One of the Me109’s of the Bodenplatte campaign that attacked Eindhoven Airbase crashed near our houses just south of the Base. The pilot survived and his son attended a formal meeting about the event some years ago at a temporary fun airstrip very near to the crash site. The plane is still in the ground, almost intact, we did recover small parts of it. History is not without a sense of irony... .
I have been reading and visited every museum I have come across from WW2 since I was 10. Still, Mr. Felton’s videos manages to find stories I know nothing or little about! I love this channel! My compliments Mr. Felton.
It's good that you take an interest. However these are all covered in history and freely accessible. It's really worth grabbing a few old books and reading them, it's amazing what can be found. The subject of this video actually was in the Dogfight series, very good too.
There was an episode of the US TV series Dog Fight which covered part of the airbattle which included interviews with some of those who took part. Last time I looked it was available on UA-cam.
Bonus: One of those experienced wing commanders leading Operation Bodenplatte was Major Gunther Specht, an ace credited with 34 victories on the western front and considered one of the best wing commanders of the Luftwaffe. He had only one eye due to a wound received earlier while attacking enemy bomber. This did not deter him and he became commander of the famed JG-11 replacing Herbert Ihlefeld (130 victories). On the morning of January 1 1945, he led JG-11 on a daring low level assault on the Asch airfield as part of Bodenplatte, they immediately came under fire from AAA and lost the edge of surprise when a dozen USAF P-51 mustangs on patrol by chance immediately engaged them. Specht was killed while attempting to crash-land his badly damaged Fw-190. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of Lt colonel
Pretty safe bet most of the time. I read that up to one million men were tied up in defending Germany for USAAF and RAF bombers. Not to mention all of the AA guns and aircraft needed.
"When they are silver planes, they are American. When they are green planes, they're British. When there are no planes? That's the Luftwaffe." -Some random Hun, Normandy 1944.
Vengineer The Wehrmacht has a saying all the way back in the summer of ‘44 after D-Day... IF you see a green planes... they’re British IF you see a silver planes... they’re American IF you don’t see ANY planes... it’s the Luftwaffe...🙃
Like the old Joke said: If you see a white plane, it's an American, if you see a black plane it's the RAF. If you see no planes at all it's the Luftwaffe!
Pretty bad that the quote is so famous, that 3 people posted at the same time without realizing it. 😅 Or, perhaps I should say, "If you see three people writing about the lack of planes in the luftwaffe, it's the luftwaffe." 😉
I've noticed that Hitler had one massive weakness. He relied too much on sledgehammer tactics, to always be on the offensive and put little value in defensive tactics. This showed when he ordered his people to turn the Me-262 into a bomber, a roll that it was totally unsuited for.
My Dad was RCAF ground crew that day. His was a Reconnaissance unit. He was up early when the raid started and took cover under a truck. When he returned to his billet, he found his pillow blown to feathers by a 20mm cannon shell. They lost most of their aircraft but he said most were replaced in about a week.
I have learned so much from Mark Felton. The History Channel or the Smithsonian need to hire this man quickly! Their viewership would increase drastically, and the quality of programming would only get better! Thank you Mark for your amazing work, hopefully someone will pay attention and more people would be able to enjoy your work, as we have here!
Hmmm ... I prefer the current situation where Dr Felton has editorial control over his choice of subjects and his content. Once you accept the master's coin, you become their puppet ...
What was really bad was the number of Allied pilots killed were around a dozen only, against the loss of over 200 German pilots. Even the Allies would have found it harder to replace pilots over planes, yet all the attack managed was to destroy the thing the Allies could replace most easily. Truly an awful outcome for the Luftwaffe.
"Pilot issue was the worst "- older the war gets,younger the soldiers gets committed.........great production again..honoured to be the 1st to watch it.
@@werre2 I doubt the National Socialist commitment to "anti-enslavement," given that they'd been comrades and allies of their fellow socialists in Russia when the enslavement process was initiated.
@@werre2 yeah.... nope. That was all a delusion and wishful thinking by Hitler and his generals. They threw a million German lives away because they couldn't admit they had failed and tried to save their own asses.
Meh, it was a tiny drop in the bucket. Ww2 never saw America unleash its planned wunderwauffen. If the war lasted for America as long as it had for Germany. You wouldve aeen Montana class battleships fighting Yamato and B-36 Peacemakers dropping Hydrogen bombs on Germany. People ignorant of history assumes what the US used in WW2 was all they were capable lf developing.
@@zeitgeistx5239 Same for the other side. Imagine if Hitler didn't attack Russia. If Hitler didn't call off the Britain invasion. What if they had another year for German technology that we were dieing to get our hands on
WWII is one of my favorite subject in history, having a grandfather that worked at Los Alamos during the war, I am also an aircraft mechanic and have worked on several warbirds on a volunteer basis and it is very rewarding. I love this channel as you often go into obscure moments in the war that are fascinating. thank you very much for putting out the content that you do!
