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My Father went ashore at Omaha beach on June 6. He took myself and a friend to see the Longest Day, which was a series of vignettes attempting to convey the overall feel of the invasion. Afterward we had something to eat and he shared a little. One of the things he liked about the film was the depiction of the Luftwaffe. He saw the appearance of two planes, several times over the course of the next week or so. Seriously doubt it was the same two pilots, but occasionally they would hear the crump of bombs and rattle of AA fire then over the trees might pop a couple of Luftwaffe "belly to the ground and running like the hounds of hell were after them". Which they were. Shortly after those two planes went over, or by, because they often flew so low the AA machine guns couldn't fire for fear of hitting friendly troops, would come a dozen or more P-47's, also going like hell trying to catch them. He admired the Luftwaffe pilots who made those raids, minor nuisance that they were. That took guts, flying against such superior odds, and a lot of skill to fly at high speed so close to the ground.
WhiskeyTango Sierra My great grandpa was a gunner on a Ju 88G of Bf 110G in 1/NJG4. He served on the invasionfront for a few days, weeks. He died a few months later after intercepting british nightbombers over Germany. The aircraft got shot down...
My grandfather flew on operations in an RAF Typhoon over the invasion period after going through the Battle of Britain in a Hurricane and getting put on "rest" with Ferry Command in North Africa. Funny to think your dad might have heard my granddad going overhead.
@@davidian7787 You know whats funny too? My great grandpa could have seen your grandfather! My great grandpa served on a 110 in Staffel 4 Gruppe 2 Zerstörergeschwader 76 during the Battle of Britain
@@Entity282 At least they didn't kill each other. Otherwise we wouldn't be here. Much respect to your great grandpa and the loyalty he showed to his country and fellow airmen.
Regarding the compartment where the mechanics took a ride in, as you said, the 109's had something like that. In 1945, the evacuation of the American POW's from Rumania made use of that compartment. As the Red Army was advancing, Bucharest became a war zone. The POW's (most of them from bombers, including many of the Ploesti raiders) were released and convoyed to the airport by Romenians, which had switched sides by that time. Fearing the Germans would enter the airfield to battle with the Romanians and execute everyone in sight, or get shelled by the Red Army, the top ranking prisioners were trying to find a way to contact USAAF bases in Italy. A Romanian ace, whose name I cannot recall (sad that I can't do it by memory), offered to take the highest ranking american to his base in Italy inside such a compartment in a 109. The Bf-109 was painted with a huge american flag on each side of the fuselage and made the flight. As the 109 landed, it was surrounded by Jeeps with MP's armed to the teeth, which were surprised to find an american Colonel emerge from a tiny hole in the fuselage. Because of that, flights of B-17's with skeleton crews were organized to fly all the prisoners out of Romania. I had no knowledge of that until I read a book about the low level Ploesti raid.
Thank you very much for your article, it just goes to show that there is still far much more articles like yours about WWII that are waiting for some researcher to discover.
Johannes "Mackie"Steinhoff describes in his book "Straits of Messina" how mechanics were transported from Cap Bon, North Africa during the Luftwaffe retreat to Sicily in 1943. They too were flown in the rear fuselage of Bf109s. Had they not been evacuated in this manner they would have been taken prisoner by the Allies and who then would keep the aircraft operational in Sicily?
Great Work ! I'm an old retired professional historian and judge this to be superb video history. in my old age I came to realize that the best historical medium is visual. It does things that cannot be found in written histories, e.g. - all those real life recreation of flying sequences. And to have the whole thing narrated by the author is a real treat to the ears. That doesn't mean we need to dispense with books, as your own archival search shows, but video-histories add greatly to the diet of historical material which the spectator can absorb. Congratulations - superb production.
I can barely even imagine being a mechanic in this situation. You are in a dark claustrophobic space, with no clue as to what is going on outside, no control at all over what is happening. I don't know if they had any opportunity to bail out. Damn. War is hell.
I would imagine they were too rattled from the pilot trying to defend to do much. And of course the hatch they used was tiny, so I wonder if they even had a chute, and if they did I can't imagine trying to squeeze through mid or post dogfight. What a horrible way to go. I feel like banging your head and going unconscious or being killed by gunfire would be, in a dark way, lucky.
Reminds me of Normandie-Niemen. During one of their flights to the new airfield one of the planes was shot. Pilot, judging by the radio communication, was blinded, so he was advised to bail out. But he refused and tried to land the plane, because there was his russian mechanic behind the cabin. Both of them died. The man literally prefered to die rather than abandon his mechanic.
@@markfryer9880 Sung to the tune of "Dumb Ways to Die" You can get frostbite and gangrene. You can jump from a plane and rupture your spleen. Terrible ways to die, so many terrible ways to die. (add your own lyrics!)
@@truthseeker9454 The maintenance guy must have been in hell. No way to tell what's going on and the plane looping, yawing, swaying around, and getting hit by bullets.
My grandpa was stationed in the Utah beach area when DDay happened (243.InfDiv) and told me that they would try to only move at night because the allied airforce was so prevelant they would strafe single soldiers. He only knew a few english words in his life, "Lightning" was one of them.
@@robertl.fallin7062 the p-38 was used in Europe, but more successful in the Pacific. The Lightning had oil-lubrication problems in European cold weather, at high altitudes. However, it was used with deadly success against German troops in 1944, as a result of the D-day landings. Thanks.
@@robertl.fallin7062 Jimmy Doolittle personally flew a reconnaissance variant of it over the beaches to avoid friendly fire due to its unique silhuoette. They were still active as fighter-bombers in Europe as well.
The section, in which the diary author says (equivocally) that High Command should allow Field (or on-sight) Command make the response decisions in regards to the enemy's actions/positions, because High Command is (more or less) clueless to the situation at hand; that section made me chuckle (respectfully, given the actual circumstances of the situation historically,) because, no matter what military force it is, no matter what time period it is in, ignorance and stubbornness at the top causes way more problems for those "in the trenches" whom are actually dealing with the situation.
My grandfather served in the Canadian Navy, an uncle served in the same. My dad served in the Canadian Merchant Navy. My dad had friends who served in the Japanese Navy during the war. My Best friend in Germany, his dad served in the German Army. My other grandfather served in WWI. One of my uncles was lost over Germany serving with the RAF.
