Twelve O’Clock High
The award winning film of the same name starring Gregory Peck was the inspiration for the television series Twelve O’Clock High, which was originally broadcast in September 1964 and lasted until January 1967. The program depicted the American bombing effort against Nazi Germany during the Second World War. A fictional heavy bombardment group, the 918th, sorties against the Germans in daylight precision bombing runs, and the activities of the aircrews when not engaging the enemy are featured. So are the difficulties of leadership. Both the film and the television series were descended from a 1948 novel.
Several of the characters in the novel appear in the first season of the television series, both ground personnel and aircrew. In the early days of the daylight precision bombing campaign American bombers took heavy casualties from German anti-aircraft artillery and Luftwaffe fighters. The Americans lacked adequate fighter escorts for the bombers, and German defenses were formidable. These problems are displayed in the first season of the television series, though in the end the Americans are able to report that despite the difficulties of the mission their target was destroyed.
American heavy bombing in Europe using the B-17 and its later derivatives, and the Consolidated B-24 Liberator, began in the late summer of 1942, with raids on targets in occupied France. In January of 1943 the Americans bombed a target in Germany for the first time. Casualties in terms of planes and men mounted throughout 1943. The completion of 25 successful bombing missions allowed the men to have done so to rotate out of the combat area, the first American bomber to succeed in achieving 25 missions was named “Hells Angel”, finishing the tour in May 1943. Six days later the more famous Memphis Belle accomplished the feat.
In the television series, several missions within a single episode are not uncommon, and although casualties are displayed, they are nowhere near the reality experienced by the United States Army Air Forces. Because the first two years of the series were filmed in black and white the producers were able to include actual combat footage shot over Europe during the war. Many of these scenes are used repeatedly during aerial battles, and when the show shifted to color for its final season they could no longer be inserted to add to the realism. Some of the scenes which were included were tinted.
Twelve O’Clock High presented character studies in an historical context rather than the events of history, though there were some episodes which focused on the difficulties encountered and overcome by the Eighth Air Force. The maintenance difficulties, logistics problems, and challenges posed by the weather were all historically true and presented faithfully. The effectiveness of the American (and British) bombing campaigns during the war – especially prior to 1944 – are a subject of debate. The impact of the bombing on the German and French civilian populations is not a subject of presentation in the series.