I’m always amazed how a good pilot could walk the rounds into the target and then concentrate the fire all within a few seconds, a true example of man and machine in harmony!
Same here. My great uncle flew a P38 in WW2 and from the family stories I heard growing up he flew like a crazy man. Those men did some amazing stuff using pretty low tech equipment.
To emphasise how important the interdiction mission was, in his book about 2nd Panzer Division “Das Reich”, Max Hastings points out that a full panzer division being moved by rail took seventy goods trains.
You can really tell the difference between the Lt.'s and the Col.'s marksmanship behind the trigger! Col. Duncan kept his bursts within a 10-15 meter box without even drawing it onto the targets! Just lined it up and gave a 2-3 second squeeze and game over. Really amazing considering this is well before computer assisted targeting. Real by the seat of your pants flying skill, man and machine joined.
@@deliagorban3781 Could Chris Lloyd have written any answer that you would have accepted? Are you aware France was occupied by an invading force? Yes, the US invaded Afghanistan and Iraq but it has not been in any way as cruel and sadistic to the citizens of those countries as the Nazi German occupying forces were to the people of France. Put your mind into the context of the time you are watching.
One may notice sudden bursts of tracer during runs. I suspect that tracer was reserved for some of the last rounds in the loadout. From Checkertails: The 325th Fighter Group in the Second World War, it is known that the 325th's policy was to load tracer in the last 50 rounds of the belt. This gave the pilot a very noticeable indication that ammunition was nearly exhausted. Also it was decided that foregoing tracer and relying on solid gunnery would give enemy pilots less warning, thus less chance to evade attack. From the impact flashes, it appears the aircraft in these gun camera clips are loaded heavily with armor-piercing incendiary (API) possibly with ball mixed in to conserve API. The effectiveness of their loadouts is pretty clear.
I notice the comments below....folks treat this as a game...forgetting that men below are being maimed and killed...quite a sobering fact, in retrospect. Thanks.
Does anyone here know how quickly they were able to patch up those steam engines? I know the ones that explode are lost but wonder what it took to repair a shot-up engine. Also, I think it would be interesting if a historian took a look at some primary docs to see the casualties of those engineers running those trains. Were they volunteers, career guys, forced labor, highly-paid, etc.? I'd bet there are some really interesting tales to be told from their side of things if that stuff could be dug out of the records.
Somewhere I read pilots loved to shoot up the engineer’s cab in an attempt to kill him, leaving the training going full steam ahead. The idea was to have the train hit the next station and any train parked there. The resulting collision would result in much more mayhem, destruction and death. Many of those pilots were that good.
@@OkieSketcher1949 Thanks for sharing. Never would have thought of this. I wonder how the Germans viewed this? Makes me proud to be an American. We play nice but watch out, we bite!
Sometimes the engineers blow the pressure valves on the boilers that is the white smoke ( like a tea-kettle) if they see them coming in a dive..tree top level is harder for the engineers to see at 300knts..
I read somewhere that nazi engineers would open their valves and let out all of the steam/smoke to try and trick the pilots. I imagine that trick worked only s couple of times, watching these pilots going around for several passes.
@@deliagorban3781 Sorry, this is not an hysterical female: "I-was-born-to-stride-the-earth-and-based-on-my-feelings-point-my-finger-and-dictate-right-and-wrong-to-everyone-else" zone, where you get to reset the behavior of humanity based on your emotions. Hunting is an essential part of conservation and here is what I've done for just one species of animal life through my hunting. White Tail Deer in Michigan don't migrate. They never go further than 20 miles from their birthplace. The natural carrying capacity of the State of Michigan pre-European was about 200,000 animals. Starvation and wolves (ripping deer to pieces while they are alive) was the check and balance on their population. Today, there are over 2 million deer in Michigan. In part, because of modern agriculture, but also in large part owing to hunters and the Excellent Department of Natural Resources we have in our state. Every year the DNR does population surveys by county. Counties where there is an over population and a likely mass starve-off during winter get Doe permits and hunters can take multiple bucks. Counties with low populations won't get doe permits issued and only 1 mature buck, and so on. This is how Michigan DNR and hunters keep a healthy and MASSIVE population of deer. And, as a result, genetically diverse too. So, what have YOU done to improve the population and genetic diversity of Michigan deer? NOTHING I'd imagine, right? Finally, I will do what I want, when I want, and how I want within the laws of the land. If you don't like the laws, then get enough like-minded people together to change the law. Until then I will continue without concern for your emotions.
@@deliagorban3781 actually in the area i;m in it's very important to cull the heard. for reasons of disease and over population. i myself am not a hunter, my aim is unsure and i don't want to cause undo suffering. many people are unaware of the plight of our indigenous turtles in the south, so help spread the word . thank you for your reply.
2:10 - this guy seemed to be getting way to close to the targets so I looked him up. Sure enough. Lt Martin D Coffey Killed in Action (KIA) MACR 5585. Assigned to 350FS, 353FG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) 10-Jun-44 near Gace crashed whilst strafing truck convoy.
Man, oh man! That sure is a bucket of cold water and changes this whole scenario. Viva the US, the UK , the British Commonwealth and the sincere Allies.
Sham Teal - I read your comment to mine and you are correct. The prejudice and outright racism directed toward the Filipino people in the early part of the 20th century, and beyond, was terrible. My father spoke of it several times. In fact it was probably the one most recounted aspect of the war that he did speak of. He detested it. Dad joined the 1st Filipino Infantry Regiment while they were training in California. There were many, many Filipinos there due to the jobs they came to do before the war. California had state laws forbidding them to marry, forbidding them to buy or rent homes in many areas, denying them a good education for their children. Many of these people were American citizens and thus were denied their constitutional rights. The Regimental Commander whose name I do not remember arranged for his soldiers to link up with their brides-to-be and get on board a “Marriage Express” bus or train. The bus or train would take them to New Mexico or Texas where they could marry and have a short honeymoon before returning. Where possible, he would arrange for non-Filipinos to rent nearby homes and then get a new bride to move in and set up a home. After the war many of his soldiers who were promised American citizenship in return for helping to win the war were not given that option. The racism against these people was inexcusable then as it is now regardless of who they are, where they or their forefathers came from, their religion, or any other aspect of their lives.
