America's 'War' Against Switzerland
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 เม.ย. 2020
- The not very widely known aerial fighting and bombing that occurred between the United States and Switzerland during WWII.
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"By how far did you miss your target?"
"250km"
@Kamchatka,The 2nd Pacific Naval Squadron. I hear you. But, 250km, I'll say it again "250km" navigation back then wasn't great....but 250km..... really!!!, and we're not talking huge runs like the Pacific, this was a few hundred miles over Europe. You can miss entire countries in Europe by overshooting 250 km.... Which they did
C'mon 250km.....
wow... that's a lot of people who know nothing about flying or weather. I am a pilot, and as a pilot I can say that it would be very very hard to navigate without transponders or radar. Bad weather can throw you off course even when you do have a transponder and ATC to talk to. These guys wouldn't be able to see landmarks on the ground from such an altitude, 250km makes a lot of sense. These guys would literally be relying on a calculation/bearing and a map, that's barely anything to work with.
@@toastyboi3688
250 km the other way is Maastricht in the Netherlands. 200 km is enough to fly over Switzerland at the widest point. If the margin of error is so large, it would mean that the bomber lacked military value. There are plenty of landmarks, rivers, canals and the alps. It was actually daytime. The airplane crews are not idiots, who do not have access to maps. You don't make such big mistakes. There are punitive bombings that are called mistakes to avoid bad publicity. Then the documentation suddenly disappears for that particular event. That is how it is done in war.
@@toastyboi3688 ok...Yet (somehow) they managed to get back home to their tiny little airstrips.... Explain that.
@@niklasmolen4753 again.... 20,000 ft above and only relying on a map, easy to miss something, weather conditions worsen this by a large margin
"Get off my lawn."
- Switzerland 1939
"Don't touch my Nazi gold!" - Also Switzerland 1939-1945
Hippity hoppity get off my property.
@@bllau lmao under rated comment
I have less and less reasons to consider Switzerland "Neutral" by any definition.
@@LostShipMate you can only be just so neutral when you're completely surrounded by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.
Switzerland is that neighbor who keeps all the frisbees that go over his fence
This is so accurate it hurts.
... Sort of the exact opposite of the bombing in this story, eh?
we dont keep em, we make nice deals before giving them out :)
lololololololololol!!!!!!
xD
Even today they use every situation to earn money in every conflict. Napolen and Russia gave Switzerland them freedom to be neutral. Still the WHO main office is in Switzerland, hence how they neutral are.
"Sir, they have us surrounded!"
"Great! We can fire in all directions!"
- Pretty much the Swiss in methodology during WWII
According to the Swiss themselves, the methodology was more like "sit around on mountaintops and try not to die of boredom while your family starves in the valley because of lack of farmhands."
@@kraanz
More so
Swiss during EVERY war.
Gen MacArthur was quoted saying the same thing basically lol He was told the enemy had surrounded them or way trying to and he replied good We Got them where we want them. Lol
a german officer famously visited switzerland which let them know that they could mobilize 250k soldiers within 48h. the german said they had 500k stationed in southern germany to which the swiss replied "then they all have to shoot twice"...
Swiss precision : make nice complex watches
US precision : miss a target by only 200 km
My Dad bought 2 Rolex watches while he was kept there during the war and he didn't miss his target while over Germany!
@@theoldscout3478 That would make him one of the best pilots of the war
* accurately * miss a target by 200km
Uh, you really think they were missing Germany on purpose? Wow.
You should really see the machining work on their rifles.
The only kind of neutrality that actually works: *armed neutrality*
Let's not forget the USA was neutral for much of the war
The acceptable modern stupidity: TH-cam stupidity.
@Jonathan Williams For both Japan and Germany the difference between a risky gamble vs the best option of many bad options...was very little. The US embargoed Japan's oil. They relied 80% on the US so that is basically a declaration of war. In Europe, FDR refused to recognize governments in Europe and froze their assets held in US banks, in clear violation of International Law. They also reported German ship movements to the Royal Navy and also blockaded them from entering neutral ports. Worst of all the US only traded with the allies and practically gave them billions in war merchandise. The US was never truly neutral. It was thanks to FDR and Churchill that any hope for peace in Europe was lost. Even after the fall of France, Hitler offerred to withdraw from France if France/UK would call off the war. Hitler had ambitions in the East yes but as far as the West goes all he wanted was to be left alone! Same with Japan but because of oil embargo the only way to get oil was to take from British/Dutch colonies. And they knew to do that they would have to wipe out the American Pacific fleet and get American oil flowing again in a peace deal. Unfortunately for them they underestimated the US. America did NOT sue for peace after Pearl Harbor. FDR used it as an excuse to go to war. He always wanted to go to war but the American people wouldn't support it. That is why he allowed Pearl Harbor to happen. That's why he harrassed the German Navy so much hoping they would sink an American ship!
Only reason Switzerland was not invaded by Germany is they were so well armed and trained and coupled with their terrain it would have been a horrifically bloody victory for Germany, not worth it and they knew it. Perfect example of peace through strength.
@Jonathan Williams It wasn't. First of all, Japan was never a member of the axis and merely signed a non a aggression pact. Their ambitions were in the Pacific. Pearl Harbor knocked their main rival, the US, out of the naval war. What Japan failed to realize was America's powerful naval industry and essentially infinite manpower reserves quickly replaced the losses of December 7th.
The Virgin Belgium
Tries to stay neutral, gets invaded.
The Chad Switzerland
Stays neutral by attacking both sides.
armed neutrality :D
Vs the thad Lichtenstein making sure everyone forgot about it.
Liechtenstein: Gets protection from the swiss army.
Switzerland is all mountains, Belgium has no defensible frontiers; it makes a huge difference.
@@watching99134 Switzerland isn't all mountains. But in case of an invasion, Switzerland would blow up their own bridges and move their entire army, etc. into the alps.
I think some people in the comment section don't understand that neutrality doesn't mean not to defend...
