BIG THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING: Huge thank you to the Veterans History Museum of the Carolinas: theveteransmuseum.org/ Battle of Bodenplatte: The Luftwaffe's Last Hope: www.amazon.com/Bodenplatte-Luftwaffes-Stackpole-Military-History/dp/0811706869 Eric Mombeek: www.amazon.com/Books-Eric-Mombeek/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3AEric+Mombeek The Rifle: facebook.com/@TheRifleBook/ ThuringiaThen&Now: instagram.com/thuringia_then_and_now/?hl=en
Just to get to see Lieutenant Ed Catrell reliving this after 80 years is an honor.....Trent i think you and your team make the very best WWII airpower videos ever....Congrats on that......Thank you TJ3 History..... Old F-4 Phantom pilot Shoe🇺🇸
When Ed talks about the german kid who got shot down with a bullet between his eyes, I certainly can feel that at that moment, there's no friend or foe in his mind. All he has was sympathy and humanity...
That definitely struck me, as well. Playing it out in my mind as he talked about it, thinking about the ultimate sacrifice that didn’t have to be made that day. Truly sobering.
Japanese pilot Saburo Sakai was shot through an eye, the bullet passed through or at least around his brain yet he still flew back to base and survived at least until a few years ago.
I agree and the pilots had respect for each other. They may have fought each other but they understood that the enemy was fighting for his Country and doing his duty just like they were. Many Heroes did great things for both sides.
*The Wehrmacht had a joke about the Luftwaffe at Normandy: “if you see silver airplanes they’re American, if you see brown ones, they’re British, and if you don’t see any at all, they’re ours.”*
And it was a fails claim. During the Normandy landings the Luftwaffe flew 250+ sorties against the Allies. Even at the end of the war, still another 3000 fighters were still operational and kept attacking the Allies while defending Germany litteraly until the very last day of the war until the 8tyh of may 1945.
@@opoxious1592 False Claim?? The Allies flew 14,674 sorties against the Axis on D-Day. I think that just might have given the Wehrmacht the idea that the Luftwaffe was pretty much no show on June 6th.
@@574ak49 Yes exactly a false claim. The fact of the matter is that the Lufwaffe did attack the Normandy beaches. So to be very simple. Lufwaffe planes were to see in the sky by the Allies, while being under attack by them.
TJ thanks for the well spoken (non AI) narration. Also the accuracy of the script and the images. So many of these things are careless and get so many things wrong.
One tip to see if it's an AI script is no breathing in between sentances and a lot of unnecessary descriptive words. Idk why but most of the programs add large amounts of descriptive words for no reason. Instead of " it was a chilly December night as we trudged through the snow" The program would write "On this frigid December night the moon, making the snow glisten illuminated our path out of this inhospitable blah blah blah" 😂
TJ, you're doing a lot of people a great service by interviewing these heroes from the past, but in all honesty you're a hero too, by telling their stories, that may have never been told. I thank them for their service and my freedom and i thank you for the work you are doing.
You're doing great work man, greatly appreciated. I was raised by a ww2 navy vet, who unfortunately passed away in 2008. I carry his stories to pass on to my children, and the future in general. Keep at this work. Its importance can't be measured.
Lost my dad last year. The one thing that I always loved reminiscing was me and him going to movies at the theatre and watching WW2 stuff. Cannot express how awesome of a Dad he was. Sounds like you have the right idea and is really happy to hear. Keep being a good dad. Nothing else matters
Incredible work. My grandfather was a naval engineer in the Pacific. The only thing he *ever* said to me about WWII was that he helped build a bridge on Guadalcanal.
Thanks TJ for your great work on this video. Ed Cottrell's personal recollections of this event were incredible, as well as those from Lothar Wolff. I really appreciated hearing stories from both sides of this ill-conceived surprise attack. I have Marnho's book and look forward to reading further details. Here's a little something to help keep up the great work!
Wow! This video is your best from this trilogy @TJ3! It's a striking story. 11 German pilot! I knew Germans used kids at the end of the war, but this young in a plane!! What!!?? M. Cottrell as my deepest respect and reconnaissance.. It was a great interview all along, a captivating and emotional story. And you TJ, and your crew, have my sincere gratitude for making such good videos. Thank you. And if someone in the filming industry sees my comments, there is some good movie material in Ted Cottrell's story. 😅
I can’t be certain but I believe Ed is referring to my Great Uncle Theodore Smith who was shot down by flack during the battle of Bulge in a P-47. I find that incredible.