LMSTactical - I am not a victim. The Filipino soldiers and their wives to be and current wives were the victims. This was in the 1930’s and 1940’s and probably for some time thereafter in sunny California. All discrimination regardless of the reason with very few exception is not right. It was not then and it is not today.
I remember a pilot said in an interview that at times he just hoped he was killing the right people, because the speed, distance, and distractions made ground target verification difficult. He also said no one stood a chance once spotted from the air.
They would attack funeral parades going the bury thier dead my father saw a herust shot up and the coffin smashed to bits with a body he to was chased diving from side to side over the road edges to dodge these attacks on a push bike he lived to tell the story !
I love watching this, because everyone of these trains that our air force knocked out meant that less reinforcements the Nazi bastards could move to the coast to try and stop our invasion force. They probably saved countless allied lives by knocking out these supply trains.
@Facts Matter You could not possibly be more ignorant to compare Trump to a nation of savage bastards who killed millions because they were undesirable. I would say you should be ashamed of yourself, but because you are clearly a leftist tool, i won't waste my time. Keep drinking the koolaid, you fool.
@Facts Matter You could not possibly be more ignorant to compare Trump to a nation of savage bastards who killed millions because they were undesirable. I would say you should be ashamed of yourself, but because you are clearly a leftist tool, i won't waste my time. Keep drinking the koolaid, you fool.
@@OKuusava That's true but unlike the Germans it wasn't their intention and if the Germans hadn't illegally occupied France in the first place it wouldn't have happened.
Realising the utter seriousness of all this - it seems so satisfying watching targets eliminated... Not a time for a drive in the beautiful F countryside.
It might be less satisfying when you learn that many of the targets being hit in these videos were horse-drawn supply wagons or horse-drawn artillery pieces. The german army transportation infrastructure in 1944 was largely not mechanised and countless horses died in strafing attacks such as these. I'm not judging whether the content of these videos is good or evil-there was a war on after all- but just saying it's not all 'nazi storm troopers' being blown up here.
@@normanbaldrickcriceti8774 one piece of war machine supply destroyed, whether it's animal powered or not, means it's one less bit of kit the Nazi's had to kill our guys. It's all a good kill, as brutal as that sounds. The Nazi's started it and we had to finish it.
It would've been nice if someone could have met up with some of the airmen from the videos on this channel, so they could have had some firsthand commentary dubbed in.
Those .50 cals seem to have a fairly high rate of fire. What, about 800-1000 rounds per minute? So, if I have between 6..P-51 or 8...P-47 of those firing away you are landing about 60 to 100 rounds on a target in a 3 second burst? Feel free to correct my thinking of this as I'm just a noob.
@Bluelivesmatter ! I researched Col. Duncan and found this: On July 7th 1944, while leading an aerial attack on an aerodrome at Wesendorf, his P-47 was hit by anti-aircraft fire. His crippled P-47 continued to fly on until he belly landed near Nienburg. As he left his aircraft, he tossed a grenade into it to ensure that it won't fall into the German hands, resulting in the destruction of the aircraft.[8]
He also got the Distinguished Flying Cross for attacking four enemy planes that were about to shoot down a crippled B-17 returning to England. He shot one down and the rest broke off, so he saved the crew from likely dying.
German General Irwin Rommel was straffed on July 17,1944 by allied planes in France. His driver was killed and Rommel was injured.I don't think we know exactly who straffed his car. The majority of those pilots sure we're excellent gunners. I think Rommel was lucky to be alive, only to be given the choice by Hitty of the firing squad or suicide.
No laser guidance systems. Just straight up, good old boy shooting. At 6:26 Lt. JF Scott takes the train, then in the last pass does a roof job on that nice French country home. shit!
to my eye only few of the vehicles on ground were moving in this series of footages. they must have heard the planes are coming and took cover. yes being a train crew at that day sucks.
.There is something macabre in these films in that we are possibly witnessing the deaths of men who were following the orders of their leaders who had convinced them that they were doing right, as well as possible innocent men who were simply "collateral damage"!
Oh aye, guys following orders who jack booted themselves into, onto and over the people of France. No sympathy for the aggressors, they fully deserved the kicking they got.
A reply to comments I made some time ago about some pilots intentionally trying to shoot up the cab, kill the engineer, and letting the train continue on until it runs into a town or station and collides which whatever is parked there. I have looked for the book where I believe I read that comment from a WWII pilot. I cannot find it, but I believe it was with one Chuck Yeager wrote or one someone wrote about Chuck Yeager. It has been several years ago, but I distinctly remember reading it due to the fact the pilot has to be damn good at shooting a moving target from a moving gun platform. I doubt there were that many pilots on either side good enough to do it. It could have been bragging on the part of the pilot (not that any good pilot would ever stoop to bragging), but I also remember seeing pictures of train wrecks in stations where runaway trains plowed into parked trains causing one heck of a mess. I need to do more research on this and I let you know if I ever find that source.
@Sergiusz Statkiewicz I read that more French were killed in the Normandy landings than the allies and Germans combined. The British and Americans didn't hold back and completely flattened everything that stood in their way. I'm not saying they purposely set out to kill the French, perhaps they had no alternative considering how good the Germans were at war fighting and how difficult they were to deal with. I'm in the Philippines, don't hear much about what happened here do you but it's estimated over a million Filipino's were killed in the American battles to drive the Japanese out, they completely flattened every single town and city reducing them to rubble with little concern for the civilians.. More Filipino's were killed by the Americans than the Japanese in the whole time they held the islands. The Philippines has never recovered and never received half of the money they were promised to rebuild their country but they remained loyal to the US, sadly very few Filipino's know their own history. I can't say the Americans treated the Filipino's any differently to how they treated Europeans, they can't be accused of racism although I do think that may have played a part with some of them.
