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The men of the B-17 squadrons were some of the bravest men of "the greatest generation" , details below.

12 O'clock High ..... the TV Series

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General Savage's Biography Colonel Gallagher's Biography

Bombadier, it's your airplane!

See a B-17 start up and take off here and the Boeing B-17 history here.

Season 1

1964-65

Episode 1

Golden Boy Had Nine Black Sheep

 		18 September 1964 48 Min.
Stars: Robert Lansing as Brigadier General Frank Savage. Paul Burke as Captain Joseph Gallagher. Also stars John Larkin as Major General Wiley Crowe and Frank Overton as Major Harvey Stovall.
Captain Joe Gallagher aborts twice in a row bringing him to the attention of General Savage. The General feels that Gallagher has a chip on his shoulder and is not pulling his weight and assigns him a new plane "The Leper Colony ". Joe Gallagher is the son of Major General Max Gallagher and has flown only 6 of 10 missions assigned, he graduated from West Point three years ago (class of 38').
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Episode 2

Follow the Leader

 		25 September 1964 48 Min.
Stars: Dan Barton as Capt. Gately. Paul Carr as Lt. Jesse Bishop. Also stars Lew Gallo as Major Joseph Cobb and Judy Carne as Jill, and Paul "Tiny" Newlan as Lieutenant General Patrick Pritchard.
General Savage wants the 918th to try a new technique, bombing on the leader. Instead of each bombardier sighting his own target and then making his own bomb-run, the entire group would synchronize with the lead bombardier and when he drops, the whole Group drops. Both General’s Crowe and Pritchard are opposed to the idea but Savage presses for it. The episode was originally to be the Pilot episode.
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Episode 3

The Men and the Boys

 		2 October 1964 48 Min.
Stars: Glenn Corbett as Lt. Tom Lockridge. Lou Antonio as Capt. Wade Ritchie. Also stars Hazel Court as Liz and Sally Kellerman as Lt. Libby MacAndrews.
Lt. Tom Lockridge is a co-pilot on a mission where the pilot is killed, and he takes over allowing the crew to bail out. Tom’s best friend, Captain Ritchie, disobeys orders and flies cover with his B-17. Back on the ground General Savage tells Ritchie he charging him with disobeying an order for leaving the formation. When Lockridge returns and hears of this, he turns his back on the General. Savage tries to explain to Lockridge the concept of formation discipline, but he is only concerned about his friend.
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Episode 4

Sound of Distant Thunder

 		16 October 1964 48 Min.
Stars: Peter Fonda as Lt. Andy Lathrop. Jill Haworth Mary Lean. Also stars John Alderman as Lt. Smith and Barney Phillips as Doc Kaiser.
2nd Lt. Andy Lathrop is an unsophisticated Tennessee boy, flying as Savage's lead bombardier; he saves Savage's life, gets promoted to 1st Lieutenant, and gets recommended for the DFC medal. On leave he meets and falls in love with a barmaid named Mary Lean and asks her to marry him, she agrees. Later the pub she and her father own is destroyed during an air raid and Mary is killed.
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Episode 5

The Climate of Doubt

 		23 October 1964 48 Min.
Stars: Viveca Lindfors as Nicole Trouchard. Bernard Fox as Col. Harry Charles. Also stars Ralph Hanalei as Sgt. Pineapple and Mitzi Hoag as Dorothy Hall, and David White as the Brigadier General at the inquiry.
General Crowe is waiting for General Savage to return from a mission, when his aircraft lands an ambulance rushes out to meet it with a pretty girl in a hula skirt to welcome the crew. Crowe asks Savage about it, he explains he approved the marriage of a gunner, a Hawaiian nicknamed "Pineapple" to an English girl. Crowe tells Savage he wants him to meet someone, a beautiful resistance leader Nicole Trouchard.
NOTE: Ranked as one of the top ten episodes.
  Dialogue Dialogue  


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Episode 6

Pressure Point

 		30 October 1964 48 Min.
Stars: Larry Gates as Senator Clay Johnson. Robert Doyle as Sgt. Eddie Pryor. Also stars Bert Remsen as Sgt. Nero the ground maintenance chief and Jason Wingreen as Major Rosen. Recurring star is Barney Phillips as "Doc" Kaiser.
Senator Clay Johnson wants to shut down the long range bombing program because of high aircraft and manpower losses. General Savage argues that they just need adequate fire power and long range fighter support. Since the P-51 Mustang is not yet deployed, they lack long range fighter cover. Savage once dated the Senator's daughter in Washington D.C.; Johnson was not pleased with the arrangement.
Trivia This is the only episode to feature the entire regular and recurring cast: Gen. Savage, Crowe and Pritchard, Major Stovall, Cobb and Rosen, Doctor Kaiser and Sgt. Nero.
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Episode 7