They live in their puppy world thinking war is all heroism. As swiss I think the government did the right things to prevent war and thats what matters.
@@spectre1725 Well they kinda failed... they were at war with everybody.
@@GreenBlueWalkthrough was Switzerland destroyed like the rest of europe?
@@spectre1725 it should have been bombed to smitherines for allowing Nazi trains to pass and doing business with Nazis
@@spectre1725 , exactly
There is nothing righteous about wars
"Switzerland, what was your involvement in ww2?"
Switzerland "It's complicated"
@BLUE DOG Get some help
BLUE DOG do me a favor gerara hia!
@BLUE DOG The stories that you trying to sell here are invented by what you call "the Bank of Satan"...
Swiss did not get rich because of banks or mafia and they did not steal billions from inocent victims of WW2.
Swiss success with just freedom is pain in the ass of people that pulling the strings and selling left wing propaganda to everyone as the "progress".
Sweden *looks uncomfortable and slowly shuffles out of the room*
@@mahirmahir7097 He may have taken it a bit too far, however banks were and are opportunists and took full advantage of the war. There was a lot going on between the Nazi's and swiss banks.
"Your bombers will make a fine addition to my collection." - Swiss Air Force.
It's a shame the Swiss gave them back. A collection of vintage bombers like that, stashed away for 60 years, would be worth a fortune today.
@@k.r.baylor8825 Anyway even if they hadn't given it back, they would have used it for civilian puposes and most of it would have been crashed ( french IGN B17's is a good exemple ).
Henry A. Wallace Now we know where General Griefes got this phrase from.
Say hi to FDR
is this a star wars reference?
Allied and Axis planes: * enter Swiss Airspace *
Bundesrat: Shoot 'em
Military: Which ones?
Everyone: ALL OF THEM
the order is easier to understand if its "shoot anything without a white cross on it" rather than "ok shot them but not those and those not as well"
Idiot. In 1944, the US could have destroyed all Switzerland !!!
@@antoinemozart243 hum yeah, but I think destroying a country for defending himself because YOU have violated his airspace without any official war can be a war crime or maybe punished
@@sans-nom_1.mp425 you are naïve ! Like Shakespeare said , there is no neutrality when two destructive powers fight. The Swiss violated their neutrality by facilitating the business f the Nazis, they deserved to be violated by other weapons.
@@antoinemozart243 ... 😑
Switzerland be like:
"Hippity hoppity we're not at war with you so get the f*** off our property"
If Switzerland was neutral then why is the flag Positive?
Perhaps the only actually clever statement of the whole lot!
@@cbwilson2398 Thanks
Cause they are opportunists. And they love a positive balance!
Cause they had a negative attitude , so it cancels out and becomes neutral
@KnowBounds if your brain was working then you would never have written such a comment ....
Imagine hearing your Husband was killed by the Swiss Airforce
@Legion 57 I mean the Swiss where neutral and when you're neutral you can't pick sides. And the USA accepted this neutrality, so they were in the wrong.
@Legion 57 because you bombed them , we are humans too in europe
Marcus Alexander no
Better than being told he was killed by the Swiss Navy..?
@Legion 57 shut up they went in to swiss airspace without permission
I had a Swiss friend some years ago who had two sons. Both joined the military when they reached the age of service (like almost all male Switzers), and the older of the two became a jet fighter pilot. When I expressed admiration, his father said, "Yes, it's quite impressive. But it becomes less so when you realise that all of his flights involve jamming the stick hard to one side and flying in circles." Turns out modern aircraft exhaust Swiss airspace rather quickly.
This gave me a good laugh 😂
Same in Austria. If you turn on the Afterburner, you have like a minute to fly with it before you have to pull the plane to the sie because you reach the border.
No need for a jet or even propeller plane. If you hit breaks late in those countries you'll end up crossing the border (and not noticing it)
That is so typically Swiss.
The winner always write history, that is why people like Mark Felton is so important for us all to understand our legacy. Thank you Mark for all your (neutral) work.
True this is the first I've learned about any of this.
Are you brain-dead? Do you know how many loser countries have written countless thousands of books on wars that they lost? What the hell are you even trying to babble about?
What are you babbling about. The Swiss didn't lose or win this war, they were able to stay neutral for the most part. They are perfectly capable of writing their own history.
The whole winner writes the history is complete utter bs statement
Lol imagine thinking Mark Felton is neutral
The pilot of the Messerschmitt Bf 110 G who emergency landette in Switzerland was the brother of my great-grandfather Wilhelm Johnen. He also wrote a book Duell unter den Sternen (Duel under the stars)
That's super cool.
Wenn das stimmt kannst du dich glücklich schätzen
I have read that book , an excellent story .
That's awesome! Fantastic book!!
Thank him for his service
"Hey Jimmy, who are we bombing today anyway?"
_No idea Johnny, but they sure SOUND German to me!_
Certain parts of it actually speak German along with the roadsigns.
@@hexadecimal7300 thats the joke I guess haha
@@hexadecimal7300 that's the joke...
Hexa Decimal well yea but it’s easily distinguishable
Man i read that imaginating them yelling at eachother
Swiss whenever allied or axis tried to enter Swiss sovereign territory :-
_"You know the rules and so do I"_
Nooo rickroller
_Say Goodbye_
Never gonna let you in,always gonna shoot you down
Yes, but they never really wanted to hurt us.
"Are you neutral, or just hostile to everybody?"
Switzerland: "Yes."
Much truth in this comment.
well neutrality means nothing if you are not able to defend yourself. the swiss did the right thing. only way to stop invasion is by showing force and doing business with other nations.
Saving the lifes of 400'000 refugees during the war.
If you endure you become double as potent though as you get to know both side's mechanisms of control.
Switzerland: I’m neutral
Other countries: It’s free airspace!
Switzerland: " In case you didnt Notice you have Fallen right Into my Trap."
*laughs in Swiss interceptors*
Its free real estate!
@@rusuproductions7474 that gets blown up if you get too close :D
@@rusuproductions7474 it's free real airspace !