Sham Teal - My father fought in the Philippines (Leyte and Samar) with the 1st Filipino Infantry Regiment. He seldom said much about it in that it was so terrible. This subject did come up once or twice. He stated his unit did everything they could to avoid civilian casualties and when they came across any civilian casualties they did their best to take care of them. During his stay there he spent most of his time behind Japanese lines as he was a recon platoon and company commander. He found most everyone was starving due to the effectiveness of the US war against Japanese supply lines. This made the Japanese forage off of the locals. The civilians were starving. The Japanese were starving. His guys were starving at times as well. Many of the civilian deaths were due to poor sanitation, untreated disease, lack of proper food, and abuse by the enemy. There were civilian casualties as well, but they did their utmost to avoid hurting civilians. War is not a pleasant experience and many of Dad’s nightmares involved seeing dead and dying women and children left there by retreating enemy soldiers. I’ve read and heard more civilians died in this war than did combatants. With the means available then to promote war being so bad and so widespread it is a wonder more non-combatants didn’t die.
@@OkieSketcher1949 Please accept my gratitude and respect for your father who must have witnessed the most terrible of crimes against humanity. My observation of the treatment of the indigenous Filipino population is not a criticism of the allied forces, how can any of us all these years later ever begin to understand the awful task they had been set to achieve against a fanatical enemy who operated outside the norms of decent human behaviour. I only know what I know from reading accounts of the subject written by both Americans and Filipinos from a purely historical perspective without bias and malice. I wish there were more books written by the Filipinos themselves as the vast majority have little or no education of their own history and a warped understanding of their treatment by the Spanish, Americans and Japanese.
@@petersouthernboy6327 Or a civilian vehicle commandeered by them. When allied command discovered they were doing that they started engaging non military vehicles. Then the Nazis started running munitions & supplies in on horse & carts instead. So allied command started engaging them too. I've seen a clip of a horse & cart being engaged by one of these planes. It was grim, but that's war.
Did you know... During late 1944 and to the end of the war, aerial warfare changed completely in the European theater of operations. By late 1944 there really wasn’t much to shoot at anymore over Europe, down went the P-51’s, the P-47’s, and the P-38’s, to strafe and cause as much mayhem on the ground as possible. There is an air force figure of something on the order of 300 million .50 cal rounds being consumed from late 1944 up to the wars end. What wasn’t anticipated was the wear and tear on the Browning aircraft machine guns barrels associated with the fighters shooting all of their ammunition every sortie. Barrels were in short supply and many fighters were shooting out their barrels on every mission. The problem with barrel production wasn’t the actual machining of the barrels, but of the secondary process of applying the hard chrome (stellite) coatings within the bore of the barrels. Barrel production lagged behind the air forces use of their fighter “guns only” missions over Europe. So when you see a gun camera roll of AP/incendiary tracer going every which way, it would be safe to assume that the aircraft was flying the mission with tired guns.
Too bad they didn’t have a squadron of A-10 Warthogs. Wonder what kind of planes are doing the strafing, P-51 Mustangs or P-47 Thunderbolts? P-51s had six 50 cal machine guns the P-47s had 8.
The small object looked like a bird, remember that these were propeller planes so the speeds weren't that fast. The large floating object at 2:49 is a barrage balloon, a large balloon filled with lighter-than-air gas. It's anchored with a heavy cable which can damage or wrap around an aircraft that hits it. Those were used extensively in both world wars to defend against divebombers and other planes operating at lower altitudes.
A barrage balloon is a large uncrewed tethered kite balloon used to defend ground targets against aircraft attack, by raising aloft steel cables which pose a severe collision risk to aircraft, making the attacker's approach more difficult.
Depends on the mission. Since most of these targets were not concentrated and in the open these missions look to be of the sort where they were sent out to find targets of opportunity. Close ground support missions would look a lot different, they would assist ground forces actively engaging the enemy.
This was in support of the D-Day landings and Airborne assaults, trains and vehicles bringing reinforcements to the Germans defending the area...so specific targets, most likely.
On some attacks I've seen, the trains dump all the pressure out the boiler, massive white plume comes out the stack, less chance of it blowing apart when hit
Many thanks to the brave men who gave their all so that we could live as we do today. For those who do not understand the horrors of war look down upon those who fought and gave their all for us may God for give their stupidly.
Don’t know if it’s film here, but I read about a P-47 strafing a train and getting a cataclysmic explosion that postwar research revealed was a trainload of V-1 warheads.
As an ex-serviceman I can tell you from experience that the bright lights are tracers that are attached to the rounds (tracer and round are two separate things) and these often ricochet off when the round hits something solid. This sometimes makes the accuracy of the burst look sloppier than it is. Also, yes, sometimes they just plain miss... ;)
After watching several of these films i`ve noticed bullets bouncing up from the targets to the fighters, not to mention debris from explosions. i wonder if any planes were lost due to that
@@murraymachado401I'm fairly certain the footage here was shot exclusively from P-47 Thunderbolts. The fighter groups involved were equiped with this aircraft at that time. We did have cannon-equiped aircraft, being the P-38, which was used for ground attack in Normandy; the P-39/P-400 series fighters, which were primarily lend-leased to our allies; and the P-61 Black Widow, which was not used for ground ground attack, being a night-fighter. I wouldn't swear to it, I seem tk recall the "Widow" doing limited ground attack in the Ardennes Campaign. I have a book that covers the Ardennes air campaign extensively.... and a good excuse to re-read it!
I love at 438 Col Duncan hits a car and it sends shrapnel up as high as his plane and can’t help but wonder if one of these ground attacks shows when Rommel got his car all shot up
The tracers were a mixed blessing. You could indeed start shooting before the other guy knew he was a target but when the Luftwaffe realized that the last rounds were the end of ammo now it became problematic for the T-Bolt or Mustang pilot. We produced about 10 billion rounds of .50 caliber during the war. One pilot in particular came very close to joining his target several times. How many injuries from falling cartridge cases and links and shrapnel and bullets from altitude?
A good friend of mine (still around) flew for Canada in 1945 in a P-51 at 19 yo and this is what he did. To coin his phrase he "shot up planes, trains and automobiles". Nearly got smoked by a German ack-ack gun in the last carriage though but he was strafing tht first instead of the engine. It wasn't his day to die so Bob said.
