RAF Bomber Command and the "Night of the Strong Winds."
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- Опубликовано: 15 янв 2025
- The night of March 24 marked the last large raid by Bomber Command on the German capital. One last try that would provide a unique challenge to 811 British and Commonwealth aircrews in what Bomber Command called “the night of the strong winds.”
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Script by THG
#history #thehistoryguy #WWII
I knew a Tailgunner Veteran. He had one of his legs shot off and he put on a tourniquet and kept shooting for the rest of the mission. He was a true Canadian hero. RIP.
I know about the Canadians in WW2. Almost unbelievable. No way to thank and honor them enough!
Bad ass!
I would believe this story if you told us his name and the time and date of the mission.
I am traumatized tonight after watching “A Brown Shade of Hell” about the 1942 Buna campaign. The bravery of the Australian and US National Guard equals that of soldiers in any battle you can name. I have no doubt your recount of the tail gunner is true. It’s like, “He got his leg blown off, applied a tourniquet and kept fighting? So?” Americans today have little understanding or appreciation of what the greatest generation went through to save the world from Imperial Japan and the Nazis. If your brave Canadian tail gunner can somehow hear me, I say to him, “Thank you! We owe you more than tongue can tell.”
Started deliberate firestorm with incendiary bombs as well as white phosphorus....read the history or attend a university course on the morality of war like I did
Man, to float in a parachute for 30 miles in the dark over enemy territory must have been a terrifying wild ride.
We in US had a jet pilot ejected & stuck in storm clouds over like 40 mins. About killed him hail storm & all. William Rankin I think his name.
@@Houndini f111 b58 hustler had that problem solved but idea didn't catch on
Better to float 30 miles than to land in the target area, I would think. Still a wild ride!
@@jimwolaver9375 best not to have to abandon a/c on mission. Home sweet home H2S
@@Eric-kn4yn That's obvious. But since he DID have to bail, maybe it's better he didn't land in Berlin while the place was still exploding.
Whether you teach us about gunfighters.
Or grasshoppers..
Or nuclear accidents..
Or blizzards..
Or bananas..
Or racecar drivers..
Or Chevy Citations..
Or presidents..
Or Kings...
You always teach us something.
All of your videos are brilliant.
..but your presentations of The War are easily the best.
..and this video is one of your finest ever.
Thanks Lance
Or pirates. Doesn't every good story involve pirates? 😄👍
@@lancerevell5979
Right on..
@@lancerevell5979 I was just thinking someone ought to make this comment!
😊
My husband never knew his father, he was 6 months old when his father was killed in this raid over Berlin. My mother in law told us he was a navigater in one of the Lancaster bombers which never came back.
I had a mate who's baptism of fire was the Nuremberg raid. He said he was so young and bullet proof it was like a grand adventure. He moved to Australia, became best mates with a German and they teased each other constantly about trying to kill each other.
Typical Aussie melting pot
In the end like with all battles, it requires boots on the ground, and brave boys to fill them.
Never forget their sacrifice.
That is true but air power is vital in any war.
Night of the Strong Winds is what I call it after I bravely eat Taco Bell. It's like a tank battle going off in my drawers.
Except that's exactly what the English commanders and historians did until fairly recently, they ommited to honor the Polish, the Indians and many other colonial nations, exiles and volunteers who joined them in those desperate days after dunkirk and the fall of Europe.
You are so right, sir.
@@tomperkins5657 Thank you. And thank you for your cervix.
My father was in WWII flying B17 bombers, he flew 52 mission like the ball bearing factory 🏭 , double mission flying to Russia bombing on the way there and back, plus many more major missions. He lost one brother who was with Patton ground forces. He told me he was lucky to come back alive. Thanks for the video, Mike
He was very fortunate to come back alive having done what sounds like a Double Tour of 52 missions.
He was certainly on some very notable missions and definitely rolled the dice to come back alive and unharmed. Do you still have his log book?
Mark from Melbourne Australia
I`ve listened to recordings of Lancaster crews intercom chatter on raids over Germany. The pilots calm, even tone even as they were being attacked by a night fighter was amazing. Guy really had ice water in his veins.
You have to be careful about those sorts of recordings as they were often 'faked' in a sound studio for technical and propaganda purposes.
