How ONE German Pilot Became the Allies Worst Nightmare
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- čas přidán 11. 07. 2023
- This is the full story of Egon Mayer, quite possibly Germany's greatest fighter ace. With over 50 Spitfire Kills and 25 Heavy Bomber kills, he was easily one of the most valuable pilots the Luftwaffe had and was responsible for the tactic that took down countless B-17 Flying Fortresses in World War II. We may have also even located the forgotten gun camera footage of his death! This was made using the World War II flight simulator War Thunder. Hope you enjoy! It's totally free to play and you can download it here: playwt.link/tj3
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Your Gestapo suit is georgeous :-D Good video by the way. On 22.9.43 there was an underclaiming. Meyer claiming 2, but 3 Spitfires were lost to enemy fighters. Birbeck was pursuied, but Fw 190 turned around and then after some time he was forced to bale out 20-25 nm. S. Ford. Mabye it was Meyer who pursuied him mabye not...
This man was no boy! Choose your words carefully!
The German". 50cal/DSHK" an absolute decimator 13mm
I sgree nut he died to early
👌
Marseille, Barkhorn, Hartman, Galland, Mölders.... all of them were absolute beasts
Don't forget Gunther Rall who had 275 kills to his credit, a good man but also a beast
What is a beast? One who wants to protect his homeland, woman, children and old or one who throws bombs on civilians?
@@karlkirchweger4190 Hans, you were the one dropping bombs on Poles, British, and countless civilians as well...
Graf...
@@harrisonpowers4265yeah but also they didn't out right antagonize Britain or France, like they did to Germany, Britain was the allie that hitler wanted
For me Hans-Joachim Marseille was, is and will always be the best German fighter pilot!!! 🦅
He was absolutely fascinating as well, and an elite marksman!
Absolutely, not only skilled but a true gentleman during the time.
If only his work with jazz piano ;)
@5.56man2 and a ladies man 👀 haha
But his scores are based on Nazi lies! What tosh.
My Great Uncle was an ace with JG 1 Anton Rudolph Piffer. He shot down 32 US Bombers amongst others in a FW190. I wish I knew more about him. He was shot down after D Day by British pilots in Mustangs.
Interesting. I did a bit research and can tell you some facts from 1944: Feldwebel Anton-Rudolf "Toni" Piffer was part of 2./JG 1 and shot down a B-17 on January 5. 1944; his 18. aerial victory. Promoted to Oberfeldwebel he shot down two B-17 (19+20) on Jan. 30 1944. Jan. 31 a P-38 (21); Febr. 8 a B-17 (22); Febr. 24 a B-24 (23); April 8 a B-24 (24); April 24 a B-17 (25) and April 29 a B-17 (26). Promoted to Leutnant(!) your Great Uncle shot down a P-51 (27) on May 8 and a B-24 (28) on May 12. On May 13 1944 he was rammed by a P-47 over the Baltic Sea. While the P-47 crashed into the sea (aerial victory 29), Piffer was able to belly-land his Fw 190 near Hamburg. Last three "kills" were B-17s on May 24. 28. and 29. (30-32). On June 17. 1944 Piffer lost his life, when he was shot down by a Mustang over Le Cordonnière in his Fw 190 A-8 (White 3; WNr. 172604). Awarded posthum with the Ritterkreuz. He'd shot down 26 heavy 4mot bombers! Would be an interesting story for TJ!
R.I.P jour ACCE uncle .Nice work her done.⚡⚡
🕊🖤🖤
@@Kitsui16 ✋ LAND OFF RISING SUN I ASSUME.HELLO FROM CROATIA WETHER IS ⚡⚡DOWN HIER.
Brazil.
Seu avô foi um herói, para Alemanha e sua família.
This is by far the most underrated aerial combat history channel on CZcams. Not only is it underrated, but it is also one of the very best . Guy's, please like this video so that this channels algorithm gains more traction and can be seen by other aerial combat enthusiasts such as ourselves . TJ , keep up the amazing work that you put in to bring these videos to us , the fans.
Thank you very much :)
@@TJ3just telling the truth . Have a wonderful day .