Some of those guns were way off being synchronised. Not even remotely sighted in. Is that down to pilot or crew chief? That Col. Duncan should show them how it's done but he has plenty of experience no doubt.
After seeing this sort of destruction, it is no wonder the people in the camps were starving, the pilots were given free range to kill everything from trains, and road targets. Some of those trains contained people trying to escape, who had nothing to do with the fighting. Not all trains contained military personnel, they knew the risks, so travelled by night.
I’m always amazed how a good pilot could walk the rounds into the target and then concentrate the fire all within a few seconds, a true example of man and machine in harmony!
Same here. My great uncle flew a P38 in WW2 and from the family stories I heard growing up he flew like a crazy man. Those men did some amazing stuff using pretty low tech equipment.
We don't see any of the films from the ones who shot at everything and hit nothing.
No sound is ok. Better than obnoxious music
Or fake gun, explosions, and engine sounds.
Very true.
I COULD SING
1st LT T.W. Newton III KIA July 5, 1944 while escorting bombers. His grave marker is in Normandy, FR
To emphasise how important the interdiction mission was, in his book about 2nd Panzer Division “Das Reich”, Max Hastings points out that a full panzer division being moved by rail took seventy goods trains.
Yes tanks soon wore out if they had to travel long distances over roads. Rail transport was essential to move massive amounts of equipment.
After watching a couple of these you realize just how vulnerable those trains were.
And would still be today.
My uncle was flying that day with the 353rd. None of his footage, but probably similar. Was an ace in that war and Korea.
@Balla Lol
@@Wings_of_foam TS = tiny scrotum
You can really tell the difference between the Lt.'s and the Col.'s marksmanship behind the trigger! Col. Duncan kept his bursts within a 10-15 meter box without even drawing it onto the targets! Just lined it up and gave a 2-3 second squeeze and game over. Really amazing considering this is well before computer assisted targeting. Real by the seat of your pants flying skill, man and machine joined.
Still,how can they tell(when atacking small cars) if there are troops in that vehicle or just a familly going to the market?!
Have to agree. First class shooting.
@@deliagorban3781 Because by 1944 only the German military had any or were allowed any fuel for cars and trucks.
@@chrislloyd1505 keep dreaming.That will make you feel better and be at peace with it all.
@@deliagorban3781 Could Chris Lloyd have written any answer that you would have accepted? Are you aware France was occupied by an invading force? Yes, the US invaded Afghanistan and Iraq but it has not been in any way as cruel and sadistic to the citizens of those countries as the Nazi German occupying forces were to the people of France. Put your mind into the context of the time you are watching.
Amazing accuracy. Just stick and rudder, guiding those . 50 rounds.
Col. Duncan aptly demonstrated exactly why he made Colonel!
I was about to write the same thing. Clearly in his own league.
One may notice sudden bursts of tracer during runs. I suspect that tracer was reserved for some of the last rounds in the loadout. From Checkertails: The 325th Fighter Group
in the Second World War, it is known that the 325th's policy was to load tracer in the last 50 rounds of the belt. This gave the pilot a very noticeable indication that ammunition was nearly exhausted. Also it was decided that foregoing tracer and relying on solid gunnery would give enemy pilots less warning, thus less chance to evade attack.
From the impact flashes, it appears the aircraft in these gun camera clips are loaded heavily with armor-piercing incendiary (API) possibly with ball mixed in to conserve API. The effectiveness of their loadouts is pretty clear.
wow,that Col Duncan was a badass!
He was pretty much spot on with his target shooting. He wasn't spraying bullets all over the place.
@@arneldobumatay3702 There's a good reason he both was promoted to Colonel, and lived long enough to get said promotion.
Professionalism at its finest!
Amazing clips from our past. Thanks for sharing. Happy new year! And hopefully we Will never have to go through that again. 🤘🕶🤘
D-Day, every soldier was our hero.
Never forget.
Colonel Duncan really knows his shit. Very concentrated, controlled fire
I notice the comments below....folks treat this as a game...forgetting that men below are being maimed and killed...quite a sobering fact, in retrospect. Thanks.
Men? You mean anthropoids, yes? They look like men but were nazis.
killing those rotten nazi's was necessary-they made it that way
In Nazi occupied Countries - if it was a motorized vehicle on the road it was almost certainly German military
Col. Duncan -- what an ace!
One of best iv seen this some skillfull marksmanship going on there . Feel for the targets tho sitting ducks but that's war
The targets were Nazis so their deaths are worth celebrating.
AlbertaGamer Not all Wehrmacht soldiers were nazis.
@@Wehraboo-fi9vm Exactly! Some were Germany's regular Army that had no choice but to obey the Nazi party or face execution.
@@Wehraboo-fi9vm..
.. But most were and enthusiastically stomped all over Europe.
@@suzyqualcast6269 In the first few year yes, that’s what imperialism and nationalism is. The urge to expand lmao...
Does anyone here know how quickly they were able to patch up those steam engines? I know the ones that explode are lost but wonder what it took to repair a shot-up engine. Also, I think it would be interesting if a historian took a look at some primary docs to see the casualties of those engineers running those trains. Were they volunteers, career guys, forced labor, highly-paid, etc.? I'd bet there are some really interesting tales to be told from their side of things if that stuff could be dug out of the records.
Somewhere I read pilots loved to shoot up the engineer’s cab in an attempt to kill him, leaving the training going full steam ahead. The idea was to have the train hit the next station and any train parked there. The resulting collision would result in much more mayhem, destruction and death. Many of those pilots were that good.
@@OkieSketcher1949 Thanks for sharing. Never would have thought of this. I wonder how the Germans viewed this? Makes me proud to be an American. We play nice but watch out, we bite!
Sometimes the engineers blow the pressure valves on the boilers that is the white smoke ( like a tea-kettle) if they see them coming in a dive..tree top level is harder for the engineers to see at 300knts..
Maranxious - I wonder if that is where we got the expression to “blow one’s stack”?
Highly paid - No.
Owt that moved was the warning.
