An absolutely fantastic documentary, I am pleased to see at last the Pilots got their long over due credit for their outstanding courage and fighter prowess , the likes of will never be seen again . True warriors of the skies.
I heard a few stories about German WWII aces from my father who fought in the US Army against the Germans in Italy and in France. He used to work for different Aerospace companies in Los Angeles and met a number of German aces including Erich Hartmann who flew for the German Air Force after WWII. He met many German officers during the war and they were very professional. He often told me that war killed many of the best men in each country and destroys many men's lives after the war. I was told so many war stories by my father and his men that he commanded that I could feel their thoughts and emotions without having to be there. I know it sounds hard to believe but, after hearing so many stories from so many combat veterans I could have some understanding of what is like to have lived in those times.
@@82luft49 I thank you for the response and my father always said that war is very impersonable and unfortunately destroys many of the country's best people. He always told me that many of the soldiers who died under his command were very smart and excellent human beings and none of them had families.
I like the comments at the end of the video and no one wants their family to experience their suffering during WWII. I heard so many stories from soldiers who fought under my father's command and you have to be there to experience how terrible war could be. I remember hearing my aunt talk about being fire bombed in Tokyo and she was very upset even in 1981. I missed Vietnam by two years and neighbors who fought in Vietnam have many terrible stories. I am glad to not have to fight in any war and thank any veteran for their service.
Both Galland (1) & Kerpinsky (2) admitted to the fact.. The war was lost (1) before it was started (2) was lost 1941 while flying over Moscow. Viewing the hundreds of Ruskies climbing from train 🚂 box cars.
A-Mazing Shawn! I just finished reading 'A Higher Call.' (Makos, Atlantic Books) General Galland was a truly RARE & inspirational individual. I (innocently) envy your moment with that great man. Australia
@@juusohamalainen7507 Fact was he was not a war criminal. To have been a "war criminal" he would have had to have been convicted of war crimes, he was never even charged. Most people who fought for Germany in WWII were not war criminals. Grow up.
I must give praise and thanks to the British as the superior WW2 documentaries producers.Of course the Germans who were the masters at capturing all phases of combat in footage supplied the danger it took .Galland out of all the Germans Ace pilots is the one that most impressed me becoming a General at 28 years old just one of his many impressives achievements.Harrtman looking 9like a high school teenager was the most inspirational.Can anyone imagine mission after mission totaling over 3500 in one war and your enermy just 50 missions only ,enough to get a medal as well as given a break from the war back home in the states.Thumbs up ,hats off another great historical educational video.
What? These arrogant a$$holes? They thought they were the superior race . They sought to and fought to and killed in order to dominate all " other" people's. How can you have admiration for someone like that?
@@karaDee2363 One may appreciate the military performance of these men, but one hast to put it into context. I am interested in history but find it highly questionable to glorify war in this way. Furthermore, at least Rudel, Nowotny and to a certain degree Galland were Nazis to the core. Feel free to read about the infamous Field Marshal Schörner, who is mentioned because of Rudel. I am german by the way.
Congratulations on your 100th birthday, Mr. Hugo Broch! 06.01.22 . He is the best fighter Pilot alive with 81 victorys. All the best and health! Or as we aviators say „Hals und Beinbruch " ! As far as I know, you are the last living fighter pilot with a knight's cross.
A couple of interesting facts about Hans Joachim Marseilles: In his last month of life he scored 60 victories, 17 of which were in one day. His marksmanship was so phenomenal that based on armorers records he required only 3 cannon rounds and 15 machinegun bullets per kill on average.
Even more interesting fact: He fought in the Battle of Britain and was a horrendous bad pilot, crashing several machines and was nearly kicked out of his JG. Then he transfered, got an other boss as Kommodore and mentor - the rest is history.
Cause there faked lol I'm dying to catch one on my s21 ultra camera, that new periscope lens is fecking crazy clear zoom for miles and miles! It's pretty creepy actually to find someone can be zoomed in on you from 2 miles away over a river bridge and watch your every move! Like I did testing I the other day to someone going to there car lol
And it's funny UFO's just examine a few lone aircraft while they are in flight, instead of flying around and landing at airports, busy motorway and cities to have better look at all our lovely technology! 😁
Sir. This was a FANTASTIC film. My lifelong dream since the age of 5 or 6 was to fly an ME-109. I've often gotten weird looks even from close friends throughout my life thinking I'm secretly pro-nazi because I'd talk about and admire these pilots (my family is of German descent, but lost family on both sides of the war). Being able to REALLY look into the lives of some of these guys through their own voices was incredible, and you set the pace BRILLIANTLY. I had finished reading the biographies of both Galland and Hartmann by age 9 and even went to Germany on a tour with my father to meet Erich as well as other veterans, but he died a month or so before it happened. Thank you so much for the film!
I was fortunate to meet Adolf Galland, Gunther Rall, Walter Krupinski, and two other ME 109 pilots, one a Romanian, at a seminar organized by Virginia Bader, Douglas Bader's cousin in the early 80's. There were many allied veterans in the audience one of whom was the actor Morgan Woodward, a bomber pilot during the war. During the Q&A he related the terror that was felt as German fighters tore through their formations, the Romanian pilot (damn that I forgot his name) related the terror they felt diving into a wall of tracers from the bomber boxes. The response brought a pleasant chuckle of appreciation from many old foes and now friends in the audience
Jg 52 at the end was near Prague. They surrendered to the Americans (for obvious reasons). The Americans turned them over to the Soviets as they fought in The Stalingrad sector. The Soviets did to the pilots wives and CHILDREN that connot be discussed. Some pilots killed first their children, then their wives and then themselves.
The book "The blonde knight of Germany" (a bio of Hartmann) is quite interesting. Some of YT's posts roughly titled top 10 Luftwaffe Aces are also interesting.
Thank You So Much for paying Worthy Tributes to the many Aviators during WWII of All Sides , especially to those who shown The Universal Loving Kindness & Compassion to fellow Aviators in trouble during their raids or escort duties! Hearthening to know , some made Good Lifelong Friends after WWII until their natural deaths! Godspeed to All! Stay Safe & Stay Grateful! 🌍🇬🇧🇩🇪🇫🇷🇺🇸
The German flying aces, the ‘Luftwaffe’, were the most dominant set of pilots in history, even though their planes were inferior than their enemy’s. Deeply skilled pilots
I admire this documentary as accurate and consistent with independent history. This is a new revelation for me. I just finished reading "A Higher Call" (Makos with Alexander. Atlantic Books 2012). From this book I learned: 'All Nazis were Germans, BUT NOT all Germans were Nazis." The distinction is both fundamental & essential in the context of the German air-force. In this book a German pilot Ace (Franz Steigler) sympathetically spared a helpless, broken, & battered USAF B17, (Pilot Charles Brown) even protecting it through the Atlantic Flak-Wall to escape over the North Sea to safety after saluting them. (This was a courts-martial and / or death-sentence.) Comparing the book with this doco I find the theme of German Teutonic-chivalry is consistent. At the end I was both surprised and my bias admonished. The book's personalities and individuals are recognizable in the documentary - what amazing and honorable human beings! Combat situations reveal ones' true self. (I was once a soldier faced with this 'kill-or-be-killed' decision.) The German air-force preserved its noble culture in the chivalry suggested by this documentary. In this documentary after weighing the facts presented I (personally) conclude I should Honor those brave individuals who fought to protect their families consistent with their own personal sense of Honor and rectitude, after the example of; Galland, the Count, Steinhoff, Hartmann, Willi, Franz Steigler, Marsielle, Barkhorn etc etc. At first glimpse I felt the doco was some kind of 'political-correctness,' but after reading the well-documented 'Higher Call' & comparing both I conclude the documentary reifies a conflict between prescriptive-ideology and the personal principles of honorable men - true virtue will always shine. Respect to Chivalry of the German air force. Australia
I for one respect your ability to grow and learn and recognise your ability to see that perhaps the war was a little more varied and colourful. Most people are unable to do what you have written here, and what's worse is the don't actually know it. They will come after you for it, just don't let em get you down.
The memorial (at 19.26) to Hans Joachim Marseilles' memory was built on the spot where he was killed in the North African desert. As his epitaph, it has only one word on it: "UNDEFEATED". Marseilles' 158 victories stands as the highest score achieved by any axis pilot, entirely against the western allies.
Marseille was notorious for overclaiming. 158 is unbelievable. I doubt if he ever shouted Carving degree which is English translation for the Japanese word Horido or the Latin word Horrido. Why would he?
My dad is a pilot and i remember him always telling me about Hartman. I remember him alway pounding at me that he was the best, and had 352 victories. When i was young i remember being so amazed
Interesting/informative/entertaining. Excellent aerial photography job. Enabling viewers to better understand what the orator was describing. Special thanks to veteran Luftwaffe pilots sharing personal information pertaining to actual combat operations. Making this documentary more authentic and possible. Hermann Goering was the worst enemy the Luftwaffe pilots had. Commander " Ace " Adolph Galland constantly argued with him along with the disillusioned incompetent fuhrer 😈.
Imagine having your leg blown off and 6 weeks later you're flying combat missions! Heck, it took me 6 weeks to recover from a sprained ankle! Amazing!!
At 12:10 Galland is accompanied by Oberleutnant Gunther Lutzow, leader of the fighter pilots rebellion in January 1945, and sadly missed in action in April the same year , till today.
Consider the life of a German Luftwaffe fighter pilot in WW2. While Americans trained stateside, in combat free zones, they looked forward to engaging in combat for a prescribed period of time. After thirty to fifty missions depending on the phase of the war, an American could look forward to coming home and perhaps finishing the war as an instructor in Texas. For the german, not so. He was in for the long haul. He flew until he was shot down and killed, taken prisoner or injured to the point where he could no longer fly. Some german pilots returned to the cockpit after horrendous injuries, being extensively burned or even suffering the loss of both legs in crashes. To say they were dedicated is an understatement.
