Battle Of The Skies: Real Footage From WWII Bombing Missions | Battlezone | War Stories

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  • Опубліковано 16 лют 2021
  • The Battle over Europe follows the all-out bombing offensive against Hitler’s Third Reich. These authentic archive films tell the story of this campaign and the great air war that grew out of it. We hear straight from the mouths of those who experienced it and those who are never going to forget it.
    War Stories is your one stop shop for all things military history. From Waterloo to Verdun, we'll be bringing you only the best documentaries and stories from history's most engaging and dramatic conflicts.
    You can find more from us on:
    / warstoriesdocs
    This channel is part of the History Hit Network. For any queries, please contact owned-enquiries@littledotstudios.com. #warstories Discover the past on History Hit with ad-free exclusive podcasts and documentaries released weekly presented by world renowned historians Dan Snow, Suzannah Lipscomb, Matt Lewis and more. Get 50% off your first 3 months with code WARSTORIES bit.ly/3rc7nqm

КОМЕНТАРІ • 650

  • @WarStoriesChannel
    @WarStoriesChannel  3 роки тому +26

    📺 It's like Netflix for history... Sign up to History Hit the world's best history documentary service with code 'WARSTORIES' for a huge discount! bit.ly/2MNt3cM

    • @DaveSCameron
      @DaveSCameron Рік тому +1

      Nein!

    • @kratzikatz1
      @kratzikatz1 Рік тому +1

      Never change the ratio. That is digusting to watch.

    • @bentjensen7245
      @bentjensen7245 Рік тому

      I has never understood why the Sweinfurt raids was a Mosquito raid

    • @MkMk-zf5jy
      @MkMk-zf5jy 11 місяців тому

      ​ຝ

    • @user-yw5uu5of1d
      @user-yw5uu5of1d 10 місяців тому

      😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
      😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

  • @stulynn2005
    @stulynn2005 Рік тому +64

    The men that flew with the allied forces are the reason I continue to work with warbirds. They deserve not to be forgotten along with their bravery in such an unforgiving war

    • @samrodian919
      @samrodian919 9 місяців тому +1

      Hear hear! Their sacrifices should never be forgotten even more than 83 years on. (For American readers, don't forget we were in this
      2 1/4years before you ) They should still be commemorated in 300 years. If the world as we know it survives climate change that is.

  • @ianwoods8593
    @ianwoods8593 Рік тому +141

    Lest we forget! My father was a Lancaster pilot, his stories are both amazing and horrifying!!

    • @jaksongpg
      @jaksongpg Рік тому +5

      so you got to be getting on - 70/80+. I remember talking to a WW2 Lancaster pilot in Brum in about 84. He didn't really want to talk about it though. We won't forget.

    • @PimSchouten
      @PimSchouten 9 місяців тому +5

      Bless your father Ian

  • @peterivarsson6819
    @peterivarsson6819 Рік тому +55

    May one never forget these heroes for the free world we live in!

  • @timnorth1692
    @timnorth1692 Рік тому +141

    My father was a rear gunner, Bomber command and ended up in the pathfinders, so proud of him and all of them. He ended up as a squadron leader DFC

    • @pizzulo8111
      @pizzulo8111 Рік тому +9

      Tail gunners had massive balls. That and a tunnel rat in Vietnam are as scary as it gets.

    • @timnorth1692
      @timnorth1692 Рік тому +1

      @@pizzulo8111 I agree, but l will have to learn about tunnel rats

    • @pizzulo8111
      @pizzulo8111 Рік тому

      @@timnorth1692 Definitely look them up. They were given a flashlight and a .45 to crawl through the tunnels to kill Viet Cong hiding in the dark. They would have the smallest guy go in because the tunnels were so small because the VC were small. A lot of them lost their lives doing that.

    • @timnorth1692
      @timnorth1692 Рік тому +2

      @@pizzulo8111 people do amazing things, I will definitely look this up.

    • @pauldirac808
      @pauldirac808 Рік тому

      Like tail gunners tunnel Rats needed to be men with massive balls but small in statue .

  • @gregorymacaleese6372
    @gregorymacaleese6372 Рік тому +114

    My Dad was with Bomber Command from 1941-42. Their losses were horrendous. As a bomardier/toggler, he survived enough missions to return to Canada where he trained bombardiers from other British Commonwealth countries. Their losses were equally horrendous.

    • @freddythecat3203
      @freddythecat3203 Рік тому +4

      No they wernt. The average losses were 4.5% in 1942, there were obviously raids with larger losses, but the average was 4.5%. The main issue was the lack of precise targetting, which is why the RAF first switched to night bombing and second to area bombing. The first Thousand Bomber Raid sustained the loss of only 4 aircraft, because that number of planes overwhelmed the defences, and only 40 planes were lost on the trip ther and back to night fighters. The worst losses of any Allied raid was the USAAF daylight raid on the ball bearing factory at Schweinfurt in 1943, which sustained 25% losses, that was the Air Force equivalent of the Somme.

    • @pauldirac808
      @pauldirac808 Рік тому +3

      @@freddythecat3203 what about the March 1943 Hamburg raid off the top of my head I think it was about 17% losses .

    • @davidstegne3036
      @davidstegne3036 11 місяців тому +1

      ​@@freddythecat3203They had to suspend missions after that raid too restore the man power.

    • @rocketeerPM2500
      @rocketeerPM2500 6 місяців тому

      😢 Lest We Forget.

