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You should do a vid on WW2 Canadian ace Buzz Beurling....I think he had a record for 5 kills in one day....he was crazy, but one of the top aces in the war, well over 30+ kills.
Very well done, thank you, I enjoyed seeing the virtual reality reenactments and very good storyline and narration. I know it’s hard to get the music right so that other people like it, generally I don’t like it much at all. But at least it wasn’t too loud or overbearing. What a brave aviator, I’m glad he killed a bunch of Nazi bastards. Those sons of bitches got his home country without even a fight because of the cowardice Neville Chamberlain.
I'd enjoy it more if the basic premise of your video was correct. Josef František was the fourth highest "ace" during the battle. Eric Lock - 21 James Lacey - 18 Archie McKellar - 17.5 Josef Frantisek - 17 Colin Gray - 15.5
Hi, thanks for mentioning František in your channel. Of course as a Czech I know his story, still it is great that his skills and score aren't forgotten. Thanks again.
He crash landed in a cabbage patch near Brighton. He spent the rest of the day in Brighton and went out to a local pub where he got very dru k. My Dad was a police officer and was called out to sort out the disturbance. He arrested Frantisek who refused to " come quietly" and a running fight ensued all the way to the station. He was released back to his squadron the next day without charge as he was identified as an Ace. My Dad said he was a very good fighter.!! Put in a Hurricane he was formidable. 🇬🇧
What a coincidence happened that time in Brighton, UK .... Eh ?? :o) >> In memory of the unbelievable impressive and successful the best Czech fighter pilot ++++ Amen.
One of my great uncles flew with RAF. Not 303, not even near Frantisek - but nonetheless, the British family he created (married a superb British lady) created a living legend out of him. I managed to talk to her once before she entered the eternal gates.
There was a book I read a couple of decades ago titled "On Killing" by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman. The government studied top fighter aces after it was determined that about 2% of fighter pilots were responsible for about 40% of all aircraft shot down by fighter aircraft in WWII to see if there was a common trait they could identify. The closest similarity they could find was that most of them got in a lot of fights as kids.
My ex-boss, also a BofB man, said meeting him was unnerving; 'completely driven by hate, the man could not relax, not while there were still Nazis up there to kill etc.' Here's hoping the poor man eventually found peace somewhere.
I feel like I would be pretty hateful too if I was driven from four different countries by Germans! Very cool fact about him here. Thanks for sharing and I agree.
Why not hate those Nazis, they Were the “master race” with a Deathwish on all of the rest of us. This is not an exaggeration. Killing those Nazi bastards what is the best thing he could do and too bad we didn’t kill every goddamn one of them.
@@loddude5706that is what the NAZI monsters did to their victims. I have been to Dachau, and I have seen what the NAZIS did in Eastern Europe and, of course, to Russian prisoners of war in particular. Germany is responsible for the death of millions of people and untold harm on millions more, two world wars. Add to that the horrific damage they did by taking Lenin out of Switzerland and backing him in a revolution in Russia, and now they want a reset with Klaus Schwab has stated, "Where you will own nothing and be happy!" No thanks, No one from Germany should ever be in charge of anything anywhere. History proves that allowing a German to take the lead does not end well. It does not matter that I am not Jewish, I saw what Germans did to that group of people, and I say no thanks, Klaus Schwab. I will not wear a yellow star, and in no way will I get my left arm tattooed just to make you and your evil cabal happy. Too bad Russian troops are not still in Germany.
As a czech citizen I would like to thank you for this video;-) In one of your comments you said you would probably be driven by hate too - immagine your country would be invaded by arrogant nation, who is thinking that your country is worse race and they behaves to your fellow citizen like so. And now immagine you got chance to fight back...
@@michaelhardy8843 castlerock58 is correct, Eric Lock was the highest scoring ace in the Battle of Britain. Sailor Malan did have 27 kills in the war but many of these were made after the Battle of Britain.
When England stood alone my butt. Poles were excellent fighter pilots. They ignored tower commands.Spoke Polish on the radio. Killed the stuff out of Germans.
Hey Willy, What other countries were being attacked by the nazis from 25th June 1940 until 22 June 1941? Let me help you. NONE, just Britain alone, the presence of allied troops does NOT alter that fact one little bit.
the Hurricane was in many ways better, less major damage and better turning circle for a slight reduction in speed compared to the Spitfire also very stable gun platform. More suited to grass airfields with wide undercarriage. Some pilots didn't want to swap.
The saddest thing about the czechoslovak pilots who flew in RAF is that they all faced death, torture or prison after the communists gained power few years after the war. Thats how communists rewarded fighting against nazis. :--)
@@myleg4857 Oh yes, the resistence met the same fate here too. Quite often those who somehow survived being in the resistence against nazis immidietaly joined anti communist resistence too, sadly they were crushed before they could do anything proper. Even plenty of those who served in the Red Army were killed, imprisoend or forced to leave the country, since they saw what the USSR was actually about and the new communist puppet government definetely did not need them walking around telling people about the soviet practices.
@@thedeathwobblechannel6539 i remember reading some time ago that Eisenhower has serious misgivings about committing the 1st Czech brigade to front line fighting for fear of what the Germans would do to any POWs they caught. I took a lot lf balls to do what free forces did.
Thanks a lot for this. I am not sure if it was said during the video and I may have missed it. In UK, Frantisek was offered to join to the newly formed Czechoslovak fighter groups but he wanted to stay with Polish as he took them to be his nation more then Czechoslovak. And also, they allowed him this special status of "Flying guest" allowing him lone wolf hunts.
hey - read A.Fiedler Squadron 303 --> Frantisek died due failed attempt to make a victory loop over airfield - after successful mission.His plane got battle damage and did not sustain increased g's in lower part of a loop. They - 303 chief - have forbidden that victory loop after crash.
A similar fate was experienced by New Zealand WW2 fighter pilot, Edgar "Cobber" Cain who also, possibly still intoxicated with the adrenaline that helped contribute to the young pilot's success, flew too low, upside-down along the runway of the Station where he was based. This terrible waste of ability and potential was devastating.
Yeah, I expect one makes the mistake of forgetting their gear ONCE. Kind of like touching a hot burner on a stove. I love these documentaries you're doing. Something the History channel has forgotten.
There's a free movie on CZcams called "303 Squadron". Excellent treatment of the subject (RE: The Poles flying for Britain ) and visually very well done.
Great work!! You should do more Ace stories like this! I highly recommend doing ones on: Marseille, Nowotny, Rudorfer, Kittel, to name a few Luftwaffe experten. You should also do: Neel Kearby, George Preddy, or David McCampbell from the USA, Illumari Juutalainen from Finland, Pierre Clostermann from France, “Sailor” Malan or Pat Pattle from South Africa, to name some suggestions.
Why Marseille? He once claimed to have shot down 17 aircraft over North Africa when the Allies only lost a couple of aircraft that day - and NONE of them were fighters as he claimed. Just another ego gone mad - having said that, he suffered a terrible death, being incapacitated when exiting his burning aircraft and his parachute either didn't open or he couldn't open it. Very sad, but not perhaps the hero he made himself out to be! 17 aircraft in a day - I don't think so, and neither do any historians of note. Galland, Rall, Nowotny, perhaps....