What a guy. Matinee idol good looks. Brave to the extreme. He had to be ordered out of the fighters. AFter all he was a General in charge of the fighter wing, but he didnt want to stop flying.Imagine that this daredevil survived the war. Amazing. The first and the last. Truly.
It's unbelievable Germany had such advanced weapons in WWII. The V-1 is still in use today albeit a much higher tech one, Blitzkrieg is still a fighting tactics used today, wire guided rockets still used today,,,astounding feats for the 1940's. If it weren't for von Braun, we would have never got to the moon when we did.
Let me say one thing about the German flying aces. There is a list in which a little more than 100 German fighter pilots are named. The worst pilot, so to speak, had a little more than 100 kills and the best "Bubi Hartmann" 352. These are the German aces of fighter pilots. A German pilot of the Second World War said one thing about the high number of kills of the Germans in contrast to the significantly lower number of the Allied aces: In the 6 years of the war we had enough opponents that we could shoot down. The sky was always full of enemies. The American pilots, for example, usually only flew for 6 months and towards the end of the war hardly saw any German aircraft in the sky. Since the video tells something about Adolf Galland and he is shown here with some comments, I have a very good tip for those who are really interested in how the German fighter pilots lived, fought and died during the war. I attach the book by Adolf Galland to my heart, which has the title "The First and the Last" Gloss and Downfall of the German Fighter Pilots. It is a biography of Galland and tells the historically correct story of the German fighter pilots. He wrote the book himself. Mfg. Magnus. Ps: After Galland flew an Me-262 for the first time he said: It's like an Angel is pushing.
@32:26 the narrator talks about Wilhelm Moritz but the person shown Is Oskar "Ossie" Romm, who had a total of 82 aerial victories....both flew with JG3.
They were fighting for the bad guys but they showed raw guts. Truly some of the bravest men to ever walk the earth. I would have shit my pants if i had to do what they did.
ryan case, Tim Rogers, negan rex: Imagine a time when Americans, Brits, and Russians of all walks of life, were united and working in concert to destroying fascism.
Finland has a pilot ace world record in terms of the number of fighters. 116 pilots achieved more than five victories. "At the beginning of the Continuation War, our Air Force had 67 good, 34 satisfactory and 76 obsolete fighters. At end of war we had 34 Bf-109`s" One pilot (Jorma Sarvanto, Fokker D.XXI) get six in four minutes in winter war. Brewster fighters (44) get 440 victories. For comparing USAF had 90 thousand fighters and had 1294 ace.
@@freddenapoli3591 In Finland was about under 400 fighter pilots. According that number, 96 aces is lot. After german aces, finnish pilots are next in personal 94 and 75 victories. Aces had 1435 kills.
35:41 In his book, The Big Circus, Clostermannput's a coment from a member of 122nd Wing who said the same when they had the news about the death of Walter Nowotny. It was a chapeter named after him and for describe the widespread sense of camaradery and mutual respect between de fighter pilots through the war.
I'm really glad some of these aces survived to tell their story. The odds against them were incredible, but I'm sure they did everything they could to defend their country. I grew up fast when I served my country too while in the military. Thankfully though, I never had to face anything like they did. But I would still do it again if I had to, just like these brave men did.
@@JulienGardner That may be true Julien, but the decision to invade other countries was not theirs. They were just following orders, unlike the people who are invading my country now. The only difference is they're not wearing Swastikas or flying planes and dropping bombs on our cities.
@@BigKWS the men who murdered innocent men, women and children with bullets and gas were just following orders too i guess.. No moral spine to say " no" this is wrong...
@@chonqmonk They weren't on "meth" you dumb don't know any real history so I'll make some dumb shit up about drugs that were not even invented yet yank.
Some were real Heroes, like Ulrich Rudel, who sacrificed himself to save his shot-down colleagues, on enemy territory. They inspire admiration. Others did their duty diligently, keeping a cool head and full professionalism, like Erich Hartmann, Gunter Rall and many, many others. These deserve respect. But in the ranks of Luftwaffe - there were also some *knights of the skies* who deliberately and meticulously fired their on-board guns at the columns of evacuating civilians that scattered in terror across the fields. As well as such *aces* - who, while piloting the *Ju 87 "Stuka"* precisely, bombed the hospital, marked with huge symbols of the Red Cross, spread on the roof (Warsaw, September 1939...).
53:15 - they always say they did not know, /nor even believed/ - and... after all... I can really understand it, as I grew up in Poland - 1969 - 1989 - 1999 - - - and we do not know a single real thing going on 'behind', often to this very day... THANK YOU ALL!
The Luftwaffe should have made some sort of training cycle. Once you finished 100 missions, go back to train on that particular theatre of combat for six months. Then head to a different theatre, 100 missions and go back to train again passing on your experience to the training staff and student pilots. The wealth of information and experience lost by not being able to make maximum use of that combat time would make a good student able to make it through the break in period and cut down on losses due to accidents as well. Never lose sight of, this war may go longer than expected! Let's focus on giving the next crop of pilots all the help we can!
well you are saying right but that time they didnt had any young men to train because america was bombing their cities and germany was desperate to keep themselves in war by any means necessary
Mr. Martin Reay. Completely agree with you. WW II aces? Where are the other aces? The allies. This trend of glorifying Nazi Germans is wrong. They lost, they committed war crimes through concentration camps & all Germans knew about it. And in Spain the attacks against civilians in Guernica. Hitler & others publicly spoke about extermination & wrote about it in a book we all know.
While their Nations cause may have been unjust, these were just boys fighting for their Fatherland and their families. They did their duty....often unto death; May God have mercy on them all.
@@ttjuicer5916 Hartmann has most kills but thete is other pilots that deserve more recognition. Forget the name, but this pilot had like 138 kills in the west, 90 at night time, a lot of aces averaged 3 rounds per kill etc
Straight up, I liked the vid. I am open to reading how "they" fought the war. ["Letters From Iwo Jima" was a similar experience] As a boy I read Adolf Galland's "The First and The Last". But let's not think that all Luftwaffe pilots were chivalrous, A book I read "Fighter Pilot" written in 1942 [note the date] speaks of German pilots shooting allied pilots in parachutes. I can't provide a link but there is another story of a German lining up an allied pilot in a chute where an RAF pilot interrupted him and shot him down. The German bailed out so the RAF pilot buzzed him collapsing his chute. War is hell.
bill war IS hell! you got it there buddy pilots on both sides had issues with the parachuting enemy situation ....keep in mind, a parachuting enemy is NOT surrendering!! not to mention the obvious fact that he may crawl into a cockpit that afternoon and shoot YOU or a close comrade down it is an ethical quagmire with no easy answer for those in combat (unlike those safe in their homes typing on a computer like you and I) you are correct about little chivalry in the Luftwaffe ....but you would be equally correct in saying the same thing about the USAAF and the RAF or the Red Airforce
@@LtBrown1956 watch a Mustang pilot talk about a man bailing out of a B-17 at about 26,000 ft . He had his parachute in his hands not strapped to his back . As soon as he got in the open air the chute was blown out of his grip . " at least he had time to say his prayers " Only thought the P-51 pilot could think that gave the man some hope I guess . 26,000 feet . My father was wounded in the war and his brother was killed in a Sherman tank . Great men and women of that generation .
The issue of shooting pilot's while bailing out was a sensitive topic. Most pilot's did not shoot a man in a parachute. The rule was it you bailed out over your own territory you were considered fair game. If you.bailed out over enemy territory you were not.
The rule is a pilot bailing out over enemy territory is a non combatant and is not to be shot at. If you are bailing out over your own territory you are a combatant and can return to your base and fly again so you can be shot at in a chute on the ground as long as you are in your territory. That is from the head of fighter command during the battle of Britain Sir High Dowding
the German pilots were great and brave men, unlike their regime they didn't enjoy killing but they did enjoy flying and where can one fly the fastest and most powerful flying machine if not in the air force
All you guys talking about how shit the German plane were. Here is a list of the top Aces during the war en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_War_II_flying_aces. Keep scrolling for the American and British Aces. Nobody can be that good in a shit plane. Oh an notice the Finnish airmen who were also flying German equipment same with the Romanian guy too.
From September 1944 the RAF was dropping more tonnage in bombs on Germany every night than the Luftwaffe dropped on Great Britain in the whole of 1940.. A quote from Sir Max Hastings in his book "Chastise" What the Americans dropped was an added extra.
@Reinhard Gratzer Dear Idiot, How can we be broke and bankrupt when the government is paying the wages of 30,000,000 workers for three months during the covid-10 lockdown and also build two of these ruclips.net/video/MMNU6VUmcmY/видео.html
@@mariacornwallis1602 Britain has been owned by international bankers ever since the Rothshilds cornered the London stock market in 1810 through insider trading and manipulation. The covid lockdown was used to destroy our economies and further put the middle classes in the UK, US, France, Canada into debt slavery.
I'm completely godsmacked by Hans-Ulrich Rudel!! 3500 missions in a Stuka!! Either the bravest or craziest man EVER!!! (BTW, I heard that Fairchild-Republic asked Hans' opinion about ground attack aircraft while designing the A 10 Warthog.)
2504 missions flown,. But it is true he overclaimed terrible with his tank scores... as all tank hunters of that time did. FOr example, the myth that the allies destroyed german tanks in france - you can reduce the number of killed german tanks by factor 50... and this would be still overclaiming. Same with these killed tanks by german or russian planes. If Rudel had destroyed 100 tanks by gunnery this would be a high number. Just to hit an enemy tank doesn´t mean it was killed. It got damaged, but most time it could be repaired and so wasn´t destroyed. Hitting it with a 500kg bomb - that make an end to it.