  • @SharonD369
    @SharonD369 3 роки тому +87

    I was born in 1969 and feel quite privileged to live in relatively peaceful time’s, reading books and watching documentaries give a really good insight but living it and surviving it ...... well only a few know what that’s like. I Bow To You All 👌👌👌

    • @charlesreid3482
      @charlesreid3482 3 роки тому +3

      I know what you mean I worked with.a polish fighter pilot from the Battle of Britain ,

    • @tombombadil3185
      @tombombadil3185 3 роки тому +2

      '54 here. My father was a marine at Tarara and Bogensville. There are repercussians that last for a generation.

    • @clicheguevara5282
      @clicheguevara5282 Рік тому +6

      My grandmother was living in Berlin. My grandfather was bombing it.

    • @Antechynus
      @Antechynus Рік тому +4

      There was conflict all over the place through the 60s, 70s and onwards.
      Read more history.

    • @YnseSchaap
      @YnseSchaap Рік тому +2

      1968 and we will get our share yet

  • @xanbex8324
    @xanbex8324 Рік тому +62

    In memory of RCAF Co Pilot G.S.Moreau who survived 33 missions!

  • @NostalgicNickyNYC
    @NostalgicNickyNYC 9 місяців тому +11

    My Grandpa was a B-17 navigator, which means he saw everything. The odds of him surviving were low, but he survived. People don't realize how lucky they are to be living, because if my Grandpa died, I wouldn't even be here😢😢😢😢.

  • @neild3074
    @neild3074 Рік тому +69

    Like many other comments here, my father flew 32 sorties with the 101 Spec Opps Squadran out of Ludford Magna. The 101 flew decoy above and ahead of the main group they carried more armour and 50 cal machineguns to engage the night fighters, his was one of only two 101 crews that completed their 30 missions.

    • @fortunatodeguzman8017
      @fortunatodeguzman8017 Рік тому +7

      Thats was a stunning feat- to survive after 20.missions,sorties...According to WW.2 warplanes stat'c record- an average of 20.sorties,bombing mission were noted among Allied bomber warplanes- before they were shotdown!... Accordingly, the British airforce suffered 60% pilot casualties,total both for bomber and fighter planes!...A heart felt salute!!..and hats.off for all of you!!...With teary eyes: Be assured,your unselfish sacrifice will not be forgotten by all generations!!...

    • @user-rc1ke1ef3t
      @user-rc1ke1ef3t Рік тому +1

      I once met Flt Lt Rusty Waughman off 101 ‘Special Duties’ squadron. I have a signed framed picture of his Lanc in my office.

    • @NineInchTyrone
      @NineInchTyrone Рік тому

      Wow. Suicide missions

    • @neild3074
      @neild3074 Рік тому

      @@user-rc1ke1ef3t My fathers plane is depicted in the painting 'Maximum Effort by Philip E West'. You can see the designation R-Roger (my younger brothers name) and assume by the snow cover it was the very cold 1943/4 winter. My father spoke about having to join the ground crews to clear the runway of snow before they could takeoff. R-Roger was the plane dad flew most of his missions in. She was out for 3 missions when they crashed landed her on a Scottish airfield after a low level raid on Dutch dykes to flood German positions.

    • @0ldb1ll
      @0ldb1ll Рік тому +3

      @@NineInchTyrone After bombing raids on Germany, photo-reconnaisance planes would take pictures from very high level. They were special planes stripped of guns, radios and even the armour plate usually behind the pilots seat. This worked until they had to take pictures of bridges in Italy at low level, flying straight and level. They did this in pairs, the front plane taking the flak from the towers either end of the bridges and the rear plane taking the picture. Checkout F/O J.V. Mcdonald, 241 Squadron. Hit from both towers, he and his plane were blown to pieces and were never found. As he has no grave, apart from his medals, he ceased to exist. The life expectancy of aircrew during WW2 was not very high.

  • @jaywalker3087
    @jaywalker3087 Рік тому +39

    My father volunteerd for aircrew in bomber Command during the battle of Britain. He lived immediately opposite Croydon Airdrome so was getting bombed regularly.
    He said to his brother 'I'm fed up with those barstards bombing me , so I've joined up so I can go and bomb the barstards back"!
    He trained as a radio operator/Air gunner before being seconded to SOE , making trips by Lysander and submarine to occupied territory.
    He didn't tell me any of this until the day he died!
    He had kept the secret until on his death bed in 2004 .
    The questions I wanted to ask him , but never got the chance to .
    I miss you dad ,

    • @MrMrliamo
      @MrMrliamo Рік тому

      Lovely story, I know the aerodrome well, my sister lives in coulsdon, I'm from the west of Ireland, I go there regular to visit my sister and family, great history in the Croydon area

    • @jaywalker3087
      @jaywalker3087 Рік тому +1

      @@MrMrliamo I had aunts and uncles in Caulsden.
      Happy Paddies Day😄

  • @tonypegler9080
    @tonypegler9080 Рік тому +91

    My Grandfather was a new pilot with British Airways and he was trying to land at Hamburg but was confused by the runway system. The German ATC asked dryly if he had not been to Hamburg before ?
    He replied "Yes, back in the '40's - but we never landed."

    • @stevew6138
      @stevew6138 Рік тому +10

      Savage.

    • @Coltnz1
      @Coltnz1 Рік тому +14

      An oldie but goodie.

    • @kevinmccarthy8746
      @kevinmccarthy8746 Рік тому +11

      Hilarious, I had a uncle Vinny who was a tail gunner that survived.