In 50 years mark Felton's robot copy will be making a video on how people battled during the 20s over toilet paper
Ww3 starts over toilet paper. I can hear it now
I can already hear the intro music.
LOL
A few years ago while touristing in Vanuatu a family started dinner conversation with the topic of what was the greatest invention. When I got my turn I said toilet paper and that ended the conversation.
So much well wipe asses
Don't forget the time Steven McQueen tried to invade Switzerland using just his motorcycle.
Btw germany and italy didnt want to declare war on Switzerland because we would just blow up important bridges and block the passage on the alps from north to south
Gotthard tunnel sei dank😂
Me: I need to sleep
Mark Felton: uploads
Me: Sleep? What's that?
work shmurk, ive got a 1940s flying submarine to look at.
I don't need sleep i need history
I had no idea Switzerland had been bombed in the Second World War nor that the relationship between Switzerland and the US soured. I've always thought that Switzerland was completely neutral and free from direct engagement during both World Wars. That only shows how much there is to learn. Thank you for another great video.
Switzerland was never neutral apart from when they were speaking,, internationally speaking of course..
As we know many deals were struck with Britain, the USA and other countries.
Neutral, just like any SS Dagger, I don't think so.
@@stuartlawsonbeattie6200 They were officially neutral in the sense that they didn't engage in the war itself.
Lol youtube is censoring my comment
R.I.P. free speech and truth of facts revealing
Maaan. I try to post my comment now since many minutes and it keeps deleting it!!! No profane language ir anything in it. Why does youtube deletes the truth of Switzerland automatically???
Aww, my Dad was from Schaffhausen. My aunt, his sister lost her best friend in this bombing. My Dad lived a long life in the U.S. and loved America just as he did Switzerland as I do.
I'm 51 years old. I've been studying WW2 since I was 16. I always learn something new on your GREAT channel! Thank you!!!!
“You damn kids get out of my airspace”
- Swiss Airforce 1939-1945
Despite situations like the ones in this video, the Swiss did an excellent job in staying out of WWII - as best they could - it is likely Germany would have invaded had they not cooperated with the Nazis in certain ways, such as allowing transit of soldiers and supplies and allowing certain technology to be used. Canada was already a part of WWII on September 3 1939 as its close ties with Britain in those days neccessitated that, however a little known story, which may have happened even if Canada had somehow remained "neutral" in WWII (we were a much less "pacifist" country in those days) is how Uranium from Canada's far north was an essential component of many early United States atomic bombs. Google: How Uranium from Great Bear Lake Ended Up in A-Bombs
Except Nazi's
@@ghostmost2614 There are many epic aerial battles between the swiss airforce and german planes, in 1940 during the invasion of france. After that, the Luftwaffe didn't fly over switzerland again, as they had no need to
@@MrSam1er I forgot about that after the occupation of France that was no longer necessary good point
@@themudthedirtandthesand9079 plenty of commonwealth countries participated in the Manhattan project, suffice to say Australia & South Africa have vast deposits of uranium so had Canada not supplied no doubt they would have.
Neutral Switzerland fought both the allies and the axis lol
Wow so funny.
You mean briefly fought axis and then let them do as they please after
@@jaska5403 Not really, besides the Germans didn't "get lost" as often as the Americans seemed to.
@@Delogros It was just a couple of coincidences, nothing to see here.
“I play both side so I always come out on top”
Navigator: “I think we’re over Swiss airspace...”
Bombardier: “whoopsies my hand slipped!”
There never were german troops crossing Switzerland by train, only materials were allowed.
Man, at this point I revoke my “I know a lot of history” card. Mark just has superior knowledge of the world
@M T A non-believer!
Persecute!
Kill the heretic!
_Monty Python._
@M T Admitting that someone has superior knowledge of a subject isn't a demeaning thing in my opinion. But to each his own
@M T Any sufficiently advanced knowledge/technology will seem like magic to people.
You and me both brother...I am shocked that I totally missed this...? WTF.
The more you know the more you realize you don’t know very much.
Now I understand why I have heard "this building was bombed during the war" when I was in Basel. Back then I was like "WTF?" and now everything is clear
which building was that? more likely to have been hit by the earthquake than a bomber.
@@mikatu I don't know what exactly building it was - some living quatier building in the area of Clara. I asked why it is an awful 50's building sticked wall to wall in between beautiful classical buildings and I heard this in response
It all makes sense now...
@Serge Rambert NOT yet :-(
@Elmo calabrese yes, if I am correct the whole area around Claraplatz and Claragraben is called Clara or correct me if I'm wrong, I was there only once :)
lesson for all nations in the area:
do not annoy the Swiss. even by mistake.
F the Swiss.
@@zacharyking900 Long live the Swiss
Never heard of any of this until I saw this video. MF productions strikes again! Bravo.
To bad there is so much wrong information.
@@caturix4541 Perhaps you can comment to clarify. History buffs will love to hear about it.
My grandfather (now 90) remembers the bombing of Schaffhausen, as he was only about 10 miles away. Some off the bombs fell into nearby woods and the craters still remain (I've seen them myself). He describes both the American and German aircraft as a nuisance, but doesn't believe it was an accident and understands why the Americans bombed the city. He says ball bearings were being made and then sold to Germany as part of the country's efforts to maintain its independence. Switzerland made several types of concessions to both Germany and the Allies in an effort to stave off occupation. It was a tricky balance between being a pain in the ass and placating threats.
I also see a few comments claiming Switzerland was cozy with the Nazis. I mean, they were cozy with everyone - out of necessity. Most of the Swiss resented the Nazis. You really need to speak with a Swiss person to understand how fiercely independent they are - Switzerland fought against the Habsburgs for decades. There was never really a question of the Swiss joining the Nazis. It's evidenced by the absolutely pitiful membership in Swiss National Socialist organizations before they were banned in 1940. You also have to understand Switzerland is a direct democracy, they vote on everything and they're very proud of it. They would not give that independence up easily to be annexed.