These Pilots are incredible with their accuracy in firing -
Man...to go back in time and be a WW2 fighter pilot.
No wonder the ice cream man never came on june 6,and I waited for hours for my raspberry ripple
.50's pierce the boiler and it's all over choo choo. It's hard to miss with 4 guns per wing and the whole 9 yards.
I read somewhere that nazi engineers would open their valves and let out all of the steam/smoke to try and trick the pilots. I imagine that trick worked only s couple of times, watching these pilots going around for several passes.
i'm trading my rifle in on a mustang...deer season's gonna be different this year!
Why fon't you,hunters, hunt each oher?!Give the deer's a break!
@@deliagorban3781 Cuz we eat what we kill. And we aren't cannibals. Any other dumb questions?
@@lawrenceallen5521 You sure you never killed just for fun?!
@@deliagorban3781 Sorry, this is not an hysterical female: "I-was-born-to-stride-the-earth-and-based-on-my-feelings-point-my-finger-and-dictate-right-and-wrong-to-everyone-else" zone, where you get to reset the behavior of humanity based on your emotions. Hunting is an essential part of conservation and here is what I've done for just one species of animal life through my hunting. White Tail Deer in Michigan don't migrate. They never go further than 20 miles from their birthplace. The natural carrying capacity of the State of Michigan pre-European was about 200,000 animals. Starvation and wolves (ripping deer to pieces while they are alive) was the check and balance on their population. Today, there are over 2 million deer in Michigan. In part, because of modern agriculture, but also in large part owing to hunters and the Excellent Department of Natural Resources we have in our state. Every year the DNR does population surveys by county. Counties where there is an over population and a likely mass starve-off during winter get Doe permits and hunters can take multiple bucks. Counties with low populations won't get doe permits issued and only 1 mature buck, and so on. This is how Michigan DNR and hunters keep a healthy and MASSIVE population of deer. And, as a result, genetically diverse too. So, what have YOU done to improve the population and genetic diversity of Michigan deer? NOTHING I'd imagine, right? Finally, I will do what I want, when I want, and how I want within the laws of the land. If you don't like the laws, then get enough like-minded people together to change the law. Until then I will continue without concern for your emotions.
@@deliagorban3781 actually in the area i;m in it's very important to cull the heard. for reasons of disease and over population. i myself am not a hunter, my aim is unsure and i don't want to cause undo suffering. many people are unaware of the plight of our indigenous turtles in the south, so help spread the word . thank you for your reply.
Col. Duncan of 350 SQDN was an excellent marksman. Outstanding.
2:10 - this guy seemed to be getting way to close to the targets so I looked him up. Sure enough. Lt Martin D Coffey Killed in Action (KIA) MACR 5585. Assigned to 350FS, 353FG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) 10-Jun-44 near Gace crashed whilst strafing truck convoy.
Man, oh man! That sure is a bucket of cold water and changes this whole scenario.
Viva the US, the UK , the British Commonwealth and the sincere Allies.
Wow that’s pretty good research and that’s coming from me, the Karate Kid.
He died 4 days after this footage was shot. A lot of pilots succumbed to target fixation and drove straight into the ground.
RiderTV *too. It had a different meaning compared with to.
Sham Teal - I read your comment to mine and you are correct. The prejudice and outright racism directed toward the Filipino people in the early part of the 20th century, and beyond, was terrible. My father spoke of it several times. In fact it was probably the one most recounted aspect of the war that he did speak of. He detested it. Dad joined the 1st Filipino Infantry Regiment while they were training in California. There were many, many Filipinos there due to the jobs they came to do before the war. California had state laws forbidding them to marry, forbidding them to buy or rent homes in many areas, denying them a good education for their children. Many of these people were American citizens and thus were denied their constitutional rights. The Regimental Commander whose name I do not remember arranged for his soldiers to link up with their brides-to-be and get on board a “Marriage Express” bus or train. The bus or train would take them to New Mexico or Texas where they could marry and have a short honeymoon before returning. Where possible, he would arrange for non-Filipinos to rent nearby homes and then get a new bride to move in and set up a home. After the war many of his soldiers who were promised American citizenship in return for helping to win the war were not given that option. The racism against these people was inexcusable then as it is now regardless of who they are, where they or their forefathers came from, their religion, or any other aspect of their lives.
LMSTactical - I am not a victim. The Filipino soldiers and their wives to be and current wives were the victims. This was in the 1930’s and 1940’s and probably for some time thereafter in sunny California. All discrimination regardless of the reason with very few exception is not right. It was not then and it is not today.
Por isso o P51 nunca precisou de canhões, como são efetivas as calibre .50, impressionante!!
I remember a pilot said in an interview that at times he just hoped he was killing the right people, because the speed, distance, and distractions made ground target verification difficult. He also said no one stood a chance once spotted from the air.
They would attack funeral parades going the bury thier dead my father saw a herust shot up and the coffin smashed to bits with a body he to was chased diving from side to side over the road edges to dodge these attacks on a push bike he lived to tell the story !
@@paulmontagner6360 : Crikey, shake up frightening. The warning was issued though: anything moving would be targeted.
In Nazi occupied Countries - if it was a vehicle on the road it was almost certainly German military
@@petersouthernboy6327 I don't think so, everyday French life had to continue, agriculture, deliveries, ambulances, you name it.
@@philipwilliams5808 - the French civilians used horse drawn carts and farm equipment. All gasoline was requisitioned by the Wehrmacht.
I would have hated living near a railyard. Good shooting boys!
Thank you for the clips. You guys have some of the cleanest.
At the 3:33 timestamp you can see two .50 cal tracer rounds ricochet off each other...talk about random chance catching it on film!
Every 5th bullet was a tracer so it probably was a non-tracer.
I like how on some of these you can see the men running and cows too.
Incredible footage
I love these videos
The devastation of them rounds hitting and realising there are another five shells in-between the tracer's that we can't see. Awesome firepower
Great footage not seen that before.
I love watching this, because everyone of these trains that our air force knocked out meant that less reinforcements the Nazi bastards could move to the coast to try and stop our invasion force. They probably saved countless allied lives by knocking out these supply trains.
