Germany's U-2 - WW2s Highest Air Combat
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- čas přidán 22. 08. 2024
- The thrilling story of a 1942 duel in the stratosphere between Germany's high-flying spy plane and a specially modified Spitfire in the hands of a daredevil prince.
Special thanks to subscriber 'offdeadeye88' for suggesting this tremendous topic.
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Diesel super charged engines, nitrous, spy planes, a Russian Prince and spitfire Mk IX,amazing story.Thanks Mark Felton
Yes..impressive and extremely interesting..all this story needed was a Pirate in it !
And the cherry on top was them becoming friends after the war!!😂
Two stroke diesel engine, if I heard that right. A very rare breed of motors I think.
And yes, love the Russian Prince vs. German warrant officer story!
Polish Prince, keep up.
@@marksbikeexports5123 wrong, listen again and keep up champ.
2 stroke , diesel, supercharged engines at 50,000 feet in the 1940's -simply amazing
And a shot of nitrous oxide to the engine
@@JoshWeaverRC the beauty of DIESEL fuel and rugged engine construction . . . inject ALL the N2O, no worries about about pre-ignition, detonation, running lean or rich like those flaky, ill mannered gasoline/petrol fueled P.O.S. radials and V-12's.
Could make a massive positive impact on general aviation today.
Just to clarify I've never worked on a 2Stroke diesel that wasn't supercharged. It's usually called a blower and it won't work without one.
Even a spitfire ix, with a 1000 hp class engine needed a mod to gone that high. That was just simply amazing considering those two engines only have about 610 hp.
I met one of the German high-altitude pilots a few years ago, when he was in his late 90s. They would typically fly over the UK on a meandering course to disguise the particular target they had interest in any particular day. They would fly up from the south coast, over Scotland and on to Norway, where the film reels would be collected for dispatch to analysts in Germany. The next day they would fly back to France, and then have a rest day. They had to maintain strict radio silence while they were in flight. In late 42/ early 43 his unit was sent to the Eastern Front, and would fly similar high altitude flights over the Black Sea, monitoring allied shipping.
Wow
More depth, thanks 👍🏻
@@gratefulguy4130 l bet he did.
...& he did this for Hitler. The Nazis. That can't be tiptoed over in the historical pieces. Forgiveness? Yes! Rewriting? No!
Sure you did
Since the History Channel is no longer about history, I have come to rely on Mark and his short films - which are out standing!
Thank you Mr Felton, keep up the GREAT work!!
Yea Mark smokes the competition for this stuff. I use to watch History Channel back in the 90’s but its garbage now just like CNN 😂
It's all about grand disasters that might happen, and very little actual history...why I've been calling it the Misery Channel for years now.
But what about those *_aliens_* hiding in this auctioned storage locker though?
@@xstorm_8_shadowx I haven't watched it in years, but it should be called the Hysterical channel now, because it's become such a joke.
@@matztertaler2777 ROFL, that's just about it, too.
I like the happy ending with them becoming friends. My own Grandfather was spared by a German sniper in the Netherlands in the closing days of WW2, I've always wanted to meet him and show him pictures of all the people that are here now because he chose not to kill.
How did he know the Sniper spared him? Would love to hear more about this story
@@kaneworthington Well, he had gone off to take a dump so his pants were around his ankles. A shot hit near him so he hit the dirt and every time he moved to pull up his pants and crawl away another shot would near miss by him. This went on all day, the sniper clearly had a shot but was just messing with him instead. Once night fell, he crawled away.
Wow
Cool
Well that guy could only be a Wehrmacht soldier Ss would be think otherwise
Great to hear that both pilots met in peace after the war. I always like stories like that.
Agree! Not a pacifist but would have been nice to hear the old warriors comment they had discussed the fight but hoped they Never had to do it again.
A similiar incident happened between a Luftwaffe pilot and American bomber pilot that met after the war. Look up Franz Stigler.
random person on the internet I have read arguably the best book on that subject, A Higher Call, by Adam Makos. 10/10!
So, how about that Stalin fellow?
No, I don’t like him either.
Yeah, weird rolls people play in situations they have little control of.
Idk, one of the two was indiscriminately dropping bombs on civilians though...
Every time I hear the intro music to a Mark Felton production, I think: "Today's the day, Mark, that I have already heard the story you're about to tell me." But I never have. That's what makes this channel so great.
When I hear the music I know it's time to learn
Wow, I seem to be an utter WW2 nerd...
I thought, "Ah, he means the Ju86 P over Africa. Anyway, let's hear it again." Later: "Oh no, another story. But not shot down? What about the one over Africa then?" Even later: "Ah, here we go."
In a world where we are usually only told half the story, (hang your head in shame ALL news agencies), this channel is refreshingly well researched planned and narrated. Thanks for the entertainment.
Appreciated
Finally someone with a brain admitting it's all news agencies and not just one side.
LEGEND
@@yapflipthegrunt4687 of course it's total bullsh*t. you can never go wrong criticizing the press or politicians. it's like a backslapping circle jerk. you don't h ave to be right or be specific. all you have to do is get off on it.
getting half the story would be a vast improvement
The quality of these documentaries is as high as the Ju-86's cruising altitude.
