156 Squadron was at RAF Upwood, Cambridgeshire, from 3/44 to the end of hostilities in 1945. In 14 months, they lost the equivalent of about 25 full Lancaster aircrew or almost 2 crews per month. One of the Lancs shown was an exceptional survivor, with 108 ops recorded.156 was a Pathfinder squadron, which had a survival rate in the winter of 43/44 of 15%. A previous GT-L was lost in the Schweinfurt raid in 2/44. The P-51b Mustangs were from 354th Fighter Squadron, 355th Fighter Group. In 1945, WR-F ‘Down for doubles was flown by the squadron commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon M. "Gordy" or "Ace" Graham, with 16 “kill“ markings on the fuselage. It was shot down in February 1945, flown by another pilot.
Americans , I'm one, get a very narrow history of WW2. The sacrifices of the UK forces was staggering. For myself I shall not forget, and pass this knowledge on to my grandchildren.
My grandfather was a Sgt in 82 Sqn RAF based initially at RAF Watton and Bodney. He was an electrician and worked on mostly Blenheim and Wellington bombers. He never talked about his wartime experiences in any great depth...today I can understand why. It must have been heartbreaking to get to know the crews of your assigned aircraft and to watch them head off on a mission some never to return. The Sqn was transferred to India in 1942. His role in India was to train Indian fighter pilots on Mosquitos and Vultee Vengeance. He passed away 30 years ago but I do have his journals and photographs of his time....we only found these years after his death stashed away in the garage. He served from July 39 to November 45. RIP.
I hear Dad's heavy footsteps walking down the stairs waking me up. The Cat meows 'Now!' to his enquiry of wanting breakfast. He pick up his Thermos & Lunchbox and loads it with the foods Mom has readied for his workday. I hear the slamming door and the eventual rumble of the Ford Van as he peels off to work. He will be back by Dinner... How many Fathers weren't? Respect
My mother born in 1918 told me that she would often meet young men and hope to see them again but some never returned ..many just in their 20s…very sad but very brave men who we owe a lot to
These are bombers......Lancasters to be precise. Not only the pilots but the whole crew 7 men were heroes knowing that you about 50% chance of surviving.
Why? They are doing what they were ordered to do. If I saw one of them ram his plane into a enemy to protect a bomber crew, I would say that about that pilot. But I see no reason to claim that ALL fighter pilots were "selfless" just because they were A.) fighter pilots and B.) ordered to escort some bombers. Their job is to defend against enemy fighters and to kill enemy bombers. If they have to do that in the skies over home, fine, if they have to tag along with some bombers and do it over Germany, fine, but I see no evidence at all that they were all prepared to sacrifice themselves rather than let a single bomber die. they would do their best, like anyone else. I don't see any amazing sacrifice or selflessness involved in it. they didn't volunteer to be there. They are doing their duty like anyone else. Tell me, what was their alternative before you start gushing about how selfless they were? Refusing to fly? Refusing to fight the enemy? They were ordered to be there, and so they came, and they will do what they can _within reason_ to protect the bombers, but in the end, each of them is more concerned with making it home than anything else. that is job number one, and rightly so. trained aircrew are too valuable to waste.
My scoutmaster was a Lancaster pilot. He always flew at night he said you were oblivious to the casualties until the morning with all the empty seats at breakfast. After 30 missions he was transferred to the American 8 th and flew during the day. It literally scared the shit out of him he said you watched the planes going down with the odd parachute coming out. You were aware of the 5 tons of bombs dropped from above and just missing you. All of this was hidden in night bombing
What did he fly in the 8th because apart from the B-29 I don't know of any American bomber that could drop 11,200lbs of ordinance unless your strapped three B-17 together on a Berlin raid.
@@10toMidnight There were guys who did that, namely Americans who joined the RAF or RCAF before December 1941and transferred to the USAAF later. Goggle 4th Fighter Group USAAF. Pay in the USAAF was much higher than the RAF or RCAF.
@@josephking6515 B-17 could carry 8000lb internally up to ranges of 400 miles. plus 4500lb on each inboard wing pylon hardpoint. Those 5 tons of bombs could be coming out of more than one aircraft.
a small point,RAF and commonwealth airforces did not fly missions.they flew operations or ops for short.usually they simply referred to the ops as trips.mission was american terminolgy.