@@raus_mit_Islam these two comments are just interesting
@Facts Matter You could not possibly be more ignorant to compare Trump to a nation of savage bastards who killed millions because they were undesirable. I would say you should be ashamed of yourself, but because you are clearly a leftist tool, i won't waste my time. Keep drinking the koolaid, you fool.
@Facts Matter You could not possibly be more ignorant to compare Trump to a nation of savage bastards who killed millions because they were undesirable. I would say you should be ashamed of yourself, but because you are clearly a leftist tool, i won't waste my time. Keep drinking the koolaid, you fool.
@@OKuusava That's true but unlike the Germans it wasn't their intention and if the Germans hadn't illegally occupied France in the first place it wouldn't have happened.
Idiotic reasoning. They probably killed more civilians than Wehrmacht soldier
Realising the utter seriousness of all this - it seems so satisfying watching targets eliminated...
Not a time for a drive in the beautiful F countryside.
It might be less satisfying when you learn that many of the targets being hit in these videos were horse-drawn supply wagons or horse-drawn artillery pieces. The german army transportation infrastructure in 1944 was largely not mechanised and countless horses died in strafing attacks such as these. I'm not judging whether the content of these videos is good or evil-there was a war on after all- but just saying it's not all 'nazi storm troopers' being blown up here.
@@normanbaldrickcriceti8774 one piece of war machine supply destroyed, whether it's animal powered or not, means it's one less bit of kit the Nazi's had to kill our guys. It's all a good kill, as brutal as that sounds. The Nazi's started it and we had to finish it.
Are these slowed down for clarity or something? The tracers look right but the action seems slow.
It would've been nice if someone could have met up with some of the airmen from the videos on this channel, so they could have had some firsthand commentary dubbed in.
jcannoncraig look up the show DOGFIGHTS...great recreations with the pilots narrating
They probably feel guilty for firing on so many civilians.
@@FirstFamilyCharger If the person was in a vehicle, they were German Nazis.
@@jamessilberschlag1705 German soldier. Probably not a Nazi. They were in the rear with the gear.
You can Count out just about exactly 30 seconds of firing time for each pilot.
05:30 was a very good pilot, he had balls of steel!
Those .50 cals seem to have a fairly high rate of fire. What, about 800-1000 rounds per minute? So, if I have between 6..P-51 or 8...P-47 of those firing away you are landing about 60 to 100 rounds on a target in a 3 second burst? Feel free to correct my thinking of this as I'm just a noob.
The mere non killing shock of being hit by a. 50is usually enough to kill anyway.
I can see why Col. Duncan is a colonel. He has the best aim on here. Starting at 4:30
No Sh!t...he was right on with a high percentage!
He was shot down about a month after this footage
@Bluelivesmatter ! I researched Col. Duncan and found this:
On July 7th 1944, while leading an aerial attack on an aerodrome at Wesendorf, his P-47 was hit by anti-aircraft fire. His crippled P-47 continued to fly on until he belly landed near Nienburg. As he left his aircraft, he tossed a grenade into it to ensure that it won't fall into the German hands, resulting in the destruction of the aircraft.[8]
He also got the Distinguished Flying Cross for attacking four enemy planes that were about to shoot down a crippled B-17 returning to England. He shot one down and the rest broke off, so he saved the crew from likely dying.
To quote the movie, Oh brother where art thou? "That ain't popcorn!"
I would imagine shooting down enemy aircraft was the most satisfying. But strafing looks like more fun.
German General Irwin Rommel was straffed on July 17,1944 by allied planes in France. His driver was killed and Rommel was injured.I don't think we know exactly who straffed his car. The majority of those pilots sure we're excellent gunners. I think Rommel was lucky to be alive, only to be given the choice by Hitty of the firing squad or suicide.
Wikipedia: Either 412 or 602 squadron. RAF (Spitfires). 3 possible pilots, all mentioned by name................
Some thing that occurred to me was how little time there was on target . One or two seconds at best .
At 3:32, looks like two tracer rounds bounced off each other.
These guys should all have Nick names like 1 shot It. Chetwood or Dead eye Christensen, or can't miss It. Coffey! These were some accurate aim shots.
No laser guidance systems. Just straight up, good old boy shooting. At 6:26 Lt. JF Scott takes the train, then in the last pass does a roof job on that nice French country home. shit!
to my eye only few of the vehicles on ground were moving in this series of footages. they must have heard the planes are coming and took cover. yes being a train crew at that day sucks.
In one of em you can see the crew of the truck running and diving for cover as rounds hit the truck!
Well , I guess from the air at hundreds of yards from the target , it shure takes the up close & personal out of killing .
.There is something macabre in these films in that we are possibly witnessing the deaths of men who were following the orders of their leaders who had convinced them that they were doing right, as well as possible innocent men who were simply "collateral damage"!
Hope there was no innocent farmer in his little truck going down the road.
Oh aye, guys following orders who jack booted themselves into, onto and over the people of France. No sympathy for the aggressors, they fully deserved the kicking they got.
Yeah, make me cry..., good try !
In Nazi occupied Countries - if it was a motorized vehicle on the road it was almost certainly German military
Huge explosion captured by Maj. WEBB's gun camera (toward end of video).
Ammo dump
The second guy lays down some nice heavy concentrated fire power
10.25 ish- huge cloud of smoke. What was that?
The second guy kicks ass on that train!
What made that huge explosion at 10:34?
A reply to comments I made some time ago about some pilots intentionally trying to shoot up the cab, kill the engineer, and letting the train continue on until it runs into a town or station and collides which whatever is parked there. I have looked for the book where I believe I read that comment from a WWII pilot. I cannot find it, but I believe it was with one Chuck Yeager wrote or one someone wrote about Chuck Yeager. It has been several years ago, but I distinctly remember reading it due to the fact the pilot has to be damn good at shooting a moving target from a moving gun platform. I doubt there were that many pilots on either side good enough to do it. It could have been bragging on the part of the pilot (not that any good pilot would ever stoop to bragging), but I also remember seeing pictures of train wrecks in stations where runaway trains plowed into parked trains causing one heck of a mess. I need to do more research on this and I let you know if I ever find that source.
practice makes perfect.