The little I know about the Luftwaffe they were relatively honourable and chivalrous and might have balked a little at orders to shoot up crew accommodation. There's the story of the Luftwaffe fighter pilot who, having determined that a damaged Allied aircraft was no longer an active threat, escorted the aircraft back to England as far as he dared go. He credited his commanding officer who also forbad shooting enemy pilots in parachutes stating they were there to fight against machines of war, not murder helpless men.
This is off topic but still might be of interest to some. My father was a B-24 pilot in the 15th, did 30 missions. He said something about facing German fighters I've never seen mentioned elsewhere. He remarked, "There was nothing friendly about those airplanes." I said sure, they were German, etc. He retorted, "That's not it. Our fighters were brand new, flashy, shiny. The 109s and 190s at that point ('44-'45) were filthy, grimy, spattered with oil. They had no time to clean them up. They just rearmed and refueled them and off they went again. The pilots were desperate and they fought like it."
Krusty's Accountant: Let me get this straight. You took all the money you made franchising your name and bet it *against* the Harlem Globetrotters? Krusty the Clown: [miserable] Oh, I thought the Generals were due! [watches the game on TV] Krusty the Clown: He's spinning the ball on his finger! Just take it! Take it! [the Globetrotters score] Krusty the Clown: That game was fixed! They were using a freakin' ladder, for God's sake!
@Adam Dziobek The Washington Generals are a team in the same league as the Harlem Globetrotters. They're performers as opposed to competitive players. Where the Globetrotters' role is to perform tricks and win, the Generals role is to lose.
Another great video Mark. I did some work on boddenplatte during my masters thesis and it never ceases to amaze me that's such a concentration fuel and pilots was wasted in such a fruitless manner
Even today, as a german, many details are still not known or simply ignored bei my fellow "Landsleute", my fellow citizens, of these maniac activities of the failing "Luftwaffe". So, it is important to keep a fact based history stream of these topics going. Excellent work, Mark! Keep up this very good and informative channel. One would have to read 'tons' of history books on those special and lesser known subjects, so it is good to get the most important facts and information in a nutshell. Anybody interested further in the topic can always revert to detailed books anyway.
This was covered in the Dogfight series, quite well done too. Good video all the same. These videos are an excellent start hopefully to encourage people to pick up a book and study the wider subject. It's all there for people to discover, so don't let your appreciation of history end with a 10 minute video and Wikipedia. History is important at least an understanding of it, lest we are doomed to repeat it! Worth remembering.
In the event you see this, I love all your videos. Thank you for posting these on here. I'm learning more than I ever would because school is terrible and they never really go over things like this. Please keep it up!
The luftwaffe pilots were not only great airmen, but they served their country to the last bitter end, irregardless of the situation, fulfilling their duty, as do all who love their country, to make little of that is a sacrilege in anybodys country. Thanks for the post Mr. Felton, never knew the losses at Eindoven were that high, only that the Germans losses were unsustainable by that late point of the conflict, so thanks again.
The RAF/RCAF base at Eindhoven got clobbered by JG 3, which destroyed some 47 aircraft and damaged another 43 on the ground. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Bodenplatte
The Canucks were excellent and above any reproach on land , on the sea and in the air. And unlike others , were most humble and modest about their many achievements.
USAAF Cadets received 80 hours of advanced tactical fighter tactics training (this is after basic pilot training). And then two months in theater transition training by experienced aces before being sent to combat duty. US Army and Navy Cadet training was superb and quality actually improved during the course of the war. Most US aces were sent Stateside to training assignments.
I have never heard this story before today in your channel. Thank you so much Mark it gives a clearer picture of the complexity of the German plan towards the Ardennes.
Mark, I love your videos. ❤️❤️❤️. I grew up just after the war, and have always been a history buff. I thought I’d seen just about every war film out there...until I found your channel. It’s like falling in love all over again. Thank you.
Great to see the old 303 Bren Gun in action again. Its been years since i fired one, before and after they were modified to fire 7.62cal rounds. A very well made weapon. Bob, New Zealand.
The Luftwaffe was on the slow but inexorable downward slope the moment they were switched to bombing cities instead of airfields, the outcome of the Battle of Britain could easily have had a different outcome if they had continued daylight raids on the airfields and had not underestimated the importance of radar, but they didn’t and that allowed the RAF to regroup and strengthen, and once the USA joined the war it was a much quicker end to them being in any way an effective fighting force, although I believe that even without the USAAF the RAF and the many allied pilots and aircraft would have prevailed eventually, might have taken a good few more years, but nonetheless they would have prevailed in the air on the land and at sea. Thanks and may you all Rest In Peace, Lest We Forget. Thanks for another excellent documentary. 👍🇬🇧
The Luftwaffe had no chance of standing against the Allies considering the fact by the time the bombing campaign was in full swing they were already bled dry on the Eastern front. Sure the Soviets never had total air superiority over the Germans, and they weren't very effective in the air, but the work was so much and the casualties for the Luftwaffe there were nonetheless huge, irreplaceable and ultimately fatal.