I try not to be negative, but why is this limited to Nazi aces? The title is "The Fighter Aces," not "Nazi Fighter Aces." Other combatant countries had a few, too.
All right guys, I admit it. As all Jansen Media works, this is a wonderful video of truly historical value. That being said, I would like to point out it is a bit too early (history is measured by centuries) to glorify German warriors, irrespective of being airmen, sailors or ground soldiers. For sure there were true heroes among their hordes, but the evil their fellow comrades committed, unheard-of crimes against mankind, and all that, is too recent yet to be forgotten, and in my view it borders outright disrespect for those millions and millions (mostly of them unarmed civilians of all ages) who perished in the hands of the hun. Take my advise: do not allow the Germans to cultivate their war heroes as of now. Not that they should not do it privately, discreetly (like the Japanese do). There are young idiots in Germany now that are repeating the same bla bla bla which led to WWII, that Germany has been a victim, that the Americans and the British bombed German cities despite the fact that the German people were such nice and peace-loving people, and one of these days, they will begin to glorify Hitler. Once that happens, we will have the same showdown all over again. But then again: a very good video...
but its ok to glorify the people who firebombed whole cities? or dropped atomic bombs on civilians? lets not forget we, in the US, worship the founders of our country who took part in slavery and the genocide of native americans. or people in the UK who glorify their war heroes like nelson... lets not forget the british empire was pretty evil itself.
@@nothanks3590 I think you are missing the point. I for myself think that glorifying people in generel is a bad idea. Especially political or military people. Plus it was a world war. I dont understand why everyone needs winners and looser, or actors and victims in that scenario. Every country in Europe has over 2000+ years of cultural history. So everyone f*ed up at some point. Doesnt mean that its ok. For example, yes the US bombed a lot of civilians, but so did the germans in poland right after signing a treaty which declared that civilians must be protected from bombings. So noone should be glorified. It was hell on earth and destroyed entire nations and generations of people.
You should read history books not propaganda. BTW nowadays the real danger is still communism.. You let them invade eastern europe and don't like to talk about how these countries suffered after the world war. ;) You also don't know too much about germany as it is now, or you wouldn't talk these nonsense... So let's just worry about Russia,china or the USA. Not germany. Where do you live to know so little about european politics?
@@Robinjhoe1 I do agree with your views. The 20th century was a hell of a century (literally). I often wonder why in this world someone coined the expression "Belle Epóque" to refer to the last decades of the 19th century and first decades of the 20th century. In these pandemic days I always think about a European citizen (regardless of his nationality. I mean European in general) who had the very, very bad luck of being born say in 1896. That meant that in 1914 he would be 18 in the beginning of WWI. And would have to fight all through all that hell that WWI was. And in the unlikely hypothesis that he survived, immediatelly afterwards he would have to fight the Spanish Flu (which killed just as many as WWI itself had done). If he survived that ordeal, he would have to go through the economic crisis, those Great Depression years, which were so awful that it is one of the causes of WWII. And then, in 1939 he would be 43 years old and would be once more drafted to fight WWII. Going through some numbers, the Soviet Union fought the Germans from the end of June, 1941 up to May 1945. About 50 months (one should not forget though that from September 1939 up to June 1941 it was a German ally, 22 months in all). In any event, during those 50 months the Soviets lost an average of 52000 thousand people per month (26 million people divided by 50 months). The Germans fought from Sep 39 to May 1945, about 68 months, and lost something like 9 million people (meaning some 132000 people per month). So, if we put into perspective the current pandemia produced by the Covid-19, we conclude that at least for the time being WWII was much, much worse than this pandemia. And always to my surprise, there were many Europeans who survived the terrible ordeal which was the 20th century. How all that happened and why it happened probably will the a main subject to be explored by future historians. If we consider that up to now there are historians concerned with the Trojan wars...
Garland: the war was lost when it started...when the russians asked a German general what was the turning point,property thinking Stalingrad or Kursk...no the inability to invade or knock out England.the very idea that one country could take on the world proves why Germany could never win
if Poland and France and the other pussy countries would of put up some kind of a fight and even all of the countries keep a fight going then Hitler would not of thought he can do the same to Russia and England and then USA had to come fight these pussy countries fights for them even when USA had to deal with Japan and been defending pussy Korea over 60 years Russia give them what they deserved
Poland? Pussy country? You have to learn a little bit more about polish resistance. You do now that they where attacked by Sovjetunion AND Germany in september 1939? Not easy to fight in a two front war. Have you ever heard of polish home army?
@@nisse7399 I Agree when you take in consideration Germany had about 3 million men or better against tiny Poland As France and Great Britain knew they were next . Poland is to be commended for their courage and will to fight against Nazisism.Lukily Adolph got so big headed he attacked the Soviets which aided us in and gave us time to supply the rest of the world with weapons as well asallowing the Great Generation time to gear up.Remember Poland was being attacked by the Soviets at the begining also.
@@nisse7399 poland DID fight well ....but they were betrayed by the allies twice during one war ....the german army learned a lot of lessons at the expense of the poles ....the west NEEDS poland strong and united to stand as a road block to russia
@@johnanders3440 actually their standing armies were about the same size (germany's was slightly larger) but germany mobilized first and were able to put more men in the field MORE BELOW Poland was squeezed between 2 hostile neighbors and HAD (russia had already invaded once since the end of ww1) to keep a large standing army ...they failed to mobilize more men because the western allies convinced them not to. Poland was hardly tiny ....they had a population of 39 million (about half of germany) .....of course germany had to keep a force in the west
I wasn’t there, and I only know what I’ve learned from reading and studying this period in our history. From what I’ve been able to deduce, the Luftwaffe pilots were gentlemen, exceptional at their roles, well educated men, honorable people, and sincere in their work and relationships. While there were no doubt bad actors….on all sides….the majority of the gentlemen who flew and fought for Germany held disdain and contempt for berlins politics and the Nazi regime as a whole.
Yet they couldn't beat the RAF even in 1940. Luftwaffe aces were deployed by a nation that lacked the capacity for waging war; by fanatics who failed to understand that casualties were an important factor in any stratagem; and by dilettantes who failed to see their own very considerable limitations.
@@yourtrappedinmygenjutsu - Yeah the raf was the best and alot of those German victories came against the Poles , who's planes were already relics when the war started.
Interesting bit of history . My Mum (She grew up in the Second World War) , told me that Adolf Galland was a pin up for teenage girls in WW2 , As were many Greman fighter Aces and Tank commanders . A bit like Teen idols of the pop world today , except with style , charisma , talent and courage .
6 лет назад+5
They were in magazines and newsreels that they showed in movie theaters
@@xatan3318 He actually had a few more kills, but these where not registered because he was forbidden by Hitler to fly combat missions when he became the Inspektor General der Jagdflieger.
@Richard L Yeah so I’ve heard. Same also goes to Werner Mölders who also got roughly 30 above his official score. Training younger fighters in real combat after he retired from combat.
hm, they forget many others like Hermann Graf, Prinz zu Sayn Wittgenstein, Wolfgang Schnaufer, Otto Kittel , Hans Hahn !, Kurt Bühligen and not to forget some very good development test pilots like Hanna Reitsch, or Fritz Wendel or Gräfin Schenck zu Stauffenberg
Of all of the men discussed here, only only Rudel remained an unrepentant Nazi. Rall and Hartmann were both great allies during the Cold War, an though Hartmann remained angry until he died that NATO politics forced the F-104 on the Bundes Luftwaffe.
The German Air Force needed a more versatile combat aircraft than the F-104, and Hartmann knew that. The missions the German fighters were flying the French Mirage would have been a much more suitable aircraft, but Western (US) politics forced the Starfigher on them. Thus a lot of flying accidents. Hartmann went so far as to state a preference for the F-86 over the F-104. It was either eat the shit sandwich or retire.
@Deutsches Brot - German Bread You conveniently left out the part where Germany invaded Poland and annexed Czechoslovakia. Britain and France had to respond. Had Germany not screwed the Czechs and limited it's land grab to only reclaiming lost land from the Treaty of Versailles there likely wouldn't have been a WW.
@Deutsches Brot - German Bread Well, let them believe their stuff. Re-education is also a thing in western countries. If they would have the knowledge we have, about the efforts from the "chef" to avoid war, about the warmongers in the politics of France and England....well, lets not open this topic here. They have BBC and lies about our history.
Thanks for a good documentary paying tribute where it's due. It is a shame and a disgrace for the German govt that it does not recognise the heroism and patriotism of these men to this day, as this Englishman has truthfully done.
@@slimbear1687 Get off your high horse and look at the victors with critical thinking. There are no Saints in war. History is written by the victors. Humans at our very core are primitive and selfish in both victory and defeat because its survival instinct. Journalism is not the truth; it is a perspective from a motivated narrative presented with some type of supporting evidence. To think any published article from the internet or a newspaper is the single bastion of truth then you must be barely above the complexity of a mentally challenged individual. That is all historical texts in a nutshell. The study of history is to better understand the whole picture of the given past from existing records, sources, and the scholarship of such. If that last sentence is not comprehensive then you are not in a position to have a valuable contribution beyond a RUclips comment. All involved in war are faced with moral and ethical dilemmas in a stressful situation where the clarity between right and wrong is grey. We call it the gray area because the mixing of right (white color) and wrong (black color). This is why civilians have a disconnect with war veterans; we truly have no idea of this grey context of war because we are viewing it from our comfortable sofa at home. The difference between good and evil is not like a Disney movie where a hero/heroine clearly exists from the evil and triumphs each time merely from merit. If you think otherwise then I highly suggest you go back to living your deceitful fairytale life because it is clearly your subconscious cooping mechanism.