For one, question just how much swearing that you hear as the aircraft comes under attack by the nightfighter. Listen carefully for commentary on other aircraft being shot down or going down burning. Any mention of 'Scarecrows' or flak or searchlights?
Mark from Melbourne Australia
@@markfryer9880 Have you ever found yourself in a situation where your life was in danger and your survival depended upon your wits?
I have. I had been severely bitten by a dog that wouldn’t let go. Crushed bones later resulted in a 3 month long marrow infection and 2 surgeries. Gangrene.
Yeah, some dogs can do that if they hold on long enough.
Bleeding profusely but unable to leave the scene.
This was in 1984 in a very rural area.
Only my wife and myself.
She was panicking. If I had allowed myself to do so, I might have died.
(We drug the dog to a creek and held it’s head under water until it let go.)
I find it relatively easy to believe these stories. Your brain will work in an emergency if you allow it to.
@Brian Anderson @John Cox I’ve listened to those tapes as well. Definitely real, as they were truly professionals doing the job through their experience and training.
@@markfryer9880 The recordings were made by the BBC using a “portable” recording device which was plugged directly into the aircraft’s intercom. The reporters that went up were Richard Dimbleby, Winford Vaughn-Thomas. Many of these recording have been archived away.
Perhaps the lack of swearing was down to the fact that they may have known that the recordings would have been heard by an audience of possibly millions? Though, in those days you just didn’t swear. Popular misconception is that the average working guy would and could swear his head off but it was deemed unsightly to do so.
Nobody can tell me them servicemen & women are not some of the bravest our countries ever produced.
I just finished reading the book, "Big Week: The Biggest Air Battle of World War II," by James Holland. It covers the buildup of the US Army Air Forces in England as they bombed Germany in the lead-up to the Normandy Invasion. Holland also includes coverage of the Royal Air Force efforts like the "Battle for Berlin." It is an interesting, informative history. One really comes to appreciate the abject terror these men experienced as they battled heavy flak and German fighters over Western Europe. Having been through B-17s and B-24s, I just can't imagine what it was like in the freezing sub-zero cold at 20,000 feet in such cramped confines. The young men who flew these missions were heroes and that is history worth remembering.
Yes but can I talk about me 😃
I don’t know what is more harrowing. Flying in daylight and watching your friends go down in flames or fly in darkness and suddenly be hit from below by “Kannon -musik” from a German night fighter.
I have also heard that the pilots has to fly in perfect formation. This meant absolutely no rest but total concentration. These pilots were kids, some as young as 19.
@@tomperkins5657 If you wish to hear a recording of a British bomber crew in action as they are about to bomb a target there is a RUclips video recording of it.
@@marcuswardle3180 Marcus, need to think on that.
Enjoyed that video. My father-in-law was a navigator on a B-17 in the 8th Air Force and flew 30 missions over Europe, mostly over Germany but a few over France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary. Four of those missions were over Berlin on March 3, 4, 8, and 9, 1944, the period you featured in this video. Interestingly, I saw an interview with Gen. Chuck Yeager on RUclips recently in which he was asked when he got his first kill. "On March 4, 1944, escorting B-17s over Berlin." Turns out Yeager was in one of the P-51s protecting my father-in-law, so, in a way, he's responsible for me meeting my wife in 1968 when I was in the Air Force, in Germany, by the way, where her dad was stationed at Ramstein AB.
My father lived through that. Told of seeing people burn like Xmas trees trying to cross the street and get stuck on the hot asphalt. Seeing people asleep but dead when the oxygen was sucked out of the cellars during the fire storm. We never talk about the civilians in wars just the glory of war. Just look around today we as humans never learn. Just think about all the wasted resources and land. The great minds that never had a chance. War only kills and destroys all. Amen
I've read about this raid on Berlin which was referred to as a major failure, but you just put flesh on the bones. This is the most detailed account of the story. That is why I enjoy your channel. You dig out the detail.