@@rogerhawkins6433 From where did you get your flawed "information"? On the day he claimed 17, the RAF lost 20 fighters (A History of the Mediterranean Air War 1940-1945 Volume Two by Christopher Shores and Giovanni Massimello, with contributions by several other historians), and while Marseille certainly didn't shoot down 17, the authors believe that he actually downed eight or nine, with three or four more damaged. Total German and Italian claims for these 20 fighters came to 35. I'm surprised that you mention Nowotny (as perhaps having shot down a large number in a day?) because he actually has been shown to be a fraud, with only a fairly small percentage of his claims matching up with known Soviet losses.
@@angelonunez8555 I recall reading some time ago that the mix of aircraft he claimed to have shot down did not match the mix of aircraft ACTUALLY lost on that specific day. In fact it wasnt even close! His claim was for fighters (except in one instance supposedly a recon aircraft! - Which was also not one of the listed lost aircraft!). Long and the short of the article was the conclusion that VERY FEW of the german aces had verifiable claims. The allies systems for proof of claims were much more stringent than the German fighter pilots (and incidentally the Stuka pilots - who were also allegedly guilty of exaggerating their claims for tanks, as I'm sure you know. Thanks for the reference...I appreciate your kind help and advice. Btw if you are interested, have you read " Bodyguard of Lies-Anthony Cave Brown.... well worth a read if you are interested. Kind regards from New Zealand.
@@rogerhawkins6433 German pilots were notorious for misidentifying certain of their opponents' aircraft types. During the Battle of Britain, Hurricanes were often believed to be Spitfires, and in the north African campaign, Hurricanes and P-40s were frequently confused, which was the case on Marseille's big day. Every one of his claims was recorded as a P-40, but many of his victims were actually Hurricanes. And there was in fact a recon aircraft possibly lost to him, a Hurricane from 208 Squadron, flown by Wing Commander J K Rogers, who was KIA. Among the Germans, it's true that there were quite a few pilots whose claims do not come close to matching up with recorded Allied losses. The most notable is the top gun himself, Erich Hartmann, who claimed 352 shot down. Recent research in Soviet records has shown that it's possible that he may not have scored even 100. On the other hand, there were also many German pilots whose claims do match up fairly well with Allied loss data. Galland and Moelders are probably the most well known among those who fought against the Western Allies in the early years of the war (Marseille, according to one source, is believed to have actually downed around 100 aircraft from the 158 claims that he made.). Allied claim verification wasn't perfect by any means. RAF pilots' claims were badly inaccurate for several years and didn't become reasonably reliable until 1944, possibly a little earlier. Among the Americans, the fighter pilots of the 8th Air Force were usually pretty good in their claiming, but those Americans who fought the Japanese were typically far less accurate. Why this should be, I don't know. Of all the big names associated with aerial combat, the man who was most likely the most accurate claimer did his flying in the First World War--Manfred von Richthofen. He claimed 80 victories and it appears fairly certain that he did down at least 70, with most of the rest damaged. Greetings from British Columbia, Canada.
More complete uninformed, Brit hating bullshit. Josef František arrived in Britain at the end of June 1940, undertook weeks of operational conversion training (learning to fly the aircraft he was to undertake combat in), during which he crashed his hurricane due to his previously only ever having flown aircraft with fixed undercarriage (thats the reason there is operational conversion training), and once he was deemed competent with his new mount, he scored his first kill as part of Polish 303 Squadron on 2nd September 1940.
@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 So right. The Battle of Britain had already started when he arrived in Britain and a few weeks training and familiarising himself with the Hurricane but in good hands a Hurricane could outmanoeuvre a Bf 109 at the speed and altitude of bomber escorts. He quickly became an ace and his score piled up faster than any British pilots. Then he scored lots of kills by breaking away from the squadron in order to take out the 109s that flew low and slow after they were out fuel but still you have to admit that he was a formidable pilot.
Pure gold, I have always enjoyed your mini documentaries. Maybe one day I get to watch a full length doc on Curiosity Stream or Nebula. I am sure if you keep making these, you will get a massive following, thank you for doing it.
Researchers investigated the best fighter pilots of WW2 and discovered that the top 10% of pilots from all nations were proficient in playing at least one music instrument. They explained that it could simply be that such individuals are disciplined and possess the capacity to learn. Another possibility they suggested is that learning music may actually improve visual spatial abilities as a child grows. Anyway, great pilots appear to be cultured and well educated.
Your narration skills are getting better and better. Your voice suits the times perfectly; it is both warm and authentic - and people will believe you. You could have a whole new career. Your might want to audition for some voice-over work. You the man!!!
This fantastic pilot is commemorated on the plaque at the Czechoslovak Club (Bohemia house) West End Lane London NW6 and annually to mark the Anniversary of the Battle of Britain in August/September 1940. Britain was not alone in 1940 but ably supported by the Poles , Czechoslovaks , Belgians and commonwealth pilots and ground crews from the West Indies, Canada, Australia , NZ and even Eire. What men and women. The mostly sergeant pilots, not always the pilot officers of mythology
Britain WAS alone during the summer/autumn/winter/spring of 1940/41. Which other country was being assaulted by air and sea in that time frame? France? US? India? Australia? Canada? No the United Kingdom was ALONE as the sole recipient of the aggression of the nazi regime from 25th June 1940 to 22 June 1941. The presence of soldiers from other nations does NOT alter that fact one little bit.
@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 you've well and truly swallowed the mythology . Britain was the centre of the largest maritime empire ever , and backed up by airmen, forces and workers from all over the continent and Empire / Commonwealth. The country was run by a coalition government and the workforce organised by Ernie Bevin & Labour colleagues. The country was broadly united in terms of war aims, though Churchill was not liked or trusted by a good chunk of the people, given his past errors of judgement , though he was proved correct about the Nazis . History is always more complex than we think . Churchill was ultimately fortunate with Hitler turning to the USSR and the Japanese attack on the USA and the declaration of war on the US by Hitler. It represented the end of Empire and the bankruptcy of Britain , with decayed infrastructure and old machinery with embedded class conflicts. We have only a few years ago finally paid off debt to the US , and have historically spent too much of GDP on defence , disadvantaging our civilian industry . The Korean war prevented Britain from investing in its people , just as the economy went into surplus for the first time for decades. The Labour ministers had been in office for more than a decade , and inspite of narrowly winning the 1950 election , and winning the popular vote 1951 , were exhausted . Churchill's great achievement was hanging on , inspite of a string of defeats, and heading a coalition Government with a common resolve.
This guy was born hunter. A little crazy mind, but what a pilot. He had too much hate in his heart to live a long time but all along his service he had the best score of germans killed. He was hunting to kill, that is all, vengeance, vengeance, vengeance. Only in France he had 15 victories.
Awesome Brother, I really enjoy these little documentaries. I am going to assume that when you say his career was brought to an abrupt end that he was killed; you didn't say either way. Thanks for your hard work, please keep' em coming. Ooh Rah!