Decision

 		6 November 1964 48 Min.
Stars: Tim O'Connor as Major Jack Temple. John Van Dreelen as German Commander Hoeptner.
Major Jack Temple leads a Squadron to bomb the flying bomb (V2) assembly plant at Laon France . His aircraft is hit and the crew bails out. They are captured and taken before the commander of the facility, he decides to keep the men prisoner at the factory to prevent it from being bombed. This is a violation of the Geneva Convention , the commander needs time to move the factory.
Trivia: When the General is writing the condolence letter, it is dated June 15, 1943.
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Episode 8

Hours Before Dawn

 		13 November 1964 48 Min.
Stars: Fritz Weaver as Oberst Peter Haff. Glynis Johns as Jennifer Heath. Also stars John Zaremba as Lt. General Stoneman in his first of five missions in the series, however later on he is only a two star general.
The 918th is assigned a secret mission to bomb Dortmund, Germany . The only one who has the details is General Savage and after being briefed by General Stoneman, on the way back he is caught in an air raid. Savage is surprise by a wounded German flier, wearing the uniform of an Obergefrieter (Corporal). Savage recognizes the man as a German Oberst (Colonel) in the Luftwaffe.
NOTE: This is the first episode we see General Homer Stoneman who later replaces General Wiley Crowe as Savage's Wing Commander.
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Episode 9

Appointment at Leige

 		20 November 1964 48 Min.
Stars: Gary Lockwood as Major August 'Gus' Denver. Pete Duel as Lt. Benning. Also stars Nancy Kovack as Lt. Irene Cooper.
Major Gus Denver returns to the 918th from stateside. While he was away on special instructor duty at Langley , his original crew was shot down over Liege and all were killed. Now as a squadron and aircraft commander he wants to bomb Liege, France . The 918th is ordered to bomb Masstricht, Netherlands at 8,000 feet, on the mission the co-pilot, navigator and radioman die. Savage is unsure of Denver.
NOTE: Denver explains to Major Stoval how he got his name. He was found when he was two hours old in the back of a rooming house. He was taken to a hospital and named for the month (August) and city of his birth (Denver). Ranked as one of the top ten episodes.
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Episode 10

Interlude

 		27 November 1964 48 Min.
Stars: Dana Wynter as WREN Lt. Ann Macrae, and long time charactor. Rhys Williams as Ann's Father..
After loosing his best friend Joe Farrell, Savage goes on leave, ordered by General Crowe. He goes by train to Inverness, Scotland then on to the Isle of Dunfergus aboard the Glencoe Lass steamship. On the train he meets a Wren officer , Ann Macrae, who is going home on leave. After several unfortunate disagreements, Frank and Ann start to get along and finally fall in love, however there seems to be no future for them.
NOTE: The scences on the train are very funny and project a love affair in the making. Ranked as one of the top ten episodes.
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Episode 11

Here's to Courageous Cowards

 		4 December 1964 48 Min.
Stars: Brandon De Wilde as Cpl. Lawrence. Gerald S. O'Loughlin as Major Joe 'Mac' Morse.
Ross Lawrence and office clerk stows away with Joe Morse's crew and shoots down an FW. Morse wants Lawrence transferred to his flight crew, he refuses. Suspicious, he finds he is a conscientious objector. Morse with too many missions is starting to crack; Savage wants him to step down voluntarily. Needing replacements, Savage orders Lawrence to report for gunnery training and is assigned Morse's crew.
Trivia: Brandon De Wilde died at the age of 30 in July 1972, near Denver, Colorado in a road accident.


Episode 12

Soldiers Sometimes Kill

 		11 December 1964 48 Min.
Stars: Tom Skerritt as Lt. Ryan. Victoria Shaw as Barbara Talbot. Also stars John Williams long time British charactor actor as Inspector Throne.
General Savage is found wandering around Berkley Square by Lt. Ryan. After being examined by Doctor Kaiser, he reads in the paper that Barbara Talbot was murdered in London. Later Inspector Thorne from Scotland Yard questions Savage because his lighter was found in Barbara's flat, the General has no memory. He starts to retrace his steps to The Redgraves Club in London, then to Barbara's flat.
Trivia: The beautiful Victoria Shaw died in 1988.