@@imperium3926 Maybe you should go back to watching Peppa pig, that seems more your speed.
@@kavasir7042 your comment made my day
Andris Csak: which was equalled by every Spitfire from The Mk V ON
@@kavasir7042 lmao I watch both Peppa Pig and Mark Felton Productions. xD
My favorite film is the Shawshank Redemption, which I rate 14589 meters
I'm a military history buff always impressed and a little jealous of your massive knowledge base. LOVE YOUR CHANNEL THANK YOU... thumbs up stay awesome military history buffs.
Amen
Yep... I'm a WWII history buff, too, and Mr. Felton always presents something I've never heard of before.
@@hshs5756 i know it's flipping awesome...
I prefer the term: nerd :D
@@hanzup4117 i respect that... how this thumbs up stay awesome military history nerds. If it works for you it works for me. Have a great journey throughout your day.
A gun jams and two elderly ex- enemy flyers meet decades later for a pint. Such are the little moments in life that linger in the mind.
"They reduced the weight as much as possible"...
*Shows a picture of two guys sitting on the wingtips*
😁😁
It wasnt unusual for people to be sitting on the wings while aircraft taxied to help stop them bouncing around.
The main purpose of having ground crew on the wingtips during taxying was to guide the pilot ... in a Spitfire cockpit it is impossible to see over the nose when on the ground, so the personnel helped to avoid ground collisions.
2 guys with handguns weighs less than 2 20mm cannons, not a bad idea 😉
@@xxANTIFA Although they were in fact there to sing "God Save The King", as the Spitfire pressed its attack ;)
Two old salts together 30 years later
Talk of battle
And agree to do it better than the first attempt.
Now that's class
I never thought I would say “I’m glad It had a happy ending” on one of your videos Doc
"Happy ending?" Previous bombers like these killed civilians..knob!
I’m with Supes Me on this one I think it’s great that 2 previous combatants can sit down together and talk without animosity towards each other. It’s not like any side can take the moral high ground they all bombed civilians and committed what can arguably be called war crimes and I don’t think Supes Me was in anyway venerating the actions that were carried out in war.
Joe Scummer Thank you, and yes that’s what I meant
@@mercian7 So did nuclear bombs used by the enemy against Japan!
@@Hundert1 These German Airman were part of a regime that designated that part of their loyal and inherent traditional population were worthy of extermination(Victory for them would have been very much extended in racial terms).In respect to the Atomic bomb, I am not an American and I believe that decision was wrong and victory could have been achieved in time and without the death of so many innocents.
It’s amazing to me how many WWII veterans were able to track down then meet and befriend enemies they had fought against. This was a fantastic story and presentation, which of course is what one expects from Mark Felton
Indeed. A good example would be Douglas Bader and Adolf Galland. They became firm friends after WW2, and sometimes met to fly together, when Douglas Bader worked for (I think) Shell, and had his own aircraft for a while. Yet another would be the US soldier who landed on either Utah or Omaha beach on D Day ( I can't recall which it was) and decades later met one of the German defenders whom had been manning a machine gun during the assault. The ex US serviceman had since become a priest, and offered his forgiveness, despite the German freely admitting he must have killed hundreds of Americans on the day. Both men were reduced to tears. Powerful stuff.
@@Brian-om2hh Douglas Bader did work for Shell and in fact became CEO of Shell Aviation. It was Shell that supplied him with aeroplanes. First a Percival Proctor, then a Miles Gemini.
Then a twin engined Beech Travel Air G-APUB ( now N2620U) which was more suited to long trips overseas and remote land areas
"The next time we fly against eachother, we'll be able to do things better" - What a classic...
Right? I have been to my old man's squadron reunions which often had German pilot guests. I listened as two old fighters relived their dogfights with each other, their aged hands doing barrel rolls and Immelmann's and such as they explained each maneuver.
Hopefully not against each other.
Well they'd have to hurry up to kill the other person before being grounded for old age.
Fun fact:
The elite "Rowehl" high altitude reconnaissance squadron flew the Ju-86 surveillance missions. They played a critical part in Operation Barbarossa, because they meticulously identified and photographed the Russian airfields. This later allowed the Luftwaffe to make its famous attack on Russian airbases during the opening hours of the invasion, which devastated the Soviet Air Force while it was still on the ground.
John C
Yup air superiority does wonders
Not so fun for the allies though
And then they lost.
That wasn't fun....
Don't act like a Dufuss!
It's not a "fun" fact, just a fact...not a dang thing fun about it. Interesting mention, though.
"You literally tried to fucking kill me with a 20mm cannon miles above the earth"
"Yeah"
*"...dude lets be bros."*
The Spitfire wouldn't be able to kill him with the 20mm cannons because they are Hispanos and if I learned something from war thunder, Hispanos cant kills a biplane,
@@z3rochief665 war thunder ain’t accurate and biplanes are immortal to gunshots unless you hit the engine because of how they’re built
@@coffee4682 No. Biplanes are made of wood not metal. If you hit the wings and struts hard enough you can clip the wing off
Take out the pilot with a hispano the plane's going down.