I knew a man who spent 3 years in the 5th. SS Div, and he was very sarcastic about the German propaganda. The Wochenschau always stated from the East Front: "Die Luftwaffe ist auch dabei" even if they had not seen the Luftwaffe in 3 weeks. He claimed the Luftwaffe was a propaganda stunt, no more after 1944.
Got to hand it to the Luftwaffe for still having a go under what must have been quickly apparent on 6th June and the days after was a near impossible situation. Excellent reconstruction and narration.
Interesting stuff Bismarck. I was aware that the Luftwaffe had minimal resources in France at the time of D Day but did not appreciate it was just a few squadrons to cove4 such a huge area. Every sortie they flew must’ve felt like a suicide mission in the face of such overwhelming opposition.
I always felt that France was a middle approach. Invading Germany would be the most aggressive and Spain would be the easiest. Franco was a Fascist anyways.
@@KenjaTimu At the time; the main supply hub for the Allies was the UK, what makes more sense, invading France, where your supplies have to only cross the channel (min width 34km, max 240km) or Invading Spain; a country you might not agree with politically but one you're not at war with and poses no threat to you. Your supply lines at best are now 1664km; that's as the crow flies from the UK to Spain, you can't fly as the crow flies because that's over occupied France. And the first thing Germany will do is reinforce France with more aircraft and start assaulting your supply lines.
That's not historically true or accurate. German OKW / OB West High Command did know invasion was imminent. The question was when (specific date and time) where (which beaches) and total strength of each wave (units). Hitler's direct interference as to the number of Luftwaffe and Wehrmacht units and assignments was staggering. His decision to prioritize support of the eastern front was a classic no win scenario for all German commanders. The beaches were heavily defended and capable of holding on longer than they did, if there was a 1:1 air defense. Of course, this was impossible as the Luftwaffe fought on three fronts to the east in Russia, the south in Italy and southern France and Normandy. Between 1942 and early 1944, 60% of all Luftwaffe squadrons were assigned to Western Europe (France, The Netherlands, Belgium, etc). The majority of the losses occurred during long range bombing of Germany by allied air forces that had fighter escort to and from the targets. These two preceeding years took its toll before D-Day. There were less than 960 Luftwaffe aircraft of all types by June 1944. The Allies had 12,500 assigned to the invasion alone. The only success the Luftwaffe would have was during Operation Market Garden that came at a heavy price with 190 aircraft lost. In fact, it's clear from historical records, even if the Luftwaffe pulled every fighter from the other two fronts and redeployed all AA guns to the Normandy invasion force, they still would have lost due to lower numerical numbers of equipment and spare parts, let alone personnel and fuel. The Germans knew the Allies were coming. High Command also knew its reserves were limited and scattered across every sector in France. Fuel and spare parts logistics were in absolute chaos because there were a limited number of trucks available. It was felt if an invasion was too be repelled, the Panzer Corps would need most of them. They themselves were intentionally held back from a number of potential front line invasion points to prepare for the counter attack. The only surprise to the Germans was how poorly they easily outgunned in every capacity.
@@DougHanchard Very true. That is why there was a plot to kill Hitler. A country run by a mad man is doomed from the start.Their problem was not spotting ( or ignoring) he was a mad man. early enough.
The perspective of this channel is one of the primary reasons I like and appreciate this channel. Much "props" (snark) to Bismark for such fantastic efforts.
Hi. For French town names, the S at the end is not to be pronounced. Tours must sound like Tur (and not Tür), Rennes like Ren. For S in the middle, they must be pronounced. Clastres must sound like Klastr.
The small (what appears to be a) light gold font on a grayish blue background is hard for older people to read. That's important when a German is reading about French locations. (I did enjoy the video, though!)
Great video! It’s great to be able to see and hear it from “the other side”. It really shows just how much pressure they were under from d-day onwards.
The American unit which hammered III/SG 4 on D-Day was the 4th Fighter Group of the 8th Air Force. Later that day, the 4th FG itself took a beating, losing 7 KIA on one mission (an unusually high loss for an American unit), six of them, possibly all seven, being downed by JG 2.
My father was a doctor (MD) on a LCI at Utah beach and his ship was strafed and his pharmacist mate hit in the upper thigh and bled out in 2 minutes. It was something my father would always get choked up over, so Prueller was also strafing there. If not Prueller, some one else.
Found it very interesting that the German fighter group fly from Saint Quentin, France. My father was sent to France in October, 1944 to join a B26 bomber group that was stationed at Saint Quentin. Later they moved to the Netherlands. Dad fly 37 missions, came home and spent 20 years in the USAF.
you can hear things falling apart day by day. interesting to see such strong objections being raised to the higher ups in official documents. i suppose if you're seeing your buddies getting wiped out you won't be caring too much about your career
Also knowing that they're going to be giving you equally stupid orders to fly hopeless and useless missions in the hours ahead probably focuses the mind.
Why on earth is there copyright on the war diaries? I would imagine they originally were public documents... I can understand it costing a fee to access the originals, as there is a cost to offer that service, but it seems kind of wrong to not allow the sharing of digital versions without a license.
Germany does not have copyright as it is understood in the English-speaking world. Germany has author's rights. The right to reproduce an original work resides exclusively with the author.
It sadly is how it is. I can access these documents for free, photograph them etc and the service at the Archive is very good. However, the rules are that should I print one of the pictures into a book, or show it in a visual medium, currently some fees apply.
@@MilitaryAviationHistory These days you can't make a move without seeing somebody in front of you with their hand out waiting for a fee or payment. Disgusting.
My father's uncle landed his Horsa glider at Pegasus Bridge on the night before D-day and fought there repulsing regular German counter attacks until relieved by fresh units that had been delayed getting there. He would have been at Arnhem but was taken ill a few days before. Spent the rest of his days as a tailor with a shop next to York Minster and revisited Pegasus Bridge regularly with the veterans.
Great video. Australian gentleman with a keen interest in history writing. The key takeaway I'm taking from this video is how much background infrastructure is required to keep an effective fighting air force in operational status. If you attack the infrastructure the operational status soon takes a dive it seems. The German men on the ground trying to keep the Luftwaffe in the air had very little support from Berlin by the look of things.