I usually don't nit-pick, but you leave me no choice. You show Tiger tanks at 1:50, participating in the invasion of Poland. You couldn't find any footage of Panzer IIs?
I think you forgotten about Witold Urbanowicz. The commander of 303 Sq who also destroyed 17 aircrafts during Battle of Britan. He also scored one russian airplane in 1938 over Puławy. He also flown in Flying Tigers over China. Officialy he shot down two or three japanese planes, but his dary tells about 6 in the air and atoher five on the groun.
Frantisek wasn't the Battles top ace, that honour goes to an Englishman, Eric Lock.This error is in a lot of the older books but should be common knowledge to anyone with an interest in the Battle of Britain.
Didn't the Hurricunn and Spittyfire have landing gear warning horns? They added that after the first Spitfire prototype test when the pilot almost forgot to let the undercart down...
"warning horns" you said ? funny . I must let you know that you can't hear much except roaring motor of the plane. Signalling is done by light. Radio talk is with headphone and laryngophone, kind pf microphone picking vibration directly at your larynx do avoid sound of the motor. I flu only with small Cessna. It was noisy enough and I imagine Hurricane must have been much more noisy.
I started watching this as the heading appeared inaccurate regarding the highest scoring ace. It of course is amended at the start to say foreign ace. Sqdrn Leader Archie McKellar is buried a mere mile from my home. He was credited with not only the first Luftwaffe aircraft over Britain [Pre B of B], but then shot down over 20 before being shot down and killed shortly after the officially credited end of the battle. It is a source of sadness indeed frustration that because of this he is not commemorated on the official Battle of Britain Memorial.
These film is offensive for Frantisek, and for his koleagues. They fought together since 1939 until he died. Allways together. In Poland, France, and in Britain. It wouldn't also hurt to mention that he fought in best squadron of Battle of Britain. Polish 303.
Czech Ace. His name is pronounced Frantishek. He was friends with Brigadier General Miroslav Liskutin one of the most decorated Czechs in ww2. Liskutin recently died. You can find out more searching his name or searching for his grandson James Liskutin. FCAFA also has plenty of information on Frantisek. #frantisek #liskutin #jamesliskutin #fcafa
Fabulous history snapshot and terrific graphics - thank you from New Zealand. Ps. Any chance of a video of the Amiens Prison raid. The Kiwi squadron lead that raid, under the command of George Picard! RH
@@bigpants6121 brilliant thank you for that - I will see if I can track it down. Sir Basil Embry's book Mission Completed covers it, but not in huge detail. Thanks again! R
@@rogerhawkins6433 The TV doc also shows a Frenchman who questions the raid. Surely we must be told now what was going on. I think the papers are still sealed.
Do video on William Overstreet, Jr. P51 pilot during dogfight over France chased Me109 unrder the Eiffel Tower and downed it over streets of Paris. Escaped to English Channel flying at river level to the sea to escape anti-aircraft batteries.
I have always wondered where all those bullets went from those air battles. Imagine working in the field, hearing planes in a dogfight, cheering for your own plane and all of a sudden bullets are landing all around you. It might be enough to make a grown man mess his pants.
1:57 on, shows Panzerkampfwagen VIA Tigers. They weren't even produced until 1942. I know it's a small detail. However, us WW2 history buffs would like to feel as if the creator did his homework. Otherwise, how can we trust the narration? Good episode kid. Keep it up. You've earned a new sub... 🇺🇸
Thanks for bringing us this story about Josef Frantisek, a pilot who deserves a lot more recognition. Perhaps the word 'foreign' could be added to the title for accuracy (something you are already aware of in the commentary). I think 'Ginger' Lacey is acknowledged to be the top ace in the BoB with 18 kills.
@@jameslochridge4265 Well, you learn something new everyday. I thought 'Ginger' Lacey was the top scorer in the BoB after reading his biography many years ago. But I now find out that this might not be the case. I found this extract from the Force War Records website a short while ago: "The overall top scorer of the Battle of Britain, it seems (bearing in mind that few lists and books agree on each individual pilot’s ranking), was UK pilot Eric Lock. He scored 21 kills, flying first with 41 Squadron, then as Flight Commander of 611 Squadron after he was seriously wounded while crash-landing. He was awarded the DFC and Bar and the DSO, but did not survive the war. There is some debate over whether fellow British pilots James Lacey and Archie McKellar come next on the list, or whether the first foreign pilot enters at number 2. Anyway, it is certain that Josef Frantisek was the top Czechoslovakian pilot of the battle, and one of the top 5 ‘aces’. "
Other suggestions for videos on Erich Hartmann, Richard Bong, Saburo Sakai, Thomas McGuire, Gregory (Pappy) Boyington, Robert Johnson, Francis (Gabby) Gabreski, Don Gentile, Walker (Bud) Mahurin, Clarence (Bud) Anderson, Chuck Yeager, Robin Olds, Marion Carl, Edward (Butch) O’Hare, Joe Foss, Stanislaw Skalski, Josef Priller, Kenneth Walsh, Ralph (Kid) Hofer, Hermann Graf, Gunther Rall, Ivan Kozhedub, George Beurling, Tetsuzo Iwamoto, Teresio Vittorio Martinoli, Marmaduke (Pat) Pattle, Gerhard Barkhorn, John (Jimmy) Thach, Charles McGee, Hubert Zemke, Adolph Galland, Lee Archer, Peter Townsend. 👍.
You forgot others like the Polish pilots Witold Urbanowitz, Witold Lanowski, AVG pilots Dick Rossi, Tex Hill, James Howard, American Chinese pilots John “Buffalo” Wong and Art Chin, Guadalcanal veteran John L. Smith, British top ace Pat Pattle, Italian pilots Adriano Visconti, Luigi Gorrini, Franco Lucchini
Sad that these foreign pilots were not given the recognition they deserved mostly polish, they were not allowed to participate in the victory parade, due to some agreement of the British with the Russians I think because Poland was then taken over by the Russians. There is a lovely documentary 'These bloody foreigners' telling the tales of the brave polish fighter pilots who won the war for Britain.
Is it true that after the end of the WW II that Britain forced/sent many of the foreign pilots who had served it so well back to their former countries including those behind Churchill's "Iron Curtain" ? Was Churchill complicit in such?
@@davidpowell3347 No David, its complete bollocks. For those who believe Poland was "excluded" from the 1946 "Victory Parade", here is what actually happened. Britain while it was organising her Victory Parade sent out invitations to the embassies of EACH AND EVERY nation who had fought as part of the British armed forces and her allies. The invite was for each country to send a "flag party" to represent their nation who would all march together providing a colourful spectacle similar to the opening of the olympic games, with the wind unfurling the large number of national flags. Two parties, the Yugoslavs and the USSR for whatever reason, turned down the invites out of hand, and Poland ALONE was unhappy with how the parade was to be organised, and pressed for a larger contingent from their country to mirror her national pride. It was though unfair that any one country should have a larger representation that any other, and with the date of the parade approaching and only Poland unhappy with the organisation of the parade, they effectively "took their bat and ball home" and THEY CHOSE to not attend. On top of which the UK and US were still negotiating with Stalin over the future of Poland and Eastern Europe. The Soviets were HIGHLY mistrustful of nationalist movements, especially on the borders of the Soviet Union, and had refused to initiate the free elections in Poland that they had earlier promised. The last thing needed at that point of negotiations was a LARGE Polish national contingent in the UK victory parade...it would almost appear to be intentionally pissing off the Soviets, and that is ANOTHER reason why the UK insisted that Poland would not have a larger contingent in the UK victory parade than other nations
@@LMFNinja ahhh ok ONE British is equal to TEN Russsians ... is that your point? And how would you explain 158 victories from Hans-Joachim Marseille, ALL against Brits?
