WWII in HD: The Air War is a feature-length 2010 history documentary which follows the story of three 8th Air Force airmen and the war reporter Andy Rooney for the year which led up to D-Day battle against the powerful German Luftwaffe. The documentary makes use of original color footage and is a spin-off from the hugely popular ten-part series WWII in HD which was shown in 2009.
The film used includes footage of B-17s Flying Fortresses, P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs on various missions including Regensburg, Schweinfurt and Berlin, as well as 8mm footage of airmen on the bases. The 8th Air Force would suffer more than 26,000 combat deaths in the war, more than twice as many casualties than were suffered by US Marines.
