The BF 110 was designed as a bomber destroyer, and so it proved on that day. They were there as well as the 109s, and destroyed more per fighter than the single engined fighters.
Right. Helmut Lent scored his first Abschuss on that day in his Bf110-C......" I pointed my crosshair a thumb above his nose and gave short bursts of fire. It was almost so easy - I was baffeled....."......:)
This is one of my favorite channels on TH-cam, by watching your videos I often start researching the content of your videos and 98% every time your information is spot on. Thank you for posting this video and so many other amazing videos!!
Fantastic historical synopsis. Enlightening, no less. Right down to the contentious relationship between Naval and Luftwaffe officers…we have a benchmark history lesson here. Thank you.🩸
Another great episode about the use of aircraft and tactics during WWII. Would like to see some of the night fighters both of axis and allies. Especially the HE-219 Uhu.
This channel is actually pretty nice! It provides a beautifuly constructed back story of an event in a short and simple manner. I do kind of like appreciate that, because many history channels (especially those who provide the tales of historical battles) lengthen their videos to the extent of it becoming a waist of time. So yes, I shall subscribe to this channel, and spread it.
This does a disservice to those brave bomber crews. Raids by Whitleys, Blenheims and Wellingtons were unescorted by a simple fact that this clip overlooks: there was no long range bomber escort fighters until the arrival of types like the P-38 and P-51, the best the RAF could do was to switch to night raids to avoid fighter interception.
This raid showed how different things were at the start. Here we have the R.A.F. being so concerned about not inflicting civilian casualties, when in the future they certainly didn't care e.g .the infamous area nightbomging attacks on so many German cities, leaving over 600,000 German civilians dead. Sad that they couldn't stick with their non- civilian casualty policy. Also so naive of them to think that their unescorted bombers could get through, esp in daylight. Wise of them to attack submarine bases , Churchill said the the only thing that really worried him during the war was the U-Boat menace. Thanks for another well sectioned, well narrated doc with great film footage.. Please keep up the good work, cheers
I agree with the sentiment, but there was no way to bomb accurately enough at night. There was no way to bomb by day unescorted. Bomber Command could hit specialised targets at night with great accuracy provided that they took weeks to prepare for the special operations. If they just hit the same two dozen targets all the defences would have been concentrated around them. I don’t Monday morning quarterback the strategy because the people making the decisions at the time were not privy to what we know now, but were privy to many things that are now secret.
The difference being the “civilians” bombed later on by the RAF were Germans with most directly or indirectly involved in supporting the war economy. In a total war killing a factory worker making weapons makes as much sense as killing a soldier using them a fact forgotten by most people today.
Even if this video is good. You are missing the vital information that Wolfgang Falck was piloting a Bf110 from 2./ZG 76. It was not only Bf109s involved. And also it was not the last time Bomber Command would try unescorted attacks, with similar results. The "Blenheim massacre" comes to mind
@@marconapolitano2821 It is mentioned in several books: «Bomber Command War Diaries» from Middlebrook and «Bomber Command Loses 1939-1940» from Chorley. It was an attack on Amiens and St. Omer on July 10th 1940. From 40 bombers sent, 6 were lost to enemy action. The Germans claimed 7.
During the 1948 war for Independence, Israel recruited a bunch of American, Canadian and British Mercenary WW2 pilots to form what would be come the IAF. There was an arms Embargo and the only country who would sell to Israel was Czechoslovakia. Germany had build a 109 plant in Czechoslovakia and it was still functioning after the war. They started building 109's for Israel. One American pilot who was Jewish said "Irony is being Jewish and getting into a fighter that still had German insignia on it." The Arabs had Spitfires but the IAF pilots had more experience and decimated Arab air forces and ground forces.
ALL the major powers thought their bombers would get through.. they were supposed to be able to attack swiftly and before the enemy could muster sufficient fighters to intercept them. flak only ever accounted for a small amount of losses. the Germans would learn hard lesson in 1940 in the skies over Britain where radar-directed fighters chewed up Luftwaffe Heinkels and their escorts. when USA entered the war ( ..finally ) they attempted similar daylight attacks beyond range of fighter escorts and suffered heavy losses. the B17s carried so much armament and armor their payloads were much reduced ..
Relax. This channel only survives beceause of clickbait and shock value. There have been a lot of times he has even been lying or just not saying everything.
I am sure others have mentioned it, but recently on all of your videos the closed captioning happens ALL AT THE SAME TIME for about 5 seconds in the beginning. I am also finding out that I am no longer subscribed to all of your channels?