    • @derekfromtauranga6012
      @derekfromtauranga6012 Рік тому +2

      @@kevinmccarthy8746 I love that comment re him being there before but never landed. I'm sure my late uncle who flew sorties in Lancaster bombers flew over Germany as well.

    • @0ldb1ll
      @0ldb1ll Рік тому +4

      When I was young, I asked my father why he never wished to visit Germany, as he had the opportunity to go on an expenses paid business trip. He said that he had seen most of it from 10,000 ft He had also been the pilot of a Lancaster bomber.

  • @clintgreggory2549
    @clintgreggory2549 Рік тому +14

    It's such clear bravery against a brutal , hateful nation. I salute all the brave airmen who helped the allies win against tyranny.

  • @derekfromtauranga6012
    @derekfromtauranga6012 Рік тому +17

    My late uncle from NZ flew the Lancaster bombers in the RAF during WW2. He also ferried planes from Halifax in Canada for the war effort as well as a time as a flying instructor. I remember him telling me because he was very good at navigation the RAF wanted him to be a bomber navigator so he “failed” his nav exam to make sure he was the pilot. He escaped injury from all the sorties he flew but it affected him after the war.

  • @CoalMiner379
    @CoalMiner379 Рік тому +39

    Thank you to all veterans from every war for your courage and sacrifice, Welcome Home Soldiers Welcome Home! God Bless our Veterans and God Bless America!!!

    • @Nitramrec
      @Nitramrec Рік тому +3

      God bless ALL survivors!

  • @82luft49
    @82luft49 Рік тому +42

    I was aware about the 50 thousand British airmen being lost, but I was not aware that 80 thousand American airmen were also lost. Just amazing.

    • @samb1123
      @samb1123 Рік тому +6

      I don't know what the percentage there was of American air crew that became casualties but the percentage of Commonwealth air crews was 66% for the war all told. A friend's father was trained as Flight Engineer on a Lancaster who was scheduled to go to Europe from Canada in 1945 when the war ended. He felt disappointed at first, then relieved as the true nature of the situation sank in.

    • @hicks727
      @hicks727 Рік тому +12

      24 million Russians (civilian and military) died in WW2

    • @stevenlee798
      @stevenlee798 Рік тому +4

      I've read the 8th airforce had (over 26000 ) casualties. So I'm guessing that the 80 000 would include the pacific Italy fronts plus all fighter, transport, coastal commands etc etc to make that number. About 1/3 losses when there was 2.5 million men in the usaaf in march 1944

    • @noalarms4618
      @noalarms4618 Рік тому

      @@hicks727 24 million (mostly of hunger) is probably a gross under-estimation and by far the majority sacrificed on the high altar of Uncle Joe’s paranoia, incompetence and in-humanity.

    • @rockinroll817
      @rockinroll817 Рік тому +5

      The Army Air Corp service had a higher fatality rate than the Marines in the Pacific.

  • @redbay8527
    @redbay8527 Рік тому +8

    This was the most fascinating war footage I have EVER seen. My father served in the US Army during the Battle of the Bulge and I've seen footage from that time. But, I have never seen the likes of this video. I had no idea of the number of planes the Allies put into the air - a thousand bombers at a time????? It's unimaginable - so many planes, so many crew members - so many dead. I'm in awe of what was done and the bravery and dedication shown. It just seems impossible.

  • @phil4986
    @phil4986 4 місяці тому +2

    I have watched all of these World War 2 documentaries since I was a child sixty years ago. Now what I do, is simply turn off the sound, and enjoy the priceless video images, derived from the sound free film at the time. Most World War Two footage was never done with sound.
    We can never know the unreal loud sounds or awful smells or extreme cold or heat or starvation these men endured.
    But there is a pilgrimage, that comes from just looking into the unedited, real time footage and seeing the struggles of men trying to stop evil, from taking over the world, that is easy to make. All we have to do is open our eyes and our mind to see it.
    Thank you to all the veterans who fought to keep us free and all the active service members today who still do the same.

  • @garyandrewranford
    @garyandrewranford Рік тому +10

    I will remember them, always...
    You gallant, brave men and women of WW2

  • @mariekatherine5238
    @mariekatherine5238 Рік тому +14

    Crazy respect to all who flew.

  • @PSM-IPADZ_OX
    @PSM-IPADZ_OX Рік тому +29

    We will never see another war on such a scale, so well documented, the extent of the war impacting so many people and countries, so horrid, cruel and so much of deaths everywhere.

    • @dizzyizzie6354
      @dizzyizzie6354 Рік тому

      With modern technology I think this would be recorded in real time. Documents even better as we don't quite bend rules n paperwork is required from each person/mission /resupply/equipment. I think we know almost every single artillery round, where it was fired & what it hit. Excalibur shells or other GP's guidance will have a digital map of it's trajectory, real time GPS sythetic appiture an visible light view add drones / f35 / Data link. I think it is possible to view almost the entire battle space an account for everything. Of course stuff doesn't always work that way. I think the" rules" reduce actionable abilities.
      2 would a war ever be this large? I am not surd. But china / india , all Asian/ Eurasian have a lot of soldiers. Russian is supposed to hold a large military as we've learned different so far.
      So if u go by population, 45% are drafted is alot.