The narrator is wrong on a few important facts plus the Air force wasn't formed until late 1947. I guess I could have misunderstood his wording. It's Army Air Force until late 1947 then Air Force. That was one mistake that didn't require more then a sentence. The other things I stated on earlier post. Little details can magnify misunderstanding of history. If I'm wrong I apologize.
Just some lucky shots change history itself.... Truthful history telling is critical theses days.
If you're going to look at a German pilot, look at Heinz Baer (or Bar). A "first to last" pilot who started out flying Me 109 E's in 1939 to flying Me 262s in 1945. Second to Marseille in kills against the Western Allies, fought in all 3 theaters, 3 times nominated for the Diamonds to his Knights Cross and the Cherry on top, Georing didn't like him! As far as "Spitfire Killer" the top pilot was Josef Priller, who shot down 68 Spitfires.
What about Erich Hartmann? Over 800 missions and 352 air to air kills.
@@Future183 They’re comparing Western Front fighter pilots. Most of Hartmans’s kills were over the Eastern Front. Still a remarkable feat.
@@cecielhelder5923a good chunk of Bar's kills were Eastern front as well
BÄR
Priller is one of my faves ever since the Dday movie where he told his bosses to F off when they told him to attack normandy with 2 planes lol
Aussie here 👍🙃🍺🦘 Salutations to All WW2 Fighter pilots - what a fascinating period of History & its machinery
UK - I was a school boy during WW2 and even now when I hear a plane go over I look up and think is it German, we kids back then knew what we were seeing, It was a terrifying time. This was an amazing video for me, thank you.
Sorry to scare you kid, that was probably me
Have you seen the movie Hope and Glory? It's about a boy in London during the Battle of Britain. It's funny, touching, and harrowing.
German fighter pilots did not make ace with just five kills. The term was "Expert" and given after 15 kills. And there were many of them.
There were 100+ pilots already with 100+ kills...
snoopy had more than 15, so...
,Novotny an Pilot from Gmünd in Austria .
was one of the best.
i thought u need 100 kills in german reich to be called ace......in US u need 5 kills to be called an ace
@@uweSMG
Germany got no aces. Only _experten._ 15 kills. No shared numbers, no ground kills... no hearsay, only verified kills.
Judging by that violent snap-roll, I wouldn't be surprised if Mayer got knocked unconscious by knocking his head against something in the cockpit, or canopy.
Agreed
I always thought the Spitfire I & II were truly the classic planes. As far as the Me-109 I have often read that the "F" was one of the best. Marseille wanted to keep his, but was ordered into the "G" which had problems, and we know how that came out.
In fact the F variant of the 109 outperformed the Mark II Spitfire in 1941 and it wasn't until the Mark V with the Griffin engine that the RAF was back on equal terms. The 'Rhubarb' search and destroy ground target missions that the RAF were carrying out in 1941 made them very vulnerable to being jumped by German fighters.
@@catinthehat906first of all it’s the Griffon not Griffin engine and secondly the Mark V didn’t have it.
Good observation: I heard and read that the Me-109 G was disliked by several German aces as it was prone to have mechanical troubles. If I remember correctly the engine was not properly refrigerated and caught fire easily, but I could not confirm this.
@@arslongavitabrevis5136 But they were fuel injected.
The problem was the same as for a F35 nowadays... the first ones were most advanced and had technical issues.
Thanks for your dedication and hard work. A priceless contribution to history.
Thanks!
? Manfred von Richthofen (RED Baron) shot down twice as many if not more.... in a cloth and wood airplane!.....this Hienz guy got nothing on even RIchard I bong who took out more then 100 bombers with his P38 lighting? where do people get they're info??
The luftwaffe planes and pilots definitely have a romance all of their own. I love this work of yours and thoroughly enjoyed it. So completely unbiased, and that is a rare approach these days. Thank you!
Very well told sir and a fine tribute to one of the greatest fighter piloys of all time . I wonder if there is anything in existence told by Egon Mayer himself. Erich Hartmann perhaps the best pilot ever survived and lived a long life but dead man tell no tale . Long live Deutschland.
So did Galland til 1996.