The Germans understood radar, but underestimated the effectiveness of the British air-defence system; the quite crude radar installations were supplemented by visual observer stations linked by a telephone network. All information was then rapidly collated to obtain a better overall picture of the battlefield before centrally directing planes to interdict German formations. It was this integrated communication that was the key to Dowding’s defensive system.
I read (can't remember the book) that when faced with a bad situation they were to bailout instead of fighting, they were told that Germany had plenty of planes, it was pilots they were running out of.
This event was covered in Pierre Clostermann`s book "The Big Show (Le Grand Cirque)". I highly recomend this book. Pierre Henri Clostermann (28 February 1921 - 22 March 2006) was a World War 2 French fighter pilot. During the conflict he achieved 33 air-to-air combat victories, earning the accolade "France's First Fighter" from General Charles de Gaulle. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Clostermann If i remember Clostermann`s observation of the raid it was something like this; The RAF had some planes in the air but most where returning from mission and was already empty or low in ammo. Also the amount of German planes and the heavy AA ment that allied planes had difficulties making a significant impact on the German raid.
I would not recommend Clostermann's book unless purely for entertainment value. As in, it's a good book, but there's plenty of not-quite true statements in it, and taking it at face value is a mistake.
@@gunner678 I have the Dogfight's series on DVD, it's excellent. Back when the History channel lived up to it's name. One of the American flight leaders suspected that the Germans would attack on New Years and got some of his planes warmed up and idling, as he took his take off run he saw them coming and started firing even before his landing gear had retracted! By this time the Germans were so desperate for fuel and the lack of pilots that this was the effective end of the Luftwaffe. At the end of the war many ME-262's were found hidden in the woods near roads, with either no fuel or even no engines, having run out of raw materials or the factory bombed out.
The fact that the Luftwaffe could still pull off this large scale air offensive (at all), this late in the war, is a testament to Germany’s resolve, ingenuity and spirit.
you're not wrong with that statement Make sure is very knowledgeable about the frist & second world war's as i said to Mark i thought i knew just about all there was to know about both conflicts Ritchie
Your videos are awesome, while watching feel I am seeing alive the incidents which happened a long time ago before I was born maybe I was in that incedents in my previous birth, really incredible.
It's great to see so many young kids commenting on your videos. Guys whose UA-cam channels consist of videos of themselves playing COD are connecting with history and that's really important.
except for the element of surprise, this air battle was what the allied generals dreamed of ....a battle of attrition (for the air crews) from which the germans had no chance of reaping long term strategic value
Air superiority was hard fought won by American and British airman in late '43, early '44. After that, the handwriting was on the wall for the Luftwaffe and the "Supermen" of Berlin. Bodenplatte, like "the Bulge" were of little overall importance.
Thank you Mark. Great stuff as usual. Dogfights had an episode called, The Death of the Luftwaffe: The Legend of Y-29 where they featured an air battle over the slag heaps of Belgium during this operation but they never discussed the background details of the German attack. Now I know!
Fun fact: this battle very nearly led to the first combat between manned jet aircraft in history. Among the planes used in this offensive were a number of Arado Ar 234B-1 jet bombers, which attacked an American airfield. The nearest available air assets to intercept them were RAF Gloster Meteor F.3 jet fighters, which were vectored to the area to engage the bombers. However, the Arados returned to base before the Meteors arrived.
One can see how important an intact air force was in this war. It basically wins battles. Germany conquered Europe because they had a trained and professional Luftwaffe that blasted the way open for the panzers. Later in the war when the Luftwaffe crumbled under the immense pressure towards 1944/45 (loosing so many good pilots and running out of fuel defending the Reich), the Wehrmacht had no chance whatsoever conducting any succesful advances without any air shield. 1 on 1 on the ground the Wehrmacht was still a dangerous enemy in 1944/45. But the RAF and USAF turned the tides there.
ASMR GentleMan . Good point but the opening of a three front war due to Italian capitulation and the Japanese attack on America, is what really crippled the Axis war efforts. Japan needed to attack the USSR in 41 rather than America. That would have weakened soviet resistance and excluded America’s in the west.
A saying among German ground forces by 1945 on how to identify aircraft. If it’s silvery, it’s American. If it’s camouflaged it’s British. If you can’t see them at all they’re German.
Congratulations! And what a superb and complete way to present it! Story is always very interesting but you make any topic fascinating! Boy I wish to attend one of your lectures! Greetings from Guatemala!