0:11 well there right... after Germany lost the air space bombers just bombed the hell out of factorys and citys... as well as constant straifing runns on Support and fighting/tank collums, it just cut of backup for Germany
As a 30 retired fighter plot I must say I've never agreed with England's tactics back then. Close formations by unescorted bombers actually did the opposite than what this video suggests. A German pilot would be searching for bombers via radar and sight. Spotting a lone bomber in cloudy skies is difficult. Finding a formation is easier. Find a formation and you've found them all one glance. They should've all dispersed...make it home any route you can with fuel permitting.
i agree though it depends on the speed of the bomber and what you are facing if its a bomber with a higher end speed against 109s i fully agree you will lost some but the ones not chased should be able to get away against an fw 190 that is a good deal faster than the 109 and has a heavier armament with more ammo i think you might be better off in a formation especially if you are slow though you would probably be screwed either way when facing something with 2 to 6 20mm cannons with he rounds that was one of the fastest aircraft of its time
@@paktahn Exactly. The bomber has little to no chance against the 109. They are doomed either way. But chances of survival increase if fleeing back home at top speed. Disperse and have the 109s run you down. In a tight formation the kills become much easier. The bombers had dropped the payload and were light and able to achieve max speed.
The sky, like the ocean is vast. The same reasoning gave the allies the winning convoy system.Individual ships were easy prey to the hunters and even though the formation is more easily seen(from a reasonable distance), if it isn't seen then an entire squadron or more remains unscathed to damaging effect once they get to their target.
Sadly they tought at the start of the war that the bombers would've been successful in their missions, but the development of new fighters doomed this mentality, a bf109 wasn't a Gladiator.
The allies had to teach the germans twice. They finally got the message and we hadn't herd a peep out of them, krauts are hard headed. But now we are all allies.
WRONG YOU GOT WHIPPED. That is a fact disagree all you want. As an American that lived in Germany for 4 years I know you are not like most Germans you're stupid.
This raid (and many others like it) went *far* beyond the limited range of Spitfires or Hurricanes, both of which were short-range, "point defence interceptors." Neither Britain nor Germany had *any* long-range escort fighters during the early and middle stages of the war (1939-1943). Unlike Britain and the US, Germany never developed their own long-ranged, four-engined strategic bombers, instead focusing all their efforts on building a shorter-ranged, purely tactical air force. They would pay a heavy price for this short-sightedness. Britain approached North American Aviation to build Curtis P-40 fighters because they needed more fighters than they could produce. Instead, North American Aviation convinced the British government that they could design and build a better fighter in less time than it would take to tool up for license-production of the P-40. The P-51 Mustang was what they came up with, although it needed some improvements and refinements before it found its true calling as a long-ranged escort fighter. Once US heavy bombers could be escorted all the way to/from targets deep within Germany, the writing was on the wall; Germany was bound to lose at that point, and there was nothing they could do about it. After the war ended, Luftwaffe leader Hermann Goering said, "The first time I saw Allied fighters over Berlin, I knew the jig was up."
British bombing policy at the start of WW2 was not limited by it's aircraft abilities, but by a policy of not bombing civilian targets. Bombers flew over Germany night after night dropping leaflets, not bombs. Not having bases in mainland Europe or being barred from over flying neutral airspace was not a limitation on Bomber Command.
The priority for British power has always been to eliminate the enemy's naval power. The same policy was directed towards King Louis, Bonaparte and the Kaiser. Bombing German Kriegsmarine targets made perfect sense. Churchill was First Lord of the Admiralty in '39.
@@raypurchase801 For 20 years the RAF had built up a strategic bomber force. Regardless of who was 1st Lord of the Admiralty, bombing warships was not what Bomber Command was designed to do
@@rororp Yes it was. Hitting the enemy's naval strength was always the number one priority. Plus the RAF was determined NOT to bomb targets inside cities.
@@raypurchase801 Nope. The attacking of ships and the support of the army were the two things Bomber Command had not made any preparation for at the start of the war, their policy was strategic bombing. That's the end of the matter. Now I'm off to see Mrs Purchase with Toast, she's doing a 2 for 1 deal this afternoon.
@@rororp Thankyou for your kind wishes. My wife says Toast gave her a pearl necklace, but when I ask to see it, she just sniggers. RAF Bomber Command was forbidden to bomb German cities in 1939 and 1940. Strategic bombing was out of the question. The exception was legitimate military targets such as naval ports. Everything changed after the Luftwaffe bombed London (allegedly in error) and the RAF bombed Berlin in retaliation. Then Bomber Command used strategic bombing. This was suicidal by day, whilst navigation problems made it worse than useless at night.
