German Secret Weapons in WW2
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 พ.ย. 2024
- The Me 262 was the worlds first operational jet fighter - this is the story of where they were made.
In the dying months of World War 2, the German Armaments Ministry relocated a lot of production work to underground and forest factories.
Kuno II in Bavaria was one of these sites. It was here the Me 262 was assembled and flown to front line squadrons.
This is the story of the miracle weapon from the forest and the human cost that went with it.
Kuno II Location:
goo.gl/maps/4m...
Kuno II Museum:
www.waldwerk-k...
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Let me know if you’ve visited Kuno II or any other site with the ME262 or even seen one of the post war ME262’s flying!
"Rations were doubled from one slice of bread to two slices . . . “
What an extraordinarily revealing statement that was.
WOW!
Another excellent video Jon.
Thank you! It was a very sobering site to visit and in complete contrast to the aircraft that flew from there.
I enjoy the huge variety of subjects and the aerial footage.
Another excellent video. Brings home the people who were forced to build the Me 262. I am about the finish the book "A Higher Call". I am at the part where they are trying to fly the few Me 262s against the far too many bombers and fighters attacking their base in Bavaria and bombing cities nearby. They only had a few operational jets. It does mention that workers were finding ways to sabotage the jets..
That’s a great book and I’ve been lucky to chat with Adam Makos about it (and he’s a thoroughly knowledgable chap on the subject!).
My latest episode is based around JV44, Galland’s 262 unit he formed after he fell from Grace!
Thank you very much for your elaborations and investigations, production of your videos. They offer a interesting deep dive into important subjects to remember. Thank you!
You’re most welcome! Glad you like them and it’s great to be able to share my passion for this era of history with so many likeminded people!
Very informative and tragic story. Thanks for sharing. Are you going to peenemunde?
Thanks for watching Simon! It’s on the list for one day but not for a little while yet. I do plan to cover the north of Germany in depth at some point and I really want to see the U-Boot that they have on display there so a trip to Peenemunde would fit nicely with it!
I have seen stories of these jets, but never footage of them. Anazing video you did here. Thank you
It’s a harrowing place to visit given the human cost but also fascinating to see what the Germans acheived given how close to defeat they were by this stage in the war.
Fascinating but chilling.
I appreciate the work, the amount of travelling and the effort you are putting into the production of these videos, which are bringing history to life.
You have a like and a new subscriber.
Will you be covering British and Canadian actions in NW Europe? I only ask as most if not all of the videos I have watched thus far have focussed on US involvement.
Whatever the subject, keep up the good work!
Thank you and yes lots of British and Canadian content planned for next year. It’s just fitting it all in around the (boring) day job!
The prisoners who worked there are to be remembered just like a soldier on the front line. We will remember them.
Very much so!
My Opa was a Luftwaffe He111 Pilot and was shot down in August 1944 over Russia. He survived along with his one other of his crew. The third crew member did not. My Opa was injured and during his convalescence they had him flying aircraft from their assembly areas to the units that were receiving the aircraft. This included the Me262 which my Opa loved and said it flew as easy as a Cesna. I checked his log book and he doesnt have an entry from Kuno. He flew a few different airplanes like the Bf109, Arado234, Do157, Ju52. He spent 10 years in a Soviet prison camp after the war with Erich Hartmann, the highest Ace Germany had. After he got out of prison he returned to Austria and then brought the family to America in the early 60's. He was shocked to learn of the holocaust and other barbarism that Germany committed during the war and for the rest of his life he never could understand how he and so many of his countrymen were duped by Hitler and how so few Germans knew the full extent of what was happening in their name. Anyway, I just wanted to take an opportunity to tell his story. I appreciate your videos as always!
Oh wow thank you so much for sharing that! I am very interested in the Luftwaffe and it sounds like your Grandfather was a very skilled pilot given the types he operated!
I hope one day to see the replica ME262 that is operated by Airbus at Manching in Bavaria as it’s such a beautiful aircraft, and very interesting to know it was easy to fly!
@@WW2Wayfinder He was an amazing person. His He111 ended up in the Smithsonian and they flew us all out in the late 90's for the offical unveiling. He left it parked on the autobahn and the British found it and took it back to England where it stayed for many years before being bought by the Smithsonian. When they found paperwork from the war with my Opas name and unit they did a records search and found he had survived the war and immigrated to America. His name was Wilhelm (Willi) Kriessman. Oberfeldwebel. I have his uniform and all his medals to include the Iron Cross 1st and 2and Class, The DKIG, the Ost Medal and his Kurland shield patch. I would love to talk with you about him and the Luftwaffe! He use to take me to reunions where I got to meet the greats like Adolf Galland, Gunther Rall, and many others.