If you enjoy "novelized history" as I do, Spencer Dunmore's "Ace" is a great read, from the German perspective. "Bomb Run" is also a page-turner. They are out of print but available on flea bay.
While I despise Nazism, the hopelessness of the German people, after D Day and the increasing degree to which the flower of Germany was being used like some disposable paper napkin by Hitler and his henchmen is depressing and sickening.
His voice is so perfect and takes me back to school films and early videos and dare i say it, dare i even consider it . . . . . .The World at War, the standard setting and epic series . . . . . .you remind me of a young Sir Laurence. . . .
Expected to hear the Ride of the Valkyrie, very appropriate for such a hopeless attack, trading easily replaced enemy aircraft for irreplaceable German pilots.
I have said it before and I will say it again. I love your videos. You have great old film footage and lay out the facts. Thank you and please keep up the great work.
One of my favourite accounts. Particularly concerning the great leader, John Meyer and "The Blue Nose Bastards of Bodney". Meyer had repeatedly been turned down for permission to take off, but it didn't stop him from "warming up" their Stangs and keeping an eye out. When they saw the Germans, Meyer said "let's go"....Sandy Mote recalled..." I knew it was either going to be a court Marshall or a commendation". Thank God for leaders like Meyer.
That music makes me want to do a daring midnight raid on the fridge.
Bologna sandwich Blitzkrieg incoming
@Greasyspleen: Note to spouse - set up defences, a perimeter of mousetraps.
Operation Biting 2.0
Who dares wins... the best snacks.
Operation Snack Jaeger
More history in 12 seconds than the history channel in the past 5 years
The Germans could have destroyed a complete airbase just by dropping Goering on it.
One of the Me109’s of the Bodenplatte campaign that attacked Eindhoven Airbase crashed near our houses just south of the Base. The pilot survived and his son attended a formal meeting about the event some years ago at a temporary fun airstrip very near to the crash site. The plane is still in the ground, almost intact, we did recover small parts of it. History is not without a sense of irony... .
I have been reading and visited every museum I have come across from WW2 since I was 10. Still, Mr. Felton’s videos manages to find stories I know nothing or little about! I love this channel! My compliments Mr. Felton.
Plot twist you are 11
It's good that you take an interest. However these are all covered in history and freely accessible. It's really worth grabbing a few old books and reading them, it's amazing what can be found. The subject of this video actually was in the Dogfight series, very good too.
@@vasili1207 lol im 11
There was an episode of the US TV series Dog Fight which covered part of the airbattle which included interviews with some of those who took part. Last time I looked it was available on UA-cam.
I would really want to see these planes irl but I don't think that there is any ww2 museums where I live
Bonus:
One of those experienced wing commanders leading Operation Bodenplatte was Major Gunther Specht, an ace credited with 34 victories on the western front and considered one of the best wing commanders of the Luftwaffe. He had only one eye due to a wound received earlier while attacking enemy bomber. This did not deter him and he became commander of the famed JG-11 replacing Herbert Ihlefeld (130 victories). On the morning of January 1 1945, he led JG-11 on a daring low level assault on the Asch airfield as part of Bodenplatte, they immediately came under fire from AAA and lost the edge of surprise when a dozen USAF P-51 mustangs on patrol by chance immediately engaged them. Specht was killed while attempting to crash-land his badly damaged Fw-190. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of Lt colonel
When your airforce was beaten so badly you assume they are enemy planes and shoot at them.
Pretty safe bet most of the time. I read that up to one million men were tied up in defending Germany for USAAF and RAF bombers. Not to mention all of the AA guns and aircraft needed.
"When they are silver planes, they are American. When they are green planes, they're British. When there are no planes? That's the Luftwaffe."
-Some random Hun, Normandy 1944.
Vengineer
The Wehrmacht has a saying all the way back in the summer of ‘44 after D-Day...
IF you see a green planes... they’re British
IF you see a silver planes... they’re American
IF you don’t see ANY planes... it’s the Luftwaffe...🙃
Like the old Joke said: If you see a white plane, it's an American, if you see a black plane it's the RAF. If you see no planes at all it's the Luftwaffe!
Pretty bad that the quote is so famous, that 3 people posted at the same time without realizing it. 😅
Or, perhaps I should say,
"If you see three people writing about the lack of planes in the luftwaffe, it's the luftwaffe." 😉
7:59, can we acknowledge these madlads just spraying brens into the air hoping to get one
Remember when the History Channel had documentaries like this?
*GOOD TIMES*
Dogfights was my favorite, still can't believe it was only 2 seasons !
Yes I sure do. And I also remember when the weather channel had weather, now it's hyperactive insanity.
Yeeeeehaw gotta get that gold!