    • @voraciousreader3341
      @voraciousreader3341 11 місяців тому

      The Pacific island war and that on the Asian mainland as well as New Guinea received hardly any attention at all from the end of the war until more books started coming out around 2005, *60 YEARS* after the war ended…..I estimate that 85-90% of WWII books published during that time period were about the war in Europe. The development of the internet helped, especially since I could see the films where my dad fought in the South Pacific

  • @williammcnab6159
    @williammcnab6159 Рік тому +16

    My ex Wifes Uncle Pat was part of the Dam Busters crew on one of the Lancasters charged with the destruction of one of the major Dams controlling the Ruhr valley I believe.
    I met him several times and one of my regrets was not talking to him about his experiences. I was born in 1943 named after my uncle, who was killed in the Tobruk area in North Africa fighting against the Germans in that area. He was killed just before I was born.

    • @dancarter482
      @dancarter482 Рік тому +2

      I met an unassuming chap on a council estate one day who'd been in tanks in the desert 'til he was wounded then sent to Europe as soon as he could walk again then ended up in Berlin after the war guarding the new border .. .. ..
      Just cogs in the war machine!

  • @julianwaugh8221
    @julianwaugh8221 Рік тому +7

    My father couldn't fly due to eyesight problems his brother was with the pathfinders ,7 missions.
    Dad was running airstrips ,the RAF would be doing night bombing during the day they would " sleep" he would hear them screaming and having terrible nightmares.
    He snuck onto a Lancaster for a raid just so he could have a better appreciation of what the crews were going through.
    He told me he needed a change of underwear was in order never been so frightened in his life and these crews were doing runs day after day.

  • @thomasdoran2363
    @thomasdoran2363 Рік тому +15

    Wow, Just 'WOW' - Such bravery from 'just' teenagers . . . . . and such horror on the ground
    Living/serving both then, and after, must have been a daily torment
    RIP those people who were born in such violent, tumultuous times

  • @MrTaylorTexas
    @MrTaylorTexas Рік тому +43

    My grandfather's brother was a nose gunner in a liberator. They went down in the North Sea and were not found. I can only imagine what it was like back then.

    • @DanMarksman
      @DanMarksman Рік тому +6

      I salut him and his friends.

    • @user-ei3dq2dw6i
      @user-ei3dq2dw6i Рік тому +2

      Much respect to your grandfather's brother and all brave service people that gave us our freedom today

    • @pauldirac808
      @pauldirac808 Рік тому +2

      Thank god for men like your grandfathers brother . Respect .

    • @tjotwo
      @tjotwo Рік тому +1

      @MrTaylorTexas, my father was a nose gunner in a B-24. He came back with an alcohol addiction. The solution to the PTSD of those horrific missions was to send them to their barracks with rations of booze. Many thanks and God bless all those who laid their lives on the line for our nation. BTW, I came to the NW from Leander, Texas. Small world...

    • @normannokes9513
      @normannokes9513 Рік тому +1

      The merciless North sea deterred invaders but claimed so many airmen.

  • @shivajivythilingam8685
    @shivajivythilingam8685 Рік тому +8

    Salutes and tributes to all allied forces. 🙏😪..

  • @julianwaugh8221
    @julianwaugh8221 Рік тому +14

    My uncle was with the pathfinders he had trained in Florida under the Arnold plan and was a check pilot for newbies he got USAF wings returning to england he survived six missions not the seventh

  • @Cudabeara
    @Cudabeara Рік тому +8

    I was born in 1955. We, one of the last generations To have lived and saw the Aftermath of WWII. Driving around hospitals seeing all the wounded soldiers lined on acres and acres of rolling hills of grass, so they could get time in the Healing/outdoors. PBS’s programs are the best to Learn of our past. Replaces growing up in Neighbourhoods and the close bond Everyone had and the history classes taught on the porches.

    • @denisrobertmay875
      @denisrobertmay875 Рік тому +1

      I'm not sure that is true. Almost all the Cities I know have preserved
      ruined buildings, particularly churches, as memorials to the Blitz, every village has warmemorial, there are the traces of the emergency built airfields and, near me, the remains of the preparations for Overlord. The reciprocal are found on the opposite side of the channel along with the war graves. There are countless others all across Europe.
      I grew up during the war years in the Garrison Town of Aldershot eventually serving in August '45.

  • @dennischallinor8497
    @dennischallinor8497 Рік тому +30

    My father trained pilots during WWII in a place called Dafoe, Saskatchewan and whenever we would watch a movie about submarines he'd get so into the movie he'd say: "I'll take my chances in an airplane any day, with those bloody things if something goes wrong you're trapped like a rat!" I must say I do enjoy flying more than sailing. Once you are free of the earth the engine makes you feel so free and powerful just buzzing around up there. Bliss.

    • @rocketeerPM2500
      @rocketeerPM2500 Рік тому +1

      Why even mention your 'bliss' of peacetime flying? It's quite irrelevant to the grim reality of wartime flight ops. Show some respect for the memory of those brave aircrew who died in their thousands, and spare us your trite buzzing around BS.

  • @andrewhorsburgh2549
    @andrewhorsburgh2549 Рік тому +4

    Today's youth will never believe how much their freedom was owed to so many that are not alive today. Do we really need a world war to make them wake up to what is important.

  • @seventhson27
    @seventhson27 Рік тому +14

    My uncle flew two missions over Berlin. He survived and came home. He said he only lost one person. A photographer riding along. The photographer was leaning out over the bombay taking pictures when a AA went off near the plane and jarred the photographer out the bombay.