@@z3rochief665 this unique historic tale sounds like an ordinary day in war thunder, there's always one me264 pilot at 12k metres flying from corner to corner.
"This was, to say the least, annoying!"
I bet, there's probably still enough strings of curses floating around over the UK to effect weather patterns in the area. 😂
I remember when my father met the German pilot. A war historian, Arthur Price, traced him, and gave my father his phone number. My father rang him up and shouted "Achtung, Spitfeuer!" down the phone!! Then he invited him over to London for a meeting. My father was a linguist, and spoke excellent German, so they got on well. I suppose, once the war is over, relations returned to normal.
Wish it were so. The Brits will never forgive the Germans for keeping the Soviets out of western Europe.
Fascinating.
Amazing !!
Did he ever go back to russia?
@@Ukraineaissance2014 Did who go back?
9 miles high on a two stroke diesel engine...damm
Oh, It's a mechanical gem with its opposing cylinders and pistons which BTW isn't like a boxer but more like two 6-cylinder inline engines fused together at the cylinder heads with two opposing pistons per cylinder.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junkers_Jumo_205.
I drive my two stroke diesel truck over the m62 in winter, I know their problems...
With nitrous injection!
@@alexball5907 sadly no, we're limited to 56mph and no 250kg bombs either :(
Sure wouldn't have been no Detroit ! 😆
On a related topic, my late uncle worked as a RAF engineer during WW2, specialising in Spitfire photo recon missions over Germany. For which he was awarded the MBE. One of the Blue Spitfires he worked on has been restored and is on display at Headcorn Aerodrome in Kent, as is his RAF uniform.
I still have his MBE and a number of his wartime mementos and photo albums.
👍🏻
Gertrude Perkins I had the good fortune to see it fly. Just had dinner at a local pub and while exiting I heard the distinct sound of a Merlin at low level. Delighted to see it heading to Headcorn. I got my family in the car and saw the plane being refueled for a display over a Castle with a crowd enjoying Last Night of the Proms. I can imagine the orchestra playing land of hope and glory with a Spitfire performing is display. We saw it take off and return. It was one of the highlights of our visit to the UK.
Nice, man
@George Arndt Later in the war and over Hong Kong the mark 24 Spitfire with 37 litre Griffin engine reach 55000 ft top speed 450 mph
I give your uncle my gratitude. Thank you sir for your efforts as their outcomes live on to this day.
I tip my hat.
What a heart warming story, the odds of both not only surviving the war but surviving long enough to meet each other 30 years later has restored my faith in humanity.
The Ju-86’s navigator, Erich Sommer has an autobiography titled Luftwaffe Eagle and this encounter is detailed in it. I have read it recently and I can’t recommend it enough!
Have it as well 😁
“Great, great grandson of Karherine the Great”
So, two Germans fighting one another.
Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany and George V of England were cousins that fought the mother of all family quarrels in WWI.
@@skydiverclassc2031 Tsar Nicholas II was their cousin as well.
no
Well, since being a great great grandson, he probably would have about 5 % of German blood. Though, Golitsins themselves weren't less noble than even Catherine's mother, not speaking of her dad.
@@skydiverclassc2031 - So sad, all things considered...
One of the only times I almost called bs on my father-in-law's amazing war stories was when he said the Germans had a diesel powered airplane. He said you could hear the engines go in and out of synch with each other. This was a really informative (and settling) video for me.
Don’t call BS on his story’s, he lived it.
It was found early on that the sound of unsynchronized engines had a soporific effect on the people in the plane. In other words it put passengers and crew to sleep which is why multi-engined aircraft were all fitted with synchronizers!
I suspect that the amphetamines commonly used in the Luftwaffe offset the effect.
Before you dive in waving your arms, yes, I know they weren't the only nation to use them.
Those engines were also used in seaplanes.
The Japanese used a Radial Diesel In WWII, I saw one at Camden, (as well as a Hispano Suiza V8)
@@mattjacomos2795 that would have been really interesting.
The english language does not have enough words to describe how phenomenal this channel is
It has too many words. But what you are referring to is self-evident
I agree that language is sometimes not enough. Have you tried to express how phenomenal the channel is through the medium of contemporary dance?
That is just amazing. And I'd never heard of that jet reconnaisance plane. Amazing stuff. My son is a mechanic in the Army; works on diesels. He drives a turbocharged diesel and talks about adding nitrous to it. It's 2020 and he talks about stuff they were doing in the 1940's. I just find that incredible.
Ah, yes, the SPACEFIRE.
Beat me to it
Oh good one .... have an excellent day.
In terms of war thunder, spacefires dont exist anymore since the great german cry nerf to the british and german buff
I'm going to build a 24th scale kit and kit bash a spitfire IX.
It will be regarded as the spacefire. I'll probably do both planes in 48th scale though.
kieran farrell "german cry"? The Germans are the guys in game who really have to know their machines and every single trick in the book to win in a fair match. When they complain about something there's probably a good reason for it.
The spacefire spam was way too heavy as it was just far too op.