Edit. Edit. Edit. Secondly, I get the impression from the narration that you have zero idea where, and why, the concept of the bomber always getting through came from. Thirdly, saying naval ships is redundant. If you are trying to reference ships of a navy, as opposed to merchant vessels, simply saying warships is more precise.
The Brits have never fought alone They always have a few countries with them In India they could never win alone They always had a policy of divide They would ally them selves with 2 to 3 States and fight one In Battle of waterloo They had many European countries with them Simarly in WW1 AND WW2
I’m not sure the crews thought “the bombers will always get through” and that they’d have a turkey shoot. They probably thought it was insane but followed orders.
This doesnt tell the whole story of the air war, just one mission! and yes it had an impact on bomber commands strategy,but they were alreaqdy flying night missions as the raf already knew they couldnt maintain losses in daylight raids anyway! coupled with things like not hitting civilian targets Also like to add that the americans when they enterd the war totally disregarded british advice and flew daylight raids,suffering appaling losses until long range fighter escort was able to be conducted! Of course the RAF suffered during night raids too as like most forces in war the germans adapted and used night fighters and new tactics!
Well the Nazi's are not control of France, Poland, Czechia etc any more, so the death and destruction from the Western allies has arguably been beneficial
Hence the moniker ' the greatest generation ' we could use more of that kind today , if they had the leadership? I think we got the people but not the leaders.
I really think this term is a disservice to everybody. "The greatest generation" was the generation that lived and worked in deeply racist societies with racial segregation or genocide, keeping half of the world as colonies to US and European economic interests, etc. That generation dropped nuclear bombs, invaded neutral countries, took part in the holocaust (mind you - those were the German members of that generation), firebombed civilians, etc. I think we honestly have to say that each generation is both the greatest (as they have to deal with current affairs) and the worst (because they they somehow never manage to solve problems in a way that doesn't lead to the next problem). That is the tragedy of human existence. I mean what about those generations surviving the last ice-age? I think that pretty amazing. What about those surviving the plague? What of those people in the Middle-East getting rid of crusaders? What about those generations fighting off Ottoman attacks into central Europe? I think calling the people fighting in WW2 the "greatest generation" is rather short sighted. I don't want to belittle what American, British, Soviet, French and so many other soldiers did to fight Nazi Germany - far from it. But please be careful with superlatives.
Modern war can still only be won with air supremacy. Only between nation states though. It does not guarantee victory against a determined insurgency. Russia has yet to achieve air superiority in Ukraine. Thus it has yet to win this war.
Sorry, I name a spontaneous comment that with a very tired mindset! Thanks for correcting me. I will research this because I do remember seeing an interview with a full analysis of the war and it did include conclusions that the "Shock and Awe" did not live up to the expectations. Have a great day.
@@tomseitz You may be thinking of strategic bombing. Such as operation rolling thunder and the bombing of dresden to name a couple. "strategy used in total war with the goal of defeating the enemy by destroying its morale, its economic ability to produce and transport materiel to the theatres of military operations, or both." What we did in the gulf war was different. While similar to strategic bombing the point of shock and awe is to cause so much chaos in the military hierarchy of your enemy that the only thing available on the battlefield is chaos. The US military is the progenitor of Chaos as strategy. They live in it.
Why not try to stop the attacking bombers, (fully loaded, less maneuverable) instead after they done their damage, (emptied their load and better maneuverable). Can't understand the logic.
the germans most likely didnt have radar in the area at that time so they wouldnt know that the bombers were there until they could see or hear them and by that time its too late they will get to drop their bombs before anyone in a fighter can get to them the only thing you can really do is what the germans did try to shoot them down so that both bomber and crew cant come back and do it again later in the war the germans had radar everywhere so they could know before the bombers got close and could attack them before the bombers got to their targetand even empty of bomb dedicated british bombers were not all that maneuverable
@@TinyBearTim until it took on an Avro Anson - 3 attacked one over the English Channel in june 1940 - 2 were shot down and the 3rd driven off. the Anson returned to base safely.
Are we? Well, maybe we are more cautious because we have seen what the believe in heroism has done to us and turned us into the poster child for cruelty?