My Dad was at Bastogne with the 327 Glider Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne at this time. Great job. My one quibble is the canopies of the Me-109 appear to be off. I could be wrong.
I had never heard of Operation Bodenplatte until Dogfights did an episode about it, specifically the Y29 airfield. Yes, the Allies took some losses, both in the air and on the ground, but they could easily replace them. The Germans couldn't. They lost nearly a quarter of their planes to friendly fire alone.
I was an Engine Mechanic on the F111F at Raf Lakenheath in the early 80's. Thanks for telling the story of the 48th - " The Statue Of Liberty Wing". So proud of its history.
Another Masterpiece! Great job and story telling. I love it when I turn on my computer and see you posted a new video. What a great story I love to see that some of these Heros are still around to tell us what it was like to be there. When Ed was talking about the young Luftwaffe pilot that crashed in front of him you can clearly see it still stirs up strong emotions even after all these years have passed. It's sad that Hitler insisted that they keep on fighting long after they knew it was a lost cause. In the end berlin was defended by kids and old men. I often wonder how things would have ended if Operation Valkyrie was successful. All these new pilots also didn't have a lot of flying time before they were thrust into combat due to the lack of fuel too. Many of the bombers were towed or pulled to the end of the runway before they started their engines just to save as much fuel possible. Plus the fuel they did get wasn't the good clean burning fuel they had at the start of the war. You can really see how bad the fuel was near the end of the war when you look at the exhaust stains on the Night Fighters and compare them to the cleaner colored Exhaust stains on JU-88's and ME-110's earlier in the war while they had much cleaner burning and better fuel. I know I keep repeating myself but TJ you keep topping yourself and raising the bar. Thanks for all your hard work. Your videos are always new and refreshing instead of just telling us the same old stories and photos we have all seen so many times before. You are the first person I know of thats broken the mold and actually surprise us with new untold ones. You have made W.W. 2 documentaries exciting again and I can't wait to see what's next. Please Keep "em Flying We've got your six.
Amazing! The remains of the battle are still there to this day!!! I fly constantly over Europe and UK and I see many...many WWII airfields. Thinking that you can still spot a precise airplane crush site after almost 80 years is just mind blowing!! Modern generations should be more aware about all this and permanent gratitude should be given to those who died for freedom. I often think about the sacrifice of all those airmen and soldiers. May all those people rest in peace.
Did u know that most of these semingly animated background footage is actually just recordings of a game called War Thunder? It's quite hard to notice since it looks so clean
TJ, I know you don't remember me, but I used to watch your videos all the time. I was wondering if you could do a video about the German pilot that spared a B 17 F. Here's the full story. It was December the 20th 1943. A pilot by the name of Charles "Charlie" Brown was in his B17F, Ye Old Pub. Their mission is to bomb the Focke Wulf plant in Bremen. After being shot at by flak, Ye Old Pub's tail gunner was killed. With only one engine running, and a tail missing, Ye Old Pub went in a steep dive. Thankfully, after being passed out, Charlie managed to bring the Flying Fortress back up. But, unfortunately, Charlie accidentally flew over a Luftwaffe airfield. A German pilot by the name of Lieutenant Franz Stigler, saw the B17, and got in his 109. He was just one kill away from earning Germany's Knight's Cross. After catching up to the plane, he was about to pull the trigger when he realized the tail gunner was dead. 'This was no threat. If I shoot this plane down, it will be on my conscience gor the rest of my life.' He flew over to the side and witnessed the injured crews in the fuselage. Charlie turned for a quick gaze and looked again as he saw a German BF 109 flying in formation with the damaged warbird. Franz gestured that they land in Germany, he refused. Franz then told them to land in neutral Sweden, the same response was given. No. German AA crews saw the Flying Fortress, but refused to fire. It would risk the life of one of their own men, Stigler. After a while of flying escort for Ye Old Pub, Franz gave Charlie a respectful salute, and headed home. P-47s would soon intercept Ye Old Pub and guide them home. Charlie and his crew were surprised at the encounter with the sympathetic German. The story remained top secret until 1989 when Charlie began his search for the pilot who had spared his bomber. In 1990, he got a letter that read that they were the pilot who had escorted Ye Old Pub. They finally met in person and were interviewed for about 20 minutes. Franz gifted Charlie a book that read, "In 1940, I lost my only brother as a night fighter. In 1943, four days before Christmas, I managed to save a B 17 from her destruction. Charlie, to me, is as precious as my brother was. Thanks, Charlie. Your brother, Franz." He said that he never got the Knight's Cross, but he always said, he got something better. (Charlie Brown October 24, 1922-November 24, 2008) (Franz Stigler August 21, 1915-March 22, 2008) "No man hath greater love than he who layeth his life for his enemy." Videos about this story: Yarnhub: th-cam.com/video/SQe4roNR8Nc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=ZIK57pagF8zt-phg C-bass Productions th-cam.com/video/TSluTZGxdY0/w-d-xo.htmlsi=IY89P-GzIy8Ukv6L NEVER2YUNG4AVIETNAMFLASHBACK: th-cam.com/video/_lp9-cN_Oog/w-d-xo.htmlsi=MmXkPJXg24jWhR-q
Hi TJ. We have a 8th Airforce B17 pilot names Dick Nelms that is now 101 (Nearing 102 I believe in Jan). Still Very Sharp. If you haven't interviewed him, You need to! Contact the Museum of Flight in Seattle. He Volunteers here every week!! My Name is Mike Martinez (Docent at the Museum). :)
My Father was living in Leiden (occupied Holland )on this day. He said that when the Germans flew over, the Dutch cheered, thinking it was an Allied strike going in. They didn't think the Germans had that many aircraft left .