Poor French train drivers and crew didn't want to be there and didn't stand much chance of survival.
@Sergiusz Statkiewicz I read that more French were killed in the Normandy landings than the allies and Germans combined. The British and Americans didn't hold back and completely flattened everything that stood in their way. I'm not saying they purposely set out to kill the French, perhaps they had no alternative considering how good the Germans were at war fighting and how difficult they were to deal with. I'm in the Philippines, don't hear much about what happened here do you but it's estimated over a million Filipino's were killed in the American battles to drive the Japanese out, they completely flattened every single town and city reducing them to rubble with little concern for the civilians.. More Filipino's were killed by the Americans than the Japanese in the whole time they held the islands. The Philippines has never recovered and never received half of the money they were promised to rebuild their country but they remained loyal to the US, sadly very few Filipino's know their own history. I can't say the Americans treated the Filipino's any differently to how they treated Europeans, they can't be accused of racism although I do think that may have played a part with some of them.
Sham Teal - My father fought in the Philippines (Leyte and Samar) with the 1st Filipino Infantry Regiment. He seldom said much about it in that it was so terrible. This subject did come up once or twice. He stated his unit did everything they could to avoid civilian casualties and when they came across any civilian casualties they did their best to take care of them. During his stay there he spent most of his time behind Japanese lines as he was a recon platoon and company commander. He found most everyone was starving due to the effectiveness of the US war against Japanese supply lines. This made the Japanese forage off of the locals. The civilians were starving. The Japanese were starving. His guys were starving at times as well. Many of the civilian deaths were due to poor sanitation, untreated disease, lack of proper food, and abuse by the enemy. There were civilian casualties as well, but they did their utmost to avoid hurting civilians. War is not a pleasant experience and many of Dad’s nightmares involved seeing dead and dying women and children left there by retreating enemy soldiers. I’ve read and heard more civilians died in this war than did combatants. With the means available then to promote war being so bad and so widespread it is a wonder more non-combatants didn’t die.
@@OkieSketcher1949 Please accept my gratitude and respect for your father who must have witnessed the most terrible of crimes against humanity. My observation of the treatment of the indigenous Filipino population is not a criticism of the allied forces, how can any of us all these years later ever begin to understand the awful task they had been set to achieve against a fanatical enemy who operated outside the norms of decent human behaviour. I only know what I know from reading accounts of the subject written by both Americans and Filipinos from a purely historical perspective without bias and malice. I wish there were more books written by the Filipinos themselves as the vast majority have little or no education of their own history and a warped understanding of their treatment by the Spanish, Americans and Japanese.
In Nazi occupied Countries - if it was a vehicle on the road it was almost certainly German military
@@petersouthernboy6327 Or a civilian vehicle commandeered by them. When allied command discovered they were doing that they started engaging non military vehicles. Then the Nazis started running munitions & supplies in on horse & carts instead. So allied command started engaging them too.
I've seen a clip of a horse & cart being engaged by one of these planes. It was grim, but that's war.
Is this mostly cannon fire with all the explosions on target?
Incendiary rounds from the 8 .50 cals those P-47s were armed with.
The tight shot groups of the senior pilots is dramatic; but a couple of these aircraft have tracers going everywhere, as if they lost boresight.
Did you know...
During late 1944 and to the end of the war, aerial warfare changed completely in the European theater of operations. By late 1944 there really wasn’t much to shoot at anymore over Europe, down went the P-51’s, the P-47’s, and the P-38’s, to strafe and cause as much mayhem on the ground as possible. There is an air force figure of something on the order of 300 million .50 cal rounds being consumed from late 1944 up to the wars end. What wasn’t anticipated was the wear and tear on the Browning aircraft machine guns barrels associated with the fighters shooting all of their ammunition every sortie. Barrels were in short supply and many fighters were shooting out their barrels on every mission. The problem with barrel production wasn’t the actual machining of the barrels, but of the secondary process of applying the hard chrome (stellite) coatings within the bore of the barrels. Barrel production lagged behind the air forces use of their fighter “guns only” missions over Europe. So when you see a gun camera roll of AP/incendiary tracer going every which way, it would be safe to assume that the aircraft was flying the mission with tired guns.
@@j.muckafignotti4226 that makes a lot if sense. Even if the guns are tight in their mounts, worn-out rifling would seriously degrade accuracy.
I would imagine that out of those 300 million rounds, there were some defective batches too.
In the beginning, what did that poor barn/house do?
Video as can be found on Pathe. Then again there’s no copyright left on it anyway. Pathe has no sound. Go look there
Col. Duncan was very accurate and didn't waste a bullet
I wonder how many pilots got target fixation and crashed into the ground.
Damn fine shooting!
what guns were they using? Incredible accuracy!
.50 caliber Browning. 4 of them.
@@marine4lyfe85 If some of these were US P-47s, they had 8 Brownings--the most of any US fighter.
Could do with this in the English channel right now. If you get my drift.
At @10:35 they hit something big and apparently flammable/explosive(s)..! Wow what a mushroom cloud... looks to have a dual base to it..☠️👨🏻✈️
Yeah, I noticed that. Probably an ammo dump or fuel depot.
Too bad they didn’t have a squadron of A-10 Warthogs. Wonder what kind of planes are doing the strafing, P-51 Mustangs or P-47 Thunderbolts? P-51s had six 50 cal machine guns the P-47s had 8.
to think that 800 of those locomotives were destroyed before and on d-day.
Goddamn..Colonel Duncan could shoot. What are they flying, P-38s? P-47s?
For ground attack, probably P-47s...they had 8 .50 cals, the most of any US fighter.
What the hell was that big floating thing? AND what shot past those planes at 2 mins 43.06 secs???
The small object looked like a bird, remember that these were propeller planes so the speeds weren't that fast. The large floating object at 2:49 is a barrage balloon, a large balloon filled with lighter-than-air gas. It's anchored with a heavy cable which can damage or wrap around an aircraft that hits it. Those were used extensively in both world wars to defend against divebombers and other planes operating at lower altitudes.