Thanks TJ for this fantastic video! It's an interesting question as to who was Germany's greatest fighter ace: Hartmann with the most aerial kills, Marseille with the most aerial kills against the Western Allies, etc... and Egon Mayer with his incredible achievements shown in your video on the Western Front was certainly one of them. Like all of them, he fought with tremendous skill and bravery for his country against increasingly overwhelming odds, but like so many, made the ultimate sacrifice. RIP Thanks for documenting his story so thoroughly and for all the other great videos you do.
Thank you!
Sie waren alle drei gut
Similar to the Canadian fighter ace, George 'Buzz' Beurling, Mayer, along with several other top Luftwaffe fighter pilots, became extremely adept at deflection shooting. Master that discipline, and the next requisites were great planes to fly in combat scenarios, top-class ground-crews and excellent wing-men. Plus plenty of ammo and some novice enemy pilots to engage.
Historical notes - edit - also was just told I listed 1943 instead of 44. I'm sorry :( that was a typo I missed. - Well guys, I put an unreal amount of work into this video. But like all, there are small inaccuracies here and there. For one, the paint schemes of planes are always extremely difficult, especially in videos like this that take place across multiple years when models and camos are constantly changing (Like the Spitfire models and roundels here). I have done my best to maintain the closest possible model throughout though. Also, Nick Hector was a huge help here, and most kill claims looked pretty legit. There were some days however, when confirmations could not be found. The ace in a day mission in December was one of these for example. Lastly, with the gun camera footage, I cannot say with complete and full certainty that this is Egon's death. But James Marshall said that it was this one, and he is, without a doubt an expert on the air war over Europe in 1944 and likely worked with Gresham's family on a lot of this. And compared to the recollections that I could find, it checks out. Egon was killed in a wide turn, from a distance, and his plane "Blew up" and immediately went into a snap roll and spiral, similar to what we see here. Finally, obviously there were other German aces with more kills, I know. But I believe there is a case to be made (and is made here) that Mayer may have been the premier and most valuable pilot to the Luftwaffe, fighting on the Western front and making such significant contributions, hence me calling him the greatest! Thanks for watching, love you guys! -TJ
This video is sooo good!!!!!! Decision to take time to make quality content is the right thing.
@r.s.i8753 thank you :)
That was a great account of a Luftwaffe ace who had a talent, guts and luck in downing B-17s only to be killed by a rookie P47 pilot!! God bless the rookies!!
The eastern and western fronts were very different, not just in the air, but also in regards to air bases and ground personnel. In the west units were almost exclusely working out of 'hard' runways, with all the logistical support they could wish for. In the east it was often grass airfields with no hangers or even proper accomodation for the ground crews or pilots, and the pilots were often in action all day long, flying sortie after sortie, which is why the pilot kill totals got so high.
Who was the best? I don't like those sorts of questions! I don't think they can be answered.
As for the accuracy of your game videos, seriously you put so much effort in that you have no need to apologize at all. Yes, I'm a stickler for accuracy and probably am despised by a lot of content creators when I call out their videos in the comments, but I have never done that here. Most people just stick random videos taken from 1939-1945 while they are talking about specific dates, so you are already doing better than most! Good work, keep it up!
Both Hawker Hurricane Mk 1 and Supermarine Sptfire Mk !had an armament of 8 browning 303 machine guns. Also in BOB in 1940 All german Bf 109's were 109 E type, not type For G.
Thanks you for all your hard work in these videos! I look forward to watching them and always learn from them. Much appreciated.
The IL2 series is without a doubt the greatest combat-sim the world has seen!
Very well done thank you for keeping history alive.
This is absolutely phenomenal and riveting content and presentation. I been following this page and related content for years and this is by far one of the most superior videos you have ever put out. Thank you so much!!!
Thank you! These comments really make it worth it.
Luftwaffe Kill confirmation procedures were much stricter than the allies; In order for a Luftwaffe pilot to get credit for a kill there had to be either an air witness or a ground witness, PREFERABLY BOTH!!! Using this criteria, there were 107 Luftwaffe fighter pilots that qualified for the title of EXPERTEN (100 or more confirmed kills). All of the top scorers were on the eastern front; But 10 of them did it on the Western Front; and of those 10, 2 of them did it at night.........