Yuuup!!! I'm buying that storage
G-g-gotta get them alligator.
I've noticed that Hitler had one massive weakness. He relied too much on sledgehammer tactics, to always be on the offensive and put little value in defensive tactics. This showed when he ordered his people to turn the Me-262 into a bomber, a roll that it was totally unsuited for.
Last time I’m this early the Luftwaffe still had air supremacy
Take my like sir
Pommy Pie Laughs in 2,800hp of Pratt and Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp twin row 18 cylinder radial ;)
This was the second presentation of Operation Bodenplatte havee seen on UA-cam. It is by far the best. Thank you!
My Dad was RCAF ground crew that day. His was a Reconnaissance unit. He was up early when the raid started and took cover under a truck. When he returned to his billet, he found his pillow blown to feathers by a 20mm cannon shell. They lost most of their aircraft but he said most were replaced in about a week.
I have learned so much from Mark Felton. The History Channel or the Smithsonian need to hire this man quickly! Their viewership would increase drastically, and the quality of programming would only get better! Thank you Mark for your amazing work, hopefully someone will pay attention and more people would be able to enjoy your work, as we have here!
Hmmm ... I prefer the current situation where Dr Felton has editorial control over his choice of subjects and his content. Once you accept the master's coin, you become their puppet ...
305 Allied planes destroyed. That's what a week or two's production from the Allied factories?
Not even one week
Not even that long when you consider that the Ford Willow Run plant alone put out 1 Liberator every hour around the clock.
What was really bad was the number of Allied pilots killed were around a dozen only, against the loss of over 200 German pilots. Even the Allies would have found it harder to replace pilots over planes, yet all the attack managed was to destroy the thing the Allies could replace most easily. Truly an awful outcome for the Luftwaffe.
"Pilot issue was the worst "- older the war gets,younger the soldiers gets committed.........great production again..honoured to be the 1st to watch it.
I think the Japanese would second that.
@@bigblue6917 ya..
Truly tragic when you look at Germany's actions at the end of the war so many lives lost needlessly.
Desperation towards the end. Happens in lots of wars unfortunately.
They bought time, hoping to delay enslavement of half of Europe, or a miracle peace treaty with the civilized allies.
@@werre2 I doubt the National Socialist commitment to "anti-enslavement," given that they'd been comrades and allies of their fellow socialists in Russia when the enslavement process was initiated.
It was an existential fight. Look around.
@@werre2 yeah.... nope. That was all a delusion and wishful thinking by Hitler and his generals. They threw a million German lives away because they couldn't admit they had failed and tried to save their own asses.
We’ll never know how many bomber crewmen lived for decades after the war because of this diversion of resources.
Meh, it was a tiny drop in the bucket. Ww2 never saw America unleash its planned wunderwauffen. If the war lasted for America as long as it had for Germany. You wouldve aeen Montana class battleships fighting Yamato and B-36 Peacemakers dropping Hydrogen bombs on Germany. People ignorant of history assumes what the US used in WW2 was all they were capable lf developing.
@@zeitgeistx5239 the hell has your drivel got to do with his comment?
@@zeitgeistx5239 Same for the other side. Imagine if Hitler didn't attack Russia. If Hitler didn't call off the Britain invasion. What if they had another year for German technology that we were dieing to get our hands on
I'm sure Allied aircrews were very grateful to the Luftwaffe for delivering a fatal blow to itself like that.
@@Josh-hr5mc Germany could have never seriously invaded britain
WWII is one of my favorite subject in history, having a grandfather that worked at Los Alamos during the war, I am also an aircraft mechanic and have worked on several warbirds on a volunteer basis and it is very rewarding. I love this channel as you often go into obscure moments in the war that are fascinating. thank you very much for putting out the content that you do!
The little I know about the Luftwaffe they were relatively honourable and chivalrous and might have balked a little at orders to shoot up crew accommodation. There's the story of the Luftwaffe fighter pilot who, having determined that a damaged Allied aircraft was no longer an active threat, escorted the aircraft back to England as far as he dared go. He credited his commanding officer who also forbad shooting enemy pilots in parachutes stating they were there to fight against machines of war, not murder helpless men.
My Grandfather first saw a ME 262, his first jet sighting, chased by two P-51’s, and outrun them. He was in Bastogne.
This is off topic but still might be of interest to some. My father was a B-24 pilot in the 15th, did 30 missions. He said something about facing German fighters I've never seen mentioned elsewhere. He remarked, "There was nothing friendly about those airplanes." I said sure, they were German, etc. He retorted, "That's not it. Our fighters were brand new, flashy, shiny. The 109s and 190s at that point ('44-'45) were filthy, grimy, spattered with oil. They had no time to clean them up. They just rearmed and refueled them and off they went again. The pilots were desperate and they fought like it."