TJ are there any pictures of Feet of Heaven? I'm building a 1/5 scale P-47 radio control model and would like to decorate it as the Feet of Heaven plane flown by Ed in WWII.
My father was a motorcycle MP at one of those forward airstrips in Belgium, although he talked very little, I kept pressing him during the last few weeks of his life. A few years earlier I had taken him on a trip to DC to see the WWII memorial where he spent a lot of time just sitting and talking to other vets. One other thing he wanted to see was one of those damned German jets so off to the museum to see their ME-262. I only have a couple of his old photos from the war, he did go on about those P-47s and how great they were and how scary those damned jet things were coming in at tree top level. I wish he had more time or talked more. One thing he did say that I haven't been able to find any information on that must have been a surprise for the Germans coming in at tree top level was some combat engineers built AA platforms in the surrounding forests, at tree top level.
My grandfather was an artillery Captain under Patton in the 137th. Grandpa swore he was firing anti-aircraft guns at those same 262 on two specific occasions summer of 1944 during operation cobra and just about the time you're describing winter 44. Google says the Germans didn't fly any 262 in 1945 because they had all been shot down
@@aeonsbeyond I wish I had more specifics but for most of my life my father didn't talk about the war. I do know he joined in 1939 at age 16, was stationed at Ft. Knox, Ky, part of the motorcycle evaluation group, participated in D-day, and a bit about his duties with the 9th Air group in Belgium (have two photos) Told me he never set foot in Germany since in the spring he was pulled back to England for retraining. As for google, can never be sure about their information although according to another source on Marth 18th, 1945 a group of 37 Me 262s shot down 12 bombers and one fighter while intercepting a force of 1,221 bombers and 632 escorting fighters.
Great content! Thank you!! Just one small note. In German "w" is pronounced as "v". There is no English "w" sound in German. So Luftwaffe should actually be pronounced Luftvaffe.
The respect these brave men have for one and other is amazing. If the guys who started the wars had to fight, there would be peace for us all. Im so grateful for the freedom we have because of the bravery of the Allied military.
Erich Hartmann told in his memoirs, that his last aerial contact with enemy was "different". He and hes wingman attaced to russian/american flotilla from above. They did not realised who/what was the reason. They began to fight themselves...
It's funny that the 190 A-8 3D model now has the mountings for that X-4 missile, even though you're not able to carry it. Idk if its drag is modelled currently but lmao
operation bodenplate(operation base plate) was a top secret attack on multiple us airbases stationed in belgum, the netherlands, and france. an estimated fighter force of around 860 aircraft would be flow on this mission divided between about 4 or 5 air bases in an attempt to regain airial supperiority, at this time most of the experianced german pilots were either shot down and captured or killed in action erlier in the war. so most of these pilots where fresh out of training and had little to no combat experiance. also a keen factor to note is that at this time germany didnt launch large scale attacks because they where on the deffensive and needed to spair resorces to keep the war going, german flak units on the front lines where not informed about this attack to remain secrecy. about one 3rd of the luftwaffas fighting force was shot down by freindly fire because any time the german flak units saw a very large number of aircraft at this time they assumed it was the allies. this mission would enevidably be the downfall or the silver bullet that would indeffinatly end the luftwaffe.
Honors to all pilots and the crews that kept them flying. Honors to the bombers and crew. As my brother would say (artillery man), "If it flies, it dies."