@@albatraoz1257 Well, you intellectual dynamo, do you know how to read? And then comprehend what you just read? Which of my 17 words do you find offensive? When you think you can write a paper on a 17 word comment you might have some sort of penile compensation issues.
At first the Luftwaffe was on the offensive, then with their Reich being pushed back on all fronts and massively out numbered by allied aricraft they were defensive. Your grasp of history, even of logic seems tenuous to be honest as the video you just watched explained all that to anyone who didn't already know it.
The most successful fighter group in history was JG52. 10,000 victories. The 3 highest scoring aces of all time all fought with JG52. Eric Hartmann. 352 Gerhard Barkhorn 301 Gunther Rall 275 ____ 928 aircraft shot down by 3 three pilots.
@@barrierodliffe4155 Hartmann began his service in 1942 or 43 (I think), All the Soviet obsolete a/c were either destroyed or replaced by then by La5, Yak7 and Mig3
@@stevepodleski My reply was to Edge about the Finish pilots. Have you even seen what aircraft Hartmann shot down they include IL2, Boston, I 16, P 39, Mig 1 especially in 1942/43.
@@philhouck3560 you don't think the allies committed murder? I don't think you have a nuanced understanding of history as it was and not as it's propagandized.
I just watch a documentary yesterday that said the only operational 109 is a 109 g10 that is world war II vintage German 109 where kept in serviced till 1974 as Spain Frontline fighter
Spain built Bf 109's under licence using Hispano Suiza V 12 and later Rolls Royce Merlin engines. It is rather ironic that the first Bf 109 had a Rolls Royce engine as did the last.
Hartmann was not shot down, his plane sustained damage from debris . His tactic was to get very close to save ammo, but would hit parts of the other plane
There's some controversy on that count. On one occasion he was forced to bail out after a fight due to loss of fuel. The corresponding American testimony claimed a kill. I'm willing to argue that if he was struck in the fuel tank and the leak was due to enemy action him bailing is "getting shot down" though there isn't anything conclusive either way.
while what im saying in no way criticises any airman from that time, the german pilots were simply never rotated out, so ofc they got 1. way more experience than allied pilots n were thus better, or 2. died. so the ones that made it ofc had more kills and more experiencethan any other pilots, they were not sent home to train new pilots (which hurt the longevity of the luftwaffe imo) or got to just chill. if u survived early combat, u went out every day until u died. the testimonies of the few germans we see in this vid after WWII were the ones, that despite the odds n regardless of if they were the best or not, were successful but survived. some call a few of these men cowards cause they stopped going HAM n instead tried to preserve their own lives towards the end of the war by not being aggressive in the air or letting new pilots go for the fury attack. i say thank you. the survivors, some of the most decorated aces ever, and likely to never be matched, were a great benefit to NATO after the war. at the end of the day, i see brave men doing their duty. who knows how history will judge current wars us as westerners r in.
True enough, but then again their country was being ripped apart by the allied bombing campaign, and when they downed an enemy bomber, they were sparing some German families of being blown up and incinerated. There is a lot of bla bla bla about Hiroshima and Nagasaki but those 1000-bomber allied raids, say that of Hamburg, for instance, killed a lot more Germans than those 2 Atomic Bombs did. All the noise about the A Bombs was that they were new, but the conventional, by that time 'traditional' carpet bombing produced far more devastation, both in Japan and in Germany. So, the German fighter pilots had every reason to fly their planes to exhaustion. The miracle is that some of them survived that ordeal...
Fabio Fario you are right the fire bombings and 1000 plane raids caused.more damage but required.a lot of logistics Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 1plane 1 bomb. Imagine a thousand plane raid all with an A bombs.Remember they did not know we only had 2
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
By far the best documentary on the Luftwaffe I have ever seen. Thankyou for making this.
An absolutely fantastic documentary, I am pleased to see at last the Pilots got their long over due credit for their outstanding courage and fighter prowess , the likes of will never be seen again . True warriors of the skies.
I heard a few stories about German WWII aces from my father who fought in the US Army against the Germans in Italy and in France. He used to work for different Aerospace companies in Los Angeles and met a number of German aces including Erich Hartmann who flew for the German Air Force after WWII. He met many German officers during the war and they were very professional. He often told me that war killed many of the best men in each country and destroys many men's lives after the war. I was told so many war stories by my father and his men that he commanded that I could feel their thoughts and emotions without having to be there. I know it sounds hard to believe but, after hearing so many stories from so many combat veterans I could have some understanding of what is like to have lived in those times.
Well expressed, John. Your father must have been a decent man.
@@82luft49 I thank you for the response and my father always said that war is very impersonable and unfortunately destroys many of the country's best people. He always told me that many of the soldiers who died under his command were very smart and excellent human beings and none of them had families.
I like the comments at the end of the video and no one wants their family to experience their suffering during WWII. I heard so many stories from soldiers who fought under my father's command and you have to be there to experience how terrible war could be. I remember hearing my aunt talk about being fire bombed in Tokyo and she was very upset even in 1981. I missed Vietnam by two years and neighbors who fought in Vietnam have many terrible stories. I am glad to not have to fight in any war and thank any veteran for their service.
@@johnwakamatsu3391 qI àààpà
À
I too have a similar background and met many aces such as Bob Goebel, and Bubi Hartman who hated the Lockheed F 104.
This is one of the best documentaries! The fact that the participants were interviewed made it really good!
Both Galland (1) & Kerpinsky (2) admitted to the fact.. The war was lost (1) before it was started (2) was lost 1941 while flying over Moscow. Viewing the hundreds of Ruskies climbing from train 🚂 box cars.
Met Galland in the '70's, got to shake his hand and had him autograph my copy of "The First and the Last". Quite an honour.
A-Mazing Shawn! I just finished reading 'A Higher Call.' (Makos, Atlantic Books) General Galland was a truly RARE & inspirational individual. I (innocently) envy your moment with that great man. Australia
Why did you shake hands with a war criminal.
@@juusohamalainen7507 Fact was he was not a war criminal. To have been a "war criminal" he would have had to have been convicted of war crimes, he was never even charged. Most people who fought for Germany in WWII were not war criminals.
Grow up.
I must give praise and thanks to the British as the superior WW2 documentaries producers.Of course the Germans who were the masters at capturing all phases of combat in footage supplied the danger it took .Galland out of all the Germans Ace pilots is the one that most impressed me becoming a General at 28 years old just one of his many impressives achievements.Harrtman looking 9like a high school teenager was the most inspirational.Can anyone imagine mission after mission totaling over 3500 in one war and your enermy just 50 missions only ,enough to get a medal as well as given a break from the war back home in the states.Thumbs up ,hats off another great historical educational video.
I have great respect and admiration for the luftwaffe Aces that fought in a war they knew they would ultimately lose. Great documentary
What? These arrogant a$$holes?
They thought they were the superior race . They sought to and fought to and killed in order to dominate all " other" people's. How can you have admiration for someone like that?
@@rorytennes8576 they were only pilots not radical politicians
@@karaDee2363 One may appreciate the military performance of these men, but one hast to put it into context. I am interested in history but find it highly questionable to glorify war in this way. Furthermore, at least Rudel, Nowotny and to a certain degree Galland were Nazis to the core. Feel free to read about the infamous Field Marshal Schörner, who is mentioned because of Rudel. I am german by the way.
@@florianbusse8383 I would suggest you read Erich Hartmann's biography.
@@karaDee2363 I did.
Congratulations on your 100th birthday, Mr. Hugo Broch! 06.01.22 . He is the best fighter Pilot alive with 81 victorys. All the best and health! Or as we aviators say „Hals und Beinbruch " ! As far as I know, you are the last living fighter pilot with a knight's cross.
Qt 1
We need more of these aces to fight the communists
A couple of interesting facts about Hans Joachim Marseilles: In his last month of life he scored 60 victories, 17 of which were in one day. His marksmanship was so phenomenal that based on armorers records he required only 3 cannon rounds and 15 machinegun bullets per kill on average.
Even more interesting fact:
He fought in the Battle of Britain and was a horrendous bad pilot, crashing several machines and was nearly kicked out of his JG. Then he transfered, got an other boss as Kommodore and mentor - the rest is history.
@@k98_zock_tv47
that bit of info says a great deal about life doesn't it?
@@LtBrown1956 true. If I could resume : A good teacher for a good learner makes a genius.
@@JulienGardner
amen
@David Vance
sorry, NO ....it seems he flew ME109s (Es and Fs) his entire career ....including his last flight
How come these gun camera's on these WW2 planes are better pictures than UFO's in 2020s
Cause there faked lol I'm dying to catch one on my s21 ultra camera, that new periscope lens is fecking crazy clear zoom for miles and miles! It's pretty creepy actually to find someone can be zoomed in on you from 2 miles away over a river bridge and watch your every move! Like I did testing I the other day to someone going to there car lol
Because obviously this ufo BS tinfoilhattery alien crap in the internet age is patheticly made up and bogus :P
lol
Because the good cameras clearly see that the “UFO” for what it is and the bad footage remains Unidentified….
And it's funny UFO's just examine a few lone aircraft while they are in flight, instead of flying around and landing at airports, busy motorway and cities to have better look at all our lovely technology! 😁
Sir. This was a FANTASTIC film. My lifelong dream since the age of 5 or 6 was to fly an ME-109. I've often gotten weird looks even from close friends throughout my life thinking I'm secretly pro-nazi because I'd talk about and admire these pilots (my family is of German descent, but lost family on both sides of the war). Being able to REALLY look into the lives of some of these guys through their own voices was incredible, and you set the pace BRILLIANTLY. I had finished reading the biographies of both Galland and Hartmann by age 9 and even went to Germany on a tour with my father to meet Erich as well as other veterans, but he died a month or so before it happened. Thank you so much for the film!