Mr HG.. I'm pleased you refer to the Germans as The Germans and not just the Nazis as the British historians now do. 👍
When I used to ask my folks about "the war" my mother said amongst other observations that the Bomber Boys gave the Germans what they deserved for what they'd done to Portsmouth and my Dad who was RN didn't really want to talk about it as he'd been on the Acrtic convoys.
wow your mom loved what the Soviets Communist comrades I mean our Great Allies did the Firebombing of Dresden.. those innocent german people deserved that? wow
Reading and learning about the Artic Convoys is chilling enough, but to have actually participated in them must have been a cruel torture. It seemed like everything was against those Convoys, the cold weather, the German Surface Fleet, the U-Boats and the Luftwaffe and the damned frigid ocean. There would always be ice stuck to the rigging and superstructure that needed to be chipped away before it became so heavy that the ship turned turtle and sank. It happened! The freezing cold also caused some Liberty ships to sink when the metal alongside critical hull welds tore apart in the Heat Affected Zone next to the welds. Later discovered to be down to a flaw in the production of the steel.
If your ship was attacked and sunk and you didn't make it to a life boat then you could expect to die in minutes in the freezing water. If another ship at the rear of the Convoy didn't pick you up in your life boat then you could expect to die a miserable death over the next few days from exposure to the cold if a wave didn't sink you.
Yes, I think that it is quite easy to understand just why your Dad never wanted to talk about his time in the Navy or being on the Artic Convoys. I am guessing that he smoked and drank heavily and died fairly young? We would call it PTSD today and we still don't offer our Veterans enough support.
Lest We Forget
Mark from Melbourne Australia
My grandfather was in the RN attached to the merchant navy on the arctic convoys and lost dozens of fingers doing so, I seem to remember you couldn't shut him up about the subject especially when he was drunk over Christmas, ungrateful communist bastards seemed to be one of his favourite themes us kids used to love at that festive time of the year, I'm named after the old Welsh goat and have turned out exactly like him 👈👀
My father was in Fleet Air arm on the Russian convoys. He said the U-boats would come in at night and would pick off the tankers. What he told me was terrible.
Most historians use Nazi (or the editors do) because it's deemed to be politically insensitive to use "The Germans".
Fun Fact, a later improved version of the H2S radar mentioned at the start of the video stuck on the bottom of Lancasters .. was last used in 1982 when a Vulcan bombed the Falklands runway in the amazing long distance operation "Operation Blackbuck".
My driving instructor back in 1976 was a former bomber pilot. He never said anything about it though he was a heavy smoker.
I did my Air War College paper on the Combined Bombing Campaign. My finding and the premise of my paper was it was combined in name only and the RAF and USAAF went there own directions. The RAF flying at night pursuing Bomber Harris’s vision of bombing German cities while the USAAF went after “Strategic Targets.” There was little coordination between the forces on bombing the same target by day and then night.
All bomber crews were the bravest of the brave, with nowhere to hide and having to endure hours of terrifying tension waiting for death to strike without warning.
Video very well done. I saw it some months ago but was pleased to watch it again when the algorithm served it up to me today. You do a good job with all of your videos. You have a little highlight with each one that gives special insight,...the jet stream winds for this one are a good example.
My half brother took part in THEE last Bomber Command raid over Germany (Kiel 2/ 3 May 1945) Sqd 199, his Halifax was struck by another, after it, had been strafed by a JU188 nightfighter.
Sadly, of the two crews, only 3 survived, but not my half-brother , having joined age 18 in 1940, he died 5 days from wars end.
The 44% death rate in Bomber Command was well noted by crews and Berlin was not a popular target. The average life expectancy of an Avro Lancaster was 40 hours flying time. Only the loss rate of the U-Boat force was higher. Highly recommend watching "The Night Bombers" a color video filmed in the winter of 1943 by Wing Commander Cozens of one Berlin raid.
Sorry, the British Merchant Navy lost around 2,000 more men, women and boys than the German U-boat command did. And they were all civilians.
@@neiloflongbeck5705 "Loss Rate" isn't the total number lost, but the percentage of those lost compared to the whole...
As Bomber Harris commented when questioned re the 55,000 aircrew losses over the 5 years of war.
Quote; “ Remember 60,000 men were killed before noon on the first day of the Somme!”
Puts things into perspective & is all very sobering when you see the final tally on that bloodstained first day!
& we mustn’t forget he was there also in that war!
@@RogCBrand the merchant navy sailors were all civilians and not military and thus all are the victims of war crimes.