WW2 was amazing in every possible way you could mean that.Those aircam shots will live forever.
I love you Mark. I’ve never “Felton” this way about another man. “Mark” my words, I’ll never unsubscribe.
Creepoid ..
You sir, are a true Felton Fanatic! Glad to have you as a member of the club! :)
awwwwwww
🥰🥰🥰🥰
Garand thumb fan I see
It’s not that you love another man that makes you gay. It’s how you went about telling us.
"Ah, the Luftwaffe - the Washington Generals of the History Channel!" - Homer Simpson
Krusty's Accountant:
Let me get this straight. You took all the money you made franchising your name and bet it *against* the Harlem Globetrotters?
Krusty the Clown:
[miserable] Oh, I thought the Generals were due!
[watches the game on TV]
Krusty the Clown:
He's spinning the ball on his finger! Just take it! Take it!
[the Globetrotters score]
Krusty the Clown:
That game was fixed! They were using a freakin' ladder, for God's sake!
@@expfcwintergreenv2.02 lol one of my favorites
@Adam Dziobek The Washington Generals are a team in the same league as the Harlem Globetrotters. They're performers as opposed to competitive players. Where the Globetrotters' role is to perform tricks and win, the Generals role is to lose.
@Adam Dziobek en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Generals
@Adam Dziobek At least they are not the Denver Broncos.................................
Another great video Mark. I did some work on boddenplatte during my masters thesis and it never ceases to amaze me that's such a concentration fuel and pilots was wasted in such a fruitless manner
Even today, as a german, many details are still not known or simply ignored bei my fellow "Landsleute", my fellow citizens, of these maniac activities of the failing "Luftwaffe". So, it is important to keep a fact based history stream of these topics going. Excellent work, Mark! Keep up this very good and informative channel. One would have to read 'tons' of history books on those special and lesser known subjects, so it is good to get the most important facts and information in a nutshell. Anybody interested further in the topic can always revert to detailed books anyway.
This was covered in the Dogfight series, quite well done too. Good video all the same. These videos are an excellent start hopefully to encourage people to pick up a book and study the wider subject. It's all there for people to discover, so don't let your appreciation of history end with a 10 minute video and Wikipedia. History is important at least an understanding of it, lest we are doomed to repeat it! Worth remembering.
Perfect timing while I watch and eat my lunch.
Im eating dinner while you eat lunch
Im eating my evening snack.
Same here
I live in Cali, it's breakfast by the time Mark uploads.
In watching the moon rise! Lol!
As the self appointed pubah of the Felton Fanatics, let me congratulate you once more for an amazing video!
7:30
Gotta love some hip fire Bren gun action😃
Thank you for doing this. I've been waiting for it.
In the event you see this, I love all your videos. Thank you for posting these on here. I'm learning more than I ever would because school is terrible and they never really go over things like this. Please keep it up!
That footage was amazing! I nearly forgot I was watching a UA-cam video. Excellent work as always.
This is officially my favourite English language channel at the moment. Thanks a lot Mark.
The luftwaffe pilots were not only great airmen, but they served their country to the last bitter end, irregardless of the situation, fulfilling their duty, as do all who love their country, to make little of that is a sacrilege in anybodys country. Thanks for the post Mr. Felton, never knew the losses at Eindoven were that high, only that the Germans losses were unsustainable by that late point of the conflict, so thanks again.
5:05 Yes!!! The Canadians (RCAF) were there and thank you for saying so.
I always love the mention
Poor Canada. Often forgotten but always gives a helping hand anyways.
lol they didn't even get off the ground.
The RAF/RCAF base at Eindhoven got clobbered by JG 3, which destroyed some 47 aircraft and damaged another 43 on the ground. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Bodenplatte
The Canucks were excellent and above any reproach on land , on the sea and in the air. And unlike others , were most humble and modest about their many achievements.
The courage and skill of these men deserved a better cause.
USAAF Cadets received 80 hours of advanced tactical fighter tactics training (this is after basic pilot training). And then two months in theater transition training by experienced aces before being sent to combat duty. US Army and Navy Cadet training was superb and quality actually improved during the course of the war. Most US aces were sent Stateside to training assignments.
Another great history lesson and another awesome video Mark !
Excellent video.Great action footages. Fantastic editing. Classic Mark Felton.The best channel on You tube!
THANKS AGAIN MARK, GREAT FOOTAGE MUCH OF WHICH I HAD NOT SEEN BEFOR.
I have never heard this story before today in your channel. Thank you so much Mark it gives a clearer picture of the complexity of the German plan towards the Ardennes.
Mark does a wonderful job with these short films.
I first learned about Bodenplatte from the game Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe. It was one of the Historical missions.
Mark, I love your videos. ❤️❤️❤️. I grew up just after the war, and have always been a history buff. I thought I’d seen just about every war film out there...until I found your channel. It’s like falling in love all over again. Thank you.