@@timtaylor2427 Due to the Luftwaffe's pilot training programme being so poor, that the "experten" were almost entirely flown without "rotation" until they were killed by mental/physical exhaustion taking its toll on them.
@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 Hahah, where did you get THAT bullshit? The pilots of the german Luftwaffe were too few to exchange them like the allieds did. And exhausted? Ask Erich Hartman, Joachim Bär, Hans-Ulrich Rudel etc etc etc... I guess you should inform yourself a bit better
the cap badge or a fusilier and a grenadier are a fused cannonball and the troops were selected from strong farmers sons, who could throw the early type grenades. The fusiliers have a feather in the cap badge red, white and red and white and other colours. Cavalry were split light cavalry lancers ,hussars and dragoons who were mounted infantry carried rifles. Heavy cavalry wore a metal breastplate and metal helmet: the household cavalry. The hussars were used to harry the enemy.
By the way-Best German ace from Battle of Britain was Helmut Wick ,having 56 victories...And Englishmen in their arogancy learned František how to fly and fight ,although he had 11 victories from Poland and France...
Yet he still managed to crash land his Hurricane during training after omitting to lower the undercarriage. The uninformed charge of "arrogance" you allude to is called "operational conversion training", but you're obviously too thick to understand why that is needed for ALL pilots.
@@norbertpecheq3427 I know everybody makes mistakes, I'm not the one stupidly calling people "arrogant" for providing training to familiarise pilots with new aircraft they've never flown before.
What does it tell us about the way history is told in this country (the UK) that in all my years, and all that's been said about the Battle of Britain, I've never before heard of this man? Would I have heard of him if he'd been British?
Thats says more about your ignorance than anything else. As a young lad in 1970s Britain I was aware of Josef František through my own reading, even through things as simple as war "comics" which documented him as well as many other foreign pilots serving in teh RAF such as Pierre Closterman.
Doesn’t it say something that the most successful Allied pilot at the Battle of Britain was ostracised by his Commanders. His Commanders were incapable of listening to his views on combat flying. For the majority of the Battle of Britain he fly alone and unvectored.
Actually, the strategy of Dowding and Park was successful. It would not have been a great tactic to let every pilot work as an individual. The main task was to take out as many bombers as possible - and survive! The dog-fights were the result of german escort trying to prevent the RAF from doing so.
Hey man, I just posted in discord. I promise I am trying my best. I hope to be back to a normal schedule very soon! Monday for sure, but possibly even Sat or Sun night.
On the British side, 17 victory are thought of as being high. Yet German high scorers were much higher. Example, Eric Hartman's score card was clipped 325 times. The natural conclusions latter generations could come to would likely be erroneous, but understandable. Even now at my advanced years I'm finding this disparity difficult to understand. Any suggestions?
Hope you guys enjoy! Please consider joining above for bonus content, or grabbing some merch from the link in the description to support my content! Thanks! Comment any ideas for future videos!
You should do a vid on WW2 Canadian ace Buzz Beurling....I think he had a record for 5 kills in one day....he was crazy, but one of the top aces in the war, well over 30+ kills.
@@SSGTA440 Clostermann had a great admiration for Beurling. Definitly a shooter.
Very well done, thank you, I enjoyed seeing the virtual reality reenactments and very good storyline and narration. I know it’s hard to get the music right so that other people like it, generally I don’t like it much at all. But at least it wasn’t too loud or overbearing.
What a brave aviator, I’m glad he killed a bunch of Nazi bastards. Those sons of bitches got his home country without even a fight because of the cowardice Neville Chamberlain.
I'd enjoy it more if the basic premise of your video was correct. Josef František was the fourth highest "ace" during the battle.
Eric Lock - 21
James Lacey - 18
Archie McKellar - 17.5
Josef Frantisek - 17
Colin Gray - 15.5
Hi, thanks for mentioning František in your channel. Of course as a Czech I know his story, still it is great that his skills and score aren't forgotten. Thanks again.
He crash landed in a cabbage patch near Brighton. He spent the rest of the day in Brighton and went out to a local pub where he got very dru k. My Dad was a police officer and was called out to sort out the disturbance. He arrested Frantisek who refused to " come quietly" and a running fight ensued all the way to the station. He was released back to his squadron the next day without charge as he was identified as an Ace. My Dad said he was a very good fighter.!! Put in a Hurricane he was formidable. 🇬🇧
Now that's a great story. 👍
Very interesting story! I never heard about it!
What a coincidence happened that time in Brighton, UK .... Eh ?? :o) >> In memory of the unbelievable impressive and successful the best Czech fighter pilot ++++ Amen.
I think he earned it
One of my great uncles flew with RAF. Not 303, not even near Frantisek - but nonetheless, the British family he created (married a superb British lady) created a living legend out of him.
I managed to talk to her once before she entered the eternal gates.
There was a book I read a couple of decades ago titled "On Killing" by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman. The government studied top fighter aces after it was determined that about 2% of fighter pilots were responsible for about 40% of all aircraft shot down by fighter aircraft in WWII to see if there was a common trait they could identify. The closest similarity they could find was that most of them got in a lot of fights as kids.
Erich loewenhardt 53 victorys had been declared physically unfit for the infantry. German ww1 ace. From my book knights of the air.
Say what you want the guy was a legend and that he died while flying is fitting. Thanks from the U.K Josef may you R.I.P amongst the aviation Gods.
My ex-boss, also a BofB man, said meeting him was unnerving; 'completely driven by hate, the man could not relax, not while there were still Nazis up there to kill etc.' Here's hoping the poor man eventually found peace somewhere.
I feel like I would be pretty hateful too if I was driven from four different countries by Germans! Very cool fact about him here. Thanks for sharing and I agree.
Why not hate those Nazis, they Were the “master race” with a Deathwish on all of the rest of us. This is not an exaggeration. Killing those Nazi bastards what is the best thing he could do and too bad we didn’t kill every goddamn one of them.
@@steveperreira5850- What do you suggest, stick them all on trains & send them to death camps? Think before you rant.