Episode 13

The Suspected

 		18 December 1964 48 Min.
Stars: Ed Binns as Clifford Moran. Michael Callan as Sgt. Jim Driscoll. Also stars Antoinette Bower as Driscoll's wife.
Reporter Clifford Moran believes Sgt. Driscoll is a convicted killer from St. Louis named Turner who in 1933 killed his step father, sentenced to life in prison he escaped. Driscoll is now married to a British girl and he meets Moran at a pub and refutes Moran's claim. Later, Moran is killed by falling in front of a subway train. The next day Driscoll does not report in and General Savage goes to locate him.


Episode 14

An Act of War

 		25 December 1964 48 Min.
Stars: Long time actors Norman Fell as Lt. Canello and Jay Novello as Verenne. Also stars Al Ruscio as Malot. long time charactor who is still acting to this day.
The group returns from a bomb run on the air frame factory at Metz, France . Major Cobb reports complete destruction of the target, but the intelligence officer says the factory is still operating. General Savage flies out to locate the real factory but is shot down before they can return with the information. Captured by angry French partisans who hate the Americans for bombing them, Savage must fight for his life.
Trivia: The broadcast date was Chiristmas, however the series never had a Christmas episode.


Episode 15

Those Who Are About to Die

 		1 January 1965 48 Min.
Stars: Glenn Corbett as Lt. Tom Lockridge. Tom Skerritt as Lt. Parmalee. Also stars Sally Kellerman as Nurse Lt. Libby MacAndrews (her second and last epiosde).
The 918th draws a tough mission, an aircraft factory 120 miles beyond fighter support range. Fog rolls in and they stand down for 3 days, the tension of waiting is tough on the men. Lt. Tom Lockridge has flown 24 missions and has been hospitalized with hepatitis . Doc Kaiser wants to keep Lockridge in the hospital but Tom wants to fly the mission and get his tour over with and go home.
Trivia: Glenn Corbett makes his second and last appearance while Tom Skeritt makes his second of five missions.


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Episode 16

In Search of My Enemy

 		8 January 1965 48 Min.
Stars: Steve Forrest as Major Peter Gray. English actress Barbara Shelley as Ann Gray. Also stars Roy Thinnes as Lt Hayes and Hazel Court as Liz Woodruff the General's girlfriend in London.
Major Peter Gray and his wife Ann arrive at the 918th. General Savage knows Ann and was going to marry her a year ago. Savage chooses Gray to lead the next mission telling him it will be a milk run. Gray is jealous of Savage's former relationship with his wife and feels that Savage assigned him this mission on purpose to get rid of him. Gray invites Savage to dinner and arrives early and is over taken by Ann's charm.
Trivia: Liz makes her third of four epiosdes as General Savages girlfriend.


Episode 17

The Albatross

 		15 January 1965 48 Min.
Stars: Robert Drivas as Lt. Kane, and Janine Gray as his girlfriend Angie.
Lt. Kane completes his 25 mission and will return to the States on a public relations tour. He wants to resume his career as an actor after the war. General Savage asks Kane to volunteer for one last mission as his co-pilot and when the Flight Engineer is killed on the mission, Kane goes to check the oxygen tanks and is badly burned in the face. When we next see Kane he is bandaged about the right side of his face.
NOTE: After Lt. Kane is burned we never see the right side of his face with the banages off.


Episode 18

The Lorelei

 		22 January 1965 48 Min.
Stars: Rip Torn as Colonel Royce. Bruce Dern as Lt. Danton. Also stars Diana Van der Vlis as Carol, the wife of Colonel Royce.
Colonel Royce is assigned as Deputy Group Commander of the 918th, he has flown 45 missions. He goes out to meet the "Lorelei" piloted by Lt. Josephs after the plane lands and taxis in they find all of the crew dead. Royce takes over the plane with a new crew, on the first mission, the controls freeze up, the next mission the bomb release malfunctions. Each time the plane is checked they can find nothing wrong.
NOTE: Bruce Dern makes his second of four missions in this episode.


Episode 19

Faith Hope and Sergeant Aaronson

 		29 January 1965 48 Min.
Stars: Sorrell Booke as Sgt. Aaronson. Antoinette Bower as Ivy Wescott making her second appearence of three episodes.
General Savage is injured with a piece of shrapnel by his heart and confined to the hospital. He meets a gunner, Sergeant Aaronson, who has just seen his best friend die and he is losing his will to live, he and Savage form a bond. During and after a blood donation from Aaronson, Savage and Aaronson help each other recover. After the next mission Aaronson and Ivy want to get married.
Tribute: John Larkin as Major General Wiley Crowe died on 29 January 1965, the very day this episode aired, in Studio City, California of a heart attack, he was only 53 years old.