Each Lancaster had a statistical lifetime of just forty flying hours before it was lost, and that included the seven brave crew members, each of the men pictured here knew that, how they kept sane and functioning is beyond me.
Ich lebe in Deutschland . Hier im Dorf ist damals ein Bomber abgestürzt. Die Bauern plünderten die toten Piloten aus . Habe noch die Kleidungsstücke gesehen . Traurig 😢
18:44 interesting the twin external rearview mirrors on the P-51, I have never seen that before. I wonder if that was a squadron or wing installation. I am not sure the P-51D even had one external mirror, I think usually it was a single internal one.
Brave men all, i wonder how many of them in this film made it through the war, each of them smiling for the camera but knowing deep down the grim statistical reality, breaks my heart to see how politicians have frittered away their legacy to us of our culture freedoms and way of life which we took for granted but was bought with a heavy price, may god rest them all.
Stationed RAF Alconbury 1983 to 1989. One of the only bases we had kept since WWII. Bad bomb upload accident there in 1944. Remains found in 1988 when digging up ground for all the massive Tab-V hangars for the TR-1. Lived on RAF Upwood. Warboys just over the hill from there which served as a dispersal base for Upwood. Amazing history in England.
I don't think the footage of the USAAF fighters is from a mission. No drop tanks, they are flying far too close formation and too close to the bomber with the camera. I think it was just someone doing a publicity shoot for the news reels, or the archive. Escort fighters would be flying a couple thousand feet overhead.
Think of how horrific those ground fires must have been to show up at all on 16mm camera in the dark. I have some experience with night photography, and for a light to show up at all it has to be pretty intense. a big full moon will look like a tiny dot of light usually, all the reflected glow doesn't show at all. So you could probably see the bombers flying in the glow of the fire, the countryside around lit up, the clouds. None of that would show on camera, just the huge inferno in the middle.
I thought fires too at first, but a lot of the clusters are red or Green. Given they were a pathfinder squadron, maybe they are Target Indicators on their way down ?
After everything, and all the lives lost through tremendous courage bravery and little thought of the outcome in their quest for freedom did they realise the future of Britain and the rest of the world would fall apart from hate, extremism, pure madness and total greed. R.I.P you brave souls.
The Mustangs are from the 354th Fighter Squadron (WR squadron codes), 355th Fighter Group based at Steeple Morden in the UK during WW2. No connection with the 332nd Fighter Group (Tuskagee airmen/red tails) who were based in Italy at the time. The footage at 18:12 shows the P-51D 44-15255 WR-F "Down For Double" flown by Lt Col Gordon Graham, 5th highest scorer of the 355th FG.
One of my elderly neighbours was a Lanc rear gunner, he told me of a mission to Berlin, where he watched the fires disappear into the distance as they flew back, Brave men indeed all young and of course it will be the chap behind you that gets it not you !
Yes i guess it’s the luck of the drawer. My uncle was a merchant navy captain, he was only on one tanker which he brought over from the US. He told me the ship in front of him was sunk as was the one behind, they would be in convoy i assume.
Not really. More like "the last decent generation". I don't see any reason these boys were any braver or better than the ones that came before them, although it is easier to see how they are better than the ones that came later.
I suppose they had to feel numb emotionally to do that job. Knowing each trip might be your last. They could have died on this just as easily as any prior trip. I am American and met a bomber pilot in the facility my dad lived in during his last year of life. This man was 92 years back in 2010. And he told me how they called bombing missions over Europe “egg runs.”
Excelente filmagem dos preparativos das tripulações do Lancaster para mais uma missão sobre o território alemão. Um lanchinho para descontrair as tenções para depois começar a longo trabalho de verificação de equipamentos, abastecimento, decolagem da aeronave como também o longo percurso de ida e volta da missão. Neste período já operava o caça P51 mustang de longo alcance proporcionando proteção para os bombardeiros. Notadamente as incursões eram efetuadas a noite onde tinham a vantagem da escuridão não sendo necessário escolta de caças como acontecia com os B17 e B24 dos Americanos que efetuaram incursões durante o dia. Os caças P51 tinham autonomia para acompanhar os bombardeiros o tempo integral ou seja ida e volta da missão. Sendo assim as incursões eram efetuadas diariamente tanto de dia Americanos como a noite Ingleses e assim foi minando as forças do inimigo até o seu colapso total.