@@loddude5706that is what the NAZI monsters did to their victims. I have been to Dachau, and I have seen what the NAZIS did in Eastern Europe and, of course, to Russian prisoners of war in particular. Germany is responsible for the death of millions of people and untold harm on millions more, two world wars. Add to that the horrific damage they did by taking Lenin out of Switzerland and backing him in a revolution in Russia, and now they want a reset with Klaus Schwab has stated, "Where you will own nothing and be happy!" No thanks, No one from Germany should ever be in charge of anything anywhere. History proves that allowing a German to take the lead does not end well. It does not matter that I am not Jewish, I saw what Germans did to that group of people, and I say no thanks, Klaus Schwab. I will not wear a yellow star, and in no way will I get my left arm tattooed just to make you and your evil cabal happy. Too bad Russian troops are not still in Germany.
@@montanagrizlyfan - Well, they certainly taught you how to spout jingoistic rubbish & nastiness!
As a czech citizen I would like to thank you for this video;-) In one of your comments you said you would probably be driven by hate too - immagine your country would be invaded by arrogant nation, who is thinking that your country is worse race and they behaves to your fellow citizen like so. And now immagine you got chance to fight back...
The man was a hero and played the game by his own rules !
That rebel nature is what made them the pilots they wer
The top scoring ace of the Battle of Britain was Eric Lock with 21 kills.
Sorry it was Sailor Malan with 27 from South Africa 🇿🇦
@@michaelhardy8843 castlerock58 is correct, Eric Lock was the highest scoring ace in the Battle of Britain. Sailor Malan did have 27 kills in the war but many of these were made after the Battle of Britain.
When England stood alone my butt.
Poles were excellent fighter pilots. They ignored tower commands.Spoke Polish on the radio. Killed the stuff out of Germans.
Hey Willy, What other countries were being attacked by the nazis from 25th June 1940 until 22 June 1941? Let me help you. NONE, just Britain alone, the presence of allied troops does NOT alter that fact one little bit.
Imagine what this guy could've done in a Spitfire or any other legendary fighter plane of this war.
the Hurricane was in many ways better, less major damage and better turning circle for a slight reduction in speed compared to the Spitfire also very stable gun platform. More suited to grass airfields with wide undercarriage. Some pilots didn't want to swap.
The saddest thing about the czechoslovak pilots who flew in RAF is that they all faced death, torture or prison after the communists gained power few years after the war. Thats how communists rewarded fighting against nazis. :--)
And people praise them like they were good guys, because they did the same exact thing with the polish resistance🤦♂️
@@myleg4857 Oh yes, the resistence met the same fate here too. Quite often those who somehow survived being in the resistence against nazis immidietaly joined anti communist resistence too, sadly they were crushed before they could do anything proper. Even plenty of those who served in the Red Army were killed, imprisoend or forced to leave the country, since they saw what the USSR was actually about and the new communist puppet government definetely did not need them walking around telling people about the soviet practices.
The commies were the greater scourge.
Yes because they knew why...
Communists and National Socialists; not exactly the same but close. Totalitarian socialism = cancer.
Yes, please more cechoslovakia videos 👍👍👍🇨🇿
so many brave pilots. the free today offer our thanks to all of them.
@@thedeathwobblechannel6539 i remember reading some time ago that Eisenhower has serious misgivings about committing the 1st Czech brigade to front line fighting for fear of what the Germans would do to any POWs they caught. I took a lot lf balls to do what free forces did.
Thanks a lot for this. I am not sure if it was said during the video and I may have missed it. In UK, Frantisek was offered to join to the newly formed Czechoslovak fighter groups but he wanted to stay with Polish as he took them to be his nation more then Czechoslovak. And also, they allowed him this special status of "Flying guest" allowing him lone wolf hunts.
hey - read A.Fiedler Squadron 303 --> Frantisek died due failed attempt to make a victory loop over airfield - after successful mission.His plane got battle damage and did not sustain increased g's in lower part of a loop. They - 303 chief - have forbidden that victory loop after crash.
A similar fate was experienced by New Zealand WW2 fighter pilot, Edgar "Cobber" Cain who also, possibly still intoxicated with the adrenaline that helped contribute to the young pilot's success, flew too low, upside-down along the runway of the Station where he was based. This terrible waste of ability and potential was devastating.
So he was an idiot
According to the book, he was doing an aerobics maneuver over the field and his wing came off.
Hmm, thatd be hard to achieve in a Hurricane, thats a very strong plane, perhaps it had previous battle stress or damage.
@@rogerwadham4627 we will never know.
Yeah, I expect one makes the mistake of forgetting their gear ONCE. Kind of like touching a hot burner on a stove. I love these documentaries you're doing. Something the History channel has forgotten.
Thanks! Yeah now the history channel is all UFOs and Big Foot lol
i expect by teh 2nd time he was assisted by teh Nazis in his wheels up landing......all was forgiven on that subject
There's a free movie on CZcams called "303 Squadron". Excellent treatment of the subject (RE: The Poles flying for Britain ) and visually very well done.
Thank you, I knew about this guy and his history. What a fighter he was.
Guess he also spoke four languages as well as being a spectacular pilot.
Great work!! You should do more Ace stories like this! I highly recommend doing ones on: Marseille, Nowotny, Rudorfer, Kittel, to name a few Luftwaffe experten.
You should also do: Neel Kearby, George Preddy, or David McCampbell from the USA, Illumari Juutalainen from Finland, Pierre Clostermann from France, “Sailor” Malan or Pat Pattle from South Africa, to name some suggestions.
Ilmari Juutilainen was most succesful non-german fighter ace.
fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilmari_Juutilainen
Why Marseille?
He once claimed to have shot down 17 aircraft over North Africa when the Allies only lost a couple of aircraft that day - and NONE of them were fighters as he claimed.
Just another ego gone mad - having said that, he suffered a terrible death, being incapacitated when exiting his burning aircraft and his parachute either didn't open or he couldn't open it.
Very sad, but not perhaps the hero he made himself out to be!
17 aircraft in a day - I don't think so, and neither do any historians of note.
Galland, Rall, Nowotny, perhaps....
@@rogerhawkins6433 From where did you get your flawed "information"? On the day he claimed 17, the RAF lost 20 fighters (A History of the Mediterranean Air War 1940-1945 Volume Two by Christopher Shores and Giovanni Massimello, with contributions by several other historians), and while Marseille certainly didn't shoot down 17, the authors believe that he actually downed eight or nine, with three or four more damaged. Total German and Italian claims for these 20 fighters came to 35.
I'm surprised that you mention Nowotny (as perhaps having shot down a large number in a day?) because he actually has been shown to be a fraud, with only a fairly small percentage of his claims matching up with known Soviet losses.
@@angelonunez8555 I recall reading some time ago that the mix of aircraft he claimed to have shot down did not match the mix of aircraft ACTUALLY lost on that specific day. In fact it wasnt even close!
His claim was for fighters (except in one instance supposedly a recon aircraft! - Which was also not one of the listed lost aircraft!).
Long and the short of the article was the conclusion that VERY FEW of the german aces had verifiable claims.
The allies systems for proof of claims were much more stringent than the German fighter pilots (and incidentally the Stuka pilots - who were also allegedly guilty of exaggerating their claims for tanks, as I'm sure you know.
Thanks for the reference...I appreciate your kind help and advice.
Btw if you are interested, have you read " Bodyguard of Lies-Anthony Cave Brown.... well worth a read if you are interested. Kind regards from New Zealand.