I don't understand why the Luftwaffe had so many stationed at Leval. The 190s had like a 500 mile range and Leval is like 50 miles from the ocean. I can't believe they survived there for as long as they did.
Great job finding and translating that diary as it add so much to the understanding of the situation for the Luftwaffe and the defenders on the ground. I hope it gets published one day.
I HAVE TO SAY !! THIS was an excellent presentation! WOW ! you put alot of work into this , And It shows , It flows along just right , I really liked it and was able to keep track of what was happening by the way you presented it . THANKS !!
Terrifying...imagine taking to the skies amonst the hornets-nest swarms of Spitfires, Mustangs, Thunderbolts, Mosquitos and Typhoons! Yikes! 😨 However, that must have made them realise what it was like for 'The Few' during the Battle of Britain...what goes round, comes around...Gotta feel sorry for the poor mechanics though. 😔
Ah don't feel bad for the mechanics. The planes don't come back most of the time anyways, and if they do, probably riddled with bullet holes that render the thing unrepairable.
@@Davey-Boyd Ah yes, I heard about that. There is a small compartment behind the pilot where you can stow some backup supply, a rifle, or a mechanic in an emergency retreat.
When take into account the number of pilots in RAF fighter command, bomber command, coastal command, and the fleet air arm Britain had far more pilots that could or did participate in BoB than the Luftwaffe did
I'd like to have enough German to read that diary. On D-Day the Allies easily dominated skies over & around the beaches, you'd have to be new not to know that. Only two planes broke that ring, but the Luftwaffe did what they could with the little they had, including petrol (of any quality) or spare parts (25/38 FWs). The Allies even brought heavy flak - on countless warships. So you're very outnumbered, many inexperienced pilots, little petrol & you're strung out all over the place. What can you expect?
Since today is the 76th anniversary of the D-Day landings. One of my grandfather’s was there aboard USS LST-534 at Juno Beach carrying Canadian troops. Though they came ashore the following day. He died in 2010 at 90.
This is an outstanding history post! I am attracted to all history, especially of WWII.. Even so, this is the FIRST TIME I have encountered anything close to an evaluation of the Luftwaffa on D-day. Thank you.
My reply from other thread: He also did not have any armor plate protection like the pilot. Imagine the pilot, hearing your passenger's screams of agony as bullets turn him into ground meat. Shortly before your own demise..
From you description you ask. "The Luftwaffe didn't exactly fly the same 13,000 sorties the Allies did on June 6th, 1944. In fact, they didn't even manage a fraction of that. So what did they do? " They mostly died...
An article in the April/May 2009 issue of _World at War_ made a reference about the lack of Luftwaffe attack aircraft at Omaha Beach on D-Day: Since there wasn't any attack aircraft happening during the landings, the American anti-aircraft outfits, on the beach, directed the fire of their .50 caliber machine guns on German fortifications and the high bluffs; where according to historical accounts, such suppression fire played a part for the American infantry to advance up the beach in some sections.
I wrote the war diary for my regiment on operations. It is an interesting and quite formalised process, which has to be read and approved by the Adjutant and signed off by the Commanding Officer. It is a matter of pride that I have personally recorded, for posterity, the history of my regiment. Great video once again Bismarck. Thanks.
Mechanics hidden inside FW190's! 😮 They had to be among the most unenvied schmucks there were. Not knowing what was going on while inside that fuselage, the fear, the claustrophobia, not knowing when it was going to end, or how; I have a hard time imagining it. Then one considers the effect on airplane handling. Did it throw the c.g. way off and make it hard to maneuver while under attack. Unbelievable.
Commander R. Mike Crosley wrote in his book THEY GAVE ME A SEAFIRE events most people never knew about. Crosley's flight was tasked with directing Royal Navy Cruiser and Battleship gunfire during the Normandy Overlord invasion. He reported a considerable number of Luftwaffe fighters, mostly FW-190s. The air was also full of Mustangs, Thunderbolts and Spitfires, all of which had a habit of taking potshots at them. If that was not enough trouble the worst problem was Allied AAA fire.
7:13 : Clastres is a town, and it's pronounced "Class-tr" :) (yeah, french can be tricky x)) anyway awesome video as always :) Edit : 8:50 Tours, the S is silenced, so it's said "Tour" 9:05 I think this one might be a typo from the original report, Around Toulon Menton, and not Mentone: Toulon and Menton are two french cities ont the Cote d'Azur, so I guess they were doing U-hunt between those two towns
Excellent video! I think diaries are fantastic insights into more clinical war reports. However, that light brown color text on the light blue was hard to read on a mobile phone screen!
Dammit I just remember seeing that tweet of the video clip. Knew what it was depicting but since someone else already answered correctly I did not bother answering it. Did not know you were doing an audience knowledge test. Yet another informative video Bis. The recorded actions of III./SG 4 make it clear how outnumbered they were. Just the number of machines they can bring to bear compared to the allies, who swarm all over them when spotted is telling. Trying to perform strike missions in the face of such air superiority is suicide. So many just caught in the midst of the transfer alone. Good stuff Bis.
I cannot imagine both the thrill and fright of a mechanic riding in the belly of that FW-190. It could explain non-optimal flying characteristics that caused more to be shot down. Terrible way to go. Enjoyed the narration, subject matter and the story line details. Quality UA-cam channel.
You need to use two colors as far apart from each other in the color spectrum as possible when presenting text. An example would be white text on a black background. Thank you for the fascinating information about the German unit, it's not a subject that most history buffs get!
Thank you for your hard effort making this awesome video, Chris! I had no idea German planes were able to carry personnel inside that little compartment. I guess it should have been a horrible experience for the poor mechanic, in the darkness, poorly restrained, and experiencing high G forces.
Sobering reading, thank you for sharing this. The idea of mechanics being carried in those ferrying 190s with them being attacked was... Well it terrifies me.
That is what air superiority is all about! By June 1944 the air was a no-go zone for the Luftwaffe. Johannes "Mackie" Steinhoff described a similar hopeless situation in Sicily at the time of the landings there in his book 'The Straits of Messina".