I just love how when people take the time to upload footage so others can watch it for free, all they can do is complain endlessly that the uploader put a watermark on it. No, they should have uploaded it for free AND without a watermark, so you could enjoy it without the slightest annoyance. Of course, fifty other people would immediately steal the footage and reupload it without credit and steal all their views they hoped to get, and it would then be worthless for promoting their buiness, but at least you could be perfectly happy. This is uploaded by people who make a living _selling_ footage. They uploaded this as a freebie, a promotional tool, to get attention for their buisiness. if you want to see it without a watermark,you can feel free to _pay_ for an unmarked copy of it. Why should they provide you and a dozen other youtube channels with free content? What possible benefit does that bring them?
At 11:44 note the Canada shoulder flash. A long time ago when I was an RAF officer cadet, I’d catch sh!t for chewing gum. On the last time I got chewed out by the Squadron Leader, I said, “yes sir” and added, “did you know, sir, that 45% of Bomber Command was made up by colonials?” I think that was the last I caught sh!t.
ME262's attacked the bombers on an op my dad was on. They were escorted by Mustangs from a Polish Squadron, either 309 or 315 50 and 61 Squadron (my dads) each lost a Lancaster but none of the 617's were shot down. The Polish P51's shot down 3 or 4 jets. Hamburg 9th April 1945.
Its just the way the bombers were designed. I have actually toured a lancaster and a fortress. The lanc had a larger bombload and when I was in the B-17 i could see why. The ammunition alone on the fortress would be incredibly heavy. The best bomber of the war was the Mosquito.
@@colinlambert882 The DH-98 would do a trip to Berlin, return, rearm, insert a new crew and do a second trip and return before the B-17s would have been able to return *and* dropping twice the amount of things that went 💥. Two crew, two engines and two trips against ten crew, four engines and one trip and a much lower loss rate. Not being critical but just saying. Some very senior USAAF General after seeing the DH-98 being demonstrated said to not let the American public know that this aircraft could do the same as a B-17 with eight less crew to lose on a mission.
Fascinating important historical film made UNWATCHABLE by thoughtless disrespectful graffiti desecrating images of brave men who died for their country. Unforgivable.
FFS someone took the time and effort to edit and upload this footage and all you can do is whinge and whine. For all you know the _grafitti_ you are lamenting about may have been on the footage they used and could not remove it.
156 Squadron was at RAF Upwood, Cambridgeshire, from 3/44 to the end of hostilities in 1945. In 14 months, they lost the equivalent of about 25 full Lancaster aircrew or almost 2 crews per month. One of the Lancs shown was an exceptional survivor, with 108 ops recorded.156 was a Pathfinder squadron, which had a survival rate in the winter of 43/44 of 15%. A previous GT-L was lost in the Schweinfurt raid in 2/44. The P-51b Mustangs were from 354th Fighter Squadron, 355th Fighter Group. In 1945, WR-F ‘Down for doubles was flown by the squadron commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon M. "Gordy" or "Ace" Graham, with 16 “kill“ markings on the fuselage. It was shot down in February 1945, flown by another pilot.
My father was in the same squadron
Sincere thanks, to all who flew & sacrificed their lives for us who live today
Americans , I'm one, get a very narrow history of WW2. The sacrifices of the UK forces was staggering. For myself I shall not forget, and pass this knowledge on to my grandchildren.
My grandfather was a Sgt in 82 Sqn RAF based initially at RAF Watton and Bodney. He was an electrician and worked on mostly Blenheim and Wellington bombers. He never talked about his wartime experiences in any great depth...today I can understand why. It must have been heartbreaking to get to know the crews of your assigned aircraft and to watch them head off on a mission some never to return. The Sqn was transferred to India in 1942. His role in India was to train Indian fighter pilots on Mosquitos and Vultee Vengeance.
He passed away 30 years ago but I do have his journals and photographs of his time....we only found these years after his death stashed away in the garage.
He served from July 39 to November 45.
RIP.