So the British, "multiple political fractions", were keen on bombing cities but the Americans blocked it but then the British didn't want to bomb ships in German ports because of the potential civilian casualties, which they later notoriously couldn't let go off?! 😵💫 Armchair historians, you're such an entertainment 😂
Lancaster's a far superior a/c of nettlesons group faired no better on daylight augsberg raid 6 0f 12 downed by enemy a/c. a weak point was 303 rifle calibre macine guns on lancs peas shooters
Eric: l so agree that the defensive armament on British bombers of .303 machine guns was comparatively like pea shooters compared to the 20 & 30 mm cannon carried by the German fighters. . The Americans were much smarter carrying the much more powerful .50 caliber machine guns, & more of them
At least the US bombers could defend themselves with their.50s, the .303 on the british bombers were too short ranged against the german fighters, the bf109 had 3 x 20mm guns, it could fire them being out of the range of Wellington 's Mgs.
Good.old winnie always drunk and on the run. What a tactical genius and gives credit where it's due. His history books are so accurate and unbiased. Hawaii is now in the United States and Japan ate a ton of shit and Britain is a strong 3 world country.😆😆🤗 If we don't do it nobody will😮🙄😏
I am not sure the fault lies entirely on Air Command but it was a general attitude of both RN and RAF ...the RN was thinking the Trafalgar myth that they ruled the waves and this arrogance was extended to the air.....they soon found out the hard way that this was not the case ...cooperation of ship/fighterbomber and fighter/bomber was the key
The BF 110 was designed as a bomber destroyer, and so it proved on that day. They were there as well as the 109s, and destroyed more per fighter than the single engined fighters.
Right. Helmut Lent scored his first Abschuss on that day in his Bf110-C......" I pointed my crosshair a thumb above his nose and gave short bursts of fire. It was almost so easy - I was baffeled....."......:)
The simple fact that these young men climbed into dated, aircraft, some bordering on obsolescence, speaks volumes about the quality of those folks.
This is one of my favorite channels on TH-cam, by watching your videos I often start researching the content of your videos and 98% every time your information is spot on. Thank you for posting this video and so many other amazing videos!!
I am all over World War II information and channels on TH-cam. Just found yours and i'm all in buckling my seatbelt please hit the gas
me watching this at 3 am realizing how influential late night history channel was to me
Dad, rcaf, flew Wellington's and Lancasters...did not talk much about it.
My Dad was RAN in both Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Did not talk about it for more than 60 years after.
Fantastic historical synopsis. Enlightening, no less. Right down to the contentious relationship between Naval and Luftwaffe officers…we have a benchmark history lesson here. Thank you.🩸
Love this channel!
Great editing on this video. Well-sourced footage, good pacing.
Thank you for the video! I always enjoy your videos! Keep going!
Another great episode about the use of aircraft and tactics during WWII.
Would like to see some of the night fighters both of axis and allies. Especially the HE-219 Uhu.
One of my favorite channels ❤
This channel is actually pretty nice!
It provides a beautifuly constructed back story of an event in a short and simple manner.
I do kind of like appreciate that, because many history channels (especially those who provide the tales of historical battles) lengthen their videos to the extent of it becoming a waist of time.
So yes, I shall subscribe to this channel, and spread it.
This does a disservice to those brave bomber crews. Raids by Whitleys, Blenheims and Wellingtons were unescorted by a simple fact that this clip overlooks: there was no long range bomber escort fighters until the arrival of types like the P-38 and P-51, the best the RAF could do was to switch to night raids to avoid fighter interception.
This raid showed how different things were at the start. Here we have the R.A.F. being so concerned about not inflicting civilian casualties, when in the future they certainly didn't care e.g .the infamous area nightbomging attacks on so many German cities, leaving over 600,000 German civilians dead. Sad that they couldn't stick with their non- civilian casualty policy. Also so naive of them to think that their unescorted bombers could get through, esp in daylight. Wise of them to attack submarine bases , Churchill said the the only thing that really worried him during the war was the U-Boat menace.
Thanks for another well sectioned, well narrated doc with great film footage.. Please keep up the good work, cheers
I agree with the sentiment, but there was no way to bomb accurately enough at night. There was no way to bomb by day unescorted.
Bomber Command could hit specialised targets at night with great accuracy provided that they took weeks to prepare for the special operations. If they just hit the same two dozen targets all the defences would have been concentrated around them.
I don’t Monday morning quarterback the strategy because the people making the decisions at the time were not privy to what we know now, but were privy to many things that are now secret.
600.000 bull...💩much less
The difference being the “civilians” bombed later on by the RAF were Germans with most directly or indirectly involved in supporting the war economy. In a total war killing a factory worker making weapons makes as much sense as killing a soldier using them a fact forgotten by most people today.