  • @Nitramrec
    @Nitramrec Рік тому +15

    In the second part of WW2 my father was a simple soldier in the german supply troops. He defended his homeland and tried to survive (in which he luckily succeeded).
    But I don't claim he would a hero!

    • @williammcnab6159
      @williammcnab6159 Рік тому

      I see your comments were edited. Why do we make War on our Brothers in Arms as Mark Knopfler sings. I hope your thoughts were along these thoughts.?

    • @jamescoleakaericunderwood2503
      @jamescoleakaericunderwood2503 Рік тому

      @@williammcnab6159 it's not the common man ...
      Read the poem " Wounded" from WWI....
      A PIPE A FRIEND A FIRE IN GODS GOOD TIME WHEN PRESTO LIKE A BALLOON I LEAP UPON THE STAGE OF SPLENDID DEEDS....
      I YELL WITH RAGE...
      I WALLOW IN GORE!
      I THAT WAS A CLERK IN A DRY SALTERS STORE!

    • @anthonyduraosr.4350
      @anthonyduraosr.4350 Рік тому

      My grd father grew up philly , pa around German town pa a German family help him sister survive as kid ,s dury depression if you're dad survived surved his country cared for family that heroic he ,told, good g, people bad,G people H, dad to me

  • @michaelbull9428
    @michaelbull9428 Рік тому +190

    With what has happened to our country it makes me wonder if all the sacrifice these brave boys made was really worth it

    • @eze8970
      @eze8970 Рік тому +17

      Yes it was, but such a terrible price to pay.

    • @carfvallrightsreservedwith6649
      @carfvallrightsreservedwith6649 Рік тому +34

      The worth lies in its citizenry to not let their sacrifices become a waste. But alas bravery is but a foreign word to today's Americans. Some even want socialism/communism. Of course they're all wearing black clothes, masks, colored hair, and not employed.

    • @davedixon2068
      @davedixon2068 Рік тому +16

      @@carfvallrightsreservedwith6649 very stereo typed opinion

    • @carfvallrightsreservedwith6649
      @carfvallrightsreservedwith6649 Рік тому +12

      @@davedixon2068 agree to disagree....would be surprised if their employers let them off to go bad mouth the country.

    • @benjaminbauer2947
      @benjaminbauer2947 Рік тому +29

      I know that the men I served with in the last desert war don't feel that this generation deserves anything.

  • @teddythewonderlizard1448
    @teddythewonderlizard1448 Рік тому +8

    One of the outstanding bomber pilots of the war - Leonard Cheshire - 39:02 - 39:14. A man amongst men.

  • @markbirrell7662
    @markbirrell7662 Рік тому +5

    Currently reading ‘One who nearly made it back’ RCAF, very sad and brave men.

  • @donquixote1950
    @donquixote1950 2 роки тому +14

    Outstanding video! Excellent video & narration. TY!

  • @jimthorne304
    @jimthorne304 Рік тому +8

    Good production which avoids the trap of producing a history from the point of view solely of one country or even one part of one air force. I think many don't recognise that Germany had a very effective defence system. However, one point that I thought was omitted was that Germany ran out of fuel. They couldn't fly the aircraft that they had.

  • @stephen4121
    @stephen4121 Рік тому +3

    Britain never stood alone.
    We had millions of Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, South Africans, Rhodesians, Kenyans, Malawians, Indians, Nepalese, Fijians, West Indian and many other nations fighting with us from the first day to the last of the war.

    • @EllieMaes-Grandad
      @EllieMaes-Grandad 6 місяців тому

      Thousands, not millions. Brave people, all of them, who preferred to fight rather than be oppressed.

    • @anthonyeaton5153
      @anthonyeaton5153 Місяць тому

      When Germany finally conquered France in 1940, Britain did stand alone as the only unconquered nation in Europe. The Commonwealth aid came later. It was an historical fact not a boast. Churchill said We STAND alone present tense.

    • @anthonyeaton5153
      @anthonyeaton5153 Місяць тому

      Actually those nations offered several undress of thousands not millions later in the war.

  • @michaelmoore234
    @michaelmoore234 Рік тому +15

    Fantastic to see , real hero's , keep it up.

  • @montyzumazoom1337
    @montyzumazoom1337 Рік тому +10

    My uncle Fred flew 27 ops. Rear gunner in a Lancaster and rear and waist gunner in a Flying Fortress. He survived the war and lived out his days in Peterborough UK

  • @petepal55
    @petepal55 3 роки тому +35

    34:30 the guy flew two tours totalling 50 missions. That has got to be the most astounding luck I've ever heard of, titaniums not tough enough for his pair!

    • @jjohnston326
      @jjohnston326 Рік тому +1

      I used to fly in an group called the C.A.F in the B-17 Texas Raiders. When I was there, there was a man named JC Thompson who flew as a rear gunner on 52 missions, at which point he was finally grounded for "excessive drinking." Having seen several of his closest friends having their guts blasted across the interior of your aircraft will do that to a fella. He had a tattoo on his arm of a heart with part of an arrow going through it. I asked him about it one day, why wasn't it finished? His best friend had been giving him the tat one night, they got called up for briefing, went out on mission, only one came back. When I found out why the tat wasn't done, I was shook.

    • @StihlmaddArborist
      @StihlmaddArborist Рік тому +2

      My Grandfather and his fellow crew members flew 57 missions .
      Lancasters 187 squadron C for Charlie.
      Lest we forget.