I love the little known aspects of the war, particularly the aviation subjects. I have always been fascinated by WWII history, and you are expanding my knowledge immensely! Thank you Mark, it is a delight!
and I still would like to obtain an autographed copy of your book, let me know if that can be worked out
Could not have said it better, Vic V! Mark Felton never ceases to amaze me with his ability to find and illustrate these obscure and fascinating weapons, battles, and bits of military history. Bravo, Mr. Felton!
yes gizmodic, I have always loved history, and this channel is a breath of fresh air amongst all the mindless drivel on this platform. I have been involved wit aviation for many years, and specialize in vintage aircraft, especially WWII era, so I get a lot out of these videos. Have you been following along with the Dam Busters series? It is fantastic!
just subscribed to your channel as well, love the subject matter gizmonic man
I love the calm way you tell your stories. And I particularly appreciate that your representations are largely free of any political and ideological statements. Perhaps as a small suggestion, I would like to suggest that you also take up events from the First World War. How about Captain Rommel, or Captain Patton ...? Anyway, in my opinion you are doing a great job!
I love it when enemies survive the war to later become friends. It's awesome that they could discuss the battle 30 years later.
You have to admire the Elan and E'sprit de Corps of 2 older gentlemen telling each other " next time I will do better.."
I've understood in the sense that they'll spare each other rather than kill.
I like the headline comment in the newspaper clipping shown , "Now they toast the gun that jammed". Reminds me of Spike Milligan (UK writer and comic and ex Royal Artillery in WW2) recalling that when he and his ex RA friends had a reunion with the Germans they had fought against in the war, the toast was to "Inaccurate Gunnery". See comment from Colonel K.
From Canada: following history of WW2 since 1960, I am still learning things with your videos!
Great work!
Another great and interesting presentation from Mr Felton. I only wish my Grandfather was still alive being a WW2 veteran he would be really fascinated in Mr Felton’s truly excellent and easy to follow videos.
Well done Mr Felton and please keep them coming...
i thought it quite beautiful to see the two pilots were able to meet 30 years later and be good friends.
this reminded me of the story of a returning badly damaged US bomber who were guided in the right direction by a German fighter pilot who done the honourable thing upon seeing how badly shot up the bomber was and clearly flying in the wrong direction due to instrument damage.
the US pilot searched for the German pilot after the war, found him and they met up at a reunion the bomber crew had where they thanked him for not killing them all.
a truly beautiful story about honour among enemy combatants.
When ever I hear that music I know I will learn something, thanks
I always liked it when old adversaries get together and actually become good friends later in life. Great video Mark.
I have always loved these war stories where two opponents clash in fierce battle and then both depart having done their best to down the enemy...Then, both survive the long, devastating conflict and somehow get to know each other
decades later, striking a warm friendship that goes to show just how insane is to go out and try to kill someone you never met before and who could be your best friend in other circumstances...!
I have been watching a few other channels trying to make history videos, about tanks and aircraft from WWII, but gave up to find another video from Mark that I haven't seen before to see how these history videos should be made, with proper and true facts, and not disappointed either, because I had not heard of this high flying bomber/recce aircraft, or the high flying Spitfires developed to combat this JU-86.
However on another note, where I live on the Isle of Wight, I am still greeted by a daily Spitfire flying over head with the music of the Merlin engine which has its unmistakable sound.
People can hire a ride in a Spitfire based I believe in Lee-On-Solent airfield for various lengths of time.
When I win the Lottery.....:)
I think they fly out of Goodwood airfield, situated in the middleof the Goodwood race circuit. I was once doing a charity run round it and had the pleasure of hearing and seeing a spitfire take off circle and land above me. The planes they use are modified two seater training vehicles. The "ultimate" package is that you and a friend are in two spitfires and take part in a "dummy" attack on a replica German plane they have. Two attacks, one with you as the lead plane, one as the wingman. IIRC cost close to £15k. It was about £3k for a 20m flight as a passenger.
@@andrewcarter7503
I guess I am a bit lucking living down here on the Isle of Wight, because just about daily (weather depending) that a Spitfire flies overhead, from the Goodwood airfield, as you say.
I cannot forget the merlin engine overhead, so like to pop outside quickly with my bino's especially on a clear day, to watch the Spit doing its run around the Island, and really wish I could win the Lottery to pay for the longest run,......😀
I have once sat in just the cockpit section (no wings, engine or fuselage) of a Spitfire which was sitting in the corner of hangar at RAF Hendon (stationed there for a couple of years when the museum was being built, and the lads were doing up a Sunderland flying boat reade to put on display, and had a good old nose around inside as in the pilots section, nose and rear gunner turrets, and remember the sell inside of the green pain, oil and stuff), and this was back in 1970/72 I believe.
Back then most of the runways, and side tracks had been ripped up to built a housing estate on it and I think the last aircraft to land there was a Blackburn Beverly freighter, and then put into the museum when tarted up a bit....
OK, enough, I will leave now and quietly shut the door behind me.....
"The next time we fly against each other..." - well the champ seems to have great british humor, allthough he is from the contentinent ;)
German Humor....