You don't develop a defense strategy like the National Redoubt unless you intend to defend yourself and there's an X-factor in General Guisan. I have seen the fortifications around Schaffhausen and other locations in Switzerland. They're no small feat. I was told every single bridge in the country was wired with explosives to slow a German invasion (I doubt that's entirely true, but many were), and my granduncle was killed when one of the bridges he was guarding accidentally detonated.
Excellent comment.
Very interesting!. Hitler wants to attack Swiss in 1944.
Most of them were wired. Many were "fixed targets" for artillery, too... If you take the boat, you can see the preparations on many bridges today...
Nice comment.
U should write a book
Bravo, schön gesagt! Hallo von Steckborn :)
The bombing of Schaffhausen was the worst 1. of April joke ever.
One might even go so far as the call the USAAF pilots on that day April Fools....
I don't know, I thought it had a lot of impact.
oof
@@LetsTakeWalk God damnit...
Is this why IWC Schaffhausen watches are so focused on their "Flieger" line of watches??
Allie aircraft: enters swiss air space
The Switzerland air forces: _your free trial of not getting shot down has ended_
*Your free trial of Life has expired*
My grandfather (now 96) lived in Schaffhausen when the bombing happened. He explained to me that the people of Schaffhausen didn't follow the bombsirens because of so many falsealarms which were given before the actual bombing. That's why many people were on the streets and didn't seek cover in the underground Bunkers. My grandfather was at the public swimminghall with a friend and left the hall just when the first bombs dropped. He was hit by a shockwave and luckily thrown into a place infront of some house where he would have cover. His friend later explained to him that he was hit by the upper part of a dead persons head...
At least they didn't confuse Zurich with Hiroshima and nuke Switzerland. That's something.
theyd miss hit france crash into a mountain while blaming the notorious " islamic russians who hate freedom squadron 7" of the chinese airforce
"We went off target by a few thousand miles. Wazza big deal? Town was already named Bern anyways!"
If they Accidentally nuke switzerland There is too much caaualties and if it fell then History for switzerland will be changed forever or end
@@InformedConsent322 That is priceless! You'll have me chuckling all day, now.
Zürich*
Hey there
It is a misconception that the Swiss just traded with Germany. In total Germany sold ~2500 tons of Gold to Switzerland while the US alone sold 3600 tons. Basically every Country was exchanging Gold for Swiss Francs. Next to that, the Swiss exported twice as many weapons and ammunition to the Allies than to the Germans.
But of course you can't deny the closer relationship between Switzerland and Germany, due to sharing a border and constant threat of invasion.
(Source: My own Knowledge based on data from the Swiss National Museum in Zürich)
xXTheMalekXx why is your comment so far down its gold!
Link pls
@@swisscheese3405 there's a book-series called "Die Schweiz im 2. Weltkrieg", it came out in the late 1950s and covered everything the OP said - with numbers AND conracts...
Funfact: the burning of he BF-110 night fighter in exchange for new BF109G was needed, as neither brits nor americans wanted to fullfill the contracts of buying Spitfires and Mustangs to replace the old 109E... (the Spitfires with swiss air force markings have been shut down by the brits over the channel, and the americans simply kept the planes for themselves - both took the money, of course)
@Oran Cassidy Vichy France had relationships with the US until 1942.. But letting US gold through French territory seems risky.
@Oran Cassidy It's reasonable to assume the trades were done before getting landlocked. So, what's your point?
A lot of people in the comments seemed to miss that Switzerland could not just allow the alliance travel trough theyr airspace. When Hittler would know that there are american planes traveling over switzerland he would send his planes there too. So there would be war in switzerland. And not to mention that in this case Germany would invade switzerland. America put switzerland in danger, switzerland used force to keep their sky clear, america retaliated. Simple.
But it was ok for German troop trains to transit Swiss territory?
@@foamer443 no not at all. Where do you think they did go by traveling through switzerland? Italy was not occupied by the nazis. France, poland and austria are directly on border to germany. So they could just go around the mountain territorry of switzerland.
I say the Swiss were scared to declare war so they played mr two face for a bit and shot down a few of each sides planes.
@@twocogsmtb102 you obviously dont know the history man. Switzerland was forced by contract to stay neutral.
@@5calambres FoRcED to STaY NeuTRaL ... dude in a world where transnational pacts and contracts were broken 5 seconds after they were agreed upon this is a weak argument. Switzerland had an interest in staying neutral as to prevent a civil war which would have certainly ensued with all those "ethnicities" that make up its population. On top of that Switzerlandwas happy to continue business with all sides, not only does Switzerland have a strong financial sector but also their machine building industries are quite excellent
Allied fighter crafts: exists
The Swiss: I'll shoot your entire stock
and intern the rest
My wife's Grandfather was Crew chief/Ball turret gunner on the B17G "Mount n' Ride" shown a 9:28 in your film. He was interned by the Swiss for the duration and said while polite they were far from friendly. He mentioned several prior sorties where the the US accidentally bombed them to send a message. Thanks for putting this together.
I didn't think the art was so graphic. Normally you just see the classy pinup girls. Glad your wife's grandfather made it out okay. He's a real hero.
What do you expect from a nation that your country bombed "by mistake"???
you mean the hypocritcal US murdered neutral swiss men, women and children - the US never changes
@PUNK BANTAM the swiss sold weapons to.both sides oerlikon...
@PUNK BANTAM That's how they could afford to be socialist for so long.
"Burn our fighter!"
"Ok... show me your wallet"
Well....why not have some fun with fire AND make a good deal at the same time? 😉
@Matt M A very Swiss thing to do. A deal is a deal.
They weren't happy with the deal. They later complained about the poor build quality of the Me109G6s they received, compared to the earlier Bf109Ds and E3s they purchased in 1939. But if your planes are being built in barns and caves all over the Reich by slave laborers in appalling conditions, then don't be surprised the cup holder is too small and the cigarette lighter doesn't work.
@@PORRRIDGE_GUN there was sabotage involved.