  • @claytonbhowe7490
    @claytonbhowe7490 Рік тому +9

    Ya me to 1969 these were the bravest men who ever lived I salute them all

  • @davidmoller6985
    @davidmoller6985 Рік тому +3

    Serious respect to all who served...not sure what they would think about what western democracy has become today

  • @patrickkobolt3069
    @patrickkobolt3069 Рік тому +17

    I love hearing from the people who were there.

  • @veronho1ness
    @veronho1ness Рік тому +7

    The Bomber Boys betrayed by their own.
    The attrition rate was such that you had better odds of predicting a coin toss than doing a full tour as a bomber crew member.

    • @borderlands6606
      @borderlands6606 Рік тому

      Mortality among bomber crews was higher than junior officers in WW1, and they lead men out of the trenches into machine gun fire.

  • @garymclaughin
    @garymclaughin Рік тому +4

    Glad someone mentioned the B-24 also the last year of the Battle of the Atlantic allies went on the offence with hunter killer groups of destroyers and the B-24 long range version. Good documentary. Sawadee Khap.

  • @julianwaugh8221
    @julianwaugh8221 Рік тому +4

    The expression the whole nine yards comes from the fact that a waist gunner would have a nine yard long belt of ammo
    It would indicate a fierce battle if you had done the whole nine yards.

  • @panhead55
    @panhead55 Рік тому +3

    Great film sir! I love both perspectives, as this couldn’t have been easy for anyone. May God be with all…

  • @bobmurdoch4719
    @bobmurdoch4719 Рік тому +2

    Not the longest battle. That was the battle of the Atlantic, with the most casualties being Merchant Navy ships. I am not decrying the brave men of Bomber Command. But the first casualties came on the first day and the last at the last day.
    Brave guys all of them. Thanks

  • @RedRodders
    @RedRodders Рік тому +7

    I was waiting with a production worker for a tanker to arrive from Germany, the old chap was over his shift hours but had to wait. The lorry arrived and was unloading lethacin, when the old chap replied to the driver he only took about 12 hours to Germany and back including unloading. The driver was impressed and asked what he was driving, "A Lancaster" was the terse reply

  • @kenmiller8370
    @kenmiller8370 9 місяців тому

    My dad was a flying fortress pilot on the ball bearing factory mission. He started on coffin corner when the Germans took out the inside main planes this time and then he flew up to join another group and they took out most of that group. After delivery, he made it back with all the emergency lights on. He said it was a very quiet day when they told the experienced pilots they would have to do 5 more missions before they could go home to the U.S. because they had lost so many pilots, but they got credit for one extra mission. All the early pilots had the odds against them surviving if they flew a lot of tough missions. He had been there when the army air force arrived in England and lost a lot of his friends. He felt he was truck driver delivering the cargo and getting his crew home as quickly as possible. He did not like dropping bombs on people's houses and never talked about it very much. He said that if all the leaders had to see the ugly stuff themselves and put their own life into harm's way first then wars might not be stated or would come to a conclusion quicker.

  • @timphillips9954
    @timphillips9954 Рік тому +2

    The British technology in WW2 was on a different level.

  • @davidholder3207
    @davidholder3207 Рік тому +2

    Another documentary showing that when a German military force had to fight on an equal footing - it failed.
    The allied air forces took enormous punishment before victory was won. Let us not forget those who gave their lives in the war against Facism.

  • @alikamal3464
    @alikamal3464 Рік тому +3

    In memory of most souls who perished due to WW2. Apart from the German colonel and the nazis

  • @garrettsmith3391
    @garrettsmith3391 2 роки тому +8

    Effective. Men on both sides fought honorably. God bless them.

    • @MattKearneyFan1
      @MattKearneyFan1 Рік тому

      The Germans fought honorably? Sorry but they fought for no reasons other than trying to take over the world for a madman

    • @redwater4778
      @redwater4778 Рік тому +3

      There is no honor in bombing civilians.

    • @anthonyeaton5153
      @anthonyeaton5153 Місяць тому

      Don't tell me the SS and the Einsatztsgrupen fought honorably.

  • @0minous187
    @0minous187 Рік тому +4

    the shockwave from that explosion at 4:31 was awesome

  • @Zopf-international
    @Zopf-international 6 місяців тому +1

    It's horrific enough, but seeing those fighters attacking head on sends chills down my spine.

  • @paigetomkinson1137
    @paigetomkinson1137 2 роки тому +14

    I've seen another documentary like this, exact same format and some of the same voice actors. I never realized it was a series! It would be great if there were even more of them to come!
    Now that I think about it, I'm sure they are chronological, following most of the same people. Wonderfully well done, in any case.

    • @hali705
      @hali705 Рік тому +2

      the original series is called -the war years - it is a French/Canada production-there is a channel called the same-there are also episodes under the title of -the big battles. -Great show

  • @garyquelch888
    @garyquelch888 Рік тому +4

    Brave brave men

  • @John-ws5oh
    @John-ws5oh 7 місяців тому

    This is really Awesome!! You can see the eyes of the men as they re experience their military service in the air. Amazing video,well done

  • @bobg6638
    @bobg6638 Рік тому +7

    History is fascinating

  • @billotto602
    @billotto602 Рік тому +2

    I've often wondered why P-38's & P-51's weren't used sooner. The P-38 was used, with drop tanks in the Pacific in 42. The British bought P-51's in 1940, found that the Allison engines sucked so they stuck Rolls-Royce Merlins in them & turned them into the most awesome fighter of the whole damn war ! How many bomber crews would have survived the war ? The world wonders...

