Death Ride of the Luftwaffe - Operation Bodenplatte 1945
2019 ж. 22 Қаз.
1 881 868 Рет қаралды
Find out what happened during the last large-scale German Air Force operation of the war, made in support of the last ground offensives in the West.
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That music makes me want to do a daring midnight raid on the fridge.
Bologna sandwich Blitzkrieg incoming
@Greasyspleen: Note to spouse - set up defences, a perimeter of mousetraps.
Operation Biting 2.0
Who dares wins... the best snacks.
Operation Snack Jaeger
The Germans could have destroyed a complete airbase just by dropping Goering on it.
More history in 12 seconds than the history channel in the past 5 years
When your airforce was beaten so badly you assume they are enemy planes and shoot at them.
Pretty safe bet most of the time. I read that up to one million men were tied up in defending Germany for USAAF and RAF bombers. Not to mention all of the AA guns and aircraft needed.
"When they are silver planes, they are American. When they are green planes, they're British. When there are no planes? That's the Luftwaffe." -Some random Hun, Normandy 1944.
Vengineer The Wehrmacht has a saying all the way back in the summer of ‘44 after D-Day... IF you see a green planes... they’re British IF you see a silver planes... they’re American IF you don’t see ANY planes... it’s the Luftwaffe...🙃
Like the old Joke said: If you see a white plane, it's an American, if you see a black plane it's the RAF. If you see no planes at all it's the Luftwaffe!
Pretty bad that the quote is so famous, that 3 people posted at the same time without realizing it. 😅 Or, perhaps I should say, "If you see three people writing about the lack of planes in the luftwaffe, it's the luftwaffe." 😉
One of the Me109’s of the Bodenplatte campaign that attacked Eindhoven Airbase crashed near our houses just south of the Base. The pilot survived and his son attended a formal meeting about the event some years ago at a temporary fun airstrip very near to the crash site. The plane is still in the ground, almost intact, we did recover small parts of it. History is not without a sense of irony... .
Remember when the History Channel had documentaries like this? *GOOD TIMES*
Dogfights was my favorite, still can't believe it was only 2 seasons !
Yes I sure do. And I also remember when the weather channel had weather, now it's hyperactive insanity.
Yeeeeehaw gotta get that gold! Yuuup!!! I'm buying that storage G-g-gotta get them alligator.
I have been reading and visited every museum I have come across from WW2 since I was 10. Still, Mr. Felton’s videos manages to find stories I know nothing or little about! I love this channel! My compliments Mr. Felton.
Plot twist you are 11
It's good that you take an interest. However these are all covered in history and freely accessible. It's really worth grabbing a few old books and reading them, it's amazing what can be found. The subject of this video actually was in the Dogfight series, very good too.
@@vasili1207 lol im 11
There was an episode of the US TV series Dog Fight which covered part of the airbattle which included interviews with some of those who took part. Last time I looked it was available on KZhead.
I would really want to see these planes irl but I don't think that there is any ww2 museums where I live
Bonus: One of those experienced wing commanders leading Operation Bodenplatte was Major Gunther Specht, an ace credited with 34 victories on the western front and considered one of the best wing commanders of the Luftwaffe. He had only one eye due to a wound received earlier while attacking enemy bomber. This did not deter him and he became commander of the famed JG-11 replacing Herbert Ihlefeld (130 victories). On the morning of January 1 1945, he led JG-11 on a daring low level assault on the Asch airfield as part of Bodenplatte, they immediately came under fire from AAA and lost the edge of surprise when a dozen USAF P-51 mustangs on patrol by chance immediately engaged them. Specht was killed while attempting to crash-land his badly damaged Fw-190. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of Lt colonel
7:59, can we acknowledge these madlads just spraying brens into the air hoping to get one
Last time I’m this early the Luftwaffe still had air supremacy
Take my like sir
Pommy Pie Laughs in 2,800hp of Pratt and Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp twin row 18 cylinder radial ;)
I've noticed that Hitler had one massive weakness. He relied too much on sledgehammer tactics, to always be on the offensive and put little value in defensive tactics. This showed when he ordered his people to turn the Me-262 into a bomber, a roll that it was totally unsuited for.
My Dad was RCAF ground crew that day. His was a Reconnaissance unit. He was up early when the raid started and took cover under a truck. When he returned to his billet, he found his pillow blown to feathers by a 20mm cannon shell. They lost most of their aircraft but he said most were replaced in about a week.
We’ll never know how many bomber crewmen lived for decades after the war because of this diversion of resources.
Meh, it was a tiny drop in the bucket. Ww2 never saw America unleash its planned wunderwauffen. If the war lasted for America as long as it had for Germany. You wouldve aeen Montana class battleships fighting Yamato and B-36 Peacemakers dropping Hydrogen bombs on Germany. People ignorant of history assumes what the US used in WW2 was all they were capable lf developing.