It’s kind of sad that the leadership of the Luftwaffe would send out these kids on a suicide mission. They must have known at that time that the war was lost.
It's more like loytnant actually, and luftwaffe is not luftwaffer, nor lutwaffa, which is hideous to hear, it's just luftwaffe, just e is understressed as the stress is on f, same with platte and similar words, but yeah, e never changes into a in german, and it's awful, nobody does it except out of touch americans with absolutely no sense for lgges. But this guy made so many pronounciations mistakes in one video, didn't see that many yet, it's usually one word like lugtwaffe, oh and i've seen this fucker at the end of the clip - i bet he thinks he's too smart to ask a computer to read him outloud a foreign word he can't pronounce.
This senseless attack helped to shorten the war by many months. TH-cam channel Krokodile tears is about a doctor who goes various battlefields, graveyards and helps to identify fallen solders.
Great job really enjoy your videos unfortunately on fixed income and handicapped elderly don’t have a lot of spare money but I do appreciate your efforts
I was looking so hard for someone who also noticed he used War Thunder customebattles for background footage 😂 Scrolled through a lot of people who didn't even seem to notice, just calling the video "beautiful" and "amazing". Goes to show how realistic our game looks like🎉
British and allied pilots RAF stopped German Air force and planned invasion of UK at the Battle of Britain1940 Royal Navy could not be destroyed without German air support ... More info on WW1-WW2 Dr Mark Felton on TH-cam... Great vid.
Bodenplatte was a sucess, the secret breaks the operation. Most losses are made trought the own AA guns. By the way, inexperied pilots, training places where the favored shooting grounds for allied fighterpilots.
BIG THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING:
Huge thank you to the Veterans History Museum of the Carolinas: theveteransmuseum.org/
Battle of Bodenplatte: The Luftwaffe's Last Hope: www.amazon.com/Bodenplatte-Luftwaffes-Stackpole-Military-History/dp/0811706869
Eric Mombeek: www.amazon.com/Books-Eric-Mombeek/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3AEric+Mombeek
The Rifle: facebook.com/@TheRifleBook/
ThuringiaThen&Now: instagram.com/thuringia_then_and_now/?hl=en
Just to get to see Lieutenant Ed Catrell reliving this after 80 years is an honor.....Trent i think you and your team make the very best WWII airpower videos ever....Congrats on that......Thank you TJ3 History.....
Old F-4 Phantom pilot Shoe🇺🇸
@steveshoemaker6347 thanks so much Shoe!! Hope you're well.
When Ed talks about the german kid who got shot down with a bullet between his eyes, I certainly can feel that at that moment, there's no friend or foe in his mind. All he has was sympathy and humanity...
Yep. It's a pretty sobering moment.
That definitely struck me, as well. Playing it out in my mind as he talked about it, thinking about the ultimate sacrifice that didn’t have to be made that day. Truly sobering.
Japanese pilot Saburo Sakai was shot through an eye, the bullet passed through or at least around his brain yet he still flew back to base and survived at least until a few years ago.
I agree and the pilots had respect for each other. They may have fought each other but they understood that the enemy was fighting for his Country and doing his duty just like they were. Many Heroes did great things for both sides.
No sympathy or humanity for the terrorist, barbaric Nazis.
*The Wehrmacht had a joke about the Luftwaffe at Normandy: “if you see silver airplanes they’re American, if you see brown ones, they’re British, and if you don’t see any at all, they’re ours.”*
You bet me to it. I've read that as well.
And it was a fails claim.
During the Normandy landings the Luftwaffe flew 250+ sorties against the Allies.
Even at the end of the war, still another 3000 fighters were still operational and kept attacking the Allies while defending Germany litteraly until the very last day of the war until the 8tyh of may 1945.
@@opoxious1592 False Claim?? The Allies flew 14,674 sorties against the Axis on D-Day. I think that just might have given the Wehrmacht the idea that the Luftwaffe was pretty much no show on June 6th.
@@574ak49 Yes exactly a false claim.
The fact of the matter is that the Lufwaffe did attack the Normandy beaches.
So to be very simple.
Lufwaffe planes were to see in the sky by the Allies, while being under attack by them.
@@opoxious1592yes.....
Two Fw-190........
That's the point....
TJ thanks for the well spoken (non AI) narration. Also the accuracy of the script and the images. So many of these things are careless and get so many things wrong.