I often think of how much footage was lost in the war and over time. I'm thankful as much survived as it did. Thankyou for putting this out for us
I hear Dad's heavy footsteps walking down the stairs waking me up. The Cat meows 'Now!' to his enquiry of wanting breakfast. He pick up his Thermos & Lunchbox and loads it with the foods Mom has readied for his workday. I hear the slamming door and the eventual rumble of the Ford Van as he peels off to work. He will be back by Dinner... How many Fathers weren't?
Respect
My mother born in 1918 told me that she would often meet young men and hope to see them again but some never returned ..many just in their 20s…very sad but very brave men who we owe a lot to
This is amazing, the selflessness of each fighter pilot is moving, awesome, thank you.
These are bombers......Lancasters to be precise. Not only the pilots but the whole crew 7 men were heroes knowing that you about 50% chance of surviving.
@@Bruce-1956 I know they are bombers, i was commenting on the fighter pilots protecting the bombers by all means necessary.
@@weefyman And they looked so CLOSE, although I don't know if the Cameras had Zoom
Why? They are doing what they were ordered to do. If I saw one of them ram his plane into a enemy to protect a bomber crew, I would say that about that pilot. But I see no reason to claim that ALL fighter pilots were "selfless" just because they were A.) fighter pilots and B.) ordered to escort some bombers. Their job is to defend against enemy fighters and to kill enemy bombers. If they have to do that in the skies over home, fine, if they have to tag along with some bombers and do it over Germany, fine, but I see no evidence at all that they were all prepared to sacrifice themselves rather than let a single bomber die. they would do their best, like anyone else. I don't see any amazing sacrifice or selflessness involved in it. they didn't volunteer to be there. They are doing their duty like anyone else. Tell me, what was their alternative before you start gushing about how selfless they were? Refusing to fly? Refusing to fight the enemy? They were ordered to be there, and so they came, and they will do what they can _within reason_ to protect the bombers, but in the end, each of them is more concerned with making it home than anything else. that is job number one, and rightly so. trained aircrew are too valuable to waste.
Why this period of staggering bravery is not taught in our schools is sad as it is baffling. So few young even know what they did.
Fantastic footage brilliant, glad it is saved and shared. Brave men
My scoutmaster was a Lancaster pilot. He always flew at night he said you were oblivious to the casualties until the morning with all the empty seats at breakfast. After 30 missions he was transferred to the American 8 th and flew during the day. It literally scared the shit out of him he said you watched the planes going down with the odd parachute coming out. You were aware of the 5 tons of bombs dropped from above and just missing you. All of this was hidden in night bombing
What did he fly in the 8th because apart from the B-29 I don't know of any American bomber that could drop 11,200lbs of ordinance unless your strapped three B-17 together on a Berlin raid.
He was “Transferred” from the RAF TO the US 8th. Hmmm.
@@10toMidnight There were guys who did that, namely Americans who joined the RAF or RCAF before December 1941and transferred to the USAAF later. Goggle 4th Fighter Group USAAF. Pay in the USAAF was much higher than the RAF or RCAF.
@@josephking6515 B-17 could carry 8000lb internally up to ranges of 400 miles. plus 4500lb on each inboard wing pylon hardpoint. Those 5 tons of bombs could be coming out of more than one aircraft.
a small point,RAF and commonwealth airforces did not fly missions.they flew operations or ops for short.usually they simply referred to the ops as trips.mission was american terminolgy.
Great thing about the colour is that it really shows the wear and tear on the engines of the lancs!
When Britain 🇬🇧 was GREAT Thank-you
I see them eating and smiling and joking. But inside knowing they may never come home. The losses of RAF/Allied bomber crews was horrific.
It's the RAF, so please COLOUR 😲
To think that 60% of these crews didn't make it... goddamn
How the HELL, did they keep sane and calm
Only 60%? I thought it was more than that, like 75%. I think it is 60% of RAF aircrew overall. Bomber Command was worse.
Each Lancaster had a statistical lifetime of just forty flying hours before it was lost, and that included the seven brave crew members, each of the men pictured here knew that, how they kept sane and functioning is beyond me.