@@neiloflongbeck5705 That's always bothered me that those merchant sailors weren't given the same status as military personnel. They were going in harms way, and a sailor that participated in many convoys was IN the war more than a naval officer working in a building somewhere. The idea that they didn't get the same benefits, the same praise, etc., that service members got was such a shame! They were every bit as vital as anyone else fighting the war!
My wife's uncle flew in the Lancaster, He has shot down over the channel the first time and was rescued. The second time it was deep into Germany. He evaded capture for 2 days but was eventually captured by a farmer with a shotgun. He then spent the last 2 years of the war in a POW camp.
Another brilliant episode as usual. Thanks.
You should do more about Bomber Harris. He has always struck me as the Wile E. Coyote of airpower, somehow believing that if he just tried another variation he would succeed.
he was right. for years the bomber offensive was the "second front".. Germans had put Hitler and the nazis in power then voted "JA" by over 90% in referendum a year after. they were all SEIG HEIL when Germany was winning and bombing European cities like Warsaw and Rotterdam. Harris was entirely right when he said Germany foolishly entered the war with the notion they would bomb others, but not be bombed themselves. they sowed the wind - let them reap the whirlwind. Cities bombed were industrial centres supporting the war effort.
Monty Python did😺🤓😎✌🏻
We should not give a war criminal even more recognition. He has had enough.
His nickname e in the RAF was Butch not Bomber.
Thank God Harris and Bombs Away Curtis LeMay didn't run the war. Or we wouldn't be here now.
During this raid, my mother, grandmother, and uncle were on the ground in Berlin. They also managed to survive the Battle of Berlin in April, 1945.
I had read about this raid in one of my many books on WWII, and it is amazing how far off all the bombers were. It is amazing that they did not lose more bombers in this attack. Thank You for a good history lesson.
This video reminded me of my grandfather who was a radio range operator for the allies in WWII. He walked across the beaches of Normandy when there were still bodies there.
excellent- I teach about this in my science class when it comes to weather and jet streams. This will be a great addition. Thank You!
Not to mention that the anti aircraft batteries tied up large numbers of artillery men who might have been decisive on the various front lines.
Albert Speer confirmed this when interviewed for "The World at War" - "Thousands of heavy anti-aircraft guns, millions of shells, hundred of thousands of troops".
..always informative, and thoughtful.....excellent at weaving the historical footnotes and citations into the tapestry of the story
Very well presented . Good job.
all history should be remembered
Nah.... Satr Wars Christmas Special. Its history and needs to be forgotten. Damn, that would make a GREAT episode here actually. I take my comment back
And don't you forget it.
@@EricDKaufman i haven't heard about that in a long time that i did forget it existed lol
I got a feeling one of my relatives or both were on that mission in the RAF Pathfinders and RAAF... freaky
G'day,
Yay Team !
My father's cousin flew a Tour on Lancasters, with the RAAF in 1943, Wing Commander Alan Wharton..., before Home Leave, and on to the Black Cat Squadron put of Broome...; followed by pioneering Qantas Constellations into Hong Kong, retiring as Director of Flight Operations in 1978 - the year I left school.
Last year my cousin, who's into "Ancestry DNA" was contacted by someone in Ireland, who said she was their closest DNA Match on Earth - and did my cousin know of a RAAF Wing Commander who'd been at a Party in London in 1943...(!).
So, my Cousin Globetrotter contacted the Wing Commander's kids - who took it very indeed, and their father's
"Woods-Colt" came out to Oz and met their 1/2-Siblings shortly before CoViD-19 shut down international travel for a while.
The next shutdown will apparently be very permanent - after Iceland and West Antarctica go
"Plop - PLOP !"
Within a week of each other,
And Sea Level jumps
6 metres (19 ft) with each
"PLOPPITY"...(!).
So, it turns out that
Uncle Wing Comnander
Burner of the Barbequed Hamburgers,
Cad and Bounder,
Foetus-abandoner...,
Son of a Schoolmaster and
Grandson of a
Wesleyan Minister...;
Post-WW-2
Airline Pilot Pioneer...
He must have had one of the highest Personal Greenhouse-Gas Emission-Footprints of anybody from his Age Cohort.
Merely
ONE
More of the scores of hundreds of thousands of trusting young
Fools - who all let themselves be
Happily
Led
To poison the Air (with Petrol Fumes, and Smoke from burning ...