@Al Smith A little late for that. Just look up historical war photos and you'll see that there are tons and tons of pictures of Wehrmacht soldiers doing silly stuff, like dressing up dogs, wearing silly costumes, racing their motorbikes and the such. That scene in "Das Boot" where one of the men dresses up and dances like Josephine Baker, in a banana skirt, apparently is quite accurate to how German soldiers behaved during the war.
Actually, such pictures seem to pretty exclusively come out of the Wehrmacht and ones made by any other side's soldiers are extremely rare. If you would judge how much humor each side in that war had by such historical documents, you could almost conclude that Wehrmacht soldiers weren't just the most silly and playful, but actually the only ones who were fooling around like that.
If Allied or Russian soldiers did it, they pretty much never took pictures of it, it seems.
Or take "The Flying Circus" from WW1 as a example. When high command ordered German fighter pilots to paint their aircraft in camouflage, many, especially Von Richthofen's squadron, purposefully "misunderstood" that order and started painting their planes in garish colors, which garnered them the name "Flying Circus".
Von RIchthofen was the most conservative, going for all red.
Herman Goering, who was a WW1 fighter ace too, which many people don't know, painted his plane bright pink with red dots.
When you read accounts, memories and letters German soldiers wrote in both big wars, you get a very different and very weird picture of what the Imperial German Army and later the Wehrmacht was like.
Western media always paints that picture of the stern, brutish, angry, evil German stormtrooper, but that really doesn't gel with what you find in those historical sources.
You should read up on the story of how Hajo Herrmann revolutionized German air defenses.
In the beginning of the Allied bombing campaign, German air defenses were very static. Their fighters engaged Allied bombers when they crossed the front lines, but then let them go and left defense of the cities to the ground based anti air guns and only went up again when the bombers came back on their way home.
Hajo Herrmann was a young fighter ace, who with a bunch of friends figured out that that was no good and that the defenders should engage the enemy everywhere and at any time within their own air space.
At first nobody wanted to listen to a bunch of young hotshots, so they started doing it in their off duty time. They "borrowed" their aircraft and went up without orders. They borrowed money from relatives to buy fuel for their fighters and they snuck into German Army and Navy bases at night to steal ammo for their machine guns.
They called their new strategy of following the bombers and of flying long distances to engage them "Wilde Sau", which translates to "Wild Sow", as in female pig and they were very successful.
They also bribed the officers in command of the anti air guns with French cognac and cigarettes, so they would only shoot up to a certain altitude and thus make it safer for the "wilde sau" pilots to operate within the enemy formations.
Herrmann eventually was invited to meet Hitler and when they met, Hitler congratulated him and asked him to please change that silly "wild sow" name, which Herrmann declined. He told him: "Sorry my Fuhrer, but the boys like the name and we're all stuck with it."
You will find tons of such anecdotes when you look up historical sources that really contradict the stereotypical view people have of Wehrmacht soldiers.
The more you read and find, the more it seems the Wehrmacht wasn't so much a regular, strictly organized army, but more like a giant , loosely cohesive gang of pirates, where basically everyone was doing what they liked to a large extend.
I know how crazy that sounds, because it is the opposite of what people consider common knowledge about the Wehrmacht, but when you read stuff, it really is all "Then we bribed this guy and stole from this guy and then we pretended to be this unit, so that other unit would let us fight on that flank..." and so on.
I think the key to understanding the Wehrmacht is that the defeat in WW1 broke many old structures and wiped away a lot of conservative thinking, creating kind of a "youth culture" army, where the young and creative had more freedom to try new ways and defy conventions.
On the other hand... the memoirs and accounts from WW1 don't sound much differently. (Read "The Storm of Steel" by Ernst Junger. Also available as an audio book in English.) They make the German Imperial Army sound pretty weird and chaotic too, so maybe that is just typically German.
Even those accounts of WW1 sound as if the German army back then was still operating like a horde of "Landsknecht" mercenaries who all just happened to be wearing the same uniform.
You'll also enjoy Junger's book if you like that supposedly typical British humor, that seems to be also surprisingly typical German. The whole book is basically him describing the most horrible things in this weird, jolly, good humored, old timey upper crust manner.
"The poor lad went one way and his face went another way. Shame, really. He was very popular with the French girls and we all profited when they brought him good food and wine."
@@TrangleC one of the longest comment on CZcams I have actually read. Nice One. Thanks.
@@MlTGLIED Glad you stuck around then. I like writing and reading longer comments. I'd definitely rather read a comment that actually has something to say, than just the usual "First!", "I'm a simple man, when XY uploads a new video, I click." or "Your country sucks, my country No.1!" comments.
I have served with officers from the Luftwaffe and know that both nations have a very similar sense of humour. The Dutch also see the world much as we do. Perhaps it is something to do with our 'Saxon' background.
Years read a pilot's memoirs of dealing with Ju86s in north Africa flying Spitfire MK5s. They were progressively lightened and having a few thou skimmed off the cylinder heads. The result was an attacking pair of planes, one unarmed but with a radio to guide the other plane, armed with a single .303 browning and a hundred round, onto the target. A nice bit of improvisation, successful too.
Deutschland, Deutschland über alles,
Über alles in der Welt!
