Shot Down Over Poland
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- Опубликовано: 6 сен 2024
- Louis Hernandez was a B-17 bomber pilot that was shot down over Poland by a German fighter on his 21st combat mission. Listen to Hernandez' harrowing description of being pursued by the Germans and the protection offered by the Polish Underground. The interview was filmed in the cockpit of a B-17.
Could listen to the Men 24/7... My dad lost his brother in April/44, flew the P-47 with the 362 Ftr Group...shooting up trains on a return trip after escorting B-24s... got shot up by flack bad and never made it back...Bless them all 🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🙏
The JUG was a tank of a plane
I hope some of this gets used in that new Spielberg production about the 8th air force, I mean these are really great stories. Thank you for taking the time to do these interviews and uploading them here.
Thanks for your nice feedback - much appreciated.
Amazing, humble man telling his memories today well over 75 years ago or more. He was probably just young man with high amount of responsibility way beyond today’s youth.. I can just say wow. It’s too bad more young people haven’t already watched & listened to his story. God bless you sir..
very good story, I'm always amazed those young pilots mastered all the complicated controls so quickly and had to think fast in the heat of battle
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching.
I'm glad that the interviewer pushed him to dig a little deeper into what he saw in Warsaw. Crazy.
This man is a very good storyteller and is factual. Easy to listen to. The moderator did a good job of letting him tell the story
What a Life this gentleman has lived. I wasn't expecting such a great interview.
Thank you. If you would like to watch Louis' complete interview, here is a link: ruclips.net/video/TcAA-VM_bPA/видео.html
Thank you for sharing these valuable memories. I guess you also recorded them. When the old pilot explained where he used to stow his parachute right beside his seat.. I thought.. "Oh.. the Interviewer forgot to get one and put it there for the veteran to show us how it looks and how he pulled it out.. and so on. Anyhow.. great work to have brought this old man back into this cockpit which doesn't seem to be a place easy to reach especially for the elderly. When he explained how he left this same position as the last man on the "ship" I had to rewind twice to get it.. So if I understood well.. (I am not familiar with B17s) the crew in the cockpit had to climb down through that passage into the lower part of that aircraft in order to reach an exit? No way to get out through the window area ? With that bomber spinning as he explained .. and him letting the steering lose.. (He said that while still in command he steered with all his strength in the opposite direction), there must have been huge centrifugal forces imbalancing the human body and it must be very hard to get out while trying not to get squeezed against the many obstacles we can see already in this video... And again.. as in your other interview videos of shot down crews he spoke about the little hooks.. on his harness where he had to attach this parachute. A lot of information in this interview and we can feel how crucial was the training to get the parachute fixed to the harness timely in an increasingly chaotic getting event. (Remember well the other witness who explained that he actually never succeeded to attach his chute properly while the aircraft already went down.. and also this other witness you interviewed who told us that he accidently lifted his parachute bag with the wrong handle.. and that the bag already opened up inside the plane...) These memories of the lucky survivors remind us how much can go wrong despite training. Still all were part of the lucky one's. And they lived and told us about their experiences. I had a first look at all your video collection and noticed some of the early uploads with relatively few views up to now. Maybe in one of your recent uploads you could just tell the viewers that they should check out also these..
When we interviewed Louis at his home, he was a little nervous. Who likes having a camera pointed at them? When we continued the interview in the cockpit of the B17, he really relaxed and he was able to share his story quite easily. I was in the copilot seat and Sally was behind Louis with the camera. It was cramped. I'm amazed Louis was able to get up inside the plane at his age - but he did it with no problem. You don't realize it until you're inside the plane how it is configured. The cockpit sits above the nose. The pilot can look down at the navigator who is sitting at his table in the nose. It's no wonder so many B17 pilots were lost - it's really a challenge to get out of the cockpit and out an exit in the best of circumstances let alone with the plane is spinning. Both Sally and I look back on this particular interview with great nostalgia. Louis was a really wonderful guy and it was a thrill to interview him in a B17. As always Nick, thanks for watching.
I only wish you could have interviewed my Grandfather before he died..he was captured by the Germans at El Alemein...and the stories he told me lead me to joining the British Army...for 23 years..
His stories seemed at even my young age unbelievable..how his life was saved by a German Afrikakorps engineer after a strafe of Red Cross convoy..believe me..truly remarkable stuff..and truly..if not for that man..My mother would not have been born..and therefore myself and twin sister...
Thanks for sharing your family story. If you haven't already done so, please write down what your grandfather told you for future generations of your family. Otherwise those stories are lost forever when you're gone. Thanks for watching.
What a story when I was 4 my uncle was shot down over Holland My grandmother was told he was MIA. He was put in a German prison camp and then came home at the end of war He was 19 when he was captured
every episode is riveting . thanks for the stories from the servicemen who were there.
Thanks for listening
Very cool. Nice to find other history channels. Subscribed!
Thanks for watching!
Most Air Force members include my father-in-law we’re not on the ground therefore they recovered easier. The grunts the common soldier is one that had the problem readjusting. 27 years of service I understand how a person would feel in combat. Friends that flew have a whole different perspective.
Great video! Thank you for preserving this history for future generations.
Thank you Sir, God bless you ALL 🙏
Love them old boys and their stories. Hero’s all of them 👍🇬🇧
Fascinating, thank you, although many would dispute "the B 17's won the war". A brave and lucky man well worth hearing.
It takes everyone but most of all it takes men to seize and hold the ground.
Nobody here but us chickens
Thank you for sharing your story, service, sacrifice and courage for freedom 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Thank you so much for showing the hatch through which he left the airplane at 4:42. Great shot.
That was Sally on the camera. It was a great shot because it showed what a pilot had to go thru to get out of the airplane. Thanks for watching.
Thanks for these videos.
Glad you like them!
People will compare he B17 with the British Lancaster which carried a bigger bomb load. But both were instrumental in winning the war and the so were the amazing young men who flew them.
They both carried the same load. The Lancaster was 75% bombs with less crew, lighter small calibre guns and little armour plate other than behind the pilot. Its defence was based on flying at night. The B17 was 25% bomb load and the rest was defensive equipment. The rational being that if you bombed in daylight you could be more precise so needed less explosive force. Both doctrines were very costly in aircrew and collateral civilian casualties. Its wrong to top trump resources designed for different roles. Sorry for the lecture but this comes up so often
I flew WW2 airplanes as a cargo pilot in the 1980's. Hard to fly old trucks with no power steering or AC or good electronics like jets. Jets are easy to fly comparing with those old trucks..
Awesome to have the interview on the flight deck.
Thank you sir
total hero's amazing story and survival
From Poland to Tehran,Iran??
Yes, to avoid flying over still Nazi Germany. Get fuel in Iran, then head east..
@@mgmrateconfirmation8404 I meant the opposite direction of East.
everyone involved in ww2 were heros no matter what job they did
peace
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