Masters of the Air: Airman tearful at depiction of failed raid

Wing Commander Col Ryan Garlow says he woke up at 05:00 GMT to watch the episode

A senior airman said a war drama that depicted a failed 1943 bombing raid which involved his step-grandfather left him tearful.

Wing Commander Col Ryan Garlow said Masters of the Air showed the "harrowing" reality of the mission.

Troops based at Thorpe Abbotts, Norfolk, suffered devastating losses during the operation in German skies.

It was shown during episode three of the Apple TV+ show starring Austin Butler on Friday.

The bombing raid on 17 August 1943 saw the Eighth Air Force attempt a double strike against two German targets in what is now referred to as the Regensburg-Schweinfurt raid.

Airmen had hoped the Luftwaffe would be divided while having to defend on two fronts, but this failed and the Eighth Air Force lost 60 of its 376 bombers. Six hundred crew members were either killed, declared missing or captured.

The control tower at Thorpe Abbotts, Norfolk

Col Garlow, who has been based at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, said his step-grandfather, James P Scott, was taken prisoner after the aircraft he was onboard, called High Life, crash-landed outside Zurich, Switzerland.

'Legacy'

The airman said he woke up at 05:00 GMT on Friday to watch what happened to his relative, who was part of the so-called "Bloody Hundredth".

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"It's a tough episode; I shed a tear or two but it's reality though and it's what they had to go through. It's important to tell that story," said Col Garlow.

Col Garlow has since become wing commander of the Bloody Hundredth and said he felt his predecessors' legacy.

'We want to make them proud'

"It's exciting, humbling and makes me nervous at times because you see the sacrifice that they made for their nation and for others," Col Garlow continued.

"You want to carry that legacy on, you want to make them proud. We were so excited they were going to tell our story of where our unit comes from."

A memorial chapel has been opened to remember the "Bloody Hundredth" bomb group

He said the failed bombing operation in August 1943 was a "very high-risk mission" but that "some of those risks didn't work out".

"The crews really faced hardship of multiple hours of attacks and it was a harrowing experience," he added.