A great and very interesting Video!
Thanks Mark!
Thank you Mark, excellent as usual
I really enjoy your videos and your narrative is excellent. Two thumbs up.👍👍
Great job Mark! Love the longer format!!!
Mr.Felton. Thank you for this new offering...
Great to see the old 303 Bren Gun in action again. Its been years since i fired one, before and after they were modified to fire
7.62cal rounds. A very well made weapon. Bob, New Zealand.
As usual, just awesome!! Thank you!!
Hands down the best history channel on you tube!!!
The Luftwaffe was on the slow but inexorable downward slope the moment they were switched to bombing cities instead of airfields, the outcome of the Battle of Britain could easily have had a different outcome if they had continued daylight raids on the airfields and had not underestimated the importance of radar, but they didn’t and that allowed the RAF to regroup and strengthen, and once the USA joined the war it was a much quicker end to them being in any way an effective fighting force, although I believe that even without the USAAF the RAF and the many allied pilots and aircraft would have prevailed eventually, might have taken a good few more years, but nonetheless they would have prevailed in the air on the land and at sea. Thanks and may you all Rest In Peace, Lest We Forget.
Thanks for another excellent documentary. 👍🇬🇧
The Luftwaffe had no chance of standing against the Allies considering the fact by the time the bombing campaign was in full swing they were already bled dry on the Eastern front. Sure the Soviets never had total air superiority over the Germans, and they weren't very effective in the air, but the work was so much and the casualties for the Luftwaffe there were nonetheless huge, irreplaceable and ultimately fatal.
The Germans understood radar, but underestimated the effectiveness of the British air-defence system; the quite crude radar installations were supplemented by visual observer stations linked by a telephone network. All information was then rapidly collated to obtain a better overall picture of the battlefield before centrally directing planes to interdict German formations. It was this integrated communication that was the key to Dowding’s defensive system.
What a surprise, another 12/10 awesome videos by MR. Mark Felton... keep that amazing work Man, you are da guy
Greatest history channel ever keep on
Awesome content as always Mark. Keep the great vids coming
Another great vid, thanks Mark.
I read (can't remember the book) that when faced with a bad situation they were to bailout instead of fighting, they were told that Germany had plenty of planes, it was pilots they were running out of.
This event was covered in Pierre Clostermann`s book "The Big Show (Le Grand Cirque)". I highly recomend this book.
Pierre Henri Clostermann (28 February 1921 - 22 March 2006) was a World War 2 French fighter pilot.
During the conflict he achieved 33 air-to-air combat victories, earning the accolade "France's First Fighter" from General Charles de Gaulle. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Clostermann
If i remember Clostermann`s observation of the raid it was something like this; The RAF had some planes in the air but most where returning from mission and was already empty or low in ammo. Also the amount of German planes and the heavy AA ment that allied planes had difficulties making a significant impact on the German raid.
It was also on that Dogfight series, in fact the episode drew largely from the book I seem to remember.
I would not recommend Clostermann's book unless purely for entertainment value. As in, it's a good book, but there's plenty of not-quite true statements in it, and taking it at face value is a mistake.
Good read that book!
Clostermann was of the opinion that the german planes had better weaponry throughout the war. Read the book 15 years ago.
@@gunner678 I have the Dogfight's series on DVD, it's excellent. Back when the History channel lived up to it's name. One of the American flight leaders suspected that the Germans would attack on New Years and got some of his planes warmed up and idling, as he took his take off run he saw them coming and started firing even before his landing gear had retracted!
By this time the Germans were so desperate for fuel and the lack of pilots that this was the effective end of the Luftwaffe. At the end of the war many ME-262's were found hidden in the woods near roads, with either no fuel or even no engines, having run out of raw materials or the factory bombed out.
Both Cold fusion and Mark Felton productions are awesome.
And another Gem Mr Felton Thank You!
The fact that the Luftwaffe could still pull off this large scale air offensive (at all), this late in the war, is a testament to Germany’s resolve, ingenuity and spirit.
Mark Felton is the king of UA-cam.
you're not wrong with that statement
Make sure is very knowledgeable about the frist & second world war's
as i said to Mark i thought i knew just about all there was to know about both conflicts
Ritchie
Your videos are awesome, while watching feel I am seeing alive the incidents which happened a long time ago before I was born maybe I was in that incedents in my previous birth, really incredible.
Thanks Mark. Good point about crew quarters being targeted, could of had disastrous consequences
It's great to see so many young kids commenting on your videos. Guys whose UA-cam channels consist of videos of themselves playing COD are connecting with history and that's really important.
except for the element of surprise, this air battle was what the allied generals dreamed of ....a battle of attrition (for the air crews) from which the germans had no chance of reaping long term strategic value
Thank You Dr. Felton!