@@PORRRIDGE_GUN i liked how did you end your comment. Really, i liked it.
I am well read on WW2 but Mark Felton consistently teaches me things I didn't ever see in the history books. Thanks Mark for all you do ! You are the best WW2 eductator on the web !
My grandfather who was in the British Army in WW1 and Canadian Army in WW2 said of the Americans: " Good intentions, good men but you don't want them behind you in a battle. They have trouble navigating."
I know, they are poor in geography.
lol
Lol yea your gramps was too busy having tea while we did all the dirty work. Your welcome.
We should have stayed out of both wars, Empire be wars. Americans died for an Empire war. Germany couldn't even inade Britain across a small channel less alone across Atlantic. America should have built defense and waited. Money want us involved in European Empire wars controlled by incestuous Royal families.
To be fair, you should examine a map of the Swiss-German border. It's very rugose and the city of Schaffhausen Switzerland is within a Swiss exclave that juts into German territory. It would be very easy to mistake this city as any other southern German city near the Rhine (e.g., Singen Germany). The fact that it sits north of the Rhine River complicates things further for navigators that aren't up on the geography of that part of the world.
Bombing Zurich is a little less forgivable. Still, it's only about 15 miles from the German border. That said, it's on a large lake and up against the northern flank of the Alps; there's no German city for which it could be mistaken.
Can't fight them. They're all medics
Medics are supposed to have a red cross on white.
White cross on red is the Swiss flag !
Petit Toto it was a joke man
@@noaoah3662 but a good one may I say :)
@@noaoah3662 Probably, but most people don't know the difference.
@@noaoah3662 damn as a Swiss myself I hate that joke 😂😂😂
General: why would we attack Switzerland?
Junior Officer: they have the black gold
General: OIL?!
Junior Officer: No, chocolate.
Chocolate, invented in Mesoamerica.
@@annoyed707 Not quite true as there it was only a hot drink.
@@annoyed707 nobody cares, nobody cares, man!
We just want to eat it.
@THE TWO FINGERED BRUTE I thought it was Cuckoo clocks, guarding the Pope and hording Nazi gold for 50 years they were famous for?
If switzerland have oil, uncle sam would give them freedom 😎🇺🇸
My grandfather told me stories from ww2 (He was born in 1941, stories from his father) about the german's moving guns, ammo and other war materials through swiss territory hidden inside of train wagons filled with coal so swiss wouldn't find it and confiscate it. As switzerland was important for trading with the Italians, but has a strong defense so the germans had to play along.
Switzerland also was one of the only countries during WW2 who had their defenses set up in less than 48h after the first war declaration.
"Switzerland: Never attacked anyone. Never took damage."
US / Britain: What a fucking lie.
Germany: Ja.
We are allowed to defend us against stupid nations
@@arasev_hd1524 based swiss
It's called defense. Neutral doesn't mean you give up your right to defend your country against foreign military forces.
so bassicaly neutral countries is supposed to not defend
@@arasev_hd1524 You wouldn't be there if these stupid nations had tried hard enough.
Memes: Switzerland was on vacation during WW2
Mark: *deep breath*
As long as the U.S. was not attacked they were "on vacation". The same goes for Switzerland and Sweden. The U.S. did not enter the war to help anyone but themselves.
@@BackSeatHump And how so? They could of just helped themselves by not declaring war on anyone in the first place. Japan didn't try to fight the Americans. They wanted them out of the picture. Germany only declared war on America because they declared war on Japan. As somebody who's Filipino, the US is why the country wasn't under Axis control. I'm sure you know what happens in Europe. I just want to understand why the US was selfish in the war, because they actually helped a lot of people, cutting the war and preventing more deaths than there already were.
@@bandit5747 "Japan didn't try to fight the Americans". That is laughable, at best, remember the little thing that was Pearl Harbor ? That is called an unprovoked attack. And this means war.
Just like when Germany marched on Poland, this meant war for us in France. Don't try to rewrite history.
@@paillettecnc Yeah so they could bomb the crap out of their navy so America couldn't do anything. Obviously didn't work. Even Yamamoto says that any prolonged war with the US would be lost, which was correct. What I meant by "didn't want to fight" was they didn't want all out war.
@@bandit5747 Japan's need for Asian resources over-lapped U.S. need for Asian resources. The U.S. and Japan were competitors but the U.S. blocked Japan out of its sea routes. Japan retaliated by attacking Pearl Harbour. Don't try to tell me the U.S. unselfishly entered the war for the benefit of the Philippines. That's bullshit.
"It's not my fault that warcrimes are so effective" - Everyone in ww2
Effective, indeed. At turning people against you, that is. :-S
I mean the only crime worth noting for the US is giving the Soviets anything.
@@firepower7017 did you forget nuking two cities? And bombing neutral countries? And mowing down POWs?
IF you win the war.
@@sorincaladera936 reeeeeeeeeee
When the British fly over, the Germans take cover. When the Germans fly over, the British take cover. When the Americans fly over, everyone takes cover!
Meanwhile the Swiss: "Get off my Airspace!!!"
Meanwhile in Russia.. oh wait I'm not sure about Russian Bombings..
@@zevailes if you know the song "Sabaton Night Witches" expect constant bombing through the night and yes, they bombed Civilian Evac Convoys too.
You get a bomb! and YOU get a bomb and *YOU* get a bomb! Everyone gets bombs!
American. Target is target
Thank you for this presentation of a WWII episode completely unknown to me.
OMG I had no idea we had such a high level of hostile interaction with the Swiss! Great information, as always👍
My Grandfather is still angry because of the "Bombing of Schaffhausen" where 40 people died. He lived in a village next to it as a child and heard the bombs drop. He believes to this day the town was targeted because of the local metal factorys that exported to germany. The official story though is that the american pilots had navigation problems.
@THE TWO FINGERED BRUTE The US didn't "join" the war, they were dragged in.
The Axis Powers declared war on THEM after Pearl Harbor.
This is like saying Poland joined the war.
Many people forget that.