All
While being paid to
ATTEMPT to make
The
World
"A better place...",
By dropping high-explosives and incndiary Bombs onto the
Houses of
Strangers,
Living far away in another Nation entirely - at night...
The effects of infinitely-fractal Karmic Feedback-Loops working within the Scoreboard-Effect ; are indeed very interesting to observe.
Such is life,
Have a good one...
;-p
Ciao !
Martin Middlebrook's books are fantastic!
This is a horrific story. What the Germans suffered was beyond description. The bomber crews suffered death or, if they survived, terror.
This story reinforces the need for citizens of free societies to aggressively oppose demagogues and tyrants. It is the insane lust for power that causes horror such as this.
Thank you, History Guy and team, for presenting this “history that deserves to be remembered”.
A tyrant won World War II.
Does anyone else with a grandfather who flew Lancasters in the RAAF/RAF look for their grandfather or his plane/s in the pictures? When I hear stories, I check his mission list to see if he was on them.
If someone is beaten down, and they keep getting back up, you just have to beat them to where they can no longer get back up. Sad, but true.
My Uncle Flight Lieutenant Carl Lee was a casualty of this battle. He was the navigator of Halifax bomber P for Peter , Bluenose squadron RCAF. They were missing in action January 1944 on a mission to Berlin. When I first heard Bomber Harris speech to the aircrews prior to that battle I was filled with pride . Harris said “ Tonight you will build a fire in the belly of the beast and burn it’s Black heart out!
Great Job 👍 Lance
😮 *¡wow - 80 years ago!* 😮 - 10:50 am Pacific Daylight Savings Time on Sunday, 7 May 2023
A damn fine channel. Do you have people working for you writing and researching these videos? Seems like a lot of work for just one person.
I write about half the episodes myself, but also have a writer on staff. The author is always credited in the description.
Nice to know that when you pay these presenters a compliment, they actually receive it! :)
Absolutely brilliant
Fascinating story HG! Thank you!
I always felt Bomber Harris got a bad rap. There were many reasons for the costly bomber raids.
Morale of the British war workers who had suffered from V1 and V2 raids.
Time to build up the D Day invasion force in England.
Cripple production in Germany.
He was somewhat successful in all of those but the best outcome was the effect in Germany itself. They expected a fanatical defence of Germany itself that never materialized. The German population was demoralized and defeated. They had no food, no arms, no transport, no fuel and no leadership by the time the Allies crossed the Rhine so resistance was minimal, surrender enmasse was common.
Your narration is top notch.
Thank you for telling history as it was.
The brother of my late aunt was the navigator of a Lancaster that night. On the way home they fell prey to a German night fighter and ditched in the sea off the western coast of Denmark. All of them drowned. My aunt’s brother was just 21.
My uncle took part in seven operations to Berlin during this campaign, as well as operations to other cities. He was killed on 29th December 1943, on his way to Berlin for the 8th time.
Fascinating story! 🤔😃👍
Never question a good navigator. He is already triple questioning himself.
Well said!
Thanks for this honest documentation of WW2 military policy. Thank you.
It takes a certain kind of person to continue to get into an aircraft and know that there's a pretty good chance that you won't be coming back. Both the British night crews and the American day crews were getting pasted in mid-to-late 43 and on into early 44. The advent of escort fighters all the way to the target and back helped the day crews, and radar helped the night, but in reality the great killer of bombers was flak. More of both day and night went down to flak than fighters, and the third leading cause of losses was accidents-loss of power on take off, collisions in the dark or forming the daylight formations, Engine failure over the sea or Europe, or just blowing up for no known reasons (which was a disturbingly common happening-I've read several accounts where crew members say "And then Bob's aircraft just blew up for no reason over England".)
Thanks for including my grandfathers experience Eric Meikle.
just found your excellent channel .......and blimey I've some catching up to do!
Excellent and good night
We really enjoy your show. Thank you for bringing history to us. My family’s ancestors are Zachary Taylor and James Madison. I’ve always wondered who killed Zachary Taylor. I don’t believe it was food poisoning from the cherries he ate. I’ve always wondered about the two Senators who had it out for him. God really knows the truth. I wish we could find out.🙄
I appreciate you, thank you for making content.
Just great. Thank you!
Beautiful work Sir Josh. Churchill would be proud. And he is.