Great video. Had no idea that Luftwaffe forces on the western front were so minimal, given that so many resources were sent to the east. It seemed apparent from the video that Der Deutsche Luftwaffe were also undersupplied with sufficient quantities of materiel and mechanics.
Actually, most of the Luftwaffe was in the West. Britain and the US took a decision to achieve overwhelming air superiority by spending most of their available money on their air forces and it paid off.
I think its very impressive what german pilots and engineers came up with and managed to do given the circumstances of war and the weird politics.. probably on of the most interesting is the Ta 152, i would love to see a video and your take on this plane
Yes, but compared to the Red Army the approach is very different... Just as an example: The problem with loose track pins on the T-34 was solved by welding on a piece of metal, that would push the loose pins back in when driving (and produce the famous rattling) - the german came up with for example the GM-1 on the Ta 152 and a three stage supercharger to work around the shortage of high octane fuel, so the character is way different (i don't think the german approach was necessarily better, even though quite impressive)
I cannot even fathom the fact that a responsibility of the prime mechanic for a certain fighter was to crawl in its cramped dark trunk and even be transported under calm conditions, let alone while being shot at. Absolutely insane.
amazing video! what i would love to see one day, is a sort of combat report of luftwaffe sorties in the west past the D day landings. I'd like to see what exactly did they manage to achieve under such circumstances, how many air or ground allied targets they managed to destroy and when.
Happened to stumble onto this video, well done, very informative! I love military aviation history and I learned a lot in this video, mainly the part of ferrying maintenance personnel in the tail of an airplane!
It is likely that having a fuel tank there would move the CG too far aft for the aircraft to be stable. The P-51 had a fuel tank around that location and with it full was dangerously close to the aft CG limit. Maneuvering was restricted until that tank was almost empty. As for ammo, it would probably be difficult to find a way to reliably route anything from there to the guns.
Just found your channel this morning. Really enjoying your in-depth videos. I'm under employed during covid, Soo unfortunately, can't support you on Patreon at this time. Keep up with the videos. 😁
My Grand father stormed Normandy beach in the big Red One. So I found this very interesting. You do good research, which is so rare in history videos on youtube.. good job. I can subscribe but thats about it. Good luck.
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Thanks Bismarck! Looking forward to some Luftwaffe pirates stories!
Is there a reason we havn't had you & Botime doing a podcast for a long time? they were fantastic!
@Sam Cooper what happened
@Sam Cooper what happened
My Father went ashore at Omaha beach on June 6. He took myself and a friend to see the Longest Day, which was a series of vignettes attempting to convey the overall feel of the invasion.
Afterward we had something to eat and he shared a little. One of the things he liked about the film was the depiction of the Luftwaffe. He saw the appearance of two planes, several times over the course of the next week or so. Seriously doubt it was the same two pilots, but occasionally they would hear the crump of bombs and rattle of AA fire then over the trees might pop a couple of Luftwaffe "belly to the ground and running like the hounds of hell were after them". Which they were. Shortly after those two planes went over, or by, because they often flew so low the AA machine guns couldn't fire for fear of hitting friendly troops, would come a dozen or more P-47's, also going like hell trying to catch them.
He admired the Luftwaffe pilots who made those raids, minor nuisance that they were. That took guts, flying against such superior odds, and a lot of skill to fly at high speed so close to the ground.
WhiskeyTango Sierra My great grandpa was a gunner on a Ju 88G of Bf 110G in 1/NJG4. He served on the invasionfront for a few days, weeks. He died a few months later after intercepting british nightbombers over Germany. The aircraft got shot down...
My grandfather flew on operations in an RAF Typhoon over the invasion period after going through the Battle of Britain in a Hurricane and getting put on "rest" with Ferry Command in North Africa. Funny to think your dad might have heard my granddad going overhead.
@@davidian7787 You know whats funny too? My great grandpa could have seen your grandfather! My great grandpa served on a 110 in Staffel 4 Gruppe 2 Zerstörergeschwader 76 during the Battle of Britain
@@davidian7787 It certainly could have happened. The internet has made a small world smaller, and more in touch.
@@Entity282 At least they didn't kill each other. Otherwise we wouldn't be here. Much respect to your great grandpa and the loyalty he showed to his country and fellow airmen.
Regarding the compartment where the mechanics took a ride in, as you said, the 109's had something like that. In 1945, the evacuation of the American POW's from Rumania made use of that compartment. As the Red Army was advancing, Bucharest became a war zone. The POW's (most of them from bombers, including many of the Ploesti raiders) were released and convoyed to the airport by Romenians, which had switched sides by that time. Fearing the Germans would enter the airfield to battle with the Romanians and execute everyone in sight, or get shelled by the Red Army, the top ranking prisioners were trying to find a way to contact USAAF bases in Italy. A Romanian ace, whose name I cannot recall (sad that I can't do it by memory), offered to take the highest ranking american to his base in Italy inside such a compartment in a 109. The Bf-109 was painted with a huge american flag on each side of the fuselage and made the flight. As the 109 landed, it was surrounded by Jeeps with MP's armed to the teeth, which were surprised to find an american Colonel emerge from a tiny hole in the fuselage.
Because of that, flights of B-17's with skeleton crews were organized to fly all the prisoners out of Romania. I had no knowledge of that until I read a book about the low level Ploesti raid.
Thank you very much for your article, it just goes to show that there is still far much more articles like yours about WWII that are waiting for some researcher to discover.
Johannes "Mackie"Steinhoff describes in his book "Straits of Messina" how mechanics were transported from Cap Bon, North Africa during the Luftwaffe retreat to Sicily in 1943. They too were flown in the rear fuselage of Bf109s. Had they not been evacuated in this manner they would have been taken prisoner by the Allies and who then would keep the aircraft operational in Sicily?
Great Work ! I'm an old retired professional historian and judge this to be superb video history. in my old age I came to realize that the best historical medium is visual. It does things that cannot be found in written histories, e.g. - all those real life recreation of flying sequences. And to have the whole thing narrated by the author is a real treat to the ears. That doesn't mean we need to dispense with books, as your own archival search shows, but video-histories add greatly to the diet of historical material which the spectator can absorb. Congratulations - superb production.