Episode 20

To Heinie-With Love

 		5 February 1965 48 Min.
Stars: Keir Dullea as Lt. Muller. Jill Haworth as Nora Burgess making her second appearence of three episodes.
Bombing the rail yards at Eissen Germany , Lt. Muller, a new Navigator, performs perfectly but then is knocked down during a flight maneuver after the bomb run. His wallet falls out and shows a picture of a man in a Nazi uniform, his father. And excellent Navigator he is unpopular because he is of German descent. On a walk in the country, Muller meets a deaf girl, Nora and they falls in love.
NOTE: In this episode the crew sings Baa, Baa, Black Sheep which is really the "Whiffenpoof Song". sang here on this link by Bing Crosby.


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Episode 21

The Clash

 		12 February 1965 48 Min.
Stars: Albert Paulsen as Col. Dieter.
General Savage is shot down over the Sub Pen's at Trondheim, Norway. The only suvivor of his crew, he ends up in a life raft with a Luftwaffe pilot ME-109 near the Faroe Islands , 150 miles west of Trondheim. Oberst Dieter does not want to be captured and orders Savage to row (at gunpoint) towards Norway. Savage and Dietter engage in a battle of wills, and match wits over whether the Germans or Allies will rescue them.


Episode 22

The Ticket

 		26 February 1965 48 Min.
Stars: Earl Holliman as Lt. Stiger. Elen Willard as Myra Bentley who marries Lt. Stiger.
The Brauberg Dam needs to be bombed, General Savage thinks a specially equipped P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft with two 500 pound bombs can do the job. Lt. Stiger a Kentucky farm boy, volunteers, he is a risk taker. Then Stiger wins the British football lottery of £20,000. Realizing there is now more to life, he now wants to marry Myra, his girl, but the mission still must be flown he begins to doubt his ability to fly the plane to a successful end.
Trivia: £20,000 Britsh pounds is over $40,000 today Check here .


Episode 23

The Trap

 		5 March 1965 48 Min.
Stars: Hermione Baddeley as Lady Constance. David Frankham as Dr. Lewis Glenway. Also stars Dinah Anne Rogers as Eleanor Nichols.
In route to a briefing to bomb Strassbourg, France , General Savage is trapped in a cellar during an air raid. With him is Lady Constance, Dr. Glenway, a miner. Also a pregnant woman, Eleanor, whose fiancé died 8 months ago. We learn more about each of the people as the group goes through several emotional stages before rescue. Lady Constance decides to re open Penrose Hall as a home for young women like Eleanor.
Trivia: Hermione Baddeley was really descended from British revolutionary war general Sir Henry Clinton.


Episode 24

The End of the Line

 		12 March 1965 48 Min.
Stars: Paul Burke as Major Joe Gallagher. Sarah Marshall as May Hudson. Also stars Barbara Feldon as Nurse Lt. Cummins.
Squadron Commander Major Joe Gallagher scrubs himself from a mission and his replacement Captain Hollander is killed. Gallagher feels responsible and goes to meet Hollander's girl May, she is a British girl living with her aunt. Gallagher looks after May and he finds out that she is pregnant and offers to marry her. He talks with General Savage who will not approve, as May has not yet been cleared.
NOTE: Gallagher and Larry Hollander were old friends, they went to West Point together and Gallagher talked him into being a pilot.


Episode 25

The Threat

 		19 March 1965 48 Min.
Stars: Laurence Naismith as Gilly Bright. Harold Gould as Colonel Reed. Also stars Stanja Lowe as Nurse Lt. Dietrich.
Axis Sally is broadcasting very accurate information about the 918th, and that General Savage is going to be killed. Colonel Reed from G-2 arrests several people in the Group including Lt Dietrich a nurse. Savage leads the next mission and no German planes shoot at Piccadilly Lilly . After returning, he learns that Axis Sally has made a new broadcast, his aircraft was not shot at as she wants him to die on the 13th.
Trivia: Mildred Gillars, the real "Axis Sally", was a native of Portland, Maine. She was studying music in Germany in the 1930s and fell in love with her German professor.

NOTE: Ranked as one of the top ten episodes.



