Who were the Tuskegee Airmen? Masters of the Air episode 8 focuses on first Black US Air Force fighter pilots

Second World War drama Masters of the Air focuses on Black fighter pilots, the Tuskegee Airmen, in episode eight of Apple TV series.

The previous episode delved into another iconic element of WW2, with the action taking place in Stalag Luft III, a prisoner of war camp from where more than 70 British prisoners conducted the daring and doomed ‘Great Escape’.

This week the series takes a look at a lesser known aspect of the conflict, focusing on the contribution of the Black American pilots known as the Tuskegee Airmen. 

Who were the Tuskegee Airmen?

The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of 992 Black military fighter and bomber pilots who served in the US Air Force during the Second World War, but whose contribution was overlooked in the years after the conflict.

The name of the group comes from the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama where many of the pilots trained. The Tuskegee Airmen saw action in North Africa in 1943, and Italy in early 1944.

The American military was not desegregated until after the war when President Harry Truman issued an executive order in 1948, meaning that during WW2 Black pilots who fought for their country against the evils of Nazism, were still subject to racial discrimination at home.

During the war, the group flew 1578 combat missions and 179 bomber escorts, shot down more than 100 enemy aircraft, and put almost 1000 enemy ground vehicles out of action. 

Of the 992 men in the Tuskegee Airmen, 84 of them, almost 10%, were killed during their service, four of whom died in POW camps.

The latest episode of Masters of the Air predominantly features the exploits of the Tuskegee Airmen, following the pilots on missions over occupied France in the months before D-Day. It also explores the prejudice and racism that the airmen faced from their own military and fellow pilots.

When is the next episode of Masters of the Air out?

Episode eight of Masters of the Air is released on Apple TV+ on Friday March 8. The ninth and final episode will be released the following week on March 14.