@@rogerhawkins6433 German pilots were notorious for misidentifying certain of their opponents' aircraft types. During the Battle of Britain, Hurricanes were often believed to be Spitfires, and in the north African campaign, Hurricanes and P-40s were frequently confused, which was the case on Marseille's big day. Every one of his claims was recorded as a P-40, but many of his victims were actually Hurricanes. And there was in fact a recon aircraft possibly lost to him, a Hurricane from 208 Squadron, flown by Wing Commander J K Rogers, who was KIA.
Among the Germans, it's true that there were quite a few pilots whose claims do not come close to matching up with recorded Allied losses. The most notable is the top gun himself, Erich Hartmann, who claimed 352 shot down. Recent research in Soviet records has shown that it's possible that he may not have scored even 100. On the other hand, there were also many German pilots whose claims do match up fairly well with Allied loss data. Galland and Moelders are probably the most well known among those who fought against the Western Allies in the early years of the war (Marseille, according to one source, is believed to have actually downed around 100 aircraft from the 158 claims that he made.).
Allied claim verification wasn't perfect by any means. RAF pilots' claims were badly inaccurate for several years and didn't become reasonably reliable until 1944, possibly a little earlier. Among the Americans, the fighter pilots of the 8th Air Force were usually pretty good in their claiming, but those Americans who fought the Japanese were typically far less accurate. Why this should be, I don't know.
Of all the big names associated with aerial combat, the man who was most likely the most accurate claimer did his flying in the First World War--Manfred von Richthofen. He claimed 80 victories and it appears fairly certain that he did down at least 70, with most of the rest damaged.
Greetings from British Columbia, Canada.
Take into consideration that he had to wait for months until Britain ran out of pilots before he could fly a Hurricane.
More complete uninformed, Brit hating bullshit. Josef František arrived in Britain at the end of June 1940, undertook weeks of operational conversion training (learning to fly the aircraft he was to undertake combat in), during which he crashed his hurricane due to his previously only ever having flown aircraft with fixed undercarriage (thats the reason there is operational conversion training), and once he was deemed competent with his new mount, he scored his first kill as part of Polish 303 Squadron on 2nd September 1940.
@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 So right. The Battle of Britain had already started when he arrived in Britain and a few weeks training and familiarising himself with the Hurricane but in good hands a Hurricane could outmanoeuvre a Bf 109 at the speed and altitude of bomber escorts. He quickly became an ace and his score piled up faster than any British pilots. Then he scored lots of kills by breaking away from the squadron in order to take out the 109s that flew low and slow after they were out fuel but still you have to admit that he was a formidable pilot.
Mt Grandfather knew Frantisek. My Grandfather flew in RAF 312 Free Czechoslovak Air Force. #liskutin #raf312 #Frantisek
Pure gold, I have always enjoyed your mini documentaries. Maybe one day I get to watch a full length doc on Curiosity Stream or Nebula. I am sure if you keep making these, you will get a massive following, thank you for doing it.
Thanks for watching!
17 Aerial Kills is Amazingly Deadly.
Researchers investigated the best fighter pilots of WW2 and discovered that the top 10% of pilots from all nations were proficient in playing at least one music instrument.
They explained that it could simply be that such individuals are disciplined and possess the capacity to learn. Another possibility they suggested is that learning music may actually improve visual spatial abilities as a child grows. Anyway, great pilots appear to be cultured and well educated.
You outdid yourself on this one. Really enjoyed the info and graphics.
these feels like when in the war thunder shooting range video
in the pages of history when Bruce talks about an ace or a plane
Your narration skills are getting better and better. Your voice suits the times perfectly; it is both warm and authentic - and people will believe you. You could have a whole new career. Your might want to audition for some voice-over work. You the man!!!
Thank you for the fascinating historical content.
This fantastic pilot is commemorated on the plaque at the Czechoslovak Club (Bohemia house) West End Lane London NW6 and annually to mark the Anniversary of the Battle of Britain in August/September 1940. Britain was not alone in 1940 but ably supported by the Poles , Czechoslovaks , Belgians and commonwealth pilots and ground crews from the West Indies, Canada, Australia , NZ and even Eire. What men and women. The mostly sergeant pilots, not always the pilot officers of mythology
Britain WAS alone during the summer/autumn/winter/spring of 1940/41. Which other country was being assaulted by air and sea in that time frame? France? US? India? Australia? Canada? No the United Kingdom was ALONE as the sole recipient of the aggression of the nazi regime from 25th June 1940 to 22 June 1941. The presence of soldiers from other nations does NOT alter that fact one little bit.
@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 you've well and truly swallowed the mythology . Britain was the centre of the largest maritime empire ever , and backed up by airmen, forces and workers from all over the continent and Empire / Commonwealth.
The country was run by a coalition government and the workforce organised by Ernie Bevin & Labour colleagues. The country was broadly united in terms of war aims, though Churchill was not liked or trusted by a good chunk of the people, given his past errors of judgement , though he was proved correct about the Nazis . History is always more complex than we think . Churchill was ultimately fortunate with Hitler turning to the USSR and the Japanese attack on the USA and the declaration of war on the US by Hitler. It represented the end of Empire and the bankruptcy of Britain , with decayed infrastructure and old machinery with embedded class conflicts. We have only a few years ago finally paid off debt to the US , and have historically spent too much of GDP on defence , disadvantaging our civilian industry . The Korean war prevented Britain from investing in its people , just as the economy went into surplus for the first time for decades. The Labour ministers had been in office for more than a decade , and inspite of narrowly winning the 1950 election , and winning the popular vote 1951 , were exhausted . Churchill's great achievement was hanging on , inspite of a string of defeats, and heading a coalition Government with a common resolve.
If Britain wasn't an island and connected to the continent, it would have fallen after France.
This guy was born hunter. A little crazy mind, but what a pilot.
He had too much hate in his heart to live a long time but all along his service he had the best score of germans killed. He was hunting to kill, that is all, vengeance, vengeance, vengeance.
Only in France he had 15 victories.
Awesome Brother, I really enjoy these little documentaries. I am going to assume that when you say his career was brought to an abrupt end that he was killed; you didn't say either way. Thanks for your hard work, please keep' em coming. Ooh Rah!
Thanks man! And yes, he was.
@@TJ3 Check out the fantastic Czech movie Dark Blue World about their Pilots.
Erich Bubi Hartman is the most successful fighter pilot of all times with 352 kills.
Forgotten history but history all the same
I saw this remarkable feat on PBS America.
Very good reenactment, and to the point explanation of this outstanding fighter pilot.
now when the Polish Squadron is complaining about a man going off half cocked on missions, you know the story will be awesome
You should feature John Thach’s 1942 offensive c. a. p. in the battle of Midway & Pug Sutherland’s 1942 defensive c. a. p.
They made a movie about the polish pilots in the Battle of Britain called Hurricane
What a man!Wish we had a ton like him now!
I usually don't nit-pick, but you leave me no choice. You show Tiger tanks at 1:50, participating in the invasion of Poland. You couldn't find any footage of Panzer IIs?