I was fortunate to meet Adolf Galland, Gunther Rall, Walter Krupinski, and two other ME 109 pilots, one a Romanian, at a seminar organized by Virginia Bader, Douglas Bader's cousin in the early 80's. There were many allied veterans in the audience one of whom was the actor Morgan Woodward, a bomber pilot during the war. During the Q&A he related the terror that was felt as German fighters tore through their formations, the Romanian pilot (damn that I forgot his name) related the terror they felt diving into a wall of tracers from the bomber boxes. The response brought a pleasant chuckle of appreciation from many old foes and now friends in the audience
Yeah Galland always talked about the dangerous four engines.
Dan Vizante was romanian pilot , or Ion Dicezare, or Horia Agarici
@@andreiiulian7140 Sorry none of those names sound familiar
@@michaeld.uchiha9084
Galland talked about the dangerous Spitfire, the fighter he most respected.
Hartmann did not have to go into captivity with his men. He did. That is leadership!
Jg 52 at the end was near Prague. They surrendered to the Americans (for obvious reasons). The Americans turned them over to the Soviets as they fought in The Stalingrad sector. The Soviets did to the pilots wives and CHILDREN that connot be discussed. Some pilots killed first their children, then their wives and then themselves.
And stayed in russian prison for 5 yrs until he was freed by the help of the german chancellor Adenauer .
@@Joewylie3 Oh fuck off
@@1339LARS 10 years in captivity. Released in '55.
The book "The blonde knight of Germany" (a bio of Hartmann) is quite interesting. Some of YT's posts roughly titled top 10 Luftwaffe Aces are also interesting.
Thank You So Much for paying Worthy Tributes to the many Aviators during WWII of All Sides , especially to those who shown The Universal Loving Kindness & Compassion to fellow Aviators in trouble during their raids or escort duties! Hearthening to know , some made Good Lifelong Friends after WWII until their natural deaths! Godspeed to All! Stay Safe & Stay Grateful! 🌍🇬🇧🇩🇪🇫🇷🇺🇸
This is a top notch Luftwaffe Doc. Save for the ages.
The German flying aces, the ‘Luftwaffe’, were the most dominant set of pilots in history, even though their planes were inferior than their enemy’s. Deeply skilled pilots
Finally a documentary that honoured the bravery of these unsung heroes. Thank you
I admire this documentary as accurate and consistent with independent history. This is a new revelation for me. I just finished reading "A Higher Call" (Makos with Alexander. Atlantic Books 2012). From this book I learned: 'All Nazis were Germans, BUT NOT all Germans were Nazis." The distinction is both fundamental & essential in the context of the German air-force.
In this book a German pilot Ace (Franz Steigler) sympathetically spared a helpless, broken, & battered USAF B17, (Pilot Charles Brown) even protecting it through the Atlantic Flak-Wall to escape over the North Sea to safety after saluting them. (This was a courts-martial and / or death-sentence.) Comparing the book with this doco I find the theme of German Teutonic-chivalry is consistent. At the end I was both surprised and my bias admonished.
The book's personalities and individuals are recognizable in the documentary - what amazing and honorable human beings! Combat situations reveal ones' true self. (I was once a soldier faced with this 'kill-or-be-killed' decision.) The German air-force preserved its noble culture in the chivalry suggested by this documentary.
In this documentary after weighing the facts presented I (personally) conclude I should Honor those brave individuals who fought to protect their families consistent with their own personal sense of Honor and rectitude, after the example of; Galland, the Count, Steinhoff, Hartmann, Willi, Franz Steigler, Marsielle, Barkhorn etc etc.
At first glimpse I felt the doco was some kind of 'political-correctness,' but after reading the well-documented 'Higher Call' & comparing both I conclude the documentary reifies a conflict between prescriptive-ideology and the personal principles of honorable men - true virtue will always shine.
Respect to Chivalry of the German air force. Australia
I for one respect your ability to grow and learn and recognise your ability to see that perhaps the war was a little more varied and colourful. Most people are unable to do what you have written here, and what's worse is the don't actually know it. They will come after you for it, just don't let em get you down.
The memorial (at 19.26) to Hans Joachim Marseilles' memory was built on the spot where he was killed in the North African desert. As his epitaph, it has only one word on it: "UNDEFEATED". Marseilles' 158 victories stands as the highest score achieved by any axis pilot, entirely against the western allies.
A real class act.
The highest number of claims by any axis pilot against the Western allies, there are a number of false claims in that lot.
Marseilles, at the time of his demise, had shouted Horrido! 158 times. At that time, Hartmann had not a single victory on his tail rudder.
Marseille was notorious for overclaiming. 158 is unbelievable.
I doubt if he ever shouted Carving degree which is English translation for the Japanese word Horido or the Latin word Horrido. Why would he?
@BekGrou PRIMUS His claims have been shown to be false and do not come close to matching RAF records.
My dad is a pilot and i remember him always telling me about Hartman. I remember him alway pounding at me that he was the best, and had 352 victories. When i was young i remember being so amazed
It is refreshing to watch a documentary which gives credit where credit is due without the ranting of partisan nostalgia. thanks and well done.
Interesting/informative/entertaining. Excellent aerial photography job. Enabling viewers to better understand what the orator was describing. Special thanks to veteran Luftwaffe pilots sharing personal information pertaining to actual combat operations. Making this documentary more authentic and possible. Hermann Goering was the worst enemy the Luftwaffe pilots had. Commander " Ace " Adolph Galland constantly argued with him along with the disillusioned incompetent fuhrer 😈.
Brave men on both sides very sad loss of life rest in peace X
Qu'ils rejoignent leur maitre le Diable !
This is the most riveting footage and the most human commentary. Outstanding!
Imagine having your leg blown off and 6 weeks later you're flying combat missions! Heck, it took me 6 weeks to recover from a sprained ankle! Amazing!!
At 12:10 Galland is accompanied by Oberleutnant Gunther Lutzow, leader of the fighter pilots rebellion in January 1945, and sadly missed in action in April the same year , till today.
Outstanding video. Thank you for posting this, it made my day. .👍
Consider the life of a German Luftwaffe fighter pilot in WW2. While Americans trained stateside, in combat free zones, they looked forward to engaging in combat for a prescribed period of time. After thirty to fifty missions depending on the phase of the war, an American could look forward to coming home and perhaps finishing the war as an instructor in Texas. For the german, not so. He was in for the long haul. He flew until he was shot down and killed, taken prisoner or injured to the point where he could no longer fly. Some german pilots returned to the cockpit after horrendous injuries, being extensively burned or even suffering the loss of both legs in crashes. To say they were dedicated is an understatement.
I used to think that WWI pilots were "flying knights" but i'm glad to see that even in WWII with more modern aircraft, there was still knights flying
What a guy. Matinee idol good looks. Brave to the extreme. He had to be ordered out of the fighters. AFter all he was a General in charge of the fighter wing, but he didnt want to stop flying.Imagine that this daredevil survived the war. Amazing. The first and the last. Truly.
It's unbelievable Germany had such advanced weapons in WWII. The V-1 is still in use today albeit a much higher tech one, Blitzkrieg is still a fighting tactics used today, wire guided rockets still used today,,,astounding feats for the 1940's. If it weren't for von Braun, we would have never got to the moon when we did.
Jeff Pittel Are you talking about the v 2? Because the v 1 was not a creation og Von Braun
I’m in Vietnam!!
@John Eshleman yes it certainly was debunked. I don’t know why they are still posting dumb NASA stuff anymore
@@deoglemnaco7025 You have an IQ of 17.
@Bubby theCuck I am a smart man and I know things
Let me say one thing about the German flying aces. There is a list in which a little more than 100 German fighter pilots are named. The worst pilot, so to speak, had a little more than 100 kills and the best "Bubi Hartmann" 352. These are the German aces of fighter pilots. A German pilot of the Second World War said one thing about the high number of kills of the Germans in contrast to the significantly lower number of the Allied aces: In the 6 years of the war we had enough opponents that we could shoot down. The sky was always full of enemies. The American pilots, for example, usually only flew for 6 months and towards the end of the war hardly saw any German aircraft in the sky. Since the video tells something about Adolf Galland and he is shown here with some comments, I have a very good tip for those who are really interested in how the German fighter pilots lived, fought and died during the war. I attach the book by Adolf Galland to my heart, which has the title "The First and the Last" Gloss and Downfall of the German Fighter Pilots. It is a biography of Galland and tells the historically correct story of the German fighter pilots. He wrote the book himself. Mfg. Magnus. Ps: After Galland flew an Me-262 for the first time he said: It's like an Angel is pushing.
@32:26 the narrator talks about Wilhelm Moritz but the person shown Is Oskar "Ossie" Romm, who had a total of 82 aerial victories....both flew with JG3.
This is what a real documentary looks like. Not biased anti German propaganda.. You can go to the BBC or History Channel for that xD
I like all these old warriors. The greatest generation...
Agreed. They were brave, highly professional men.
They were fighting for the bad guys but they showed raw guts. Truly some of the bravest men to ever walk the earth. I would have shit my pants if i had to do what they did.
ryan case, Tim Rogers, negan rex: Imagine a time when Americans, Brits, and Russians of all walks of life, were united and working in concert to destroying fascism.
They were war criminals not great guys.
@@juusohamalainen7507 what war crime did they comit pray tell
Great documentary. Thanks.
Much respect for the Luftwaffe pilots, they were men of steel.
Great Video, thank you for it!
Finland has a pilot ace world record in terms of the number of fighters. 116 pilots achieved more than five victories.