I can barely even imagine being a mechanic in this situation. You are in a dark claustrophobic space, with no clue as to what is going on outside, no control at all over what is happening. I don't know if they had any opportunity to bail out. Damn. War is hell.
It's truly frightening thought.
I would imagine they were too rattled from the pilot trying to defend to do much. And of course the hatch they used was tiny, so I wonder if they even had a chute, and if they did I can't imagine trying to squeeze through mid or post dogfight. What a horrible way to go. I feel like banging your head and going unconscious or being killed by gunfire would be, in a dark way, lucky.
Just another of the many different and terrible ways to die during a war.
Reminds me of Normandie-Niemen. During one of their flights to the new airfield one of the planes was shot. Pilot, judging by the radio communication, was blinded, so he was advised to bail out. But he refused and tried to land the plane, because there was his russian mechanic behind the cabin. Both of them died. The man literally prefered to die rather than abandon his mechanic.
@@markfryer9880 Sung to the tune of "Dumb Ways to Die"
You can get frostbite and gangrene. You can jump from a plane and rupture your spleen.
Terrible ways to die, so many terrible ways to die.
(add your own lyrics!)
If you see a brown or grey plane its british, if you see a sliver one, its american, and if you see no plane, its german
Dang...I just wrote this....and scrolled down a little bit........^^
😂
Hitler would have won if his TANKS HAD WINGS. He just didn't believe in the airforce.
@@bunzeebear2973 With Goering in charge, who could really blame him?
That's because the Luftwaffe had the underpainting of a sky blue hue.
This is honestly the first time I've ever heard of the FW fighter actually having a crew compartment. Very clever.
I wouldn't exactly call it a crew compartment. It was more like stuffing your mechanic in the trunk of your race car.
@@truthseeker9454 The maintenance guy must have been in hell. No way to tell what's going on and the plane looping, yawing, swaying around, and getting hit by bullets.
@@galatian5 You got that right!
@@galatian5 bring a couple of pillows.
Worst ride ever... but at least you never see it coming.
My grandpa was stationed in the Utah beach area when DDay happened (243.InfDiv) and told me that they would try to only move at night because the allied airforce was so prevelant they would strafe single soldiers. He only knew a few english words in his life, "Lightning" was one of them.
As in the P-38 lighting?
@@clevernamegotban1752 I was under the impression the p38 was a Pacific theater aircraft.
@@robertl.fallin7062 the p-38 was used in Europe, but more successful in the Pacific. The Lightning had oil-lubrication problems in European cold weather, at high altitudes. However, it was used with deadly success against German troops in 1944, as a result of the D-day landings. Thanks.
@@darrellborland119 The Germans had a name for the Lightning, Fork Tailed Devil. Sure seems appropriate.
@@robertl.fallin7062 Jimmy Doolittle personally flew a reconnaissance variant of it over the beaches to avoid friendly fire due to its unique silhuoette. They were still active as fighter-bombers in Europe as well.
Luftwaffe command : "Hans, how many Tommies and Yanks do you see?"
Hans: "Errrrrrrrr, all of them"
Lol! :-)
The section, in which the diary author says (equivocally) that High Command should allow Field (or on-sight) Command make the response decisions in regards to the enemy's actions/positions, because High Command is (more or less) clueless to the situation at hand; that section made me chuckle (respectfully, given the actual circumstances of the situation historically,) because, no matter what military force it is, no matter what time period it is in, ignorance and stubbornness at the top causes way more problems for those "in the trenches" whom are actually dealing with the situation.
@@jimmylarsson5667 well said
Basically it was a nightmare. How they even managed to attempt any sorties is amazing, and must have been a maddening futile exercise.
6th of June: Feldwebel Franz Brauneis fell at La Bazoge in the Sarthe département. The mechanic flying with him was Uffz. Ebert.
Thanks
How did you get that emoji? I NEED IT.
@@bozo5982 Through sponsorship
@@MilitaryAviationHistory Now I know where Lucas got the idea for the R2 unit - German Luftwaffe onboard mechanic.
My grandfather served in the Canadian Navy, an uncle served in the same. My dad served in the Canadian Merchant Navy. My dad had friends who served in the Japanese Navy during the war. My Best friend in Germany, his dad served in the German Army. My other grandfather served in WWI. One of my uncles was lost over Germany serving with the RAF.
I knew a man who spent 3 years in the 5th. SS Div, and he was very sarcastic about the German propaganda. The Wochenschau always stated from the East Front: "Die Luftwaffe ist auch dabei" even if they had not seen the Luftwaffe in 3 weeks. He claimed the Luftwaffe was a propaganda stunt, no more after 1944.
Got to hand it to the Luftwaffe for still having a go under what must have been quickly apparent on 6th June and the days after was a near impossible situation. Excellent reconstruction and narration.
First hand information is so hard to come by here in the US. Thank you for these translations
Interesting stuff Bismarck. I was aware that the Luftwaffe had minimal resources in France at the time of D Day but did not appreciate it was just a few squadrons to cove4 such a huge area. Every sortie they flew must’ve felt like a suicide mission in the face of such overwhelming opposition.
I always felt that France was a middle approach. Invading Germany would be the most aggressive and Spain would be the easiest. Franco was a Fascist anyways.
Exactly!!
@@KenjaTimu why invade Spain? Spain was mostly neutral. Also the distance to spain is much longer and strategical objectives like Paris farther away.
Poor Luftwaffles... Oh my
@@KenjaTimu At the time; the main supply hub for the Allies was the UK, what makes more sense, invading France, where your supplies have to only cross the channel (min width 34km, max 240km) or Invading Spain; a country you might not agree with politically but one you're not at war with and poses no threat to you. Your supply lines at best are now 1664km; that's as the crow flies from the UK to Spain, you can't fly as the crow flies because that's over occupied France. And the first thing Germany will do is reinforce France with more aircraft and start assaulting your supply lines.
Luftwaffe on D-Day, “We had some nice sandwiches”
Hindenburgers?
I fixed your spelling errors,
Ve had some nice sandvicthes
Your welcome
It’s far safer
In short, the invasion caught them by surprise and they scrambled into position with heavy losses. What a terrifying way to go for those mechanics.