Even if this video is good. You are missing the vital information that Wolfgang Falck was piloting a Bf110 from 2./ZG 76. It was not only Bf109s involved. And also it was not the last time Bomber Command would try unescorted attacks, with similar results. The "Blenheim massacre" comes to mind
hey i tried to google this blenheim massacre but i didn't find anything could you tell me more about it
@@marconapolitano2821 It is mentioned in several books: «Bomber Command War Diaries» from Middlebrook and «Bomber Command Loses 1939-1940» from Chorley. It was an attack on Amiens and St. Omer on July 10th 1940. From 40 bombers sent, 6 were lost to enemy action. The Germans claimed 7.
@@plumahoplita thank you very much I'll be sure to look into it.
Enjoyed your video and I gave it a Thumbs Up
bombers were such a horror to civilians
“The tension in the sky became overbearing.” -many clumsy phrases like this.
During the 1948 war for Independence, Israel recruited a bunch of American, Canadian and British Mercenary WW2 pilots to form what would be come the IAF. There was an arms Embargo and the only country who would sell to Israel was Czechoslovakia. Germany had build a 109 plant in Czechoslovakia and it was still functioning after the war. They started building 109's for Israel. One American pilot who was Jewish said "Irony is being Jewish and getting into a fighter that still had German insignia on it." The Arabs had Spitfires but the IAF pilots had more experience and decimated Arab air forces and ground forces.
ALL the major powers thought their bombers would get through.. they were supposed to be able to attack swiftly and before the enemy could muster sufficient fighters to intercept them. flak only ever accounted for a small amount of losses. the Germans would learn hard lesson in 1940 in the skies over Britain where radar-directed fighters chewed up Luftwaffe Heinkels and their escorts. when USA entered the war ( ..finally ) they attempted similar daylight attacks beyond range of fighter escorts and suffered heavy losses. the B17s carried so much armament and armor their payloads were much reduced ..
Relax. This channel only survives beceause of clickbait and shock value. There have been a lot of times he has even been lying or just not saying everything.
would be so good to see a comprehensive 2 side take on the war from you
I am sure others have mentioned it, but recently on all of your videos the closed captioning happens ALL AT THE SAME TIME for about 5 seconds in the beginning. I am also finding out that I am no longer subscribed to all of your channels?
If Belgium was neutral then why they allow british expeditionary force to land in Belgium on Oct 7 1939
AMAZING VIDS LIKE ALWAYS!!!!!!
wow what an amazing video thank you
The answer to not enough bombers is more bombers. Day & night, as frequent as possible.
Great work on a little known "Theatre of War"
I hope you recover from your cold soon 😊👍🏼
Greetings from Spain. Thanks for your videos. In this one the subtitles don work.
0:11 well there right... after Germany lost the air space bombers just bombed the hell out of factorys and citys... as well as constant straifing runns on Support and fighting/tank collums, it just cut of backup for Germany
Thanx
As a 30 retired fighter plot I must say I've never agreed with England's tactics back then. Close formations by unescorted bombers actually did the opposite than what this video suggests. A German pilot would be searching for bombers via radar and sight. Spotting a lone bomber in cloudy skies is difficult. Finding a formation is easier. Find a formation and you've found them all one glance. They should've all dispersed...make it home any route you can with fuel permitting.
i agree though it depends on the speed of the bomber and what you are facing if its a bomber with a higher end speed against 109s i fully agree you will lost some but the ones not chased should be able to get away against an fw 190 that is a good deal faster than the 109 and has a heavier armament with more ammo i think you might be better off in a formation especially if you are slow though you would probably be screwed either way when facing something with 2 to 6 20mm cannons with he rounds that was one of the fastest aircraft of its time
@@paktahn Exactly. The bomber has little to no chance against the 109. They are doomed either way. But chances of survival increase if fleeing back home at top speed. Disperse and have the 109s run you down. In a tight formation the kills become much easier. The bombers had dropped the payload and were light and able to achieve max speed.
In a formation get supporting fire from those around you
If by your self can get swarmed
Their max speed was lower then a fighter
The sky, like the ocean is vast. The same reasoning gave the allies the winning convoy system.Individual ships were easy prey to the hunters and even though the formation is more easily seen(from a reasonable distance), if it isn't seen then an entire squadron or more remains unscathed to damaging effect once they get to their target.
Well researched, relative video, makes for a great story.
All war strategy was written in blood
British were good at what they did
Please recheck your subtitle. It's a mess. Correct it Immidietly.