"At the beginning of the Continuation War, our Air Force had 67 good, 34 satisfactory and 76 obsolete fighters. At end of war we had 34 Bf-109`s"
One pilot (Jorma Sarvanto, Fokker D.XXI) get six in four minutes in winter war. Brewster fighters (44) get 440 victories.
For comparing USAF had 90 thousand fighters and had 1294 ace.
German had over 100 aces with over 100 kills.....and hundreds more with greater than 10, not sure where the "world record is" in Finland.
@@freddenapoli3591 In Finland was about under 400 fighter pilots. According that number, 96 aces is lot. After german aces, finnish pilots are next in personal 94 and 75 victories. Aces had 1435 kills.
There were just over 2500 German aces in World War 2
@@jarikinnunen1718 dude the german were counting aces in thousands
Kudos to Finland for your ferocious fighters, both on the ground and in the air.
35:41 In his book, The Big Circus, Clostermannput's a coment from a member of 122nd Wing who said the same when they had the news about the death of Walter Nowotny. It was a chapeter named after him and for describe the widespread sense of camaradery and mutual respect between de fighter pilots through the war.
I'm really glad some of these aces survived to tell their story. The odds against them were incredible, but I'm sure they did everything they could to defend their country. I grew up fast when I served my country too while in the military. Thankfully though, I never had to face anything like they did. But I would still do it again if I had to, just like these brave men did.
Your words get me crying! .......Tans for your Service Soldier! AHHHUUUUUI \o
the defend their country... yes at the end. But it was to invade all Europe before that (Im speaking about german aces).
@@JulienGardner That may be true Julien, but the decision to invade other countries was not theirs. They were just following orders, unlike the people who are invading my country now. The only difference is they're not wearing Swastikas or flying planes and dropping bombs on our cities.
@@BigKWS Who's invading "your" country?
@@BigKWS the men who murdered innocent men, women and children with bullets and gas were just following orders too i guess..
No moral spine to say " no" this is wrong...
This is the best video I've ever watched on RUclips these guys know what they're talkin about thank you RUclips and thank you extreme mysteries🤠
I read A Higher Call, which lead me to find this documentary, a lot of these German aces were in the book!
AWESOME BOOK
Flying a Focke-Wulfe FW190 on meth and murdering enemy planes must've felt truly great and terrible.
Please dtooooompiotitreewwz
Fs n c lv w other yogc Pooh qHbqr do d put o
Please dtooooompiotitreewwz
Fs n c lv w other yogc Pooh qHbqr do d put o
@@chonqmonk They weren't on "meth" you dumb don't know any real history so I'll make some dumb shit up about drugs that were not even invented yet yank.
Some were real Heroes, like Ulrich Rudel, who sacrificed himself to save his shot-down colleagues, on enemy territory. They inspire admiration. Others did their duty diligently, keeping a cool head and full professionalism, like Erich Hartmann, Gunter Rall and many, many others. These deserve respect.
But in the ranks of Luftwaffe - there were also some *knights of the skies* who deliberately and meticulously fired their on-board guns at the columns of evacuating civilians that scattered in terror across the fields. As well as such *aces* - who, while piloting the *Ju 87 "Stuka"* precisely, bombed the hospital, marked with huge symbols of the Red Cross, spread on the roof (Warsaw, September 1939...).
And Allies did Dresden, firebombed civilians and dropped nukes on civilians, bad apples on both sides
Goosebumps begins at 49:02
That epic music. Awesome!
You know it’s gonna be a good documentary when the intro is slow mp footage with dramatic music in the background
53:15 - they always say they did not know, /nor even believed/ - and... after all... I can really understand it, as I grew up in Poland - 1969 - 1989 - 1999 - - - and we do not know a single real thing going on 'behind', often to this very day... THANK YOU ALL!
Beautiful documentary 👍
The Luftwaffe should have made some sort of training cycle. Once you finished 100 missions, go back to train on that particular theatre of combat for six months. Then head to a different theatre, 100 missions and go back to train again passing on your experience to the training staff and student pilots. The wealth of information and experience lost by not being able to make maximum use of that combat time would make a good student able to make it through the break in period and cut down on losses due to accidents as well. Never lose sight of, this war may go longer than expected! Let's focus on giving the next crop of pilots all the help we can!
well you are saying right but that time they didnt had any young men to train because america was bombing their cities and germany was desperate to keep themselves in war by any means necessary
This guy has the best narrative and voice for WW2 documentary. He spits it how it should be told! Luftwaffe forever Kings of the Sky
@Practically Pituophis Feltons work is brilliant, never heard of Carlin yet
@Practically Pituophis I'm speechless.......that many beheaded!??
Should be renamed, "German Fighter aces".......
+Martin Reay The most successful German aces had already become aces in Spain and shoot down obsolete Soviet made I-15 and I^-16.
@@strikerorwell9232 And in WWII some Soviet i-16 aces, e.g. Vasilii Golubyev shoot down several Bf 109 and FW 190.
Mr. Martin Reay. Completely agree with you. WW II aces? Where are the other aces? The allies.
This trend of glorifying Nazi Germans is wrong. They lost, they committed war crimes through concentration camps & all Germans knew about it. And in Spain the attacks against civilians in Guernica. Hitler & others publicly spoke about extermination & wrote about it in a book we all know.
Now turkish german Ace
You’re a special kind of ignorant, aren’t you?
Not glorifying nazism, just giving credit where it’s due.
51:45 Apex of this documentary, goose bumps and a minor heart stoppage
That music at 49:01. EPIC!
While their Nations cause may have been unjust, these were just boys fighting for their Fatherland and their families. They did their duty....often unto death; May God have mercy on them all.
@JZ's Best Friend Nope.
@@inominate2024 Yeah, read it. It's Awful. What's that have to do with the boys fighting?
I was hoping to hear something about Johannas Wiese, just learned recently hes distant family over seas. Great documentary.
I've watched probably 150 or more WWII videos. This is excellent, thank you!
Well Done! An Honest Warriors Perspective, no bureaucrat bs
Damn, Germany used to go hard AF. WOW.
Gunther Rall is one of the biggest hardasses(respectfully) in the history of aviation warfare
Erich Hartmann is biggest !
@@ttjuicer5916 Rudel
@David Vance epic
@@ttjuicer5916 Hartmann has most kills but thete is other pilots that deserve more recognition.
Forget the name, but this pilot had like 138 kills in the west, 90 at night time, a lot of aces averaged 3 rounds per kill etc
@@toddduffy1658
I see a bit more of your fiction creeping in. Who were these aces who managed 3 rounds per kill and where is it on record?
The intro orchestral music is amazing
I like how this documentary is not in the 'History Channel' style of treating every German like a Nazi, and every German as 'Insane'.
X!
They lost the war. That makes them villians.
the real truth is well hidden ! keep digging
They were all Nazis at the time.
@@jthomas4361 *facepalm*
It's important to not lose your soul; too many did and never got them back.
they had none
You can't lose something that dosen't exist in the first place......it's their minds and empathy they don't want to lose
Straight up, I liked the vid. I am open to reading how "they" fought the war. ["Letters From Iwo Jima" was a similar experience] As a boy I read Adolf Galland's "The First and The Last".
But let's not think that all Luftwaffe pilots were chivalrous, A book I read "Fighter Pilot" written in 1942 [note the date] speaks of German pilots shooting allied pilots in parachutes. I can't provide a link but there is another story of a German lining up an allied pilot in a chute where an RAF pilot interrupted him and shot him down. The German bailed out so the RAF pilot buzzed him collapsing his chute.
War is hell.
bill
war IS hell! you got it there buddy
pilots on both sides had issues with the parachuting enemy situation ....keep in mind, a parachuting enemy is NOT surrendering!!
not to mention the obvious fact that he may crawl into a cockpit that afternoon and shoot YOU or a close comrade down
it is an ethical quagmire with no easy answer for those in combat (unlike those safe in their homes typing on a computer like you and I)
you are correct about little chivalry in the Luftwaffe ....but you would be equally correct in saying the same thing about the USAAF and the RAF or the Red Airforce
@@LtBrown1956 watch a Mustang pilot talk about a man bailing out of a B-17 at about 26,000 ft .
He had his parachute in his hands not strapped to his back . As soon as he got in the open air the chute was blown out of his grip .
" at least he had time to say his prayers "
Only thought the P-51 pilot could think that gave the man some hope I guess .
26,000 feet .
My father was wounded in the war and his brother was killed in a Sherman tank .
Great men and women of that generation .
The issue of shooting pilot's while bailing out was a sensitive topic. Most pilot's did not shoot a man in a parachute. The rule was it you bailed out over your own territory you were considered fair game. If you.bailed out over enemy territory you were not.
The rule is a pilot bailing out over enemy territory is a non combatant and is not to be shot at. If you are bailing out over your own territory you are a combatant and can return to your base and fly again so you can be shot at in a chute on the ground as long as you are in your territory. That is from the head of fighter command during the battle of Britain Sir High Dowding
If you were ever looking for someone to look up to, kids, these gentlemen have got it where it counts.
Ian Ritchie My kids won't look up to fucking Nazis.
Samfia Drangus they won’t look up to u either hopefully
Samfia Drangus if ur kids wanna be pilots at all u bet ur ass they’re gonna look up to these guys lmao
Not sure we want our kids to be Nazis.
the German pilots were great and brave men, unlike their regime they didn't enjoy killing but they did enjoy flying and where can one fly the fastest and most powerful flying machine if not in the air force
KatatonicGoat the junk messershit
you are the junk. fucktard
I N ha ha ha ha ha messershit pile
KatatonicGoat the US mustang shot the piss out of the messershit and so did the P47
All you guys talking about how shit the German plane were. Here is a list of the top Aces during the war en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_War_II_flying_aces. Keep scrolling for the American and British Aces. Nobody can be that good in a shit plane. Oh an notice the Finnish airmen who were also flying German equipment same with the Romanian guy too.