That's not historically true or accurate. German OKW / OB West High Command did know invasion was imminent. The question was when (specific date and time) where (which beaches) and total strength of each wave (units).
Hitler's direct interference as to the number of Luftwaffe and Wehrmacht units and assignments was staggering. His decision to prioritize support of the eastern front was a classic no win scenario for all German commanders.
The beaches were heavily defended and capable of holding on longer than they did, if there was a 1:1 air defense.
Of course, this was impossible as the Luftwaffe fought on three fronts to the east in Russia, the south in Italy and southern France and Normandy.
Between 1942 and early 1944, 60% of all Luftwaffe squadrons were assigned to Western Europe (France, The Netherlands, Belgium, etc). The majority of the losses occurred during long range bombing of Germany by allied air forces that had fighter escort to and from the targets.
These two preceeding years took its toll before D-Day. There were less than 960 Luftwaffe aircraft of all types by June 1944. The Allies had 12,500 assigned to the invasion alone.
The only success the Luftwaffe would have was during Operation Market Garden that came at a heavy price with 190 aircraft lost.
In fact, it's clear from historical records, even if the Luftwaffe pulled every fighter from the other two fronts and redeployed all AA guns to the Normandy invasion force, they still would have lost due to lower numerical numbers of equipment and spare parts, let alone personnel and fuel.
The Germans knew the Allies were coming. High Command also knew its reserves were limited and scattered across every sector in France. Fuel and spare parts logistics were in absolute chaos because there were a limited number of trucks available. It was felt if an invasion was too be repelled, the Panzer Corps would need most of them. They themselves were intentionally held back from a number of potential front line invasion points to prepare for the counter attack.
The only surprise to the Germans was how poorly they easily outgunned in every capacity.
@@DougHanchard Very true. That is why there was a plot to kill Hitler. A country run by a mad man is doomed from the start.Their problem was not spotting ( or ignoring) he was a mad man.
early enough.
I've been to Omaha, I can't believe how much the beach is actually bigger in really life than the movies. Thank all of you. All of you!!!!!!
I love the dedication and passion people put into these home made documentaries.
We need more videos like this. This videos giving us like another perspective
The perspective of this channel is one of the primary reasons I like and appreciate this channel. Much "props" (snark) to Bismark for such fantastic efforts.
Hi. For French town names, the S at the end is not to be pronounced. Tours must sound like Tur (and not Tür), Rennes like Ren. For S in the middle, they must be pronounced. Clastres must sound like Klastr.
>In their own words
(incoherent screaming intensifies)
>In their own word:
(coherent yet meaningless compound words)
The small (what appears to be a) light gold font on a grayish blue background is hard for older people to read. That's important when a German is reading about French locations.
(I did enjoy the video, though!)
Or American English with limited German, und no France.
Aging is Hell.....
I agree, and UA-cam's video compression algorithm is definitely making it even worse.
I ain’t even old and I’m having a hard time with it
I had trouble too.
Yeah, stop video. Read. Resume video. Repeat and repeat.
Great video! It’s great to be able to see and hear it from “the other side”. It really shows just how much pressure they were under from d-day onwards.
The American unit which hammered III/SG 4 on D-Day was the 4th Fighter Group of the 8th Air Force. Later that day, the 4th FG itself took a beating, losing 7 KIA on one mission (an unusually high loss for an American unit), six of them, possibly all seven, being downed by JG 2.
Last time I was this early Bismark was still a Luftwaffe pilot.
Excellent video. Thank you, I definitely learned something today.
Listening to Chris pronounce German words makes all his videos worth listening to. Thanks for the objective commentary.
“It’s an old code but it checks out”
Anyone? I’ll let myself out :)
My father was a doctor (MD) on a LCI at Utah beach and his ship was strafed and his pharmacist mate hit in the upper thigh and bled out in 2 minutes. It was something my father would always get choked up over, so Prueller was also strafing there. If not Prueller, some one else.
"What was the Luftwaffe doing the same day?" Dying.
Great research and a very enlightening insight into the state of the Luftwaffe in June 1944.
Found it very interesting that the German fighter group fly from Saint Quentin, France. My father was sent to France in October, 1944 to join a B26 bomber group that was stationed at Saint Quentin. Later they moved to the Netherlands. Dad fly 37 missions, came home and spent 20 years in the USAF.
you can hear things falling apart day by day. interesting to see such strong objections being raised to the higher ups in official documents. i suppose if you're seeing your buddies getting wiped out you won't be caring too much about your career
Also knowing that they're going to be giving you equally stupid orders to fly hopeless and useless missions in the hours ahead probably focuses the mind.
@@Akm72 I think that was the most polite way they could say 'Whos bloody side are you on?'
Particularly if your future career is measurable in hours or days at most.
Why on earth is there copyright on the war diaries? I would imagine they originally were public documents...
I can understand it costing a fee to access the originals, as there is a cost to offer that service, but it seems kind of wrong to not allow the sharing of digital versions without a license.
Yeah hate to say it but there's almost certainly no copyright on the primary source.
Germany does not have copyright as it is understood in the English-speaking world. Germany has author's rights. The right to reproduce an original work resides exclusively with the author.
It sadly is how it is. I can access these documents for free, photograph them etc and the service at the Archive is very good. However, the rules are that should I print one of the pictures into a book, or show it in a visual medium, currently some fees apply.
@@MilitaryAviationHistory These days you can't make a move without seeing somebody in front of you with their hand out waiting for a fee or payment. Disgusting.
@@MilitaryAviationHistory using the font / colour / background combo you have going , they'd never know 😂. ..Jus sayin ...
These kind of documentaries are much better than most stuff you see on TV.
I couldn't imagine the terror of being a Luftwaffe mechanic when combat broke out...
My father's uncle landed his Horsa glider at Pegasus Bridge on the night before D-day and fought there repulsing regular German counter attacks until relieved by fresh units that had been delayed getting there.
He would have been at Arnhem but was taken ill a few days before.
Spent the rest of his days as a tailor with a shop next to York Minster and revisited Pegasus Bridge regularly with the veterans.