Ich lebe in Deutschland . Hier im Dorf ist damals ein Bomber abgestürzt. Die Bauern plünderten die toten Piloten aus . Habe noch die Kleidungsstücke gesehen . Traurig 😢
18:44 interesting the twin external rearview mirrors on the P-51, I have never seen that before. I wonder if that was a squadron or wing installation. I am not sure the P-51D even had one external mirror, I think usually it was a single internal one.
Brave men all, i wonder how many of them in this film made it through the war, each of them smiling for the camera but knowing deep down the grim statistical reality, breaks my heart to see how politicians have frittered away their legacy to us of our culture freedoms and way of life which we took for granted but was bought with a heavy price, may god rest them all.
Judging by the shot of the pilot waving out of the cockpit, that Lanc had flown 107 missions. Incredible.
A Pathfinder Squadron based at Alconbury and Warboys.
Stationed RAF Alconbury 1983 to 1989. One of the only bases we had kept since WWII. Bad bomb upload accident there in 1944. Remains found in 1988 when digging up ground for all the massive Tab-V hangars for the TR-1. Lived on RAF Upwood. Warboys just over the hill from there which served as a dispersal base for Upwood. Amazing history in England.
I don't think the footage of the USAAF fighters is from a mission. No drop tanks, they are flying far too close formation and too close to the bomber with the camera. I think it was just someone doing a publicity shoot for the news reels, or the archive. Escort fighters would be flying a couple thousand feet overhead.
Think of how horrific those ground fires must have been to show up at all on 16mm camera in the dark. I have some experience with night photography, and for a light to show up at all it has to be pretty intense. a big full moon will look like a tiny dot of light usually, all the reflected glow doesn't show at all. So you could probably see the bombers flying in the glow of the fire, the countryside around lit up, the clouds. None of that would show on camera, just the huge inferno in the middle.
I thought fires too at first, but a lot of the clusters are red or Green. Given they were a pathfinder squadron, maybe they are Target Indicators on their way down ?
After everything, and all the lives lost through tremendous courage bravery and little thought of the outcome in their quest for freedom did they realise the future of Britain and the rest of the world would fall apart from hate, extremism, pure madness and total greed. R.I.P you brave souls.
N.B. It's the "Redtails" in the P-51s escorting the Lancasters from 156 Squadron.
The Mustangs are from the 354th Fighter Squadron (WR squadron codes), 355th Fighter Group based at Steeple Morden in the UK during WW2. No connection with the 332nd Fighter Group (Tuskagee airmen/red tails) who were based in Italy at the time. The footage at 18:12 shows the P-51D 44-15255 WR-F "Down For Double" flown by Lt Col Gordon Graham, 5th highest scorer of the 355th FG.
One of my elderly neighbours was a Lanc rear gunner, he told me of a mission to Berlin, where he watched the fires disappear into the distance as they flew back, Brave men indeed all young and of course it will be the chap behind you that gets it not you !
Yes i guess it’s the luck of the drawer. My uncle was a merchant navy captain, he was only on one tanker which he brought over from the US. He told me the ship in front of him was sunk as was the one behind, they would be in convoy i assume.
The greatest generation.
NO DOUBT.
Not really. More like "the last decent generation". I don't see any reason these boys were any braver or better than the ones that came before them, although it is easier to see how they are better than the ones that came later.
I suppose they had to feel numb emotionally to do that job. Knowing each trip might be your last. They could have died on this just as easily as any prior trip. I am American and met a bomber pilot in the facility my dad lived in during his last year of life. This man was 92 years back in 2010. And he told me how they called bombing missions over Europe “egg runs.”
Great footage of the crew and the Mustang Pilot
Excelente filmagem dos preparativos das tripulações do Lancaster para mais uma missão sobre o território alemão. Um lanchinho para descontrair as tenções para depois começar a longo trabalho de verificação de equipamentos, abastecimento, decolagem da aeronave como também o longo percurso de ida e volta da missão. Neste período já operava o caça P51 mustang de longo alcance proporcionando proteção para os bombardeiros. Notadamente as incursões eram efetuadas a noite onde tinham a vantagem da escuridão não sendo necessário escolta de caças como acontecia com os B17 e B24 dos Americanos que efetuaram incursões durante o dia. Os caças P51 tinham autonomia para acompanhar os bombardeiros o tempo integral ou seja ida e volta da missão. Sendo assim as incursões eram efetuadas diariamente tanto de dia Americanos como a noite Ingleses e assim foi minando as forças do inimigo até o seu colapso total.