Great channel
The Me 109s really chewed up these bombers. It wasn't a smart idea for the British to try this raid.
As opposed to what? giving the bastard free reign over the seas as well!
Until US got Mustangs in the fight, Allied bombers were easy pray
those were Bf-110
Sadly they tought at the start of the war that the bombers would've been successful in their missions, but the development of new fighters doomed this mentality, a bf109 wasn't a Gladiator.
@@billfrancis7852 the me-262's smoked mustangs
American day light bombing were heavily armed four engine bombers in tight formation. This had mixed results and at the end need fighter escort.
The original film clips had a 4:3 aspect ratio. By posting them in 16:9 you make everything look shorter and wider.
The Germans taught the British a study they don't forget
The allies had to teach the germans twice. They finally got the message and we hadn't herd a peep out of them, krauts are hard headed. But now we are all allies.
@@markgranger9150 Someday they will come back, don't rush
Bombers will always come throu.. if they survive or not, that is a different question
As a German I disagree. Don’t ask me what about, I just disagree.
Ps: we won after all…
WRONG YOU GOT WHIPPED. That is a fact disagree all you want. As an American that lived in Germany for 4 years I know you are not like most Germans you're stupid.
“Even-so”, “Nevertheless”. No “Moreover”??
Hey Holland and France, how did that appeasement and neutrality work out for you???
That was well done . . . _still!_
show how you setup military industrial infrastructures for these wars
All those countries were eventually invaded and occupied 🤔
Why didn’t they just tell Germany that they were neutral?😂😂😂
Early in the war, both Germany and Britain avoided bombing civilian targets in the west.
The new doctrine was "the fighter will get thru".
That was one hell of a CC bug
Why didn't they have a fighter escort? Was it because they would be beyond the range of Spitfires and/or Hurricanes, or was it hubris?
Yes!
This raid (and many others like it) went *far* beyond the limited range of Spitfires or Hurricanes, both of which were short-range, "point defence interceptors." Neither Britain nor Germany had *any* long-range escort fighters during the early and middle stages of the war (1939-1943).
Unlike Britain and the US, Germany never developed their own long-ranged, four-engined strategic bombers, instead focusing all their efforts on building a shorter-ranged, purely tactical air force. They would pay a heavy price for this short-sightedness.
Britain approached North American Aviation to build Curtis P-40 fighters because they needed more fighters than they could produce. Instead, North American Aviation convinced the British government that they could design and build a better fighter in less time than it would take to tool up for license-production of the P-40. The P-51 Mustang was what they came up with, although it needed some improvements and refinements before it found its true calling as a long-ranged escort fighter. Once US heavy bombers could be escorted all the way to/from targets deep within Germany, the writing was on the wall; Germany was bound to lose at that point, and there was nothing they could do about it.
After the war ended, Luftwaffe leader Hermann Goering said, "The first time I saw Allied fighters over Berlin, I knew the jig was up."
Ukulele it was because fighters at that time did not have the fuel
Being detected 30 miles out will not give you a one-hour warning.
Can you do a video on the USAF U2s that have been shot down over Russia and China?
British bombing policy at the start of WW2 was not limited by it's aircraft abilities, but by a policy of not bombing civilian targets.
Bombers flew over Germany night after night dropping leaflets, not bombs.
Not having bases in mainland Europe or being barred from over flying neutral airspace was not a limitation on Bomber Command.
The priority for British power has always been to eliminate the enemy's naval power.
The same policy was directed towards King Louis, Bonaparte and the Kaiser.
Bombing German Kriegsmarine targets made perfect sense.
Churchill was First Lord of the Admiralty in '39.
@@raypurchase801 For 20 years the RAF had built up a strategic bomber force. Regardless of who was 1st Lord of the Admiralty, bombing warships was not what Bomber Command was designed to do
@@rororp Yes it was.
Hitting the enemy's naval strength was always the number one priority.
Plus the RAF was determined NOT to bomb targets inside cities.
@@raypurchase801 Nope. The attacking of ships and the support of the army were the two things Bomber Command had not made any preparation for at the start of the war, their policy was strategic bombing.
That's the end of the matter. Now I'm off to see Mrs Purchase with Toast, she's doing a 2 for 1 deal this afternoon.
@@rororp Thankyou for your kind wishes. My wife says Toast gave her a pearl necklace, but when I ask to see it, she just sniggers.
RAF Bomber Command was forbidden to bomb German cities in 1939 and 1940. Strategic bombing was out of the question.