In other words - it’s hell being on the wrong side of air superiority 😓
Great video. Australian gentleman with a keen interest in history writing. The key takeaway I'm taking from this video is how much background infrastructure is required to keep an effective fighting air force in operational status. If you attack the infrastructure the operational status soon takes a dive it seems. The German men on the ground trying to keep the Luftwaffe in the air had very little support from Berlin by the look of things.
17:35: Apparently the RAF adopted spawn-camping as standard practice.
I don't understand why the Luftwaffe had so many stationed at Leval. The 190s had like a 500 mile range and Leval is like 50 miles from the ocean. I can't believe they survived there for as long as they did.
Great job finding and translating that diary as it add so much to the understanding of the situation for the Luftwaffe and the defenders on the ground. I hope it gets published one day.
You know this guy deserves subs since he has more views than subs
I HAVE TO SAY !! THIS was an excellent presentation! WOW ! you put alot of work into this , And It shows , It flows along just right , I really liked it and was able to keep track of what was happening by the way you presented it . THANKS !!
Terrifying...imagine taking to the skies amonst the hornets-nest swarms of Spitfires, Mustangs, Thunderbolts, Mosquitos and Typhoons! Yikes! 😨 However, that must have made them realise what it was like for 'The Few' during the Battle of Britain...what goes round, comes around...Gotta feel sorry for the poor mechanics though. 😔
Ah don't feel bad for the mechanics. The planes don't come back most of the time anyways, and if they do, probably riddled with bullet holes that render the thing unrepairable.
@@absboodoo I think he meant the mechanics killed travelling in the rear of the aircraft. That has to be a scary way to die.
@@Davey-Boyd Ah yes, I heard about that. There is a small compartment behind the pilot where you can stow some backup supply, a rifle, or a mechanic in an emergency retreat.
If you can call being outnumbered around 4 to 1 "enough". As it turned out though it was but it was a close run thing!
When take into account the number of pilots in RAF fighter command, bomber command, coastal command, and the fleet air arm Britain had far more pilots that could or did participate in BoB than the Luftwaffe did
I'd like to have enough German to read that diary. On D-Day the Allies easily dominated skies over & around the beaches, you'd have to be new not to know that. Only two planes broke that ring, but the Luftwaffe did what they could with the little they had, including petrol (of any quality) or spare parts (25/38 FWs). The Allies even brought heavy flak - on countless warships. So you're very outnumbered, many inexperienced pilots, little petrol & you're strung out all over the place. What can you expect?
The Germans were just completely overwhelmed - once they got the Soviets and the Americans involved it was only going to end one way.
Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind. As you said, what can you expect.
Since today is the 76th anniversary of the D-Day landings. One of my grandfather’s was there aboard USS LST-534 at Juno Beach carrying Canadian troops. Though they came ashore the following day. He died in 2010 at 90.
This is an outstanding history post! I am attracted to all history, especially of WWII.. Even so, this is the FIRST TIME I have encountered anything close to an evaluation of the Luftwaffa on D-day. Thank you.
Oh interesting stuff. Appreciated
Is this based
7:40 I enjoyed the flying car. (shadows and wheels). Also another great video - thank you.
Thank you for all your hard work compiling, sorting and translating for this video. It was awesome.
Essentially a few skinny guys taking on a full NFL offensive line.
Yea, pretty much. The whole might of two powerful nations.
Holy shit. Imagine being a mechanic inside a fighter that was shot on. This must have been extra scary.
I can´t stop thinking about them, I´m shocked!
My reply from other thread:
He also did not have any armor plate protection like the pilot.
Imagine the pilot, hearing your passenger's screams of agony as bullets turn him into ground meat.
Shortly before your own demise..
I could listen to this for hours.
Thank you.
From you description you ask. "The Luftwaffe didn't exactly fly the same 13,000 sorties the Allies did on June 6th, 1944. In fact, they didn't even manage a fraction of that. So what did they do? " They mostly died...
Well done Bismark,superb video
An article in the April/May 2009 issue of _World at War_ made a reference about the lack of Luftwaffe attack aircraft at Omaha Beach on D-Day: Since there wasn't any attack aircraft happening during the landings, the American anti-aircraft outfits, on the beach, directed the fire of their .50 caliber machine guns on German fortifications and the high bluffs; where according to historical accounts, such suppression fire played a part for the American infantry to advance up the beach in some sections.
As a Brit good to see a slightly different perspective - good work video guy.
thanks for your effort. Explained unanswered questions on the Luftwaffe
I wrote the war diary for my regiment on operations. It is an interesting and quite formalised process, which has to be read and approved by the Adjutant and signed off by the Commanding Officer. It is a matter of pride that I have personally recorded, for posterity, the history of my regiment. Great video once again Bismarck. Thanks.
Jesus, imagine being in that little hatch unable to see anything and then being jumped by enemy fighters. Awful.
Jesus was not involved.
I know right? That would be very fucked to have experienced that
@@peterrobertson2778 Good one peter pan
Mechanics hidden inside FW190's! 😮 They had to be among the most unenvied schmucks there were. Not knowing what was going on while inside that fuselage, the fear, the claustrophobia, not knowing when it was going to end, or how; I have a hard time imagining it. Then one considers the effect on airplane handling. Did it throw the c.g. way off and make it hard to maneuver while under attack. Unbelievable.
I can imagine the point of gravity shifting inhibiting manouvrability...
Only the Germans could do this...The poor mechanics
@Maxwell Smart Would you believe, he missed it by that much 🤔😅🤣
@@douglasgreen437 99 points for this comment, you sure have CONTROL of your words, otherwise there would be KAOS. (Sorry about that Chief)
Commander R. Mike Crosley wrote in his book THEY GAVE ME A SEAFIRE events most people never knew about. Crosley's flight was tasked with directing Royal Navy Cruiser and Battleship gunfire during the Normandy Overlord invasion. He reported a considerable number of Luftwaffe fighters, mostly FW-190s. The air was also full of Mustangs, Thunderbolts and Spitfires, all of which had a habit of taking potshots at them. If that was not enough trouble the worst problem was Allied AAA fire.
>In their own words
*AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!*
Yeah, especially the poor bastards stuffed in the storage compartments in the FW-190's while they were being shot at...
@@mtnmist1 *muffled screaming*
After 76 yrs. The German stories are being told. I'm glad there young Germans like your self telling history of us.