I thought that was the case as it was much the same with sniper kill count. They had to have witnesses (not including their spotter) then have an nco or officer sign off on it(which they seldom did)
You have without a doubt one of the best voices I have ever heard, describing action and allowing us to feel as if we are involved in the battles , Outstanding work and hope you get acclaimed recognition you deserve. Thank You and really enjoy as my favorite war your Vietnam docucoverage as well.
Excellent video !
I’ve been a lifelong aviation enthusiast (since a little kid in the 70s), and it’s kinda hard to find really good stories/info that I haven’t already seen or read…
Thanks for sharing something (new for me) that I can enjoy and learn even more.
One thing is certain - there have been a lot of extraordinarily brave and excellent pilots fly into combat, on all sides and all theaters of war in the past 100 years !!
People need to understand that every time he shot down a bomber that was 10 men killed right there.
shot down do not mean kill
Good,
Or,...wounded, or,...captured, or,...evaded, and escaped.
Excellent video and that's what I call deep diving into history well done !
Thank you!
Excellent. WW2 aerial combat fascinated me at a very young age back in 1975.
We should keep this history alive.
Amazing story and absolutly a top notch of production.
It was very informative and for me personally an unknown part of german military history so far.
There are so many german super-aces.
Thank you guys, this will be shared 🛩🔥
Wow! I have been with you for several years. This might be your best. You are getting good at this stuff!!!
Thank you!
What a fantastic job you have done , I'm looking forward to your next one !! I hope you get rewarded for all your hard work
This is why I love your channel, thorough research with respect to air to air victories.
I always love your videos! You do such great work! Thanks!
Thank you!
crazy how quick things can change. a superior ace with a ton of talent and 102 aerial kills gets taken down by a pilot with zero aerial kills and very little combat experience
Meyers was taken out by a superior aircraft not pilot!!
For a long time, I wondered what happened to Egon. I heard later that he was jumped by fighters and his wingman was also shot down. Well, now I know for sure about what happened due to this excellent TJ3 episode.
TJ3 is without a doubt one of the best You Tube channels.
Thank You.
Welcome back TJ! Glad to see more video!
They said that 109 wasn`t best fighter, but all top aces flown it. Its results was better than all allied fighters combined results was.
Many of the German pilots said they would like to fly a Spitfire.
I know of no RAF pilot who wanted to fly an Me 109.😄
@@gordonfrickers5592
There were enough testpilots saying a 109 was excellent to fly.
@@Vickzq Of course the 109 was a very successful aircraft in terms of enemy aircrews it killed.
So it should be given the number of upgrades and quantity of machines built and flown.
The fact remains though, there were German pilots who publicly stated they would like to be flying Spitfires while no RAF pilot ever said he'd rather fly a 109.
As for the 109, "all top aces flown it", they did not have much choice !
@@gordonfrickers5592 LOL, Of course they will say the Spitfire was great, there is no honor in shooting down a poor fighter. The greater your opponent you defeat🤔, again the more honor for you.
@@walterschumann2476 yep, as I rather suspect you know that's not quite the point I was labouring to make however, yes, this is another way of seeing the issue.😄
The Spitfires “Achilles Heel” was in its design. It was designed as an interceptor, making it defensive rather than offensive weapon. That said, the Spitfire mk.IX’s pretty much roamed unchallenged over occupied Europe.
It would be the RAF’s Typhoons and Mosquitoes, that would take the war to the Third Reich.
“Head-on” attacks were nothing new. During the Battle of Britain RAF pilots were attacking German bombers head on.
Hey there, it's nice to see another Englander. 📚🇺🇸🙏🇬🇧
@@DaveSCameron
Hi there! I consider myself English (50%) but as can be expected there’s some Scottish/Irish in there. And it’s rumoured there might be a bit of African in there too.😆
The German Luftwaffe never fails to impress me. It took the Mighty 8th AF to bring it too it knees.
I don’t think any (apart from the Polish pilots) of the RAF’s British and allied fighter pilots had anywhere near the same aggression, as the American fighter pilots.
🇬🇧❤️🇺🇸 Amen.
@@Jones607i think the fw 190 D series could have been a threat to mosquitos, Mk ixs and typhoons if they had produced more
@@Future183
FW-190 Dora, they were fitted with inline water cooled engines. They entered the war late. Don’t know much about their performance. They were a high altitude interceptor. The Luftwaffe had the aeroplanes, but didn’t have any pilots, the 8th Air Force had killed all of Germanys best pilots.