I think you forgotten about Witold Urbanowicz. The commander of 303 Sq who also destroyed 17 aircrafts during Battle of Britan. He also scored one russian airplane in 1938 over Puławy. He also flown in Flying Tigers over China. Officialy he shot down two or three japanese planes, but his dary tells about 6 in the air and atoher five on the groun.
Frantisek wasn't the Battles top ace, that honour goes to an Englishman, Eric Lock.This error is in a lot of the older books but should be common knowledge to anyone with an interest in the Battle of Britain.
Didn't the Hurricunn and Spittyfire have landing gear warning horns? They added that after the first Spitfire prototype test when the pilot almost forgot to let the undercart down...
"warning horns" you said ? funny . I must let you know that you can't hear much except roaring motor of the plane.
Signalling is done by light. Radio talk is with headphone and laryngophone, kind pf microphone picking vibration directly at your larynx do avoid sound of the motor. I flu only with small Cessna. It was noisy enough and I imagine Hurricane must have been much more noisy.
@@gregszy8575 Got it from some book or other. Might have been a Spitfire info book. The horns were right behind the pilot's head. Didn't make it up.
I started watching this as the heading appeared inaccurate regarding the highest scoring ace. It of course is amended at the start to say foreign ace. Sqdrn Leader Archie McKellar is buried a mere mile from my home. He was credited with not only the first Luftwaffe aircraft over Britain [Pre B of B], but then shot down over 20 before being shot down and killed shortly after the officially credited end of the battle. It is a source of sadness indeed frustration that because of this he is not commemorated on the official Battle of Britain Memorial.
The greatest always burn quick and bright.
I WAS WAITING FOR THIS SO LONG YEEEES
The greates ACE of them all during WW2 was the german pilot Erich Hartman with 352 kills, impressive.
Died as he lived iconoclast.
Im from czechoslovakia (Now slovakia)
These film is offensive for Frantisek, and for his koleagues. They fought together since 1939 until he died. Allways together. In Poland, France, and in Britain. It wouldn't also hurt to mention that he fought in best squadron of Battle of Britain. Polish 303.
You have a véry good narrator voice!
Czech Ace. His name is pronounced Frantishek. He was friends with Brigadier General Miroslav Liskutin one of the most decorated Czechs in ww2. Liskutin recently died. You can find out more searching his name or searching for his grandson James Liskutin. FCAFA also has plenty of information on Frantisek. #frantisek #liskutin #jamesliskutin #fcafa
Fabulous history snapshot and terrific graphics - thank you from New Zealand.
Ps. Any chance of a video of the Amiens Prison raid. The Kiwi squadron lead that raid, under the command of George Picard! RH
Martin Shaw did an hour long TV show on this raid.
@@bigpants6121 brilliant thank you for that - I will see if I can track it down. Sir Basil Embry's book Mission Completed covers it, but not in huge detail. Thanks again! R
@@rogerhawkins6433 The TV doc also shows a Frenchman who questions the raid. Surely we must be told now what was going on. I think the papers are still sealed.
Great series! Love the videos!
The PBY would be cool!
Do video on William Overstreet, Jr. P51 pilot during dogfight over France chased Me109 unrder the Eiffel Tower and downed it over streets of Paris. Escaped to English Channel flying at river level to the sea to escape anti-aircraft batteries.
Great vídeo !! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
I have always wondered where all those bullets went from those air battles.
Imagine working in the field, hearing planes in a dogfight, cheering for your own plane and all of a sudden bullets are landing all around you. It might be enough to make a grown man mess his pants.
I believe the children in London would find shell casings daily from the Battle of Britain in 40 and 41
Erick Lock, 21 German aircraft and sharing in the destruction of one during the Battle of Britain.
Brilliant 👏
1:57 on, shows Panzerkampfwagen VIA Tigers. They weren't even produced until 1942. I know it's a small detail. However, us WW2 history buffs would like to feel as if the creator did his homework. Otherwise, how can we trust the narration? Good episode kid. Keep it up. You've earned a new sub... 🇺🇸
Thanks for bringing us this story about Josef Frantisek, a pilot who deserves a lot more recognition. Perhaps the word 'foreign' could be added to the title for accuracy (something you are already aware of in the commentary). I think 'Ginger' Lacey is acknowledged to be the top ace in the BoB with 18 kills.
Yes, agreed.
Sorry Sqn leader Archie McKellar of 603 Sqn flying hurricanes has 23 recorded kills during the BoB.
@@jameslochridge4265 Well, you learn something new everyday. I thought 'Ginger' Lacey was the top scorer in the BoB after reading his biography many years ago. But I now find out that this might not be the case. I found this extract from the Force War Records website a short while ago:
"The overall top scorer of the Battle of Britain, it seems (bearing in mind that few lists and books agree on each individual pilot’s ranking), was UK pilot Eric Lock. He scored 21 kills, flying first with 41 Squadron, then as Flight Commander of 611 Squadron after he was seriously wounded while crash-landing. He was awarded the DFC and Bar and the DSO, but did not survive the war. There is some debate over whether fellow British pilots James Lacey and Archie McKellar come next on the list, or whether the first foreign pilot enters at number 2. Anyway, it is certain that Josef Frantisek was the top Czechoslovakian pilot of the battle, and one of the top 5 ‘aces’. "
Other suggestions for videos on Erich Hartmann, Richard Bong, Saburo Sakai, Thomas McGuire, Gregory (Pappy) Boyington, Robert Johnson, Francis (Gabby) Gabreski, Don Gentile, Walker (Bud) Mahurin, Clarence (Bud) Anderson, Chuck Yeager, Robin Olds, Marion Carl, Edward (Butch) O’Hare, Joe Foss, Stanislaw Skalski, Josef Priller, Kenneth Walsh, Ralph (Kid) Hofer, Hermann Graf, Gunther Rall, Ivan Kozhedub, George Beurling, Tetsuzo Iwamoto, Teresio Vittorio Martinoli, Marmaduke (Pat) Pattle, Gerhard Barkhorn, John (Jimmy) Thach, Charles McGee, Hubert Zemke, Adolph Galland, Lee Archer, Peter Townsend. 👍.
You forgot others like the Polish pilots Witold Urbanowitz, Witold Lanowski, AVG pilots Dick Rossi, Tex Hill, James Howard, American Chinese pilots John “Buffalo” Wong and Art Chin, Guadalcanal veteran John L. Smith, British top ace Pat Pattle, Italian pilots Adriano Visconti, Luigi Gorrini, Franco Lucchini
Don't forget the french, a great read is Pierre Clostermanns book,The Big Show
Josef francisek🇨🇿🇵🇱 303 sqadron
Sad that these foreign pilots were not given the recognition they deserved mostly polish, they were not allowed to participate in the victory parade, due to some agreement of the British with the Russians I think because Poland was then taken over by the Russians. There is a lovely documentary 'These bloody foreigners' telling the tales of the brave polish fighter pilots who won the war for Britain.
Is it true that after the end of the WW II that Britain forced/sent many of the foreign pilots who had served it so well back to their former countries including those behind Churchill's "Iron Curtain" ? Was Churchill complicit in such?