The courage of these men, both British and American, is hard to comprehend today. We owed them more than we could ever repay.
How about Poles, Canadians, Australians, Kiwis, South Africans, etc. By that time, the RAF had more colonials than Brits in their ranks.
@@johnkidd1226 Of the 125,000 soldiers who served in Bomber Command aircrews, 69.2% of them were British. 30.8% of them came from Commonwealth or occupied European countries. I am indebted to them all.
@@randyrobey5643 Canada trained most of them as well as Americans through the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.
thanks
My old neighbor was a child in Berlin during the bombings. After listening to his stories, I think more of the civilians killed now.
I don't. The Germans should have elected a better leader.
Excellent
BRILLIANT INSIGHT
Wow Martin Middlebrook is still warring!I read his book (and did a book report) The Nuremberg Raid in the 1970s as a teenager. Talk about a disaster 95 aircraft lost that night. The tragedy and often overlooked my mind about the Lancaster was having a single escape exit for the crew. Between that and no co-pilot position it's not surprising so many RAF staff we're lost in that multi-year campaign.
Wee correction.The Lancaster had two main exits for escape. There was also the rear starboard crew door that the mid-upper and rear gunners would escape from. One of most poignant stories I heard was of a rear gunner being frozen in terror at the rear door when trying to escape a doomed Lancaster " I can't jump" he said to the mid-upper gunner standing next to him " that's okay I will stay with you" the mid-upper gunner replied. That was witnessed by the wireless operator who bailed out from that door.
@@djsteel56 well that's good to hear. The single exit reference is from The Guns at Last Light (Atkinson, Rick. pg 351). I was so surprised to read this I went to my Famous Bombers (William Green) to verify but there wasn't a cutaway drawing for the craft.
Quoting here: "Of 7,374 Lancasters built 3,349 were lost in action." I've read acotr Donald Plesence had flown with Bomber Command. That as an actor his characters always seemed 'haunted' may have been playing more from his experiences -- at least that's how it felt to me.
@@djsteel56 Nonetheless, veterans do describe the difficulty for forward crew of clambering over the Lanc's main spar in the dark in an aircraft out of control to get to the exit, which was behind that main spar.
Very good. More RAF stuff please!
I saw Berlin 25 years later. Still a lot of the damage showing.
Go to the German city of your choice and they feel like film sets 😁
Another great new information to me vid- thank you!👍🏻
My great Uncles last mission, Lancaster DS678. RIP VJW
When my dad went to work on nights during the war, he said that the sky was black with bombers going to Germany. The sound given off by the engines would rattle the windows. Coming back to land, dad said that they came back with huge holes in the wings and body, engines missing and missing firing, all to be repaired and got ready for more raids on the nest of the viper.
To THG🎀...Thank you Sir....
Shoe🇺🇸
I had two friends who were rear gunners. Art Lobsinger flew OTU in Wellington’s and Stirlings then 19 raids in Lancaster with 463 Squadron RAAF. I think the crew only had 2 Australians in it.
Earl Porter was an R/G and belly gunner in Halifax’s. A high school teacher Jim Newel was a flight engineer in 617 Squadron.
All great men and all gone but I will never forget them.
After March 44 Harris was out of time and had to turn his bombers over to more tactical raids in preparation for the invasion.
I was really impressed by the crew photos that you used. One is McCarthy and his crew from the Chastise raid on the dams in May 1943.
Thanks for another video that really hit home for me.
One of McCarthy's crew survived until late 2022, the last survivor of the aircrews who took part in the much-publicised "Dams Raid" in 1943.
Window was the forerunner of Chaff.
In my USAF days, late 1970s, we had our T-33 trainers sometimes carrying chaff pods so the F-106 interceptor pilots got some training with it. I was amazed how finely the foil was cut. Christmas tree tinsel foil was thick and heavy in comparison.
There should be a movie based on this. And use state of the art special effects to depict the true and absolute horror on the ground.
I recommend "Appointment in London", made in 1953. As close to authentic as will ever be made. Written by a pilot who'd completed FOUR operational tours. A bit of artistic licence about listening to the radio at the airfield whilst the raid was in progress, but otherwise impressive.
I can't even imagine the terror of flying into the teeth of the enemy in the blackness like that. They were some of the bravest men in history.