Agreed. Thank you. :)
One tip to see if it's an AI script is no breathing in between sentances and a lot of unnecessary descriptive words. Idk why but most of the programs add large amounts of descriptive words for no reason. Instead of
" it was a chilly December night as we trudged through the snow"
The program would write
"On this frigid December night the moon, making the snow glisten illuminated our path out of this inhospitable blah blah blah"
😂
TJ, you're doing a lot of people a great service by interviewing these heroes from the past, but in all honesty you're a hero too, by telling their stories, that may have never been told.
I thank them for their service and my freedom and i thank you for the work you are doing.
I'm just thrilled people still want to hear them. Hope that never changes. Thank you :)
@@TJ3 Yes, me also.
You're doing great work man, greatly appreciated. I was raised by a ww2 navy vet, who unfortunately passed away in 2008. I carry his stories to pass on to my children, and the future in general. Keep at this work. Its importance can't be measured.
@Sakai070 thanks so much!
My son and I can't get enough of these stories. We clear anything going on and sit and watch. He loves them.
So happy to hear that!!
Lost my dad last year. The one thing that I always loved reminiscing was me and him going to movies at the theatre and watching WW2 stuff. Cannot express how awesome of a Dad he was. Sounds like you have the right idea and is really happy to hear. Keep being a good dad. Nothing else matters
What a great service you are providing telling these men's stories.
Thank you!
Incredible work. My grandfather was a naval engineer in the Pacific. The only thing he *ever* said to me about WWII was that he helped build a bridge on Guadalcanal.
Excellent video as always, well done!
In the mid 70’s, I was a weapons loader in the 48th TFW. We were stationed at RAF Lakenheath, Suffolk county, England.
Thanks TJ for your great work on this video. Ed Cottrell's personal recollections of this event were incredible, as well as those from Lothar Wolff. I really appreciated hearing stories from both sides of this ill-conceived surprise attack. I have Marnho's book and look forward to reading further details. Here's a little something to help keep up the great work!
Thank you so very much! Enjoy that book! It's great!!
Wow! This video is your best from this trilogy @TJ3! It's a striking story. 11 German pilot! I knew Germans used kids at the end of the war, but this young in a plane!! What!!??
M. Cottrell as my deepest respect and reconnaissance.. It was a great interview all along, a captivating and emotional story. And you TJ, and your crew, have my sincere gratitude for making such good videos. Thank you.
And if someone in the filming industry sees my comments, there is some good movie material in Ted Cottrell's story. 😅
Absolutely such a fantastic story. Thank you and all the veterans
Thank you for sharing your story Ed Cottrell great story and great video TJ3.
I can’t be certain but I believe Ed is referring to my Great Uncle Theodore Smith who was shot down by flack during the battle of Bulge in a P-47. I find that incredible.
My Dad was at Bastogne with the 327 Glider Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne at this time.
Great job. My one quibble is the canopies of the Me-109 appear to be off. I could be wrong.
I had never heard of Operation Bodenplatte until Dogfights did an episode about it, specifically the Y29 airfield. Yes, the Allies took some losses, both in the air and on the ground, but they could easily replace them. The Germans couldn't. They lost nearly a quarter of their planes to friendly fire alone.
Thank you for all you do and you're amazing archives of history 😊
Thank you, Ed, for your service.
Wonderful series. Thank you (and your supporters) for all you do.
I was an Engine Mechanic on the F111F at Raf Lakenheath in the early 80's. Thanks for telling the story of the 48th - " The Statue Of Liberty Wing". So proud of its history.
ME262 flew top cover as observers to report anyone that turned back
Ed Cotrell, I salute you sir!
Another great video TJ! Well done as always, your narration is always top notch.
Thanks so much :)
Excellent video and narration about a mission with which I was not familiar. Many thanks for sharing...
Ed is such a class act. Thanks for sharing his story!
Thanks for watching!
Thanks to you. The video maker who got this and the folks who served.
Thanks!
Always a good day when a TJ3 video drops! 🎉
WOOOO!