Shame about the watermark, but good footage.
I just love how when people take the time to upload footage so others can watch it for free, all they can do is complain endlessly that the uploader put a watermark on it. No, they should have uploaded it for free AND without a watermark, so you could enjoy it without the slightest annoyance. Of course, fifty other people would immediately steal the footage and reupload it without credit and steal all their views they hoped to get, and it would then be worthless for promoting their buiness, but at least you could be perfectly happy.
This is uploaded by people who make a living _selling_ footage. They uploaded this as a freebie, a promotional tool, to get attention for their buisiness. if you want to see it without a watermark,you can feel free to _pay_ for an unmarked copy of it. Why should they provide you and a dozen other youtube channels with free content? What possible benefit does that bring them?
Slow down cowboy this video has 40k views in 4 years. Also public domain, yo. 😅
Rolls Royce engine extremely efficient at high altitude.
They have had some issues with their Trent jet engines, lately.
@@alneal100 and now, the weather forcaste
@@alneal100 Didn't know the Trent had been installed in Lancasters. Learn something new every day. 🙄
What type of window polish did they use to keep the gun turrets clear,?
The brits kept on flying even after 25 missions no stateside
For them!
At 11:44 note the Canada shoulder flash. A long time ago when I was an RAF officer cadet, I’d catch sh!t for chewing gum. On the last time I got chewed out by the Squadron Leader, I said, “yes sir” and added, “did you know, sir, that 45% of Bomber Command was made up by colonials?” I think that was the last I caught sh!t.
I am guessing you were a colonial? 🤷♂
A pity half the screen is obscured by text.
American p-51 escorting British bombers?
I thought that the Raf had their own P51s and could launch Spitfires or Tempests from the Netherlands.
ME262's attacked the bombers on an op my dad was on.
They were escorted by Mustangs from a Polish Squadron, either 309 or 315
50 and 61 Squadron (my dads) each lost a Lancaster but none of the 617's were shot down.
The Polish P51's shot down 3 or 4 jets.
Hamburg 9th April 1945.
they escorted them with whoever was handy.
👍🏾
Shame you put your logo all over the screen
Why did the Brits keep those silly .303 machine guns for so long?
Its just the way the bombers were designed. I have actually toured a lancaster and a fortress. The lanc had a larger bombload and when I was in the B-17 i could see why. The ammunition alone on the fortress would be incredibly heavy. The best bomber of the war was the Mosquito.
With a the same long range payload (1800kg) of a B-17, the Mosquito had 2 engines, not 4, 2 crew not 10.
@@colinlambert882 The DH-98 would do a trip to Berlin, return, rearm, insert a new crew and do a second trip and return before the B-17s would have been able to return *and* dropping twice the amount of things that went 💥.
Two crew, two engines and two trips against ten crew, four engines and one trip and a much lower loss rate. Not being critical but just saying.
Some very senior USAAF General after seeing the DH-98 being demonstrated said to not let the American public know that this aircraft could do the same as a B-17 with eight less crew to lose on a mission.
Didn’t the Yanks prevent us getting .5’s when we wanted them ?
No@@finndebrodelegh218
British Rolls Royce merlin engines.
The greatest generation!
I wonder what they would make of the utter shambles we are living through now.
Documentaire poignant, et ces hommes tombent dans l'oubli qu'elle horreur nous leurs devons tant.
Bombing on flares over a civilian settlement.
How sad.
So many airmen lost.
So many civilians lost.
Warrant officer in mid upper?
That may have been the Canadian crew though I didn't see his shoulder identifying it.
Thanks for the timestamps and the highly intrusive logo. Delightfully mean spirited. Made it unwatchable for me.
Fascinating important historical film made UNWATCHABLE by thoughtless disrespectful graffiti desecrating images of brave men who died for their country. Unforgivable.
FFS someone took the time and effort to edit and upload this footage and all you can do is whinge and whine. For all you know the _grafitti_ you are lamenting about may have been on the footage they used and could not remove it.