The exception was legitimate military targets such as naval ports. Everything changed after the Luftwaffe bombed London (allegedly in error) and the RAF bombed Berlin in retaliation.
Then Bomber Command used strategic bombing. This was suicidal by day, whilst navigation problems made it worse than useless at night.
Edit. Edit. Edit.
Secondly, I get the impression from the narration that you have zero idea where, and why, the concept of the bomber always getting through came from.
Thirdly, saying naval ships is redundant. If you are trying to reference ships of a navy, as opposed to merchant vessels, simply saying warships is more precise.
You sound German
The Brits got cocky, and paid the price.
Dear Lance,
There are times when being the Good Guys just isn't enough.
Frank.
British had one hand tied behind their backs by the appeasing European idiots. What else could they do? Neutrality isn't always the best option...
many times the yanks got cocky and paid the price and not just in ww2 either
What ! Lost the war ?
@@frankberry6220 “good guys”😂
The Brits have never fought alone They always have a few countries with them
In India they could never win alone They always had a policy of divide They would ally them selves with 2 to 3 States and fight one In Battle of waterloo
They had many European countries with them Simarly in WW1 AND WW2
6:15 something is... off about the guy in the middle's face.
I’m not sure the crews thought “the bombers will always get through” and that they’d have a turkey shoot. They probably thought it was insane but followed orders.
You have to remember that large-scale bombing was a fairly new concept at the time. There wasn't a whole lot of previous knowledge to draw on.
Excuse, I don´t speak English. In this one the subtitles don´t work.
So true ... Only Vietnam proved otherwise....
This doesnt tell the whole story of the air war, just one mission! and yes it had an impact on bomber commands strategy,but they were alreaqdy flying night missions as the raf already knew they couldnt maintain losses in daylight raids anyway! coupled with things like not hitting civilian targets Also like to add that the americans when they enterd the war totally disregarded british advice and flew daylight raids,suffering appaling losses until long range fighter escort was able to be conducted! Of course the RAF suffered during night raids too as like most forces in war the germans adapted and used night fighters and new tactics!
Heard immunity!
Try, try again and we British certainly did.
Does anyone else notice, that we're no better off for all the death and destruction?
Well the Nazi's are not control of France, Poland, Czechia etc any more, so the death and destruction from the Western allies has arguably been beneficial
Haven't seen many actual Nazis about recently...so there's that.
@@vorpalblades except for those in power at the moment like Trudeau, Biden, Xi Xinping, etc etc.
Follow.the money.
@@christopherwedemeyer2993 I did that and the security guard told me off
Hence the moniker ' the greatest generation ' we could use more of that kind today , if they had the leadership? I think we got the people but not the leaders.
I really think this term is a disservice to everybody. "The greatest generation" was the generation that lived and worked in deeply racist societies with racial segregation or genocide, keeping half of the world as colonies to US and European economic interests, etc. That generation dropped nuclear bombs, invaded neutral countries, took part in the holocaust (mind you - those were the German members of that generation), firebombed civilians, etc.
I think we honestly have to say that each generation is both the greatest (as they have to deal with current affairs) and the worst (because they they somehow never manage to solve problems in a way that doesn't lead to the next problem). That is the tragedy of human existence. I mean what about those generations surviving the last ice-age? I think that pretty amazing. What about those surviving the plague? What of those people in the Middle-East getting rid of crusaders? What about those generations fighting off Ottoman attacks into central Europe? I think calling the people fighting in WW2 the "greatest generation" is rather short sighted. I don't want to belittle what American, British, Soviet, French and so many other soldiers did to fight Nazi Germany - far from it. But please be careful with superlatives.
Unsaleable formation, except for the fact they only mounted. 303 machine guns 🔫. The germans must have thought the poms crazy 🤪
Modern war can still only be won with air supremacy. Only between nation states though. It does not guarantee victory against a determined insurgency.
Russia has yet to achieve air superiority in Ukraine. Thus it has yet to win this war.
The "Shock and Awe" bombing raids of Tehran in Desert Storm did nothing... it inspired the enemy to fight harder.
I think you have that entirely wrong. Tehran is in Iran and the shock and awe bombings of the gulf War resulted in thousands of troops surrendering
Sorry, I name a spontaneous comment that with a very tired mindset! Thanks for correcting me. I will research this because I do remember seeing an interview with a full analysis of the war and it did include conclusions that the "Shock and Awe" did not live up to the expectations. Have a great day.