From September 1944 the RAF was dropping more tonnage in bombs on Germany every night than the Luftwaffe dropped on Great Britain in the whole of 1940.. A quote from Sir Max Hastings in his book "Chastise" What the Americans dropped was an added extra.
@Reinhard Gratzer Dear Idiot, How can we be broke and bankrupt when the government is paying the wages of 30,000,000 workers for three months during the covid-10 lockdown and also build two of these ruclips.net/video/MMNU6VUmcmY/видео.html
@@mariacornwallis1602 Britain has been owned by international bankers ever since the Rothshilds cornered the London stock market in 1810 through insider trading and manipulation. The covid lockdown was used to destroy our economies and further put the middle classes in the UK, US, France, Canada into debt slavery.
@@Citadin GB is doing ok thank you, not like the USA which is $3,000,000,000,000 in debt.
I'm completely godsmacked by Hans-Ulrich Rudel!! 3500 missions in a Stuka!! Either the bravest or craziest man EVER!!! (BTW, I heard that Fairchild-Republic asked Hans' opinion about ground attack aircraft while designing the A 10 Warthog.)
Rudel was a hard core n*z*
L KNOW ! Uncle Joe puts a 100,000 ruble bounty on your head, you know your doing something right.!
2504 missions flown,. But it is true he overclaimed terrible with his tank scores... as all tank hunters of that time did.
FOr example, the myth that the allies destroyed german tanks in france - you can reduce the number of killed german tanks by factor 50... and this would be still overclaiming. Same with these killed tanks by german or russian planes.
If Rudel had destroyed 100 tanks by gunnery this would be a high number. Just to hit an enemy tank doesn´t mean it was killed. It got damaged, but most time it could be repaired and so wasn´t destroyed. Hitting it with a 500kg bomb - that make an end to it.
I try not to be negative, but why is this limited to Nazi aces? The title is "The Fighter Aces," not "Nazi Fighter Aces." Other combatant countries had a few, too.
not really. Germany, Japan and Russia had true aces... allies had participations trophy style aces.
@@nothanks3590
your point is valid but even russia did not have one ace who even came close to galland and he was not close to hartman
Most of these guys were not nazi party members, and disliked nazi doctrine. They were thrill seekers
And only wanted to fly
@@nothanks3590 such a cuck you are
Excellent video. All the German aces were clearly talented at racking up incredible achievements, but Rudel was a one man army!
All right guys, I admit it. As all Jansen Media works, this is a wonderful video of truly historical value. That being said, I would like to point out it is a bit too early (history is measured by centuries) to glorify German warriors, irrespective of being airmen, sailors or ground soldiers. For sure there were true heroes among their hordes, but the evil their fellow comrades committed, unheard-of crimes against mankind, and all that, is too recent yet to be forgotten, and in my view it borders outright disrespect for those millions and millions (mostly of them unarmed civilians of all ages) who perished in the hands of the hun. Take my advise: do not allow the Germans to cultivate their war heroes as of now. Not that they should not do it privately, discreetly (like the Japanese do). There are young idiots in Germany now that are repeating the same bla bla bla which led to WWII, that Germany has been a victim, that the Americans and the British bombed German cities despite the fact that the German people were such nice and peace-loving people, and one of these days, they will begin to glorify Hitler. Once that happens, we will have the same showdown all over again.
But then again: a very good video...
but its ok to glorify the people who firebombed whole cities? or dropped atomic bombs on civilians? lets not forget we, in the US, worship the founders of our country who took part in slavery and the genocide of native americans. or people in the UK who glorify their war heroes like nelson... lets not forget the british empire was pretty evil itself.
@@nothanks3590 I think you are missing the point. I for myself think that glorifying people in generel is a bad idea. Especially political or military people. Plus it was a world war. I dont understand why everyone needs winners and looser, or actors and victims in that scenario. Every country in Europe has over 2000+ years of cultural history. So everyone f*ed up at some point. Doesnt mean that its ok. For example, yes the US bombed a lot of civilians, but so did the germans in poland right after signing a treaty which declared that civilians must be protected from bombings. So noone should be glorified. It was hell on earth and destroyed entire nations and generations of people.
You should read history books not propaganda. BTW nowadays the real danger is still communism.. You let them invade eastern europe and don't like to talk about how these countries suffered after the world war. ;) You also don't know too much about germany as it is now, or you wouldn't talk these nonsense... So let's just worry about Russia,china or the USA. Not germany. Where do you live to know so little about european politics?
@@Robinjhoe1 I do agree with your views. The 20th century was a hell of a century (literally). I often wonder why in this world someone coined the expression "Belle Epóque" to refer to the last decades of the 19th century and first decades of the 20th century. In these pandemic days I always think about a European citizen (regardless of his nationality. I mean European in general) who had the very, very bad luck of being born say in 1896. That meant that in 1914 he would be 18 in the beginning of WWI. And would have to fight all through all that hell that WWI was. And in the unlikely hypothesis that he survived, immediatelly afterwards he would have to fight the Spanish Flu (which killed just as many as WWI itself had done). If he survived that ordeal, he would have to go through the economic crisis, those Great Depression years, which were so awful that it is one of the causes of WWII. And then, in 1939 he would be 43 years old and would be once more drafted to fight WWII.
Going through some numbers, the Soviet Union fought the Germans from the end of June, 1941 up to May 1945. About 50 months (one should not forget though that from September 1939 up to June 1941 it was a German ally, 22 months in all). In any event, during those 50 months the Soviets lost an average of 52000 thousand people per month (26 million people divided by 50 months). The Germans fought from Sep 39 to May 1945, about 68 months, and lost something like 9 million people (meaning some 132000 people per month). So, if we put into perspective the current pandemia produced by the Covid-19, we conclude that at least for the time being WWII was much, much worse than this pandemia. And always to my surprise, there were many Europeans who survived the terrible ordeal which was the 20th century.
How all that happened and why it happened probably will the a main subject to be explored by future historians. If we consider that up to now there are historians concerned with the Trojan wars...
America is dealing with this issue now in glorifying the right wing .
エーリッヒ・ハルトマン氏の動画を初めて見ました。又、それと同時に肉声も初めて聞きました。
感動しました、ありがとうございました。 from Japan
Garland: the war was lost when it started...when the russians asked a German general what was the turning point,property thinking Stalingrad or Kursk...no the inability to invade or knock out England.the very idea that one country could take on the world proves why Germany could never win
if Poland and France and the other pussy countries would of put up some kind of a fight and even all of the countries keep a fight going then Hitler would not of thought he can do the same to
Russia and England and then USA had to come fight these pussy countries fights for them even when USA had to deal with Japan and been defending pussy Korea over 60 years Russia give them what they deserved
Poland? Pussy country? You have to learn a little bit more about polish resistance. You do now that they where attacked by Sovjetunion AND Germany in september 1939? Not easy to fight in a two front war. Have you ever heard of polish home army?
@@nisse7399 I Agree when you take in consideration Germany had about 3 million men or better against tiny Poland As France and Great Britain knew they were next . Poland is to be commended for their courage and will to fight against Nazisism.Lukily Adolph got so big headed he attacked the Soviets which aided us in and gave us time to supply the rest of the world with weapons as well asallowing the Great Generation time to gear up.Remember Poland was being attacked by the Soviets at the begining also.
@@nisse7399
poland DID fight well ....but they were betrayed by the allies twice during one war ....the german army learned a lot of lessons at the expense of the poles ....the west NEEDS poland strong and united to stand as a road block to russia
@@johnanders3440
actually their standing armies were about the same size (germany's was slightly larger) but germany mobilized first and were able to put more men in the field MORE BELOW
Poland was squeezed between 2 hostile neighbors and HAD (russia had already invaded once since the end of ww1) to keep a large standing army ...they failed to mobilize more men because the western allies convinced them not to. Poland was hardly tiny ....they had a population of 39 million (about half of germany) .....of course germany had to keep a force in the west
9:40 The correct designation is BF-109. Willy hadn't taken control of Bayerische Flugzeugwerke yet when it was designed by him & Robert Lusser.
Watching that old footage know when those rounds go out people are dying constantly
Excellent video.
"Wooden cross or iron cross"
Wow, that hit home 😵
I wasn’t there, and I only know what I’ve learned from reading and studying this period in our history. From what I’ve been able to deduce, the Luftwaffe pilots were gentlemen, exceptional at their roles, well educated men, honorable people, and sincere in their work and relationships. While there were no doubt bad actors….on all sides….the majority of the gentlemen who flew and fought for Germany held disdain and contempt for berlins politics and the Nazi regime as a whole.
Galland was a gentleman, a powerful intellect and a brave man.
Yes he was
He was only a murderer, no more. He attacked his neighbours in a war of German aggression.
Most interesting and good film. Compliments!
Where can I find the films with the interviews with the German airmen?
The Luftwaffe had the best pilots it's not even close. Erich Hartmann the ace of aces.
Same time was smaller airforce who manage better like Ilmavoimat.
Luftwaffe just drop enemys and loose war. Succesfull war didn't play numbers.
No the best pilots go to RaF ot Americans
Yet they couldn't beat the RAF even in 1940. Luftwaffe aces were deployed by a nation that lacked the capacity for waging war; by fanatics who failed to understand that casualties were an important factor in any stratagem; and by dilettantes who failed to see their own very considerable limitations.
@@yourtrappedinmygenjutsu - Yeah the raf was the best and alot of those German victories came against the Poles , who's planes were already relics when the war started.