  • @wolfganggugelweith8760
    @wolfganggugelweith8760 Рік тому +3

    Those planes killed so many children and civilian people. What a shame!

    • @zacharypelphrey6166
      @zacharypelphrey6166 Рік тому +1

      Better than dying in a gas chamber.

    • @wolfganggugelweith8760
      @wolfganggugelweith8760 Рік тому

      @@zacharypelphrey6166 Members of my family got killed in bombings and in gas chamber. You must be a very experieced man that You know that difference! Hasta la vista!

    • @philliphall5198
      @philliphall5198 9 місяців тому

      That’s the sad part of war , they are always setting Ducks

  • @damienhudson8028
    @damienhudson8028 Місяць тому

    Thanks for posting this. Great to see men on both sides speak and footage from both sides. History can be revisionist, but this video is a primary source from the decades following the end of WW2. Great to see it.

  • @jamesbugbee6812
    @jamesbugbee6812 Рік тому +4

    Saundby was & is completely underappreciated 💜.

  • @salvagedb2470
    @salvagedb2470 Рік тому +4

    When you see this the U.S or RAF were going against Aircraft replenished from Downed of their own , thats how it goes ..great Footage to a great vid.

  • @jaketaylor3901
    @jaketaylor3901 3 роки тому +8

    That dogfight footage is amazing

  • @14rnr
    @14rnr Рік тому

    Thank you for sharing this.

  • @TheNextGoogification
    @TheNextGoogification Рік тому +11

    Wow what an extraordinary documentary!! Can't believe it's only got 94 comments having been up for a year

    • @viktorroswell1041
      @viktorroswell1041 Рік тому +1

      What you forget is history is non PC nowadays, those of us that remember are getting less and less when we are all gone the following generations will forget the sacrifices and the horrors of war, and guess what they will do it all over again!

  • @haroldland4620
    @haroldland4620 Рік тому +2

    superb footage thankyou

  • @dougclevenger6748
    @dougclevenger6748 Рік тому +5

    Excellent !!!!!!

  • @Anautistictherapist
    @Anautistictherapist Рік тому +2

    “This is a story of an enemy who’s resources were stretched to their limits. Oh! And bombs.”

  • @rikijett310
    @rikijett310 Рік тому +4

    Outstanding movie!!!!

  • @lablackzed
    @lablackzed 3 роки тому +11

    Why you have not a million sub's is beyond me.👍

  • @petersmith-cg3ry
    @petersmith-cg3ry 2 місяці тому

    My father flew the Halifax Mk 3 plus with the new engines. 158 Squadron. DFC. SOME WILD STORIES So grateful for their bravery

  • @romanpernal7397
    @romanpernal7397 Рік тому +3

    One thousand plane raid….what a massive undertaking…..but needed

  • @ruscador1
    @ruscador1 Місяць тому

    this was very interesting to watch thank you

  • @clarkewi
    @clarkewi Рік тому +4

    Greatest generation.

  • @14rnr
    @14rnr Рік тому +3

    So many souls lost.

  • @fidgers
    @fidgers Рік тому +2

    I took a ride in a b17 some years ago. While we were in flight i kept thinking, how did these guys do it? 8 hrs or better in the cold, with people shooting at them? I got to in some small way step in theyre shoes briefly to get an idea of what they saw, smelled and felt. Ill never forget it or those guys that flew the 2nd world war.

  • @romanpernal7397
    @romanpernal7397 Рік тому +1

    Thank you

  • @abdulqayumkhan3992
    @abdulqayumkhan3992 Рік тому +1

    Great Air Battle Story

  • @nickdanger3802
    @nickdanger3802 Рік тому +1

    "Inaccurate navigation and bombing, though in fact the biggest obstacle to the progress of our offensive, had not thus far been the Air Staff's main worry, for the seriousness of that particular problem was only gradually becoming realized. What was more obvious was that the total bombing effort had been disappointingly small. Bombers had been diverted-to O.T.U.s, to the Middle East, to Coastal Command. Bomber crews had been called upon to ferry Blenheims and Wellingtons out to Egypt, and force one reason and another throughout the winter little more than half the full establishment of crews had been operationally fit. On top of this, naval targets had absorbed most of the available effort. All told, it was little wonder that German industry had escaped lightly."
    --239--
    Hyperwar Royal Air Force 1939-1945 Vol I

  • @copisetic1104
    @copisetic1104 Рік тому +8

    And then the P51 came in to the game, and the jig was up. Why do humans follow a crazy individual into wars like this.

    • @skipellison3667
      @skipellison3667 Рік тому

      Why do people follow an incompetent like bydon?

  • @denniskeena5936
    @denniskeena5936 3 роки тому +22

    The longest battle of the war was the battle of the Atlantic . Not the air battle over Germany.

    • @canusakommando9692
      @canusakommando9692 2 роки тому +2

      Exactly! Thanks for being informed.

    • @sprinter1832
      @sprinter1832 Рік тому

      Dennis Keena The ONLY battle of the war was the Battle of Britain! had we lost that,there would have been no D-Day, No US in Europe, so no help for Russia,

  • @russellrykhus9130
    @russellrykhus9130 2 роки тому +7

    After the war the RAF conducted a study into the accuracy of night bombing. They concluded that only one out of 10 bombs dropped fell within 5 miles of the intended target. Night bombing was a waste of time and resources given the relatively inaccurate bombsites and navigation methods available in the 1940'sw.