Awesome vídeo !!!! 👍👍. Congratulations to the this Channel !!!
Great graphic explanation of Luftwaffe operation around D-day.
7:13 : Clastres is a town, and it's pronounced "Class-tr" :) (yeah, french can be tricky x)) anyway awesome video as always :)
Edit :
8:50 Tours, the S is silenced, so it's said "Tour"
9:05 I think this one might be a typo from the original report, Around Toulon Menton, and not Mentone: Toulon and Menton are two french cities ont the Cote d'Azur, so I guess they were doing U-hunt between those two towns
@Dick Fageroni Nice one x)
Excellent video! I think diaries are fantastic insights into more clinical war reports.
However, that light brown color text on the light blue was hard to read on a mobile phone screen!
Dammit I just remember seeing that tweet of the video clip. Knew what it was depicting but since someone else already answered correctly I did not bother answering it. Did not know you were doing an audience knowledge test.
Yet another informative video Bis. The recorded actions of III./SG 4 make it clear how outnumbered they were. Just the number of machines they can bring to bear compared to the allies, who swarm all over them when spotted is telling. Trying to perform strike missions in the face of such air superiority is suicide.
So many just caught in the midst of the transfer alone.
Good stuff Bis.
I cannot imagine both the thrill and fright of a mechanic riding in the belly of that FW-190. It could explain non-optimal flying characteristics that caused more to be shot down. Terrible way to go. Enjoyed the narration, subject matter and the story line details. Quality UA-cam channel.
Fantastic video! When you go from English into German my ears get sprained
You need to use two colors as far apart from each other in the color spectrum as possible when presenting text. An example would be white text on a black background.
Thank you for the fascinating information about the German unit, it's not a subject that most history buffs get!
Thank you for your hard effort making this awesome video, Chris! I had no idea German planes were able to carry personnel inside that little compartment. I guess it should have been a horrible experience for the poor mechanic, in the darkness, poorly restrained, and experiencing high G forces.
Wow this channel rocks! I just regret is not also about ships and tanks and infantry! 😉Congrats.
I appreciate your English language discussion about Luftwaffe history. Gruss aus den USA!
Cheers Richard, and thanks for supporting!
That was fantastic! Thank you for all the hard work.
Sobering reading, thank you for sharing this. The idea of mechanics being carried in those ferrying 190s with them being attacked was... Well it terrifies me.
So many brave people on both sides lost and injured doing their duty to their country. Thank you for lifting just a little bit of the fog of war.
Really enjoyed hearing the Germans point of view on and around D-Day. Keep up the great work!
What a wonderful find, thanks Chris for bringing it to us. I mean no irony, it was especially sad about the aircraftmen being killed in the planes
That is what air superiority is all about! By June 1944 the air was a no-go zone for the Luftwaffe. Johannes "Mackie" Steinhoff described a similar hopeless situation in Sicily at the time of the landings there in his book 'The Straits of Messina".
Great video. Had no idea that Luftwaffe forces on the western front were so minimal, given that so many resources were sent to the east. It seemed apparent from the video that Der Deutsche Luftwaffe were also undersupplied with sufficient quantities of materiel and mechanics.
Actually, most of the Luftwaffe was in the West. Britain and the US took a decision to achieve overwhelming air superiority by spending most of their available money on their air forces and it paid off.
Thanks! I am glad to get history from another perspective. It makes it richer.
Thanks
Really interesting info I have not seen covered in such detail. Much appreciated!
I think its very impressive what german pilots and engineers came up with and managed to do given the circumstances of war and the weird politics.. probably on of the most interesting is the Ta 152, i would love to see a video and your take on this plane
Da gibt es ein Deutsches Sprichwort!
,,NOT'' macht Erfinderisch.
There is a German saying!
,,Necessity is the mother of invention.
Yes, but compared to the Red Army the approach is very different... Just as an example: The problem with loose track pins on the T-34 was solved by welding on a piece of metal, that would push the loose pins back in when driving (and produce the famous rattling) - the german came up with for example the GM-1 on the Ta 152 and a three stage supercharger to work around the shortage of high octane fuel, so the character is way different (i don't think the german approach was necessarily better, even though quite impressive)
@@spokenbratze2361 ...that 'saying' is attributable to Plato who wuz not ein djermin
That was very interesting hearing the German perspective. Thanks for all the work. Great video!
I cannot even fathom the fact that a responsibility of the prime mechanic for a certain fighter was to crawl in its cramped dark trunk and even be transported under calm conditions, let alone while being shot at. Absolutely insane.
amazing video! what i would love to see one day, is a sort of combat report of luftwaffe sorties in the west past the D day landings. I'd like to see what exactly did they manage to achieve under such circumstances, how many air or ground allied targets they managed to destroy and when.
Thanks!
Thank you so much!
I was listening to this like an audio book and with the background engine noise and dogfights it made me feel like I was apart of it
Happened to stumble onto this video, well done, very informative! I love military aviation history and I learned a lot in this video, mainly the part of ferrying maintenance personnel in the tail of an airplane!
excellent video as usual, just one little thing: we don't say "Clatress" but "Classtre" for Clastres ;) regards
Absolutely harrowing account & conditions you described...thank you !
_"....that's two aircraft against an invasion. You may place your bets now"_ A German with a sense of humour! You get like and a sub for that alone 👍
How strange the 190s had that big empty compartment there. You'd think they'd use the space for fuel or ammo or something.
It is likely that having a fuel tank there would move the CG too far aft for the aircraft to be stable. The P-51 had a fuel tank around that location and with it full was dangerously close to the aft CG limit. Maneuvering was restricted until that tank was almost empty. As for ammo, it would probably be difficult to find a way to reliably route anything from there to the guns.
@@xeigen2 yes, I certainly bow to Kurt Tank when it comes to aircraft design.
Just found your channel this morning. Really enjoying your in-depth videos. I'm under employed during covid, Soo unfortunately, can't support you on Patreon at this time. Keep up with the videos. 😁
My Grand father stormed Normandy beach in the big Red One. So I found this very interesting. You do good research, which is so rare in history videos on youtube.. good job. I can subscribe but thats about it. Good luck.