@@Jones607 I dont know that much but i heared many claim that the FW 190 D series and the TA 152 could have been the best planes of the war if they were mass produced.
I think Heinrich Bär was the best one. He flew in the east, west, and south. He was successful in adjusting his tactics to be effective in all 3 major regions.
I also wanted to say that this was Great and kept my attention through making dinner and cleaning up afterward! Great Job!
A program dedicated to wingmen would be great. How the concept began, their jobs:- biplane to jet age, and success stories.
An interesting idea!
Great idea.
You can crush Top Gun.
Excellent video and very informative . Hans Ulrich Rudel was the most decorated of the Luftwaffe aces as a ground attack pilot (Stuka) .
I believe the most decorated person in the German military in recorded history.
Awesome video. Thanks for keeping this important history alive.
I first heard of Egon Mayer in that episode of Dogfights. I loved the show as a kid. It was my introduction to military history and aviation.
Experience counts for a lot , sadly many RAF pilots didn’t have this at the beginning of the war !
Early spits, other than having a tighter turning radius, was on par with the 109. This changed with the introduction of engines using high octane fuel.
Thanks, mister. Keep up the good work, it's appreciated!
The research is just outstanding!
Ain’t no way they used war thunder footage to make this 💀😭😭😭
Hey if it works it works
Germany had a ton of high scoring aces Eichmann at 352 phenomenal totals. Wonder how good the opposition was but heck they felt with whatever came along. Heard the Russian combat was totally different from the other campaigns.
Eichmann was into camp deportations. With 352 victiories it was Hartmann.
Not Eichmann amigo.but Hartmann
Very forensic in your approach to history. Good work here.
Thank you!
Thankyou TJ. I will be sure to watch it. Thanks again for the vid
Amazing effort and dedication . An exceptional work of tribute to valiant Luftwaffe and German pilots
Thank You!! For being a real human narrator and not A.I.!!
Not everyone can tell -but I can. Every time. I can bust the Turing test every time.
Haha thanks!
That was the best WW2 prop fighter video I’ve ever seen
Well done mate
The amount of work and effort behind these videos and the resulting quality is simply staggering....bravo!
Thank you!
Wow, what a fantastic video of this amazingly skilled fighter pilot. The Luftwaffe were very lucky to have him on their side. He really was a workhorse for the German Airforce at this time. What a shame for him that he eventually succumbed to the wrath of the American Airforce.
German aces are legends!
Sad that all the great German knights of the air were fighting for the nazi Dark Lord…
A first class presentation. You definitely have a talent for delivering a narrative. Thanks kindly.
Thank you!
Thanks. Good Video and cudos to your persistent research.
I look forward to seeing more.
What a great and detailed video! Germany couldn't afford to send the aces back to train the next generation. That explains the absurdly high number of kills of German fighter aces.
It is said that Egon Mayer and Georg-Peter Eder developed the devastating head-on attack tactic against American heavy bomber formations - particularly B-17s. During the early US daylight bombing raids into France, the Luftwaffe did not consider the threat seriously. American B-17 Flying Fortresses were heavily armed and entirely new to the Luftwaffe fighter pilots such as Mayer and JG-2. Hence, the German attacks were relatively ineffective and the B-17s were able to adequately defend themselves. But Mayer and Eder saw the growing threat of American daylight raids and set about determining new tactics to destroy the American B-17s. They soon discovered that the B-17s' greatest vulnerability was in the front. So Mayer and Eder began to attack American bomber formations head-on, closing rapidly and attempting to either hit the bombers' engines or kill the pilots. Then Mayer and Eder ripped through the formations (still attacking others head-on) or inverting and rapidly diving away. Mayer and Eder quickly proved head-on attacks as the most efficient, and then modified their tactics once again with wave after wave of Luftwaffe fighters coming head-on into American bomber formations. These continuous wave attacks were extraordinarily successful and remained in use until the end of the war, despite the addition of chin-turrets and extra machine guns to B-17 and B-24 noses. Mayer continued his success until 1944 when the increased number of P-47 and P-51 escort fighters became available, and tactics changed to find and destroy the Luftwaffe at every chance. Once free of escorting the bombers by rotating escorts, American fighter pilots hunted and killed expert Luftwaffe pilots such as Mayer. These were pilots and experience which the Luftwaffe could not replace, and never did.