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Episode 26

Mutiny at 10,000 Feet

 		26 March 1965 48 Min.
Stars: Larry Blyden as Lt. Kemp. Robert Brown as Sgt. Reese. Also stars Lee Meriwether as Nurse Lt. Patterson. For the first time we see John Zaremba as Major General Stoneman from Pinetree, Major General Wiley Crowe's relief.
General Savage has a new crew. The co-pilot Lt. Kemp is blackmailing Sgt. Reese who knows his real name, and he hit and killed a young child back home. Kemp wants Reese to support him in taking over the plane and fly to Switzerland and sit out the war. Kemp distracts Lt. Patterson in the pharmacy and steals some drugs and then says that they belong to Savage. In the air Kemp tells the crew Savage has cracked up.
NOTE: Ranked as one of the top ten episodes.


Episode 27

The Mission

 		2 April 1965 48 Min.
Stars: Burt Brinckerhoff as Lt. Joe Waller. Chris Robinson as Lt. Gunther. Also stars Bruce Dern along time charactor actor, as Lt. Michaels, he is making his third of four episodes.
The mission is to bomb an oil line in the Säär Valley. The new waist gunner Lt. Waller is actually a bombardier but flies as a gunner, he washed out of flight school but graduated from bombardier school. The navigator Lt. Gunther does not want to fly with "Wash-out" Waller. On the mission, a bomb gets hung up on the rack and the crew blames Waller as he supervised the bomb loading.
NOTE: This is the first episode we see Chris Robinson, better know as Tech Sgt. Sandy Komansky who returns later in Season 2 to become a regular in the series.


Episode 28

Cry of Fallen Birds

 		9 April 1965 48 Min.
Stars: Dana Wynter as Lady Catherine Hammet. Lloyd Bochner as Group Captain Evans.
General Savage and the Piccadilly Lily are coming in low and damaged from a mission to Blaustadt, Germany. On the approach are tall trees and a mansion built in 1540 by the Earl of Archbury. Savage wants the trees and the mansion removed and goes to see General Stoneman to start the process. The current resident is Lady Catherine Hammet, Savage goes to see her and is mistaken for a burglar and thrashed.
NOTE: Both Captain Evans and General Savage are very fond of Lady Catherine, and who wouldn't be, Dana Wynter is beautiful.


Episode 29

V for Vendetta

 		16 April 1965 48 Min.
Stars: Lin McCarthy as Major General Hoagland. Gary Lockwood as Major Gus Denver. Also stars a new General from Pinetree Andrew Duggan as Brig. General Ed Britt.
Major Denver has returned to flight duty. Brigadier General Hoagland has just been assigned as acting Wing Commander, but he really wants General Savage's job. Hoagland flies with Savage on a mission to Eindhoven , hit with two engines out; Savage orders everyone to bail out, Hoagland makes it out and is strafed by fighters and killed. During the inquiry Denver asks to speak with the Inspector General.


Episode 30

P.O.W. Part 1

 		23 April 1965 48 Min.
Stars: James Farentino as Moxey. Donald Harron as Group Capt. Brail. Also stars Alf Kjellin as Col. Max Richter and John Van Dreelen as Capt. Staufman.
General Savage is shot down and his officers are sent to Luft Stalag 12. The Senior British Officer is Group Captain Maurice Brail, a Canadian in the RAF . In order to build resentment between the prisoners and Savage, German Col. Max Richter keeps him segregated, gives him special food, and he and Richter go for drives. Brail comes to see Savage, and using "Adolf the cat" as a messenger they keep in contact.
Trivia: This is the only 2 part episode during the entire series.


Episode 31

P.O.W. Part 2

 		30 April 1965 48 Min.
Stars: James Forrest as Lt. Forrester. Jim Shane as Baby. Also stars Oscar Beregi Jr. as Doctor Erlich.
General Savage kidnaps Oberst (Colonel) Richter while escaping with Lt. Forrester, several P.O.W.’s are killed. They make it back to England via a U.S. navy ship with the underground resistance help of Dr. Erlich.


Episode 32

The Hero

 		7 May 1965 48 Min.
Stars: James Whitmore as Col. 'Pappy' Hartley, the Hero. Pete Duel as Lt. Ditchik.
A legendary World War I fighter ace acting as a ferry pilot arrives at Archbury on his way to SHAEF HQ . Colonel Hartley turns out to be Savage's mentor. The 920th Bomb Group will be arriving soon to England and General Stoneman is looking for an experienced commander, after some coaching from Savage, Stoneman will consider Colonel Hartley, he is then temporarily assigned to the 918th for indoctrination.
NOTE: Ranked as one of the top ten episodes.


Season 1 missions are available from me, along with a CD of the Theme Song in MP3 format suitable for CD players and iTunes.

Visit the Archbury PX - enter the 12 O'clock High Store here.