Another Masterpiece! Great job and story telling. I love it when I turn on my computer and see you posted a new video. What a great story I love to see that some of these Heros are still around to tell us what it was like to be there. When Ed was talking about the young Luftwaffe pilot that crashed in front of him you can clearly see it still stirs up strong emotions even after all these years have passed. It's sad that Hitler insisted that they keep on fighting long after they knew it was a lost cause. In the end berlin was defended by kids and old men. I often wonder how things would have ended if Operation Valkyrie was successful. All these new pilots also didn't have a lot of flying time before they were thrust into combat due to the lack of fuel too. Many of the bombers were towed or pulled to the end of the runway before they started their engines just to save as much fuel possible. Plus the fuel they did get wasn't the good clean burning fuel they had at the start of the war. You can really see how bad the fuel was near the end of the war when you look at the exhaust stains on the Night Fighters and compare them to the cleaner colored Exhaust stains on JU-88's and ME-110's earlier in the war while they had much cleaner burning and better fuel. I know I keep repeating myself but TJ you keep topping yourself and raising the bar. Thanks for all your hard work. Your videos are always new and refreshing instead of just telling us the same old stories and photos we have all seen so many times before. You are the first person I know of thats broken the mold and actually surprise us with new untold ones. You have made W.W. 2 documentaries exciting again and I can't wait to see what's next. Please Keep "em Flying We've got your six.
Amazing! The remains of the battle are still there to this day!!! I fly constantly over Europe and UK and I see many...many WWII airfields. Thinking that you can still spot a precise airplane crush site after almost 80 years is just mind blowing!! Modern generations should be more aware about all this and permanent gratitude should be given to those who died for freedom. I often think about the sacrifice of all those airmen and soldiers. May all those people rest in peace.
Great way yo start my week, with another TJ3 masterpiece. Keep up the great work TJ. Stay awesome!
Thanks Jester!!
I love this series of Ed and the P-47 - my favorite WW2 fighter. Thank you!!
thanks TJ for this incredibly thorough research, great interviews and awesome narration! all the best wishes from Germany!
My father was in the 9th army that Ed said they were moving with.
Excellent story with great sim-vid. Keep'em fly'in!!
Great visuals...nice job. Dane
Did u know that most of these semingly animated background footage is actually just recordings of a game called War Thunder? It's quite hard to notice since it looks so clean
Wow! This one may be the most powerful yet. Getting hard to tell as there are so many fantastic records.
It’s just so sad to think about the families who were forever changed by this war many before it and after. War is hell.
Great video- thanks. They were the greatest generation. Coincidentally I’ve just been reading about this elsewhere.
(P.S. Subscribed!)
TJ, I know you don't remember me, but I used to watch your videos all the time. I was wondering if you could do a video about the German pilot that spared a B 17 F. Here's the full story.
It was December the 20th 1943. A pilot by the name of Charles "Charlie" Brown was in his B17F, Ye Old Pub. Their mission is to bomb the Focke Wulf plant in Bremen. After being shot at by flak, Ye Old Pub's tail gunner was killed. With only one engine running, and a tail missing, Ye Old Pub went in a steep dive. Thankfully, after being passed out, Charlie managed to bring the Flying Fortress back up. But, unfortunately, Charlie accidentally flew over a Luftwaffe airfield. A German pilot by the name of Lieutenant Franz Stigler, saw the B17, and got in his 109. He was just one kill away from earning Germany's Knight's Cross. After catching up to the plane, he was about to pull the trigger when he realized the tail gunner was dead. 'This was no threat. If I shoot this plane down, it will be on my conscience gor the rest of my life.' He flew over to the side and witnessed the injured crews in the fuselage. Charlie turned for a quick gaze and looked again as he saw a German BF 109 flying in formation with the damaged warbird. Franz gestured that they land in Germany, he refused. Franz then told them to land in neutral Sweden, the same response was given. No. German AA crews saw the Flying Fortress, but refused to fire. It would risk the life of one of their own men, Stigler. After a while of flying escort for Ye Old Pub, Franz gave Charlie a respectful salute, and headed home. P-47s would soon intercept Ye Old Pub and guide them home. Charlie and his crew were surprised at the encounter with the sympathetic German. The story remained top secret until 1989 when Charlie began his search for the pilot who had spared his bomber. In 1990, he got a letter that read that they were the pilot who had escorted Ye Old Pub. They finally met in person and were interviewed for about 20 minutes. Franz gifted Charlie a book that read, "In 1940, I lost my only brother as a night fighter. In 1943, four days before Christmas, I managed to save a B 17 from her destruction. Charlie, to me, is as precious as my brother was. Thanks, Charlie. Your brother, Franz." He said that he never got the Knight's Cross, but he always said, he got something better. (Charlie Brown October 24, 1922-November 24, 2008) (Franz Stigler August 21, 1915-March 22, 2008)
"No man hath greater love than he who layeth his life for his enemy."