Always the best. Thanks Mark!
Many thanks for another excellent presentation.👌👌👏👏
“That plane’s ours, Hans! It must be a major operation.”
Air superiority was hard fought won by American and British airman in late '43, early '44. After that, the handwriting was on the wall for the Luftwaffe and the "Supermen" of Berlin. Bodenplatte, like "the Bulge" were of little overall importance.
Fascinating as always, Mr. Felton.
- A proud patron
Thank you Mark. Great stuff as usual.
Dogfights had an episode called, The Death of the Luftwaffe: The Legend of Y-29 where they featured an air battle over the slag heaps of Belgium during this operation but they never discussed the background details of the German attack. Now I know!
Here's an account of the fight over Y-29 skeptic78240.wordpress.com/2015/01/01/death-of-the-luftwaffe/
@@DaveGIS123
Not any more, A&E has laid claim to the video and blocked it.
Fantastic video... This channel with its videos on ww2 and cold war... Just great...
Another great video, thanks for sharing, Mark Felton Productions.
This video just made my morning coffee so much more enjoyable cheers Mr.Felton ☕
Planes can be built. Experienced pilots cannot. Thanks again Mark for another fascinating fact on WW11.
Very interesting as always Mark thanks again
Fun fact: this battle very nearly led to the first combat between manned jet aircraft in history. Among the planes used in this offensive were a number of Arado Ar 234B-1 jet bombers, which attacked an American airfield. The nearest available air assets to intercept them were RAF Gloster Meteor F.3 jet fighters, which were vectored to the area to engage the bombers. However, the Arados returned to base before the Meteors arrived.
One can see how important an intact air force was in this war. It basically wins battles.
Germany conquered Europe because they had a trained and professional Luftwaffe that blasted the way open for the panzers. Later in the war when the Luftwaffe crumbled under the immense pressure towards 1944/45 (loosing so many good pilots and running out of fuel defending the Reich), the Wehrmacht had no chance whatsoever conducting any succesful advances without any air shield.
1 on 1 on the ground the Wehrmacht was still a dangerous enemy in 1944/45. But the RAF and USAF turned the tides there.
ASMR GentleMan . Good point but the opening of a three front war due to Italian capitulation and the Japanese attack on America, is what really crippled the Axis war efforts. Japan needed to attack the USSR in 41 rather than America. That would have weakened soviet resistance and excluded America’s in the west.
A saying among German ground forces by 1945 on how to identify aircraft. If it’s silvery, it’s American. If it’s camouflaged it’s British. If you can’t see them at all they’re German.
Congratulations!
And what a superb and complete way to present it! Story is always very interesting but you make any topic fascinating!
Boy I wish to attend one of your lectures!
Greetings from Guatemala!
Evil cannot and will never prevail but that air to air combat was brutal though nice video
I remember history channel covered this in thier dogfights episode they called “ the legend of Y-29”
Correct.
@@Ni999
A&E has blocked it now, bummer.
If you enjoy "novelized history" as I do, Spencer Dunmore's "Ace" is a great read, from the German perspective.
"Bomb Run" is also a page-turner. They are out of print but available on flea bay.
Both worth reading.
Those FW-190a's were beautiful birds, especially with that winter camouflage.
While I despise Nazism, the hopelessness of the German people, after D Day and the increasing degree to which the flower of Germany was being used like some disposable paper napkin by Hitler and his henchmen is depressing and sickening.
His voice is so perfect and takes me back to school films and early videos and dare i say it, dare i even consider it . . . . . .The World at War, the standard setting and epic series . . . . . .you remind me of a young Sir Laurence. . . .
I thoroughly enjoy watching your videos Mark, looking forward to many more!
Safe to assume Goering didn't win any points with Mr. H
Great videos mate!
Expected to hear the Ride of the Valkyrie, very appropriate for such a hopeless attack, trading easily replaced enemy aircraft for irreplaceable German pilots.
Very nice video Mark. I enjoy every bits of it. Haha
I have said it before and I will say it again. I love your videos. You have great old film footage and lay out the facts. Thank you and please keep up the great work.
Just got on the R train on the NayC subway goin home from work and saw this now I got something killer to watch goin home.Keep up the amazing work
Bodenplatte the last Banzai charge of the Germans from the air. 🇺🇸 🇬🇧 🇫🇷 🇨🇦 👍
One of my favourite accounts. Particularly concerning the great leader, John Meyer and "The Blue Nose Bastards of Bodney".
Meyer had repeatedly been turned down for permission to take off, but it didn't stop him from "warming up" their Stangs and keeping an eye out. When they saw the Germans, Meyer said "let's go"....Sandy Mote recalled..." I knew it was either going to be a court Marshall or a commendation". Thank God for leaders like Meyer.