Local historian, UNL archival records reveal deeper history behind Nebraska group in Apple TV+ show

A Kearney historian and archival records from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln libraries have revealed more about the bomb group featured in a new Apple TV+ miniseries.

"Masters of the Air" is a miniseries about the 100th Bomb Group in the United States Army Air Force during World War II. Airmen in the group learned to fly B-17 aircraft and trained for aerial combat at Kearney Air Force Base. The show, produced by Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, began airing on the streaming service in January.

"If they were being realistic, they weren't expecting to live very long," said Chandler Lynch, 74, a local historian and Kearney resident who is part of the Buffalo County Historical Society.

According to Lynch and the 100th Bomb Broup Foundation website, the bomb group was also known as the "Bloody Hundredth" because of heavy losses the airmen suffered during their eight missions to Germany.

Airmen would do final checkouts, including flight training, shooting exercises and physicals, before being stationed in Thorpe Abbotts, England, Lynch said. The amount of time they stayed in Kearney varied individually.

Archival records at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Archives include notes written by Sgt. Russell G. Kendig, a tail gunner in the 100th Bomb Group, in 1943. His notes depict the flying drills he had to learn as someone who had to defend the rear of a plane.

"I got sicker than the devil this flight," Kendig wrote in the notes for his first flight lesson, where an instructor demonstrated how to conduct takeoffs, work the controls of a B-17 plane, and perform different turns.

According to Kendig's notes, a typical routine included inspecting the plane, clearing the runway, doing instrument checks, performing various flying exercises and landing.

The records also included textbooks used by airmen who trained in Kearney, which further explained the drills they performed, how to perform first aid and the importance of keeping calm while flying.

Kendig died in March 2019 at 94 years old.

Lynch's father, with whom he shares a name, was a member of the 100th Bomb Group. Originally from Lumpkin, Georgia, he was a crew chief for the ground crew that did maintenance on planes, Lynch said.

Lynch said his father is the reason he has been to two 100th Bomb Group reunions: one in Omaha and one in Tampa, Florida. He said he met some of the men shown in "Masters of the Air."

"You know the old line, 'If we don't remember our history, we're doomed to repeat it,'" Lynch said. "That's a little melodramatic, but it's good to have an understanding of what's happened before."

Lynch said he had seen multiple episodes of the series, that the show brought interest on the topic from a new generation. He said the show was a good way to connect different generations so more people learned about the history of the group.

"My take is that it's very accurate, and hopefully, it will tell a new generation more of what happened in that time period," Lynch said. "When you see a dramatization like this, it really brings it home that they were young man and in a situation where they were pretty sure they weren't gonna live through it and kind of brings it to you in a form that we can all relate to."