Videos about this story:
Yarnhub:
th-cam.com/video/SQe4roNR8Nc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=ZIK57pagF8zt-phg
C-bass Productions
th-cam.com/video/TSluTZGxdY0/w-d-xo.htmlsi=IY89P-GzIy8Ukv6L
NEVER2YUNG4AVIETNAMFLASHBACK:
th-cam.com/video/_lp9-cN_Oog/w-d-xo.htmlsi=MmXkPJXg24jWhR-q
Hi TJ. We have a 8th Airforce B17 pilot names Dick Nelms that is now 101 (Nearing 102 I believe in Jan). Still Very Sharp. If you haven't interviewed him, You need to! Contact the Museum of Flight in Seattle. He Volunteers here every week!! My Name is Mike Martinez (Docent at the Museum). :)
Great video!
What “Dogfights” didn’t cover.
Uh I think they did actually
@@MattKearneyFan1they covered the battle over Y29, not the entire operation
Dogfights “Death of the Luftwaffe”
Great stuff
My Father was living in Leiden (occupied Holland )on this day.
He said that when the Germans flew over, the Dutch cheered, thinking it was an Allied strike going in.
They didn't think the Germans had that many aircraft left .
These videos cover things that other history videos do not
This video was very well done. Bravo TJ
Saw the Dogfights episode of this exact fight. Holy crap, was it insane.
TJ are there any pictures of Feet of Heaven? I'm building a 1/5 scale P-47 radio control model and would like to decorate it as the Feet of Heaven plane flown by Ed in WWII.
Hmmm. Good question! I was unable to locate any. The Veterans History Museum of the Carolinas might know if there is one!
Beautiful Man, I can hear his heart😢
My father was a motorcycle MP at one of those forward airstrips in Belgium, although he talked very little, I kept pressing him during the last few weeks of his life. A few years earlier I had taken him on a trip to DC to see the WWII memorial where he spent a lot of time just sitting and talking to other vets. One other thing he wanted to see was one of those damned German jets so off to the museum to see their ME-262. I only have a couple of his old photos from the war, he did go on about those P-47s and how great they were and how scary those damned jet things were coming in at tree top level. I wish he had more time or talked more. One thing he did say that I haven't been able to find any information on that must have been a surprise for the Germans coming in at tree top level was some combat engineers built AA platforms in the surrounding forests, at tree top level.
My grandfather was an artillery Captain under Patton in the 137th. Grandpa swore he was firing anti-aircraft guns at those same 262 on two specific occasions summer of 1944 during operation cobra and just about the time you're describing winter 44. Google says the Germans didn't fly any 262 in 1945 because they had all been shot down
@@aeonsbeyond I wish I had more specifics but for most of my life my father didn't talk about the war. I do know he joined in 1939 at age 16, was stationed at Ft. Knox, Ky, part of the motorcycle evaluation group, participated in D-day, and a bit about his duties with the 9th Air group in Belgium (have two photos) Told me he never set foot in Germany since in the spring he was pulled back to England for retraining. As for google, can never be sure about their information although according to another source on Marth 18th, 1945 a group of 37 Me 262s shot down 12 bombers and one fighter while intercepting a force of 1,221 bombers and 632 escorting fighters.
thank you TJ & Ed 🙏🏾🎉
When i heard P47 i thought "thats not good for the germans"
Great content! Thank you!! Just one small note. In German "w" is pronounced as "v". There is no English "w" sound in German. So Luftwaffe should actually be pronounced Luftvaffe.
Another stellar video, TJ.
This channel is soooooooo awesome
The respect these brave men have for one and other is amazing. If the guys who started the wars had to fight, there would be peace for us all.
Im so grateful for the freedom we have because of the bravery of the Allied military.
Erich Hartmann told in his memoirs, that his last aerial contact with enemy was "different". He and hes wingman attaced to russian/american flotilla from above. They did not realised who/what was the reason. They began to fight themselves...
Man time just keeps marching. It’s so sad
Due to the secrecy of the operation, German fllak crews were not informed of the operation and shot down over 250 returning German fighter aircraft.
Great video
It's funny that the 190 A-8 3D model now has the mountings for that X-4 missile, even though you're not able to carry it. Idk if its drag is modelled currently but lmao
great as always
Thanks
operation bodenplate(operation base plate) was a top secret attack on multiple us airbases stationed in belgum, the netherlands, and france. an estimated fighter force of around 860 aircraft would be flow on this mission divided between about 4 or 5 air bases in an attempt to regain airial supperiority, at this time most of the experianced german pilots were either shot down and captured or killed in action erlier in the war. so most of these pilots where fresh out of training and had little to no combat experiance. also a keen factor to note is that at this time germany didnt launch large scale attacks because they where on the deffensive and needed to spair resorces to keep the war going, german flak units on the front lines where not informed about this attack to remain secrecy. about one 3rd of the luftwaffas fighting force was shot down by freindly fire because any time the german flak units saw a very large number of aircraft at this time they assumed it was the allies. this mission would enevidably be the downfall or the silver bullet that would indeffinatly end the luftwaffe.