@@tomseitz You may be thinking of strategic bombing. Such as operation rolling thunder and the bombing of dresden to name a couple. "strategy used in total war with the goal of defeating the enemy by destroying its morale, its economic ability to produce and transport materiel to the theatres of military operations, or both." What we did in the gulf war was different. While similar to strategic bombing the point of shock and awe is to cause so much chaos in the military hierarchy of your enemy that the only thing available on the battlefield is chaos. The US military is the progenitor of Chaos as strategy. They live in it.
@@timbrwolf1121 ty... great analysis/commentary!
Deploy The Wimpys?
Victory against tyranny, to accomodate another one.
@@markgranger9150 know.
Emulate
I wish more youtube history channels would stop copying each other
Not Mark Felton...eh...
Why not try to stop the attacking bombers, (fully loaded, less maneuverable) instead after they done their damage, (emptied their load and better maneuverable).
Can't understand the logic.
Germans needed time to get to attacking a/c etc
the germans most likely didnt have radar in the area at that time so they wouldnt know that the bombers were there until they could see or hear them and by that time its too late they will get to drop their bombs before anyone in a fighter can get to them the only thing you can really do is what the germans did try to shoot them down so that both bomber and crew cant come back and do it again later in the war the germans had radar everywhere so they could know before the bombers got close and could attack them before the bombers got to their targetand even empty of bomb dedicated british bombers were not all that maneuverable
Some inappropriate aeroplanes depicted here.
aaahh.... the brits still think they are at the center of it...
Hindsights a winderful thing huh, as per usual there's a whole lot of opiniated experts in the comment section.
britain aint britain no more......
Wish I'd found this channel earlier.
it was outdated when WW2 began
The 109 wasn’t outdated when it began lol it was one of the best
@TinyBearTim it wasnt slow???!!!
Lol
@@TinyBearTim until it took on an Avro Anson - 3 attacked one over the English Channel in june 1940 - 2 were shot down and the 3rd driven off. the Anson returned to base safely.
@@zillsburyy1no I really was not
What happened to germany every one is a corward in that country
Are we? Well, maybe we are more cautious because we have seen what the believe in heroism has done to us and turned us into the poster child for cruelty?
Just a bunch of unconnected film clips that bore no relation to the subject
Not
Being a liberal humanist doesn't automatically exempt you from perceived collective historical shame regarding US and European sins. Pah, say I.
british side claim a Victory? Based on what?
So the British, "multiple political fractions", were keen on bombing cities but the Americans blocked it but then the British didn't want to bomb ships in German ports because of the potential civilian casualties, which they later notoriously couldn't let go off?! 😵💫
Armchair historians, you're such an entertainment 😂
Not as entertaining. as arm chair idiots.🤔😁☺😋🙄😏😋😂😆😊
Lancaster's a far superior a/c of nettlesons group faired no better on daylight augsberg raid 6 0f 12 downed by enemy a/c. a weak point was 303 rifle calibre macine guns on lancs peas shooters
Eric: l so agree that the defensive armament on British bombers of .303 machine guns was comparatively like pea shooters compared to the 20 & 30 mm cannon carried by the German fighters. . The Americans were much smarter carrying the much more powerful .50 caliber machine guns, & more of them
@@robertbruce1887 It made no difference. The American bombers were also easy targets for German fighters.
At least the US bombers could defend themselves with their.50s, the .303 on the british bombers were too short ranged against the german fighters, the bf109 had 3 x 20mm guns, it could fire them being out of the range of Wellington 's Mgs.
@@alessiodecarolis the 20 mm also out ranged the 50s. Of course neither gun was of any use at it maximum range.
Typical pommy airforce, think they knew it all.
over - dramatic speaking....
fIRST.
Dumb
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee ❕ 😵 😱 👀 🤯 👽
Let the US do it
Churchill: your going to be attacked
Americans: no chance
Japan: eat sushi Hawaii
Yes let the Americans do it!! 😂😂😂
Good.old winnie always drunk and on the run. What a tactical genius and gives credit where it's due. His history books are so accurate and unbiased. Hawaii is now in the United States and Japan ate a ton of shit and Britain is a strong 3 world country.😆😆🤗 If we don't do it nobody will😮🙄😏
I am not sure the fault lies entirely on Air Command but it was a general attitude of both RN and RAF ...the RN was thinking the Trafalgar myth that they ruled the waves and this arrogance was extended to the air.....they soon found out the hard way that this was not the case ...cooperation of ship/fighterbomber and fighter/bomber was the key
"22 Vickers Wellington bombers were suddenly unleashed." 🤏
Like a fat man getting out of a bath tub.