@@davidpowell3347 Yes David, sad but true, check the you tube video "Bloody Foreigners - Untold Battle of Britain", Lovely documentary.
@@davidpowell3347 czcams.com/video/ptijNcDanVw/video.html
@@davidpowell3347 No David, its complete bollocks.
For those who believe Poland was "excluded" from the 1946 "Victory Parade", here is what actually happened. Britain while it was organising her Victory Parade sent out invitations to the embassies of EACH AND EVERY nation who had fought as part of the British armed forces and her allies. The invite was for each country to send a "flag party" to represent their nation who would all march together providing a colourful spectacle similar to the opening of the olympic games, with the wind unfurling the large number of national flags. Two parties, the Yugoslavs and the USSR for whatever reason, turned down the invites out of hand, and Poland ALONE was unhappy with how the parade was to be organised, and pressed for a larger contingent from their country to mirror her national pride. It was though unfair that any one country should have a larger representation that any other, and with the date of the parade approaching and only Poland unhappy with the organisation of the parade, they effectively "took their bat and ball home" and THEY CHOSE to not attend.
On top of which the UK and US were still negotiating with Stalin over the future of Poland and Eastern Europe. The Soviets were HIGHLY mistrustful of nationalist movements, especially on the borders of the Soviet Union, and had refused to initiate the free elections in Poland that they had earlier promised. The last thing needed at that point of negotiations was a LARGE Polish national contingent in the UK victory parade...it would almost appear to be intentionally pissing off the Soviets, and that is ANOTHER reason why the UK insisted that Poland would not have a larger contingent in the UK victory parade than other nations
WOW SEVENTEEN KILLS !!!! What a hero !!!! In german Luftwaffe listings he might raise from applicant to apprentice !!!
The Luftwaffe kills were inflated because they fought various European air forces which flew obsolete aircraft.
@@LMFNinja ahhh ok ONE British is equal to TEN Russsians ... is that your point?
And how would you explain 158 victories from Hans-Joachim Marseille, ALL against Brits?
@@timtaylor2427 Due to the Luftwaffe's pilot training programme being so poor, that the "experten" were almost entirely flown without "rotation" until they were killed by mental/physical exhaustion taking its toll on them.
@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 Hahah, where did you get THAT bullshit? The pilots of the german Luftwaffe were too few to exchange them like the allieds did. And exhausted? Ask Erich Hartman, Joachim Bär, Hans-Ulrich Rudel etc etc etc...
I guess you should inform yourself a bit better
About death of Frantisek i heard then he hit on the ground when he make barrel roll of victory in low altitude over the his airfeld.
the cap badge or a fusilier and a grenadier are a fused cannonball and the troops were selected from strong farmers sons, who could throw the early type grenades. The fusiliers have a feather in the cap badge red, white and red and white and other colours.
Cavalry were split light cavalry lancers ,hussars and dragoons who were mounted infantry carried rifles. Heavy cavalry wore a metal breastplate and metal helmet: the household cavalry. The hussars were used to harry the enemy.
Excellent. I'd love to see defiants shooting up Ju 87 & 88s over Dunkirk.
Josef Frantusek is quite famous.
My Hero !!!
Well done
So, the Hurricane in the hands of a good pilot was a match for the famous 109?
In the right circumstances, with the right pilot, absolutely a match.
I think Otto Kittel would be a good one to do.
Was just seeing how this kite would land without wheels down sir ! Very well but remember to lower them next time .
Unless ditching in water!
Great animation!
👍 👍 👍!!!
That recon biplane looked like a WWI Spad. Was it?
Looks like a Spad XIII
By the way-Best German ace from Battle of Britain was Helmut Wick ,having 56 victories...And Englishmen in their arogancy learned František how to fly and fight ,although he had 11 victories from Poland and France...
Yet he still managed to crash land his Hurricane during training after omitting to lower the undercarriage. The uninformed charge of "arrogance" you allude to is called "operational conversion training", but you're obviously too thick to understand why that is needed for ALL pilots.
@@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 Everybody can make mistake...But yes,you´re right..
@@norbertpecheq3427 I know everybody makes mistakes, I'm not the one stupidly calling people "arrogant" for providing training to familiarise pilots with new aircraft they've never flown before.
Video idea
Falcon of Malta.
Wow
Looks epic
James Lacey aka ginger lacey was the highest with 18 shot down in the battle of britain.
The Guy was exhausted ffs.
Used unsuitable footage of German tanks as Tiger which entered service several years after Frantiseks death.
Frantisek probably learned from Josef Cermak in Czechoslovakia
Sadly there is too much hiss on this recording otherwise it is a great subject that makes compelling viewing!
Boyington didn't follow rules either..........
Nobody right minded would do aerobatics in a battle damaged aircraft.
What does it tell us about the way history is told in this country (the UK) that in all my years, and all that's been said about the Battle of Britain, I've never before heard of this man? Would I have heard of him if he'd been British?
Thats says more about your ignorance than anything else. As a young lad in 1970s Britain I was aware of Josef František through my own reading, even through things as simple as war "comics" which documented him as well as many other foreign pilots serving in teh RAF such as Pierre Closterman.
Why no squadron markings on the plane?
check out brigadier general M.A.Liskutin DFC AFC French knight's cross
Awesome recreation of this ANTIFA pilot's story.
A.N.I.T.F.A. is a Communist organization.
Hmm, weren't there a few Luftwaffe pilots with higher scores during BoB?
We don't have much reason to celebrate them, do we?
4:04 " (Czech swear-word in caps) "
His "career" came to an end according to you. You never said if he died. An unbelievable ommission.
Saburo Sakai or Douglas Bader please!
Doesn’t it say something that the most successful Allied pilot at the Battle of Britain was ostracised by his Commanders. His Commanders were incapable of listening to his views on combat flying. For the majority of the Battle of Britain he fly alone and unvectored.
Actually, the strategy of Dowding and Park was successful. It would not have been a great tactic to let every pilot work as an individual. The main task was to take out as many bombers as possible - and survive!
The dog-fights were the result of german escort trying to prevent the RAF from doing so.
@@D.Appeltofft I agree, but I don’t think the tactic was ever to “dog fight” the German fighters, it was to evade the Nazi fighters and try to get to
@@anthonyburke5656 Also the "most succesful allied pilot in the battle of Britain" was Shrewsbury-born Eric Locke, with 21 kills.
Hey TJ! When is next twitch stream?
Hey man, I just posted in discord. I promise I am trying my best. I hope to be back to a normal schedule very soon! Monday for sure, but possibly even Sat or Sun night.
If they only had 50s....
Didn't need them... 2700 luftwaffe aircraft downed during the battle testify to that.
On the British side, 17 victory are thought of as being high. Yet German high scorers were much higher. Example, Eric Hartman's score card was clipped 325 times. The natural conclusions latter generations could come to would likely be erroneous, but understandable. Even now at my advanced years I'm finding this disparity difficult to understand. Any suggestions?
German pilots flew until they died. No rotations or extended rest periods.