Young old boy Brave pilots and clever engineering. I think you are talking about the Spitfire hunting the JU86. Especially if armed with a Browning
.303. So the poster commenting “Deutschland Uber alles” has missed the point. Plus anyway, Gott ist mit uns... but we’ve got mittens too! (WWI British army joke.)
Years ago I read 'Stapme: The Biography of Squadron Leader Basil Gerald Stapleton DFC'. In that book Stapleton, who was a gunnery instructor , said the average number of .303 rds req to down a Nazi bomber was over 1000.
@@edwardd9702 Buzz Beurling had no problems in that area. He simply shot up the enemy pilot or one of the ordinary enemy bomber's engines.
Wasnt he unique because of his eyesight and luck? From what I've read the average pilot arrived at his operational unit, flew so many missions and had so many opportunities before he was inevitably killed . For most there was no famous name or happy ending.
Mark Felton, WOW!!! Excellent footage and great commentary!! I never knew about the Ju-86 aircraft. Being a WW2 history aficionado, I thought that I had most if not all aircraft of that time noted. You sir have certainly peaked my interest as to your knowledge of WW2. I am definitely a follower for sure. Thank you for sharing your interest with the rest of us folks.
Ted from the USA.
I have spent all 50 years of my adult life studying WWII but Mark Felton always amazes me with his stories and research.... You are brilliant !
Warthunder players: Wait props aren’t supposed to fight at 50,000ft?
Imagine Gaijin add JU-86 in WT
Versions of the Mosquito flew up to 50,000'.
@@hansreiner1637 It already is, in swedish tech tree.
*Ace High Intensifies*
@@hansreiner1637 The new Me264, nothing in the Allied side can touch it before it bombs the fuck out of the AF haha
The final piece of the story reminded me of my dad and some of the WWII vets from the other side of the war when they talked about their time in the military.
There wasn't any talk of politics or causes, strategy was a big part of it, stories of friends gone, and a lot of joking in amongst the sad excitement of day gone by. Just old men who used to be young men sharing the memories of their youth.
An old friend was a WW2 paratrooper. He worked with former German paratroopers in the officers club after the war. They had been through the same grinder and held no grudges he told me.
@@NotAnAngryLesbian My father served in the RAAF in & after WWII, In the 1960's he worked with an ex Luftwaffe air gunner who had joined the RAAF and, as an aside the son was a good mate of mine for many yars.
I thought I knew about WW II, but you make me feel like I learned everything I know from watching John Wayne movies and reading Comic Books. I am amazed by and most appreciative of your vast knowledge.
The fact that your able to find and share so many quality photos and videos on each subject is absolutely astounding. This is definitely one of if not my absolute favorite channels. Top tier content 👏
Splendid Episode Indeed. The next high altitude episode could be on Kurt Tank Uber high altitude Interceptor of 50 000 feet - The infamous German Ta 152 !
Greg had a good video on that
czcams.com/video/hSdYtF2uR3U/video.html
i would also love to see a video talking about the amazing ta 152
I don’t believe any tanks are able to reach those altitudes. Too darn heavy.
@@A_A_J. LoL that was the famous designers Sir name (Tank) !
Yes! Mark should do a video on that aircraft! It's one of my favorite German aircraft! It might would've been able to turn the tide of the war if more were produced.
Erich Sommer actually has written a memoir after the war, called "Luftwaffe Eagle ". It's a great book which gives an interesting insight into the Luftwaffe's recon groups, personal additions, detailed technical descriptions and at places, even funny stories. I can only suggest everyone here to read it. I couldn't put it down.
This account astounded me several times! How great to be surprised and impressed. Thank you.
Amazing how two men locked in a deadly battle can become fast friends later in life. Truly two honorable men, from a different era that we'll never see again.
Thanks Mark for your quality and unbiased content keep it up
Yes, apart from the really interesting content I also appreciate his unbiased approach. Most refreshing.
Wow, your work is just amazing I love it. :)
I love how thought out and thorough each of these stories are. Well done.
With these two great pilots meeting and becoming friends, it made me think that this is how all wars should end.
Some british veteran WW1 aviator who fought Zeppelins must have thought "Here we go again."
Neon Leon Zeppelins bombed my home town of Croydon, South London in WW1.
@@Coltnz1 Congratulations.
@@Leon_der_Luftige 😂
Wait a minute, I have never heard of that German jet powered recon plane before! Mark I implore you to make a video of it.
it was one of 3 jets (5 if you count the Natter and Komet) to enter service with the Germans, interesting plane, it was their jet bomber/ recon plane 200 some were built.
Arado-234, many versions, some as bombers some as recon planes. Lesser known but they did some raids on UK by the end of WWII.
@@josephdonohue3115 Natter never entered service
An Arado 234 also attacked the bridge of Remagen.
@@IntyMichael everything attacked Remagen
Another awesome WW2 history lesson, great video Mark !
I cant get enough of these amazing documentary short films.
That was a very entertaining video Mark (as they always are) but really loved how the two pilots 30years later chatting in detail about their encounter. These are some of the best stories.
Dear Mr. Felton : Thanks for your great work !