That was so nice of you sharing that story my Grandfather was KIA defending Poland whilst serving in the Polish cavalry. Remember victors write the History Books and look to justify their own atrocities. You and I are bothers and we Europeans should never again conduct wholesale slaughter of each other. The Movie “All Quiet on the Western Front”captures the insanity so so well.
@@mrpolsco6872 Your Grandfather died a hero for Poland! It was so sad the mixed messages the Polish Army was getting from their higher command regarding whether they would fight or surrender. I feel if the command had been unified the Army would have been more robust in their response to the invasion. It probably would not have changed the outcome but it would have given the people of Poland more time to prepare for the onslaught of the Wehrmacht. Yes, I love the movie and I agree we can never ever have another World War where countries are slaughtering each others people. Sadly, as I have little faith in humanity, I feel we cannot resist the urge to subjugate and kill our fellow man for natural resources or world domination.
Top man 👍
Another Outstanding video and presentation.
Thank you! It was quite moving to film there knowing the technological advancements came at such a horrific cost and in such terrible conditions.
I have had this place marked on Google Maps for quite a while now, and I stopped by there today for a visit on my way home to the Heidelberg area! This evening I found your video, which was a bit of a coincidence. As you indicated, there isn't so much to see apart from some building foundations, however just to visit and stand in these locations is fascinating.
Oh wow that’s a great coincidence!
It’s a pleasant area to walk to isn’t it and I think it’s great to see what the local community have done to remember what took place there as it would have been so easy to forget it given its location.
I had no idea, very interesting.
Thanks for watching Holly! It’s amazing to think thousands pass by the place everyday and it just sits there quietly. It’s nice to see the local council haven’t ignored it and they’ve done what they can to preserve the site.
Walderwrke - KUNO I was untouched until a raid on 18 November 1944 caused slight damage, resulting in the setting up of KUNO II south of the original Kuno Waldwerk.
German pages mention it.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Slave labour used in both sites. You used the word chilling. I agree.
thanks for the nice historical video. my dad flew in B26 bombers 323bg of the 9th airforce so aviation is interesting to me. his group was actually attacked by me262 planes on a couple of occasions. thank you Larry
The Me 262 was already pressed into service too soon . Galland was mainly responsible for the myth of saying it could have been earlier and adding bombs delayed it . Shortages of materials and skilled labour and pilots prevented it being viable in 1945 . Though of course technically it was 100 mph faster in level flight
Has there been any interviews from people that were building these weapons
There’s a few online. But I think they were in German as you’d expect so a bit of translation maybe required!
The poor souls who starved to death building the world’s first jet fighter
This is like the King Tiger they were built one of the reasons they broke down so much as they were built by these people who made sure that they broke down. Even against such bad conditions they still did what they could, we owe as much to them just like the soldiers who died there.
Absolutely!
Brilliant episode. We lived in Munich in the mid eighties and didn’t know this site existed
Thank you for watching! It was quite the site to visit and nice to see the local community have taken the time to remember what took place there.
Шикарная мастерская!!👍
It's crazy how the earth reclaims itself in such a short time
Yes it is! As omnipresent that WWII production was, look at Farragut, ID. A state park now occupies a U.S. Navy Training Station that was a sprawling facility built in astonishing record time. It was a forest and became a training station where 293K (yes THOUSAND) were trained. Today it is a heavily forested area with only one period building remaining as a museum. Nothing else remains. It was also a POW camp.
Please add link
The 2 links are in the description. One of the museum and the other for the site via Google Maps 😃
My father was in a sister camp of Kuno at Muhldorf. This factory near Dachau was much more extensive and was also building Me-262. My father is now 97 and in good health. Here is part of his story. : Another daybreak, and the Nazis again asked for volunteers. Dad raised his hand and marched off with some others to the trains. That day he was taken to Muldorf and put to work building an underground airport. The Germans hoped to create a landing strip that could be naturally shielded in the thick forest it rested in. He was tasked with lugging giant boulders on his back to assigned locations. Why use Burros or wheel barrels when you have disposable Jews? One afternoon he was hauling another fifty-pound sack of sand onto the top of the bunker. He followed the instructions of a Nazi soldier leading the way, but as he climbed, Gabe noted that the soldier had taken a slight detour to give himself a smoke. As Dad reached the uppermost pinnacle, he saw a great vantage point from the edge of the stone building. It was at that moment he decided to share his good fortune. He approached the rim and spotted a chubby, obviously well-fed Nazi just below. Dad dug deep under his shirt, near his sweaty armpit and collected as many Lice as he could, he took another look around, making sure he wasn’t spotted, then opened his hand and allowed the Lice to fall like tiny itchy flakes of snow. He hoped that they would land on target and infest the S.O.B’s who stood below him.