I had die cast planes as a kid. And with even knowing the me 109 was the bad guy. And the mustang was the hero
Honors to all pilots and the crews that kept them flying. Honors to the bombers and crew. As my brother would say (artillery man), "If it flies, it dies."
amazing how thanks to AI we can see a more clear and detailed version of these of war photos
Help me interview more veterans here: Patreon.com/TJ3History or join my free Newsletter here: tj3history.ck.page/0440475ff7
Thanks!
Thank you!!
Great story.
The Americans won the battle of the Buldge really, lol. I thought it was the Brits and the Canadians who saved the Yanks arse yet again.
It’s kind of sad that the leadership of the Luftwaffe would send out these kids on a suicide mission. They must have known at that time that the war was lost.
Very few World War Two veterans left.
Their stories must be told before it's too late.
Junkers is pronounced ‘yunkers ’. Leutnant is pronounced ‘loitnant’. Luftwaffe is pronounced ‘looftvaffer’.
It's more like loytnant actually, and luftwaffe is not luftwaffer, nor lutwaffa, which is hideous to hear, it's just luftwaffe, just e is understressed as the stress is on f, same with platte and similar words, but yeah, e never changes into a in german, and it's awful, nobody does it except out of touch americans with absolutely no sense for lgges.
But this guy made so many pronounciations mistakes in one video, didn't see that many yet, it's usually one word like lugtwaffe, oh and i've seen this fucker at the end of the clip - i bet he thinks he's too smart to ask a computer to read him outloud a foreign word he can't pronounce.
When in doubt, IPA:
/ˈjʊŋkɐ/
/ˈlɔʏ̯tnant/
/ˈlʊftvafə/
This senseless attack helped to shorten the war by many months. TH-cam channel Krokodile tears is about a doctor who goes various battlefields, graveyards and helps to identify fallen solders.
Don’t blame the men’s, blame the leader who started all this bloody war.
It pretty much started with armistice
The elected leader? Who elected him? Men and women?
@@ninja234-v4f blame the Versailles treaty
Men with big egos who are sore losers and don’t mind starting riots with speeches
Dude, you grew a beard! Nice. I was gonna comment on your last video I saw to tell you to grow your facial hair. It suits you much better!
Haha thanks! It all depends on how much my wife let's me get away with lol
😆
Excellent
Day off. Cleaning house. Just heard phone ding. TJ came through break time 🥂
Thanks for watching :)
Ironically, my birthday is March 23rd, same as Ed's daughter.
Holy crap I cant beiive he is that old he doesnt look it and sharp as a tack wow Looks maybe his late 70s
Great job really enjoy your videos unfortunately on fixed income and handicapped elderly don’t have a lot of spare money but I do appreciate your efforts
@@jamesbroughton7870 that's okay! Thanks so much for watching and enjoying :)
Wait is this about the legend of Y-29?
Dame my main takeaway is dont spill oil. It will at last your life
"We did not know just how incredibly wealthy the United States was. From the beginning, we never stood a chance." --German Officer.
Sad that the good guys lost...
I think your discord link isn't working properly on this video.
The pronunciation of Bastogne was correct from the veteran. Not the narrator pronunciation
Ik WT when I see it.
I was looking so hard for someone who also noticed he used War Thunder customebattles for background footage 😂
Scrolled through a lot of people who didn't even seem to notice, just calling the video "beautiful" and "amazing". Goes to show how realistic our game looks like🎉
Awesome.
Fuel was scarced for the Luftwaffe. That is why they hate to drop the tank with fuel....Hehehehe
British and allied pilots RAF stopped German Air force and planned invasion of UK at the Battle of Britain1940 Royal Navy could not be destroyed without German air support ... More info on WW1-WW2 Dr Mark Felton on TH-cam... Great vid.
By this time in the war the germans could have had squadrons of 262s and it would have not made a squat of difference
Me109, best plane ever after me262
The last of Goerings really bad ideas.
Bodenplatte was a sucess, the secret breaks the operation. Most losses are made trought the own AA guns. By the way, inexperied pilots, training places where the favored shooting grounds for allied fighterpilots.
? Blistering COLD ?
Badass!!!