Greetings from good, old Germany !
Mark, your videos always give me joy. Life can be a total cock but I see that you uploaded a new video and I immediately immerse myself in the history you share and I forget about all my problems. Cheers!
"The next time we fly against each other, we shall do things better." Spoken by two retired warriors and friends.
You're an amazing historian. I watched the whole story at 11 pm. Keep up the good work, Mark. You're the best.
The Mark IX Spitfire: Add lightness, 2stage SC, then nitrous.
Colin Chapman approved!
Richaed the shitfire did NOT use Nitrous !!! It was the Germans that did !!! Pay attention and LISTEN !!!!
I'm pretty sure he said the germans used nitrous oxide.
@@wilburfinnigan2142
Is it, perhaps, possible for you to make a contribution without being so offensive?
@@purpleldv966 ...yes.... (7:05 - 7:10)..... The Germans used Nitrous for their diesel engines in the bomber.
No, Wilbur would find that impossible.
I find it incredible that they flew at these altitudes with only oxygen. And to depressurize on purpose! I forget at what altitude our blood actually boils. Also the extreme temperatures, and the lack of lift at those altitudes would make maneuvering extremely difficult. Kudos!
I cannot help but think where Germany would be with all that technology, engineering and expertise if it had been put to another use. Excellent video. Thank you.
without war they would never have discovered so much in such a short time, it requires a war to be able to free so many resources (money, people, etc) towards such research. Almost everything had to be sacrificed for the arms race. (The same, to a lesser degree for the cold war) .
Usa pioneered pressurised passanger a/c 1935
Excellent video as always. I was struck by the wingspan on the German plane. It really did look like the U2 in that sense. I love the pilots comments in 1975. Remarkable men.
It's gives me a good feeling to see adversaries meet after the war and become friends.
It's happened thousands of times as the years went by , thank God.
As far as I can tell, that happened a lot after the war.
It happened regularly. The skipper of the destroyer that rammed PT-109 was invited to, and attended, if I remember right, JFK's inauguration. LOT's of pilots on opposite sides became friends after the hostilities ended. There was, allegedly, a plot to get an ME-262 and a P-80 Shooting Star in the air together...each flown by an experienced pilot from the country that originally flew it... and fight a 'gun camera' dog fight to see which would have been the better aircraft (My money would have been on the P-80). This plot...which, sadly, never bore fruit...was some time after the war, and Adolph Galland supposedly had a hand in it. Adolph Galland, was friends with a number of former enemies, and was a very popular speaker at events. I can bet he had some awesome war stories. And if he and, say, a retired P-51 pilot...better yet, one who he'd been in combat against...started telling stories together, they would have had everyone listening absolutely awe-struck.
I don't know how you find these hidden gems of history Mark, but please don't stop.
It is so strange to hear that two men who fought each other in an air battle later became friends.
In the pacific theater a B24 and Betty bomber crashed into each other in the night. twenty five years later at a reunion of pilots they met. Each had assumed the other had gone down with their plane, but each survived and returned to base. They met because they both told the same story to a third pilot, who introduced them to each other.
the pilot of the f117 and the commander of the SAM battery who shot him down over kosovo had a notable meeting years down the road as well
There were many cases, like Robert Stanford Tuck and Adolf Galland, for example.
There was a Pacific intercept where an F6F Hellcat or maybe a Corsair climbed up to catch a Japanese bomber high up in the Bozo-sphere. When the fighters' guns jammed from extreme cold, the fighter closed to bad-breath distance and chewed off the bombers tale with his prop. Amazing courage.
Finishing move of a ballsy Corsair pilot, forgot his name. Just remember he got a medal for this.
S B gosh you can only imagine going down at that height. Damn
maybe a trick he heard about re Soviet 1-16 drivers?
YEEESSSSS !!thanks been trying to find out more
Amazing video, you add such details and extra information on subjects
Thank you for the great idea!
@@MarkFeltonProductions Over the decades,I have encountered just a little about this subject and the one lengthy article I ever encountered (Private Pilot magazine,I think) stated that the high altitude flights over the UK were never successfully intercepted and continued throughout the war.
So kudos to you for digging this out,supplying actual detail,and clearing this up. Well done sir.
The Junkers Ju-86 also served between 1938 and 1958 in the Royal Swedish Air Force, SwAF designation B3, and the sole surviving example in the world of this remarkable aircraft, a Ju-86K model, is now displayed at the SwAF museum - _Flygvapenmuseum_ - in Linköping. It is a very good museum that I highly recommend for anyone visiting Sweden. It is a two hour drive from Stockholm and well worth a day trip.
These videos are great - has the feeling of the old "world at war" documentary series. Nice.
Fascinating these guys got to meet and become friends. Thanks once again Dr. Felton for another informative video.
Awesome story, I love that you always seem to find relevant pictures also 👍
Thank you for an awesome story with a great ending.
This is a story unknown to me about the clash of Junkers and Supermarine machines in the high skies, and how two enemy pilots became friends after the war. Excellent video.
This episode is one of my favourites! Loved the bit at the end about how they got together.
The difference in foes of that time, they could become friends.
