World War 2 was fought by many heroes, on land, sea and sky, but few garnered as much respect and admiration as the Mighty Eighth Airforce, a numbered air force of the United States Air force’s Air Force Global Strike Command.

Active since 1944 the members of the Mighty Eighth flew hundreds of strategic bombing missions on targets throughout the Northern Europe area of responsibility, raining destruction down on France, the Low Countries and Germany. They routinely engaged in dogfights against The Luftwaffe, the Nazi’s revered and feared air force. Their efforts helped to turn the tide in the war to end all wars.

Through never-before-seen archive footage, climb into the cockpits of these brave airmen as they risked their lives to protect their nations from Hitler’s mad destruction.

Friday at 9 PM on National Geographic (ch 220, on May 8^th)