Oh bullshit
Interesting bit of history . My Mum (She grew up in the Second World War) , told me that Adolf Galland was a pin up for teenage girls in WW2 , As were many Greman fighter Aces and Tank commanders . A bit like Teen idols of the pop world today , except with style , charisma , talent and courage .
They were in magazines and newsreels that they showed in movie theaters
Buffsbeard ww2
Pure courage.
B
True. They fancied about the german heroes and later went with the invader. Frailty thy name is woman.
Gunther Ralls scored 275 air victories not 175 per wikipedia
Either number is a huge feat in it self.
true
Also Adolf Galland was credited with 104 victories not 103 which is stated in the video.
@@xatan3318 He actually had a few more kills, but these where not registered because he was forbidden by Hitler to fly combat missions when he became the Inspektor General der Jagdflieger.
@Richard L Yeah so I’ve heard. Same also goes to Werner Mölders who also got roughly 30 above his official score. Training younger fighters in real combat after he retired from combat.
hm, they forget many others like Hermann Graf, Prinz zu Sayn Wittgenstein, Wolfgang Schnaufer, Otto Kittel , Hans Hahn !, Kurt Bühligen and not to forget some very good development test pilots like Hanna Reitsch, or Fritz Wendel or Gräfin Schenck zu Stauffenberg
Nice to actually hear Hartmans voice.
Of all of the men discussed here, only only Rudel remained an unrepentant Nazi. Rall and Hartmann were both great allies during the Cold War, an though Hartmann remained angry until he died that NATO politics forced the F-104 on the Bundes Luftwaffe.
The German Air Force needed a more versatile combat aircraft than the F-104, and Hartmann knew that. The missions the German fighters were flying the French Mirage would have been a much more suitable aircraft, but Western (US) politics forced the Starfigher on them. Thus a lot of flying accidents. Hartmann went so far as to state a preference for the F-86 over the F-104. It was either eat the shit sandwich or retire.
Hartmann was the ace of aces.
@Deutsches Brot - German Bread Also the domination of Europe. Don't sugar coat history.
@Deutsches Brot - German Bread You conveniently left out the part where Germany invaded Poland and annexed Czechoslovakia. Britain and France had to respond. Had Germany not screwed the Czechs and limited it's land grab to only reclaiming lost land from the Treaty of Versailles there likely wouldn't have been a WW.
@Deutsches Brot - German Bread Well, let them believe their stuff. Re-education is also a thing in western countries. If they would have the knowledge we have, about the efforts from the "chef" to avoid war, about the warmongers in the politics of France and England....well, lets not open this topic here. They have BBC and lies about our history.
There is one pilot missing: Ilmari Juutilainen
The Finnish ace.
Thanks for a good documentary paying tribute where it's due. It is a shame and a disgrace for the German govt that it does not recognise the heroism and patriotism of these men to this day, as this Englishman has truthfully done.
Nazi's are the disgrace. When you're the minion of the devil, you don't get many atta boys.
@@slimbear1687 Get off your high horse and look at the victors with critical thinking. There are no Saints in war. History is written by the victors. Humans at our very core are primitive and selfish in both victory and defeat because its survival instinct.
Journalism is not the truth; it is a perspective from a motivated narrative presented with some type of supporting evidence. To think any published article from the internet or a newspaper is the single bastion of truth then you must be barely above the complexity of a mentally challenged individual. That is all historical texts in a nutshell.
The study of history is to better understand the whole picture of the given past from existing records, sources, and the scholarship of such. If that last sentence is not comprehensive then you are not in a position to have a valuable contribution beyond a RUclips comment.
All involved in war are faced with moral and ethical dilemmas in a stressful situation where the clarity between right and wrong is grey. We call it the gray area because the mixing of right (white color) and wrong (black color). This is why civilians have a disconnect with war veterans; we truly have no idea of this grey context of war because we are viewing it from our comfortable sofa at home. The difference between good and evil is not like a Disney movie where a hero/heroine clearly exists from the evil and triumphs each time merely from merit. If you think otherwise then I highly suggest you go back to living your deceitful fairytale life because it is clearly your subconscious cooping mechanism.
@@albatraoz1257 Well, you intellectual dynamo, do you know how to read? And then comprehend what you just read? Which of my 17 words do you find offensive? When you think you can write a paper on a 17 word comment you might have some sort of penile compensation issues.
They were indeed brave and competant heroes but they faught a primarily OPRESSIVE WAR not a defensive one.
Lol…. I think you meant “protective” instead of defensive.
At first the Luftwaffe was on the offensive, then with their Reich being pushed back on all fronts and massively out numbered by allied aricraft they were defensive.
Your grasp of history, even of logic seems tenuous to be honest as the video you just watched explained all that to anyone who didn't already know it.
The most successful fighter group in history was JG52. 10,000 victories.
The 3 highest scoring aces of all time all fought with JG52.
Eric Hartmann. 352
Gerhard Barkhorn 301
Gunther Rall 275
____
928 aircraft shot down by 3 three pilots.
All in the East and only 2 Spitfires between them, as Gunther Rall would confirm the Battle of Britain was a disaster for JG 52
@@barrierodliffe4155 So? Finnish pilots downed russians by hundreds.
Under 100 planes, mostly obsolite planes.
That makes them bad?
@@edgein4808 USSR had only obsolete aircraft at the time.
@@barrierodliffe4155 Hartmann began his service in 1942 or 43 (I think), All the Soviet obsolete a/c were either destroyed or replaced by then by La5, Yak7 and Mig3
@@stevepodleski
My reply was to Edge about the Finish pilots.
Have you even seen what aircraft Hartmann shot down they include IL2, Boston, I 16, P 39, Mig 1 especially in 1942/43.
"You chose either a wooden cross or Iron Cross" I don't think Gunther Rall meant "chose"!
In german he said:" You only had the chance to get either a wooden cross or an iron cross" The irony in using the word 'chance' seemed intended to me.
Magnificent work. You really enjoy making it, as i enjoy viewing. !!!
Erst Rudel (the stuka pilot) even helped with the development of the american A-10 Warthog, based on his Stuka experience.
Hans Ulrich Rudel
Yes he did, but he was a diehard Nazi till he died.
@@charlesbowman129 their cause was just.
@@jeremykaleschenkoikov6993 If you believe murder is a just cause, that is just sad.
@@philhouck3560 you don't think the allies committed murder? I don't think you have a nuanced understanding of history as it was and not as it's propagandized.
Thanks for this. Who could complain of the courage of these men?
Goes to show that ordinary people are capable of doing extraordinary things when the need arises. God Bless Them!
I just watch a documentary yesterday that said the only operational 109 is a 109 g10 that is world war II vintage German 109 where kept in serviced till 1974 as Spain Frontline fighter
Spain built Bf 109's under licence using Hispano Suiza V 12 and later Rolls Royce Merlin engines. It is rather ironic that the first Bf 109 had a Rolls Royce engine as did the last.
Very nice documentary.
1250 me262 and only 50 allowed to be fighters and they caused devastation think if all 1250 had been used as fighters!
Hartmann was not shot down, his plane sustained damage from debris . His tactic was to get very close to save ammo, but would hit parts of the other plane
Hartmann's book is a great read
There's some controversy on that count. On one occasion he was forced to bail out after a fight due to loss of fuel. The corresponding American testimony claimed a kill. I'm willing to argue that if he was struck in the fuel tank and the leak was due to enemy action him bailing is "getting shot down" though there isn't anything conclusive either way.
@@iBleedStarsAndBars Was it an auto biography or THE BLONDE KNIGHT OF GERMANY?
@@wirelessone2986Blonde knight
Awesome footage, but the audio mix is horrendous.
THESE PILOTS HAD CLASS, ON BOTH SIDES.
they were the real fighter pilots
I don’t think unprovoked attack on civilians is honorable in any context. You’d have to kill me before I would do something that disgraceful.
Wow thanks for the info
Alot of German pilots flew their planes to exhaustion. They would come back and get more fuel and ammo and go right back out flying.
while what im saying in no way criticises any airman from that time, the german pilots were simply never rotated out, so ofc they got 1. way more experience than allied pilots n were thus better, or 2. died. so the ones that made it ofc had more kills and more experiencethan any other pilots, they were not sent home to train new pilots (which hurt the longevity of the luftwaffe imo) or got to just chill. if u survived early combat, u went out every day until u died. the testimonies of the few germans we see in this vid after WWII were the ones, that despite the odds n regardless of if they were the best or not, were successful but survived. some call a few of these men cowards cause they stopped going HAM n instead tried to preserve their own lives towards the end of the war by not being aggressive in the air or letting new pilots go for the fury attack. i say thank you. the survivors, some of the most decorated aces ever, and likely to never be matched, were a great benefit to NATO after the war.
at the end of the day, i see brave men doing their duty. who knows how history will judge current wars us as westerners r in.
They were trying to save their cities & the death camps!
Which was exactly what young R.A.F. pilots were doing in 1940.
True enough, but then again their country was being ripped apart by the allied bombing campaign, and when they downed an enemy bomber, they were sparing some German families of being blown up and incinerated. There is a lot of bla bla bla about Hiroshima and Nagasaki but those 1000-bomber allied raids, say that of Hamburg, for instance, killed a lot more Germans than those 2 Atomic Bombs did. All the noise about the A Bombs was that they were new, but the conventional, by that time 'traditional' carpet bombing produced far more devastation, both in Japan and in Germany.
So, the German fighter pilots had every reason to fly their planes to exhaustion. The miracle is that some of them survived that ordeal...
Fabio Fario you are right the fire bombings and 1000 plane raids caused.more damage but required.a lot of logistics Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 1plane 1 bomb. Imagine a thousand plane raid all with an A bombs.Remember they did not know we only had 2