Well done.
Erich Hartmann - 352 kills.
VERY well done DOCU!… impressive graphics❗️
Great video, love the confirmation research.
Glorifying killers is a popular fallacy mostly done by those of no experience of the reality. As a combat veteran of a more recent and very different war, my opinion is the life savers ie the medics were the real heroes .
I‘ m not sure to call soldiers killers , but if , why did you joined the Army?
Valid point of view. But nothing wrong looking at history.
Hartmann having 352 kills as most successful pilot once said, his biggest achievement was to never loose a wingman.
Thank u for sharing this story. New subs here bro. Keep up the good work. ❤
Brave German pilots! 😺👍💙🐺
Man shot down so many spitfires he pretty much new every weakness it had
Awesome segment as always TJ!
Thank you TJ3 History 👍
one of the best german aces was erich hartmann with 352 confirmed kills
Believe me, all aviation fans around the globe are knowing, who and what Erich "Bubi" Hartmann is, but this video is about Egon Mayer ;)
Werner Molders, single handedly clear Krimean skies for Von Manstein
Outstanding presentation. Really good work.
Thank you!
Thanks for posting. Great job.
Most likely Target fixation!! As with anything who gets the jump on his enemy, ends the battle ❤️
Not every source is 100% accurate because the original sources are from the 40s
Not 100 %, but German sources are the most accurate of all air forces in WW 2 - that's a fact!
109s we’re not equipped with 13mm machine guns and 30 mm canons in 1940. That came much later in the war. Some early Es had twin 20 mm canon in the wings and F models had one 20 mm canon in the nose. Both had two 7.62 mm (not 13 mm) machine guns firing through the props.
There were a few special versions... if we skip especially G models with a multitude of added weapons. There was atleast a type F design with two cannons in wings, too. Might have been used by Galland.
Heinrich Ehrler is my Blood relation. His family moved to California, there's a Ehrler civic center named after his family in Garden Grove, ca
i do believe the p-38 had the range to make it to target and back deep within germany before the p-51 came on scene. i can't recall why i'd read that they didn't make better use of the lightning for escort duty.......
It basically just comes down to wanting fighters for the sake of being able to dog fight. As far as I recall anyway.
At first, the p-38 didn't have the range. Until Lindberg figured it out. Also the p-38 didn't do well at high altitude. Something with the cockpit heating system didn't keep the cockpit warm. The plane worked great in the pacific. Due to lower altitude.
The P-47s also had the range once they got pressurized drop-tanks. For some reason (they were available in 43), they didn't get them until 1944, and by then, the Mustangs were already in theater (The Mustangs were easier to maintain, so from a sortie-generation standpoint, it made perfect sense to just stick to one fighter type for the long range escort missions. Only the 56th Fighter Group kept the 47 until Germany surrendered in 1945.)
That's because the Germans clobbered the P 38s
Mayer is the uncontested best bomber killer but the title of your video is a bit misleading. In terms of kills, hartmann is the most successful ace of all time tho he only had 7 kills on the western front (all mustangs). That being said, job well done your video was very interesting 👌
Impressive work. Thank you.
You are indeed a great person for your absolute accuracy of WWII .Well done ✔️
P.s. The Germans seem to have way better aces. 😔
For me Erich Hartman is is Germany’s best ace
I’d say marcel was the best but Erich just got lucky interns of he was in the right front (eastern) and he survived many times he should’ve died. Maybe if marcel survived he would’ve had more kills
Who? Never heard of him. Was he notable in some way?
@@ruehl3853 true but downing planes isn’t easy
@@ruehl3853 I'm sure by writing marcel (sooo funny!) you mean Hans-Joachim Marseille (pronounced Mar.sey)!
No one can argue the Germans had better equipment, discrediting their victory’s is very predictable for allies, people also easily forget the axis forces were amazingly outnumbered.
