I teach and write military history for a living and have seen a megaton of military documentaries, and the P-47 has been well represented. However, I just ran into one yesterday that I had never heard of and it is remarkable. Get the titile right so you don't run into one of several Jug themed docu-pics: "Thunderbolts - Conquest of the Reich." Hap Arnold had 6 camera crews attached to the 362d FG Group in early March 1945 and they followed the FG until war's end. I'd guess the show was done in the 90s because several pilots chime in. I've never seen such extraordinary gun camera work. There were engagements with the LW, but for the most part the Jugs were hitting ground targets - and AC losses between 1 March-7 May were 48 Jugs destroyed - 100% casualty rate. (Not every pilot was KIA, but many were.) I've never seen an allied docu that was so blunt about losses. Nor have I ever seen P-47s straffing horse drawn vehicles (yea, the horses blow up). Super color from top to bottom and excellent narration. As far as modeling goes, it certainly argues for restrained weathering - plane losses were so high, that replacement AC made up the bulk of the FG by VE Day. (There were a couple of razorbacks around though. Other color documentaries from less violent periods show a wider variety of spanking new to almost ancient fighters.) What this captures is the almost insane momentum of WWII. You'd think as the outcome of the war was clear, that people would have been getting cautious. (Many were - and you can't blame them.) In reality, it was one of the most violent periods of the war. 1944 in the ETO was the worst year, but 45 might have topped it if it had lasted 12 months. And allied planes were used on everything and anything - in an amazing way, war had become normal. I've talked to well over a hundred WWII fighter jockeys, and they have a kind of swagger. (Many even said they regretted hearing the war was over. Sure never heard that from a bomber crewman.) But looking at odds like that - much worse than fighter units employed in bomber escort - appears to have put the chill into almost everyone. But they kept flying. A world upside down.

Eric