@THE TWO FINGERED BRUTE Which is why the British Army used a HUGE number of Sherman tanks right?
@THE TWO FINGERED BRUTE They did that too in WW1 but it wasn't enough. What really got them pissed of was the "Zimmermann Telegram"
@THE TWO FINGERED BRUTE this is not correct. Commerce raiding operations of the German Kriegsmarine was restricted to ships sailing under French and British flag in 1939 and 1940. Only American ships clearly violating the terms of neutrality, e.g. shipping arms to the UK, were targeted in 1941, before the declaration of war.
I’m Swiss and a loyal viewer of this Channel, I’ve been expecting this
Not your countries finest hour imo.
@@f3aok Hey it made it's sovereignty respected. You don't just let people step on your toes without reacting do you ?
@@tywinlannister8015 agree. The swiss could not simply let war rage in its' skies.
On the other hand, shadiness is in swiss banker dna..
@THE TWO FINGERED BRUTE Some degree of cooperation was necessary. Switzerland was a neutral territory, where important goods for the war effort were produced (means the allies would not bomb the factories). If Switzerland had not cooperated it would have been at high risk of a german invasion, because then a neutral Switzerland wouldn't have been of any use for Germany.
@THE TWO FINGERED BRUTE another super hero who knows what to do seventy years later in a different country. After the fall of France Switzerland was completely surrounded by fascist powers. I'm sure your strategic genius would have developed a brilliant plan to take on Germany all by yourself.
American pilots as they approach Swiss air space: "Oh man, I'm getting lost... AGAIN!"
Its not that far fetched though the swiss themselves accidentally invaded another country twice on accident
My father said they were instructed to only cross into Swiss airspace if they were in danger of the airplane going down.The Swiss were known to shoot down anyone who did not follow the well marked Swiss fighters down. The emergency kit in his P51 had a map of the Swiss frontier for emergency landing, and escaping on foot. The aviators in my fathers fighter group were instructed that they would be interred for the remainder of the war if they got to Switzerland. My brother has the Escape map from my Father's emergency kit which is printed on silk. My father had to open the kit when he made an emergency landing in Sicily and needed the money in the kit to stay in British run hotel.
Switzerland sees any foreign bomber/fighter: hipety hopety get of my property
You mean: hipety, hopety, your plane is now my property
Only if you're Allied. Otherwise, we'll let you burn your plane for the price of... more planes to shoot down Allied bombers.
essentially :D, thats our whole policy
@@Spaghetter813 Imagine capturing a enemy plane getting 12 new planes to destroy it
Hipety hopety I’ve bombed your property
“What makes a man turn neutral? A lust for gold? Power? Or were you just born with a heart full of neutrality?” - Captain Zapp Brannigan
tell my wife i said hello
LMAO. Capt. Brannigan is second only to Capt. Sternn, in my opinion.
She's built like like a steakhouse, but she handles like a bistro!
Maybe the lust for not getting totally annihilated by a much more powerful enemy.
It sickens me!
I really commend you and appreciate your mini documentaries. You show many aspects, footage and perspectives of the war i have never seen before and for this reason alone is thoroughly interesting , decades after other documentaries have been and gone.
"Grüezi, pls leave our airspace." *shoots *
KKnives Switzerland Hahah
At least, we asked politely…
"Ihr hant drissig sekunde züt"
@@denizmetint.462 😂 "Oh nai, ziit isch abgloffa. Janu."
@@kknives_switzerland
Schwiizer: Jetzetli, geits Vergeltung.
Füert de Chäs!
US Air Force, named it "precision bombing", if they hit the right country.
@Jonathan Williams I didn't know that. Thanks for sharing!
There was no US Air force in WW2. The US army heavy bombers bombed specific chosen strategic targets in daylight. Sometimes they got the wrong target. This is bound to happen when you are doing things on the scale they were being done.
There was no pricision in WWII.
@Jonathan Williams Great point Jonathan I had completely forgotten about that.
@@digitalnomad9985 So much for the Norden bombsight that was supposed to be so accurate. Couldn't even hit the right country!
My father was a b-24 pilot involved in the mistaken bombing of Swiss town in 1944. He said there was no intention to bomb them, but found out later they destroyed a munitions factory supplying Germany. He was shot bombing Munich on 7/11/44 And made in to switzerland to intern for the rest of the war.
funny coincidence... that might have been my town. there were several instances like that afaik but my town also has an ammunitions factory and was indeed bombed by the americans. in fact, i live about 300 or 400 yards away from the crater which can still be made out in aerial pictures. its huge. no clue what they dropped but it must've been massive. i had an old teacher who lived in the period, and very close to me/the spot actually, and he never failed to tell us about the experience (ww2). i think it had a lasting impact on him even though he was only a small child then. crazy stuff.
@@mysterioanonymous3206 There was that situation my dad was involved in, & his plane was hit over Munich & they made it to Austrian/Swiss border by a lake, Lake Constance, & managed to land on short grass runway while AA fire tried to hit them. They stayed in Switzerland, just barely, & interred there for almost a year. My dad said they caddied for golfers & got Red Cross stuff to tide then over. Very pleasant experience instead of if they landed in Austria & been kept at LuftPrison.
@@Mister8224 I'm glad he got lucky... 🍀👍
@@mysterioanonymous3206 The alternative would be a world without me in it. Not much fun for me.
The Swiss mountainside-cave-fighterjet-landing-strips are typical Bond villain insanity! :D
And I thought Switzerland was like Michael Jackson sitting and eating a popcorn while watching the whole war. Thanks for the info.
So did I!
@Bryan Ouellet is thungali calling the swiss pedos ??
it was fun and popcorn until they drop bomb onto you
It was the "Dangerous" times when the whole world was at war and the Swiss must've thought they could "Heal the world" with their neutrality when on the other hand they were just a "Smooth criminal". 😝
As a Swiss Citizen i am very upset that they never educated us about this in history class.