Aspirations for the completion of the airport were scrapped when the American and British fighting planes began constantly appearing in the sky. The Germans quickly decided they needed to eliminate all these possible witnesses. They couldn’t take their Jews back to Dachau as it had since been liberated, so they loaded them back onto the train and tried to head to a still large and dense forest that could accommodate the number of Jews they had to dispose of, but the tracks had been bombed. They didn’t know what to do with them so they just left them in those cars for three days. Some of the Nazi abandoned their posts, and everyone spilled out when the prisoners inside the car cracked the door open wide enough for a body to slide through. He moved to LA, and the rest is history. It is a good thing the Allies pushed the war faster. The Me-262 was a great aircraft and could have reversed the tide if enough had been produced.
th-cam.com/video/pCxCflBOVcc/w-d-xo.html
Jeff thank you so much for sharing your fathers story, I cannot even begin to imagine the brutality your father and his friends suffered during those years.
I have visited Mulhdorf in 2021 and plan to return soon to document the facility there and the human cost of it.
Please pass on my best wishes to your father.
I’m so glad your father survived. There was so much terrible cruelty that happened. Thank you for sharing some of your fathers story.
@@WW2Wayfinder
This guy should be interviewed- hent, hent 😉 ❤
What a remarkable and horrific story. I am still shocked by what my ancestors did in that war. My Opa flew for the Luftwaffe and his brother died fighting in Russia. They had to go into the military. Thank god your father survived and may we never forget the atrocities of the Nazis and the Holocaust! 🙏
Wow! My respects to your father!
I was first exposed to the horrors of the holocaust when I was a kid at Fort Bragg.
After our church mass on post, a documentary was shown showing the unvarnished facts- I was only 7 I had nightmares for a long time.
I must thank the chaplains for giving me great empathy.
It’s an incredible thing, but not in a good way. To think it happened in living memory is even more disturbing.
@@WW2Wayfinder
Been to Dachau, I remember tell a couple to go to hell, I wasn’t going to take a vacation picture of them in front of the gas chamber.
“This ain’t Disneyland!”
I was tough back then🤣
Good on you for doing that! I recently saw images of selfies being taken on the railway lines in front of Auschwitz. Someone people need reminding sadly that these places aren’t there for their amusement!
The Schwalbe was flawed but deadly in equal measure.
Maybe sometime you could research possible location of missing American airmen who went MIA
The Last Bomber Shot Down Over Germany in WW2
th-cam.com/video/b_vChi9tvUI/w-d-xo.html
German Invention- Magnetic Tape dont forget that!
Really? I didn’t know that!
great vid
Thank you!
i suppose nothing remains underground to see...
This particular site was just an above ground forest site so no tunnels or cave systems at Kuno. This was a last minute assembly plant for the aircraft to be taxied from the tree line and straight to the autobahn for flight to their operational units. Mittelbau-Dora I probably the best known 262 factory with the underground caves etc.
Using slave labor on sophisticated Weapon systems was problematic for the Germans due to sabotage a oily rag stuffed into a aircraft engine could and did cause catastrophic failure on mission. German U Boat construction was also hampered significantly due to slave labor, sabotage with fatal consequences to all on board for a submerged U Boat. The Soviet Union also used millions of slave workers 1.5 Million Poles for example. However the Soviets didn’t have to use slave labourers for Soviet weapons production as this industry was moved East well out of range of German Bombing.
Amazing to think they were using slave labour and the subsequent treatment of those poor people to build some of the most advanced machines and how they didn’t think it may cause issues for them!
@@WW2Wayfinder oh they knew it alright but desperate times called for desperate measures 22nd June 1941 no going back from that catastrophic decision until Adolf and Eva sat on the couch together on the 30th April 1945 Eva biting into cyanide capsule, Adolf giving her a final caress, his gaze moving to the portrait of his mother as he positioned the cyanide capsule in his teeth and placed his Walther PPK against his temple and pulled the trigger. In just over a week the second catastrophic European Conflict within 2 generations came to an end. By default Communist expansion West was ended and a Soviet Ring of Steel took over Eastern Europe. The Cold War began. Never again brothers never again.
Poignent -desperation last gasp of a noble nation -sad that it came to this -When bad men get the riens-good people follow -sad -