    • @itchycooable
      @itchycooable 2 роки тому

      that was 1941/42 not the end of the war , they then brought in aids like gee/oboe and later h2s , just sayin.

    • @clicheguevara5282
      @clicheguevara5282 Рік тому +3

      The intended target was civilians and it was very effective.

    • @benwilson6145
      @benwilson6145 Рік тому +3

      The study was done in 1942. lessons were learned

    • @redwater4778
      @redwater4778 Рік тому

      Maybe the bomber crews just didn't want to kill civilians and purposely missed targets.

    • @stenalriksson6475
      @stenalriksson6475 Рік тому

      Vad sägs om fosfor bombning av civila?

  • @jackhammer111
    @jackhammer111 Рік тому +1

    There were no significant amount of long range Thunderbolts. The 8th Air Force didn't resume deep penetration raids into Germany until the Mustangs arrived. And there weren't enough of those until about April of 1944. No Thunderbolt was covering bombers to Berlin and back.

  • @carlosescobar6973
    @carlosescobar6973 Рік тому +1

    Exellent!!⭐⭐⭐⭐

  • @jimparis5073
    @jimparis5073 10 місяців тому +1

    Early 2000s was a kid heard an almighty thundering! Me and my dad practically ran to the garden and a Lancaster did a low pass over our house could pretty much read the markings on the wings n stuff I was amazed. I’m now 27 and think my god I’m glad I wasn’t in Hamburg

  • @samb1123
    @samb1123 Рік тому +6

    The longest Battle of World War II was the Battle of the Atlantic. It started the first day and went to the last. The Air War in the West took a while to get rolling although it did go to the last.

    • @edgeofeternity744
      @edgeofeternity744 Рік тому +1

      The two are incomparable. As was mentioned in the video, a naval commander may have 2 major battles during the entire war. Bomber command had one every single day.

    • @stephen4121
      @stephen4121 Рік тому

      @@edgeofeternity744 Talking of incomparable, you are comparing one naval commander with the entity of Bomber Command....you don't see the issue there?

  • @Johnnycdrums
    @Johnnycdrums Рік тому +2

    The glory of the soldiers/ Bishop Fulton J. Sheen.

  • @aefbNone
    @aefbNone 6 місяців тому

    the plane enginesounds are stunning

  • @alexandarvoncarsteinzarovi3723

    The bombing of any structures or targets, unless it involves actual military targets in active service such as a shore battery, armored convoys, enemy fleets etc., is a war crime,
    1. the sinking of the USS Arizona & KMS Tirpitz was a war crime,
    2. the usage of the V1 & V2 rockets on London was a war crime,
    3. the deployment of sarin gas is a war crime,
    4. the use of concentration camps & slave laborers is a war crime
    5. the use of the atomic bomb in the bombing on Japan was a war crime!
    6. the mass city bombing used by all parties is a war crime
    7. the destruction of Warsaw was a war crime,
    8. grave robbing and monument destruction is a war crime,

  • @markrowland1366
    @markrowland1366 Рік тому +1

    It's, the COLDEST HOUR is just before the dawn. Those who laboured outdoors never get this wrong. I had a bread round.

    • @denisrobertmay875
      @denisrobertmay875 Рік тому

      It always dark before dawn. It does not say which hour.

  • @ottomeyer6928
    @ottomeyer6928 Рік тому

    a nice story about the picle barrel.

  • @briancooper2112
    @briancooper2112 Рік тому +2

    These men had brass balls!

  • @alfredawomi2340
    @alfredawomi2340 3 роки тому +5

    Please do mention when the interviews were taken in description box.

    • @borderlands6606
      @borderlands6606 Рік тому

      The age of the protagonists suggests the mid-1960s.

  • @markhonerbaum3920
    @markhonerbaum3920 Рік тому +1

    The narrative is great, familiar, the pickle misconception with the barrel, today it's a real possibility.

  • @slypen7450
    @slypen7450 3 роки тому +16

    The combat footage was awesome! The casualties in Dresden were claimed to be much higher because the city was packed with refugees from Prussia and Easturn Germany.

    • @jefferystutsman6419
      @jefferystutsman6419 2 роки тому

      thats not what your mom said

    • @clicheguevara5282
      @clicheguevara5282 Рік тому +8

      My grandmother was one of those refugees but she decided to go back to her family in Berlin at the last minute. She'd ironically been sent to Dresden to escape all the bombing in Berlin (some of which was ironically being done by my American grandfather, who was in a B17 above Berlin in '45). She missed the bombing of Dresden by just a few days.
      Things like Dresden are why I _refuse_ to consider the Allies "the good guys". They were just less bad than "the bad guys".

    • @CAGED1702
      @CAGED1702 Рік тому

      My Mom was in Dresden on Feb. 13./14./15. 1945. She talked about it to me only ONCE! It must have been horrendous...

    • @Nibby12
      @Nibby12 Рік тому

      Dresden supplied lots of steel to the German war effort, no German city was an innocent target.

    • @clicheguevara5282
      @clicheguevara5282 Рік тому

      @@Nibby12 ..and yet 95% of the people killed in those cities were innocent civilians.
      Justifying the bombing of cities is disgusting.

  • @petercarroll5874
    @petercarroll5874 6 місяців тому +1

    The commentator claims that the bombing campaign over Germany was "the longest battle of the war". I was always told, and read, that the Battle of the Atlantic, was the longest.
    It began on September 3rd 1939 and ended on May 8th 1945 after 2074 days, with the surrender of Germany.