TrapsenseiSosa they did in my class. Maybe you had a „dubel“ as a history teacher 🤷♂️
@@SwissPatriot88 They did in my class as well
Oh thrust me our teachers skyped many other parts that have been way worse. Swirzerland is far from that shiny thing its presents it self.
what are you going to do about it? go neutral again? ;) joke, cheers :)
As an American I’m also upset I wasn’t taught this, and very sorry :(
My father's group flew a B-24 Liberator over Munich and were then shot down by flak 500 feet from the German Border in Switzerland. He was interned with his men for 6 months or so. This was around the fall of 1944. I have his war journal that he meticulously kept and wrote about the event. It is 83 pages of text, photos, souvenirs etc.
Had never heard of this ‘conflict’ before, thanks so much!
A lot of people don't seem to understand that being neutral doesn't mean you cannot defend your territory. Being Neutral means, as a nation you will not align yourself with or aid any other nation engaged in conflict. One of the reasons why, apart from being the repository for the worlds gold and valuables, Switzerland was not invaded was because it served as place of negotiation or a go between to the warring nations. Some will argue Switzerland violated it's neutral status by selling war material ie ball bearings to nations at war, however as they sold to both Britain and Germany equally and not to one side exclusively, they did not violate their neutral status.
Being neutral also means you don't allow some armies to pass and not others.... or you tend to get off flight bombing runs as a warning.
I agree with you.
Not equally no : even before the occupation of southern france, when it was still possible to trade with Britain, swiss manufacturing had already largely switched to only selling to germany. And not just ball bearings but quality equipment of all sorts such as optics for the military, AA guns
Good to read someone that knows ther history and more about how the world works .Its not all Black and white outside and it's so easy to complain from your sofa in 2020 I'm glad i wasn't around back in ww2 and must take a choice over the air space over your home country, enemies aircraft spotted You attack as a fighter pilot that is your job, that it every pilot in every country would have done the same.
@@solomontan1524 I never said it was fair to bomb swiss towns, bombhing civilians is *never* ok imho.
I responded to Eviseh saying Switzerland was totally neutral in WW2, which is very arguable as the government repeteadly violated swiss sovereignety.
Switzerland said “these hands rated E for Everyone”
Willhelm mocked the swiss, saying it would be easy to push his soldiers to invade, due to the swiss's small army but great skilled riflemen and militias. the kaiser was quoted asking what a quarter million swiss militia would fair against half a million germans, the minister responded, "easy-shoot twice and go home."
What does the bombing in WW2 have to do with Kaiser Wilhelm. German had no intention in the WW1 nor WW2 to invade Switzerland. The terrain and fortifications would have caused a lot of casualties.
@@hansmoss7395 Switzerland relied on imports from abroad. Once the Axis controlled it all, Switzerland fell in line.
Your videos are well produced, Mark. Thank you for your efforts.
This gives new meaning to the phrase about relationships: "It's complicated."
Never looked at the Swiss story and its origins?
threadding the needle with one hand tied behind your back complicated
The Swiss: "We're neutral."
USA: "Thanks, we needed some safe airspace."
The Swiss: "Just because we're neutral, _doesn't mean we're not hostile."_
USA: **surprised pikachu face**
*doom music starts* "And you've entered our Airspace illegally." *Loads MG 151's with malicious intent*
@@KirbyRL
US: invades Switzerland airspace
Switzerland: shoots them down
US: bombs cities in retaliation
Switzerland: shoots them down
US: bombs cities in retaliation
Switzerland: shoots them down
US: bombs cities in retaliation
Switzerland: shoots them down
US: bombs cities in retaliation
Switzerland: shoots them down
US: bombs cities in retaliation
Switzerland: shoots them down
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Switzerland: shoots them down
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Switzerland: shoots them down
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Switzerland: shoots them down
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Switzerland: shoots them down
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Switzerland: shoots them down
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Switzerland: shoots them down
US: bombs cities in retaliation
Switzerland: shoots them down
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Switzerland: shoots them down
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Switzerland: shoots them down
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USA : oh, u accidentally shot our planes, we will accidentally drop bomb too
@@alqaeda9841 USA : we will also accidentally pay you 40m $
Either your with us, or your against us.
Weight lifting at home, watching these, Working my body and my mind. Great stuff @Markfelton. One of the best teachers on the web.
You’re so awesome at this! And that theme music never grows tiring! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This part of the war is hardly ever told. That's unfortunate.
I live in Schaffhausen and we were extremely lucky. Only 13 airplanes dropped their bombs. One half of the others realised their mistake and dropped their bombs over a hill. The other missed the town because of a malfunction. If all 50 planes would have hit. Schaffhausen wouldn’t exist anymore.
wo hast Du diese Informationen her? Sehr interessant!
The Norden bombsight: missing the target since 1939. This time, for the better.
@RC:1136 Darman State of the art technology for the time. Crazy how fast tech improves.
Schaffhausen is incredible beautiful! So beautiful! ♥️
@@ursmeyer5913 Mein Grossvater hat me Ausstellung darüber gemacht. Bomben auf Schaffhausen.
Fascinating, I learn something new every day, thanks Mark!
Mark, I love your channel! Stories are incredible.
United States: let me just miss my target by 200km
It's more complicated than that, you have to remember this is the first time they used the advanced machines in war...a d weather has alot to do with the confusion, plus America wasn't familiar with Eurpope as Europeans obviously.....
Yes, but a tactical miss...
sniper mode activated!
@@Tikii_9 good Lord man you don't believe that do you? I am reminded of an incident during one of the recent wars with Iraq where the US air Force bombed Al Jazeera headquarters. awful behavior.
@@knowsmebyname So nowwww Americans are good at geography?? Why would they do it on purpose then? Give a valid reason....
9:28 bomber with a girl in underwear upside down named “Mountain Rider” aka “Mount and Ride Her” cheeky buggers
Oh did not notice that thanks ;D
LMAO
Our grandads were naughty ;)
The twin 50cals in the chin turret are missing from that b17
Ah, ww2 hentai
The Americans did it before japan did I see
Big Thumbs up from Switzerland for very accurate reporting!