I never knew. Thanks.
Nice work Lance really enjoyed this.
Died in the service to their country, sir...🇬🇧😔🇬🇧
My dad was with Army intelligence in WWII when assigned to Sir Arthur Harris on a trip reviewng US bomber maintenance programs. Harris tried to steal my father's prayer book. My dad was strong enough to tell him off and got his prayer book back. Just a funny story.
So many criticise this campaign from positions of pacifism and modern creature comfort. Harris had worked out his principles in the 1920s. He would have been well aware of the risks and the considerable financial cost.
It's true that much armament production in Germany increased over '43.
For sure it's leaders and their followers got the message that they had their backs to the wall. (Soviet nutcracker). There is no way to estimate lost production but output would have been higher without all the various bombing enterprises. Some of my parental family were hard at work in german industry at the time and though proud to serve knew fine well that refusal was not an option.
Looking at post WW2 campaigns its pretty clear that the global militaries are happy to give their opposite numbers a good sousing. Arthur Harris's legacy is assured a bright future.
Critical pacifists should note that if their own nations issue a general call up, they will certainly have to do as directed.
All true, historical review through the lens of revisionism is deeply flawed as it always falls over at the very first hurdle of what the alternate subsequent history would have been if whatever event or decision that is being criticised had not in fact occurred. With regard to the Allied combined bombing offensive there was an extensive survey conducted following the war into its effects and impact upon German production, transport infrastructure petroleum production as well as the diversion of materiel and manpower this demanded which categorically proved that it both dramatically shortened the duration of the war and by that definition reduced casualties. One of the people who was extensively interrogated as part of this survey was Germany's Armament Minister Albert Speer, a person who had more direct knowledge of this topic than any other person involved, who himself also wrote extensively about it throughout the remainder of his life describing the significant escalating effect this campaign had in destroying Germany's resistance and thereby securing victory for the Allies. Anyone who tries to claim that this campaign was unnecessary or a failure hasn't read the scores of relevant first-person historical and empirical sources on the topic.
@@harryricochet8134
Sir, Thank you for your reply. I earnestly hope its gets appreciated.
There is currently a flush of self appointed 'historians' busy re writing the record using social media well away from the sterilising light of informed review. Its just too easy for the exciteable to take a quick swig of a sensationalist video and become instant authorities on any topic.
Bombing, Casualties on the fronts and scarcity of domestic essentials definitely undermined morale of the long suffering German civilians. What is seldom remarked on is the effectiveness of social support systems in any given area right up to the point of enemy (Allied) penetration. Evacuation, civil defence, rehoming, public utilities all worked far better into 1945 than propaganda from the Allied media would allow. Hitler wasn't the only one working with a gullible public. I think the constant searing of the civil population might have persuaded the citizenry to 'fall into line' once Eisenhower's implementation of Morgenthau was called off and US dollars started to flow in. Free Candy often works wonders and of course there were The Russians. De Nazification under the circumstances was a given.
It was war. Total war. Harris understood that. "Kill the Boche!"
Love your videos
my dear late grandfather was a Lanc Pilot 195 Sqn om that trip
The problem with hoping to achieve the enemy surrender by bombing/blockade etc is when you're fighting a dictator, they don't care. If the person who can surrender doesn't care for their own people, no amount of suffering or loss of life will sway them. Tojo still wanted to fight AFTER Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He wasn't harmed, so why care.
Or really, the dictators knew that if they lost, they would be executed, so for them, surrender would be 100% a death sentence for them, while desperately fighting on gave them some hope, even if as little as .0001% chance, it's still a chance. And as you point out, they really didn't care how many of their people might die. I'm sure Hitler felt that if he was going to die, he didn't care if ALL the German people died with him!
Very exciting. Just let them come.👍
Well done.
black shivering bell and thumbs up.
I can't imagine these bombing raids... horrific!. but it is what it is🤔✈️
The bomber dream never ended with bomber command - they just found out that berlin wouldnt burn - that didnt stop bomber command from trying to eradicate every german city within its range to the end of the war - everyone was so sick of it they (all) tried their best no matter how much they hated it (on both sides) - the germans couldnt quit because of the "unconditional surrender" terms - what a horrible mess - rip to all victims of all wars, soldiers and civilians alike, friend and foe. Great job as usual HG, I never knew the details about that particular raid (navigator troubles with wind), if it wasnt for the memoirs of surviving veterans and dedicated historians like you we would only be left with the lies of the left over propaganda of the past - so thanks THG.