Not by mid1943. The Spitfire IX and then XIV dominated German fighters when they could actually get at them because of their short range. Also the P47D with bubble canopy and paddle blades an especially the P51B/D Mustangs were much better aircraft overall and proved it with their 4.6:1 and 8:1 kill ratios respectively
@@dougmccarthy961 that’s bullshit propaganda and you know it. The fw 190 was better than the mustang, and the Germans were better pilots, but they suffered due to being way outnumbered and people love to forget this fact.
I can deny. By mid-war they were behind.
@@chriscarbaugh3936 yeah simple reason for that the axis resources in Russia Hitler made some huge tactical blunders the fast efficiency went to his head. The axis were spread out way too far.
@@chriscarbaugh3936 cant see that being true as they were coming out with Jets, rockets bombs, and then ballistic missiles
Interesting and informative. Excellent photography job enabling viewers to better understand what/whom the orator was describing. Class A research project!!! I'm certain some of the pilots exaggerated their number of kills. Special thanks to all veteran pilots sharing personal combat experiences. Making this documentary more authentic and possible.
Thank you!
hardly possible to exaggerate too much within the Luftwaffe and the real numbers should be rather higher
you had to have at least one witness to confirm your claim and they had to be approved by an officer who would (more or less) investigate the whole affair
many Luftwaffe pilots who somehow ended up flying alone or far enough away from the rest of their squad and most certainly shot down planes while doing so, didn't have them listed ......sometimes even when they had a gun cam rolling and capturing the fight and hits but not show a literally exploiding aircraft - captured impacts and smoke trails + victory claim alone just wasn't enough
nicely done. lot of great info/history
Erich Hartmann the best fighter pilot of the world.
Have you ever hear about Hans Joachim Marseille?
He was the best fighter pilot in history, he made multiple aces in one day.
Hartmann, Barkhorn, Barr, were good against soviets.
Myer, marselle, galland, were good against Americans and british who were better Pilots .
P47 shot down more than any allied fighter including the P51
sorry but not even close. P51's in WW2 in both theaters have a little over 6000 air to air kills and over 4950 ground kills while losing around 2550 aircraft ( 550 in air combat). P47's have 3752 air to air kills and around 3250 ground kills while losing almost 3500 aircraft from all causes
Excellent video!
Interesting research and results 👍
Regarding claimed kills it is not unreasonable to assume that the Luftwaffe inflated the numbers of RAF losses, but what is never talked about is the fact that western (and Soviet) air forces did the same. It is irritatingly pathetic to read/hear the accounts of resentful 'authorities' that German pilots and aircraft simply were not that good, that if Luftwaffe official's mouths were moving they were lying. Fact of the matter is that German claims have shown to be the most accurate of any combatant nation in the war, and no, this is not the same thing as saying that German claims were never inflated, just that they were not as egregious as their opponents in this regard. The Americans were easily the worst. To soothe their massive egos American pilots were credited with half a kill, even a quarter kill, and, the cherry on top, full credit for parked aircraft at airbases. To rationalize this American veterans would claim that attacking airfields was much more dangerous than air to air combat because, well, you know, German pilots just weren't any good, especially against us . . . Much ink has been wasted by Brit writers in efforts to discredit Marseille's 17 kills in a day achievement because, well, you know, no-one could ever knock down 17 of our craft in a single day! It is interesting to note that none of these 'historians' have ever disputed Emil "Bully" Lang's remarkable accomplishment of downing 18 Soviet aircraft in a day, probably because the victims were Russian whom too many of said historians believe were lucky enough if they could even get a plane airborne. In theory history should be immune to resentment and ego, in reality it is not. Cheers!
I think a key factor that especially did help Mayer to hold his own against the Spitfire was the fact that the Bf-109F series -a vast improvement over the E model had entered the picture by 1941.
Always an Outstanding video and presentation.
Thank you!
Great video amazing story to listen. Thank you for your work. ❤
Thank you!
Keep the HB SG Johnny. Great show buddy, and I like your idea about an auction.
What a great video, thank you for doing this.
Read Meimbergs autobiography. He discussed the frontal attack tactic with Mayer. And the same tactics were used by British pilots in the BoB against He 111s. Extremely courageous men all of them
Another TJ3 masterpiece, on a Tuesday no less! Gonna be a good day 🐐
Thanks :) Just gotta get them out whenever they are done now. Haha
Great Video Thanks