This is something we didn't learn from history books in school. Great stuff!. Thanks.
Being Swiss, I knew about some "accidental" bombings of Schaffhausen during the war. However, I had no idea about the magnitude of the air conflicts, for example the bombing of Zurich. Thanks, Mark, for educating me!
beeroholic666 “being Swiss” meaning we don’t stand for anything.
they actualy bombed oerlikon in zürich a rhein metal defense factory was the target,this was no coincidence
@@UGAAlum93 We stand for a lot just not war.
ᛋᛖᚡᛖᚱᛁᚾ like gold! (;
@@neomab3780Every country likes gold and not being annihilated by axis forces.
I can understand one or two accidents but when there is twenty plus, then the navigators need to go back to school.
- sir, we've missed the target, sir.
- how bad?
- sir, 250, sir.
- hey, congratulations, Lt! 250 feet is basically bullsey...
- sir, it was in miles, sir.
I think the tone of the narrators voice regarding "accidents" says it all
I'n pretty sure that, if any of them were accidents, only the first one or two *really* were.
To be fair, navigation technology was less advanced back then and a lot of the bombing was done during bad visibility to make it safer for the bombers.
Honestly in WW2 era planes full of mostly rookie crews bombing in an area where the terrain between Austria and Switzerland is identical I'm surprised it didn't happen more often. There literally THOUSANDS of cases of pilots on all sides bombing their own forces due to navigational difficulties but that doesn't mean it was a grand conspiracy by the air force to murder the ground forces.
Frankly I think the comments are reading much too much into this one and have a deep misunderstanding of the difficulties of navigation in wartime before GPS. For more information I would recommend watching Military Aviation History.
Another very good show. I had no idea this had been going on.
As a child in the 60s, we heard stories about war mistakes, and this video clean some of them up.
Allies: Who's side are you on?
Switzerland: Nein!....uhh I mean neither.
@Serge Rambert you dont get the joke..
@Serge Rambert waht about the major german speaking Population
@@Etaxe: I think he said that in Swiss German "nöt" is used instead.
@Serge Rambert: What about Romansch?
@Serge Rambert: OK, thanks. I just wanted to nitpick a bit anyway. :)
My dad talked about this once when I was a boy but I never heard about it again until this video. He also had a Swiss friend who volunteered for the German army during the war.
most swiss, the swiss germans, are ethnically and culturally germans. altho nobody likes to admitt it in this day and age.
There were pro and anti sympathizers on both sides during the war, I think finding yourself in such a spot is not easy. My grampa served as an officer during the war, guarding the western border, he is from bern ("ethically" german in your terms) but even before war has broken out he was very keen to speak up against "the party" that was gaining power rapidly in germany. He also told me that there were lists given out between he's officer collegues who to trust in the army or who is taking which side in case of an invasion. It was quite chilling to hear him say that should the german invade, we would've whacked our own nazi friendly officers first. I immagined that they were trying the same thing too. Some of them he had known for some years.
I meant "Ethnically", of course.
Mar not wanting to join one blob country for all Germans does not equal thinking that people are culturally Germans - which is also true for Austria and somewhat Nederland and Scandinavia. Little to no-one attack that concept/reality - thing is that local people usually prefer their own nation-state.
@@71kimg nationality, culture and ethnicity are all different things. maybe look it up. fact is most swiss are ethnically germans because they speak german and are from german heritage, they also have very similar traditions which makes them culturally germans as well. they also have unique swiss traditions altho not too many since switzerland only exists for a couple of hundred years. just because someone starts a separate country doesn't mean it changes their ethnicity or culture. austrians, swiss and germans are all from the same german culture that's why they all speak the same language and have very similar culture. nation states are a very recent concept and nationality and nationalists can't change everything over night just because they decided to start a new country.
Probably one of the best productions of WW2 content here on youtube.
A great piece of information, as usual! Thanks a lot, Dr. Felton!
👍👍👍
Its 3 am but marks Magically shows up
Me: *Cmon self just another 10 minutes*
Even Erwin Rommel watches Mark Felton.
I’m American with Swedish and Swiss parts, lol, I’m in too!
Hey I know you!!!
@@danehampe2972 Switzerland has excellent internet addiction clinics.
Mark Felton - lifting up the skirt of history and peering underneath.
Don't let Slaneeshi thoughts take over you!
Mark is very thorough!
@@comradekenobi6908 😁
@@comradekenobi6908 i doubt there are many of emperor worshippers here...
@@robinderoos1166 what a shame
Thanks Mark Felton for this update, ........
I‘m from switzerland and my grandpa was stationed on Simplon Pass and he told me you could hear when the trains going by were loaded with ammo and other war matierials going to italy. they were really heavy and made loud clacking sounds going over the rail steps. So much for swiss neutrality. Also my grandmother grew up in Adelboden and told me many stories about the interned americans there. For example they organized a viewing of „Snow white“ for the kids of the village one time. They also spoiled the village children with chocolate and other treats. And at the end of the war, my grandmother told me, the americans who were quartered in the different hotels shot fireworks at each others windows celebrating and going crazy
War Child haha yeah right? xD From what I understand the internees in Adelboden were pretty well provisioned. I think they were even able to get mail in
War Child I think my grandma told me on one christmas the americans even had christmas presents under the big christmas tree in the hotel for all the children in the village.
neutrality dosent mean keeping out of the war. we let the germans ship trains through our alps yes, but this was a mutual agreement to prevent a german invasion.
Never had heard any of this.
Fantastic research.
There are stories that some American POWs were threated very badly by their Swiss prison guards.
I have also read that Americans and Germans were allowed to have R & R visits to Swiss Towns, sometimes at the same time, and they wisely kept apart on the streets so as to not irritate the Swiss, sometimes scowling and fist-shaking at each other.
Thats why this chanel exists
Captain Adams yes, unfortunately there were some Nazi sympathizers in the Swiss army and some of them were responsible for the prisons. Not a nice story!