Lest we forget
Pilots seem to do that regularly, knights of the air ... maybe a little harder for the guys who spent 500 days in filth with a thousand kinds of death honing in on them.
Why not. After war this was common. We were fighting Hitker not individuals unless they were.evil SS bastards
great story mark. as an ex journalist who covered a few conflicts I do love those ones where veterans reach across the divide
I had no idea Germany had a spy plane like this back then. Your content is really amazing. We get really good history lessons watching your videos.
Another great story that deserved to be told and remembered. Thank you.
Great story, but worth remembering that the USA's first real 'U2' was the British-designed Canberra jet aircraft.
The 'official' ceiling of the Canberra is usually quoted as 50K feet... however I've heard from several sources, one of them a former Canberra navigator, that they could esily do 65k feet if required.
your intro music always makes me feel like we're about to start playing Warcraft 2. It's totally perfect and thematically appropriate, but I just always have this weird nostalgia trip every time.
My father John "Jack" Hunter RAFVR was a Spitfire Pilot with No. 80 squadron in North Africa. During the spring of 1943 he was assigned to work with 103 M.U. Aboukir, Egypt modifying a Spitfire Mk IX they had recently acquired. During this work he set a new Altitude Record for the Middle East.
On July 2 1943 he was scrambled. The flight of three planes consisted of himself (in EYX) and his wing man P/O Pratley in a heavily armed Spitfire Mk Vs and the modified Spitfire Mk IX.
His log book reads, "When at 23,000 ft sighted Ju86P at 44,000ft+. Shadowed it. Watched Spit Mk IX damage it and force it down. At 31,000 ft P/O Pratley and Self engaged, my first burst setting starboard engine on fire. After several attacks each the JU86P broke up and went down in flames. P/O Pratley and Self claim 1/2 destroyed. P/O Pratley was forced to bail out as his aircraft caught fire. I circled him in the water until relieved by Beaufighter friendly"
On 7th July 1943 his log book shows whilst flying his Spitfire Mk V EYX he spotted another it reads, "Sighted JU86P at 40,000 plus. Got to 31,000 then pancaked. Couldn't make the height."
In November 1944 he was posted as Test Pilot in No 132 M.U. , in December 1944 he became Chief Test Pilot No. 136 M.U. In June 1945 he was posted as chief test pilot of 103 M.U. Aboukir Egypt.
He survived the war and went on to become a chartered engineer. After the war he continued flying as an RAFVR pilot joining Edinburgh University Squadron in December 1947 serving as a reserve pilot until the end of 1952.
His log book shows during his military service he flew 47 different types of aircraft. His Total War Service hours 1941-1945 were 1,132 Hrs 45 Mins.
He died in April 1987.
Apart from his log book I also still have his original flying helmet, mask and flying goggles as well as many other items of his from his WW2 Service.
Thank you, for sharing! Greetings from Germany! Peace!
The swedish airforce used this plane as bomber during ww2.
Swedish AIR FORCE MUSEUM have one in display in linköping.
I belive its the only one existing
It can't have seen action since Sweden was a neutral county during WW2.
Yes, Sweden was neutral but it did have a military that was built on domestic and imported weapons. These weapons may have not seen action but they existed as a deterrent to both Russian and Germany.
@The United States of Europe Yep sounds like it then comes china-virus and no lock-down : 5900 dead. they have declared war on their elderly ?
@@mikem6419 Because they were neutral they bought aircraft from both sides. That museum also has a Seversky
P 35 as well as many other rare aircraft. It is well worth visiting.
Sweden has his own aircraft industry's called saab
Yet another fine video. Thank you for all your effort in bringing these stories which are of great interest.
The very fact that a diesel fueled aircraft existed, let alone flew at such altitudes in WW2 is astonishing. This sort of documentary is what makes this channel special.
I've been reading your book "Zero Night" and I have been enjoying it so much . You should do a biography on Patton or Rommel.
Read the book too. Exceptional! A real page turner. I knew about the wooden horse and the Great Escape POW events, but not this one. Mark finds hidden gems for us to enjoy.
@robert rowe hopefully he takes our advice.
Like the Spitfire's attempts to reach the Junkers, your subscriber numbers keep ascending, Dr Felton. Hats off!
Es ist meine erste Gelegenheit, dieses Flugzeug anzusehen. Sehr interessant und informativ. Danke fürs wertvolle Onlinestellen!
Those two pilots are truly legends in there own right thanks for bringing such greatness to my attention
Another a amazing video about something that 98% of us wouldn't know a thing about. Well presented and researched Mark. There's stuff my uncle used to tell me about in NZ a6out the Japanese in WW2. You've given me some inspiration to see if any of it was true. Thanks again!
@Phil McCrevice I respect your opinion Phil but I think you will find a lot of people on this channel are history buffs. Personally I abhor war but it's part of human history and to find information that Mark presents is really informative. By looking at the past we can learn for the future. My five pennies worth.
That's some amazing wartime history. I also find it very interesting that the Junkers was powered by diesel engines
Mark Felton channel, that's the gift that keep on giving
This was an awesome presentation. Huge history buff so I consider this tid bit a gem.