Pappy takes over calling Gallagher ""Bernie"". At HQ General Pritchard ask Harvey Stovall's opinion of Wexler. General Britt is away in Washington and if he is not back, Pritchard will be looking for a new Wing Commander. He is thinking of Wexler or Gallagher. Gallagher i
    • 17. The Slaughter Pen

      10 Jan '66
      While trying to bomb Hamburg, the 818th is turned back by flak & fighters over area called the ""Slaughter Pen"". A new German Underground Radar Station is spotting them. Back at Archbury, General Pritchard says that all 3 of his Wings have been turned back. Gallagher says that it is not a target that can be taken from the air, it needs to a ground assault. Pritchard asks Gallagher to get cleaned up and come with him to Brincott Hall. There General Pritchard explains that Brincott Hall has been
    • 18. Underground

      17 Jan '66
      While on a bombing raid, Gallagher realizes that he has bombed a decoy target they need to bomb 2500 yards NE of target 385. Gallagher tries to radio London but the Radio Operator is killed, the radio is destroyed and the bomber gets shot down. Gallagher parachutes into Switzerland. At the American Legation in Zurich, he is told by Wilson Sechrist that he will be interred for the duration. He can not escape nor will he be allowed to transmit information that he has. An American officer, Captain
    • 19. Which Way the Wind Blows

      24 Jan '66
      Due to cloud cover over the target, the 918th led by Major Fitzsimmons is unable to bomb Kiel. They abort loosing 7 planes. Back at base Gallagher makes an angry complaint to General Britt who has a solution, a new Group Weather Officer. The new officer is a woman, Captain Patricia Bates. She is a former Meteorology Professor from UIT who has a new approach to Weather Forecasting. They have dinner with her and her assistant Lieutenant Rogers. The next day Gallagher flies with her in Weather 1, a
    • 20. The Outsider

      31 Jan '66
      Mission to bomb a refinery & fuel storage area at Kasendorf. A pilot from the 53rd Fighter Squadron, Lieutenant Harley Wilson hits Gallagher's plane while trying to shoot an enemy fighter. Wilson is very eager to fit in, he feels like an outsider and hitting the Colonels plane doesn't help. The young pilot has been trying to get a kill for two months. He goes to the Star & Bottle where he is snubbed by Sandy, tries to chat up Agnes the Barmaid but she is too busy, and even tries to ask out Capta
    • 21. Back to the Drawing Board

      07 Feb '66
      The Dulabine Shipyard bombing mission is turned back due to overcast. On the ground in Emstad, the German commander, Oberst Erhland is frustrated that he can not attack due to fighter maintenance problems. It will be at least 5 days before the weather overcast clears. Erhland orders Hauptman Schmidt, his maintenance officer to take the time to repair his fighters (18 are in need of repair, 7 are unserviceable). Erhland also talks with his Radar Officer Hauptman Schiller. Back at the 918th's Base
    • 22. Twenty-Fifth Mission

      14 Feb '66
      After completing On his 25th mission, Major Tom Parsons is going home. At Wing HQ General Britt is chewing out his Group Commander (Fred, Gallagher & ?). Sveringen is the production centre for the new ME-262 rocket powered fighter. They have tried to bomb several times and failed. Gallagher suggests nighttime precision bombing. Britt says the RAF have tried and failed. Gallagher suggests sending in a pathfinder to mark the target by dropping incendiaries on either side. Gallagher picks Parsons t
    • 23. The Survivor

      21 Feb '66
      On a mission after hitting the target a bombing runs, Captain Bradovich's B-17 experiences engine trouble. Tourneau drops back to aide him. Bradovich reports him for lack of air discipline. Talks with Harvey. Goes to officers club and his co-pilot Stan Ainsley tries to get him to join in. He does not but meets Sarah instead. On the next mission, his plane is hit, and Ainsley is wounded. Bradovich orders crew bail out, they do but only Bradovich returns and the other aircraft only see one chute b
    • 24. Angel Babe

      28 Feb '66
      B-17 ""Angel Babe"" is returning from a perfect mission to Willemshaven as the Group Lead. Flight Engineer Willets explains that when ""Angel Babe"" leads they always come home safe. On the ground Major Stovall waits with a team from the Public Relations Office (PRO) who are filming & photographing the plane which has completed its 49th mission. They want to take the plane back to the US for a promotional tour as it will be the first in the Eight AF to complete 50 missions. The Flight Engineer,
    • 25. Decoy

      07 Mar '66
      In Scotland Gallagher meets with Major General Hardy about a Ranger mission and Gallagher comes up with an air support plan. Returning from Scotland via an Air Transport B-17, they are shot down over the North Sea. Of the two man crew, Captain Tom Powell, and Staff Sergeant Johnny Miller only Powell survives along with Gallagher. They put up the radio transmitter, no luck. They find an island (Seagull Rock) to land on. A B-17 Weather Plane hears them and so does a fishing trawler. So too does a