@@Myrkky100 One second glance, it is obviously a balloon, and a passing bird. I need my eyes checked. Thanks for the info.
‘Twas I, the Karate Kid.
@@bradcrane5013 Karate kid, where art thou now?
A barrage balloon is a large uncrewed tethered kite balloon used to defend ground targets against aircraft attack, by raising aloft steel cables which pose a severe collision risk to aircraft, making the attacker's approach more difficult.
Did they have specific targets or was this indiscriminate anything that moves kill it ?
Yes, the warnings were issued that if seen moving any would be considered legitimate targets.
In Nazi occupied Countries - if it was a motorized vehicle on the road it was almost certainly German military
Depends on the mission. Since most of these targets were not concentrated and in the open these missions look to be of the sort where they were sent out to find targets of opportunity. Close ground support missions would look a lot different, they would assist ground forces actively engaging the enemy.
This was in support of the D-Day landings and Airborne assaults, trains and vehicles bringing reinforcements to the Germans defending the area...so specific targets, most likely.
That gives a whole new meaning to taking the train. HA HA HA.
Anyone know what procedure a train crew followed when under air attack? Were they supposed to make an emergency stop and evacuate?
I don't know what they were supposed to do but I know what I would have done....
On some attacks I've seen, the trains dump all the pressure out the boiler, massive white plume comes out the stack, less chance of it blowing apart when hit
When skill surpasses training...
Air superiority...we usually have it! Semper Fi
Hope you're not forgetting the British efforts with rocket firing Typhoons etc.
@0:14 Tank treads in the mud?
They loaded at night and someone ratted them out; allies attacked at dawn.
Many thanks to the brave men who gave their all so that we could live as we do today. For those who do not understand the horrors of war look down upon those who fought and gave their all for us may God for give their stupidly.
To Serve Man: Good eye!
No one ratted them out--it was likely 82nd or 101st Airborne units who called in air support, as they were dropped in the night before the landings.
What was that mushroom at the end? Ammo train hit?
Ye was wondering that myself
Don’t know if it’s film here, but I read about a P-47 strafing a train and getting a cataclysmic explosion that postwar research revealed was a trainload of V-1 warheads.
Jam PonyExpress I reckon so.
@@brinsonharris9816 AKA hit the jackpot.
At 9:24 what are the rounds that seem to be bouncing off the ground? They also don't seem very accurate.
As an ex-serviceman I can tell you from experience that the bright lights are tracers that are attached to the rounds (tracer and round are two separate things) and these often ricochet off when the round hits something solid. This sometimes makes the accuracy of the burst look sloppier than it is. Also, yes, sometimes they just plain miss... ;)
Imagine if they had the Warthog with it's 30mm gatlin gun🤯
Newton looks to win the top-hatting crown.
After watching several of these films i`ve noticed bullets bouncing up from the targets to the fighters, not to mention debris from explosions. i wonder if any planes were lost due to that
I know that bombs were certainly dangerous if you were low enough altitude.
What was that @ 3:37?
What are the flashes?. Do the shells explode?.
Pretty sure they're 20mm cannon shells but I'm not positive.
Kent Robison Igniting ammunition or fuel. Some shells are incendiary.
They are .50 caliber armor-piercing incendiary rounds. They produced a noticeable flash on impact.
@@murraymachado401I'm fairly certain the footage here was shot exclusively from P-47 Thunderbolts. The fighter groups involved were equiped with this aircraft at that time. We did have cannon-equiped aircraft, being the P-38, which was used for ground attack in Normandy; the P-39/P-400 series fighters, which were primarily lend-leased to our allies; and the P-61 Black Widow, which was not used for ground ground attack, being a night-fighter. I wouldn't swear to it, I seem tk recall the "Widow" doing limited ground attack in the Ardennes Campaign. I have a book that covers the Ardennes air campaign extensively.... and a good excuse to re-read it!
@@adirondacker007 Wow, the Ardennes! How intriguing.
It’s scary how deadly accurate some of them r
I love at 438 Col Duncan hits a car and it sends shrapnel up as high as his plane and can’t help but wonder if one of these ground attacks shows when Rommel got his car all shot up
These were P-47s...Rommel's car was attacked by RAF Spitfires.
The tracers were a mixed blessing. You could indeed start shooting before the other guy knew he was a target but when the Luftwaffe realized that the last rounds were the end of ammo now it became problematic for the T-Bolt or Mustang pilot. We produced about 10 billion rounds of .50 caliber during the war. One pilot in particular came very close to joining his target several times. How many injuries from falling cartridge cases and links and shrapnel and bullets from altitude?
You'd think today's detectorists would be digging them up by the barrowload....
. 50 cases / rounds seem very rare.
@@suzyqualcast6269 not where i grew up. Super common to find them on the surface of the badlands.
I wonder if these guys found life boring after the war.
Those pilots must have had exceptional eye sight. I'm finding it difficult to make out what they're shooting at in some clips.
I think they had to have 15/20 vision to be a fighter pilot, better than an average person's eyesight.
True but they also weren't looking at grainy out-of-focus film to see their targets 😉
They could see in colour.
....are you serious?
every time they miss it's like.. five bucks five bucks five bucks...
A good friend of mine (still around) flew for Canada in 1945 in a P-51 at 19 yo and this is what he did. To coin his phrase he "shot up planes, trains and automobiles". Nearly got smoked by a German ack-ack gun in the last carriage though but he was strafing tht first instead of the engine. It wasn't his day to die so Bob said.
Funny to think my grandfather may have seen them fly over.
As a french farmer, a german engineer?
@@contactohn7982 or a French railway engineer....
Some of those guns were way off being synchronised. Not even remotely sighted in. Is that down to pilot or crew chief? That Col. Duncan should show them how it's done but he has plenty of experience no doubt.
After seeing this sort of destruction, it is no wonder the people in the camps were starving, the pilots were given free range to kill everything from trains, and road targets. Some of those trains contained people trying to escape, who had nothing to do with the fighting. Not all trains contained military personnel, they knew the risks, so travelled by night.
Really bad day for a train ride to Grandma's house.