Lies? Hardly. Bombing killed Germans, a good thing. Were they "innocent?" Hardly, they all screamed Heil at the top of their lungs when they were winning.
It wasn’t the last raid on Berlin, it was the last raid on Berlin by the four engine bombers. Berlin was attacked by Mosquitoes many times after that March raid.
Astounding. I am a WW2 history junky, but I have never heard this before. I was CRINGING during the whole story. How brave the British pilots! No way to ever repay them enough. Greatest History Guy account ever!!!!
Nothing brave at all about dropping bombs on civilians.
Given the shear volume of anti-air fallout, are there accounts of the population beyond the target areas having to cope with it?
I have long wondered about that too. All those shells and shrapnel has to come down somewhere. 😳
@@lancerevell5979 It is one of the dirty secrets of The Blitz on Britain, just how many people were killed or injured by Anti Aircraft Gunfire shrapnel.
Almost all of the civilian deaths and damage resulting from the Pearl Harbor attack was found to have been caused by anti-aircraft fire.
@@lancerevell5979 It absolutely does and it can be lethal. But, it is generally spread over a massive area so a hit is not likely. In places it would be more concentrated (ie the targets), the people around would be under cover already from the bombing.
A while back I read accounts from Malta of people in their shelters listening to the shell fragments falling and having to clean them up after.
Interesting indeed
You should do a story on the SS Morro Castel. I remember my grandfather telling me about it.
The USAAF would discover the jetstream affecting B-29 raids on Japan...
Navigators are the brains of an aircrew. Lt O.B. Brooks at 12:08 shows why.
Please, History Guy. At 17:25 There is a painting of apples. I have a VERY similar painting. I emphasize, a painting. Mine is signed William Merritt Chase, but mine is not a known painting. Is that painting a Chase?
My Dad & Uncles Max & Reg always said the worst sentence in the world was 'the target for tonight is .... ' as they knew there was a good chance of not coming back.
i am 90 -- a Korean war vet == Our Secret Squadron used radio beams to direct b29 bombers to target -- it was called "Shoran Beacon - Short range navigation " a development of early radio WW2 systems -- todays drones do a Similar the same-- In late 1953 its accuracy helped end the war --God Help the ww2 Airman - Never Again -Please !
Very interesting. I had no idea that bombing raids could contain so many planes. Although this was a singular event with many more planes than usual it seems my picture of half a dozen or a dozen planes making "big raids" was totally inaccurate.
Just a quick message to the geniuses at Google and their customers who insert ads at the most inappropriate places. I will never purchase anything from any of your advertisers who butcher these videos. Never. Is that clear enough?
100% I second that absolutely.
I feel the same. If everyone would have this attitude, companies would change, but unfortunately not enough people can be bothered!
@@RogCBrand Sadly True
For a general to believe that the will of their enemies was weaker than that of the Brits was a monumental miscalculation, expecting the same type of bombing campaign faced by their countrymen to cause the Nazis to fold was stupid.
The German bombing campaign against the UK was incomparable in its scope, size and duration to that of the combined bombing offensive against Germany. Firstly, the Germans whose airpower doctrine opted for the creation of a tactical rather than strategic air force never possessed a single strategic bomber let alone aircraft with the capacity in bombload of the Lancaster. The Strategic Bombing Survey conducted after WW2 irrefutably proved that the combined bombing offensive had significantly degraded Germany's transport infrastructure, petroleum refining capability and required the diversion of materiel and manpower to such an extent that it represented a third front. Germany's Armament Minister Albert Speer, the one person more qualified to comment on this topic than anyone else, was extensively interrogated and wrote about it in the greatest of detail for the remainder of his lifetime. Your comment is categorically incorrect as above all else it was indeed the devastating combined bombing offensive which in fact caused Germany to 'fold'.
The bombing campaign against Germany was many times more prolonged and intense than that on the UK. US bombers during the day and RAF at night would have had a massive psychological impact with repeated large, up to 1000 bomber raids. Folding under that pressure was a distinct possibility.