@@zeitgeistx5239 the hell has your drivel got to do with his comment?
@@zeitgeistx5239 Same for the other side. Imagine if Hitler didn't attack Russia. If Hitler didn't call off the Britain invasion. What if they had another year for German technology that we were dieing to get our hands on
I'm sure Allied aircrews were very grateful to the Luftwaffe for delivering a fatal blow to itself like that.
@@Josh-hr5mc Germany could have never seriously invaded britain
"Ah, the Luftwaffe - the Washington Generals of the History Channel!" - Homer Simpson
Krusty's Accountant: Let me get this straight. You took all the money you made franchising your name and bet it *against* the Harlem Globetrotters? Krusty the Clown: [miserable] Oh, I thought the Generals were due! [watches the game on TV] Krusty the Clown: He's spinning the ball on his finger! Just take it! Take it! [the Globetrotters score] Krusty the Clown: That game was fixed! They were using a freakin' ladder, for God's sake!
@@expfcwintergreenv2.02 lol one of my favorites
@Adam Dziobek The Washington Generals are a team in the same league as the Harlem Globetrotters. They're performers as opposed to competitive players. Where the Globetrotters' role is to perform tricks and win, the Generals role is to lose.
@Adam Dziobek en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Generals
@Adam Dziobek At least they are not the Denver Broncos.................................
305 Allied planes destroyed. That's what a week or two's production from the Allied factories?
Not even one week
Not even that long when you consider that the Ford Willow Run plant alone put out 1 Liberator every hour around the clock.
What was really bad was the number of Allied pilots killed were around a dozen only, against the loss of over 200 German pilots. Even the Allies would have found it harder to replace pilots over planes, yet all the attack managed was to destroy the thing the Allies could replace most easily. Truly an awful outcome for the Luftwaffe.
I have learned so much from Mark Felton. The History Channel or the Smithsonian need to hire this man quickly! Their viewership would increase drastically, and the quality of programming would only get better! Thank you Mark for your amazing work, hopefully someone will pay attention and more people would be able to enjoy your work, as we have here!
Hmmm ... I prefer the current situation where Dr Felton has editorial control over his choice of subjects and his content. Once you accept the master's coin, you become their puppet ...
My Grandfather first saw a ME 262, his first jet sighting, chased by two P-51’s, and outrun them. He was in Bastogne.
"Pilot issue was the worst "- older the war gets,younger the soldiers gets committed.........great production again..honoured to be the 1st to watch it.
I think the Japanese would second that.
@@bigblue6917 ya..
Perfect timing while I watch and eat my lunch.
Im eating dinner while you eat lunch
Im eating my evening snack.
Same here
I live in Cali, it's breakfast by the time Mark uploads.
In watching the moon rise! Lol!
This was the second presentation of Operation Bodenplatte havee seen on KZhead. It is by far the best. Thank you!
This was covered in the Dogfight series, quite well done too. Good video all the same. These videos are an excellent start hopefully to encourage people to pick up a book and study the wider subject. It's all there for people to discover, so don't let your appreciation of history end with a 10 minute video and Wikipedia. History is important at least an understanding of it, lest we are doomed to repeat it! Worth remembering.
Thank you for doing this. I've been waiting for it.
The Luftwaffe was on the slow but inexorable downward slope the moment they were switched to bombing cities instead of airfields, the outcome of the Battle of Britain could easily have had a different outcome if they had continued daylight raids on the airfields and had not underestimated the importance of radar, but they didn’t and that allowed the RAF to regroup and strengthen, and once the USA joined the war it was a much quicker end to them being in any way an effective fighting force, although I believe that even without the USAAF the RAF and the many allied pilots and aircraft would have prevailed eventually, might have taken a good few more years, but nonetheless they would have prevailed in the air on the land and at sea. Thanks and may you all Rest In Peace, Lest We Forget. Thanks for another excellent documentary. 👍🇬🇧
The Luftwaffe had no chance of standing against the Allies considering the fact by the time the bombing campaign was in full swing they were already bled dry on the Eastern front. Sure the Soviets never had total air superiority over the Germans, and they weren't very effective in the air, but the work was so much and the casualties for the Luftwaffe there were nonetheless huge, irreplaceable and ultimately fatal.
The Germans understood radar, but underestimated the effectiveness of the British air-defence system; the quite crude radar installations were supplemented by visual observer stations linked by a telephone network. All information was then rapidly collated to obtain a better overall picture of the battlefield before centrally directing planes to interdict German formations. It was this integrated communication that was the key to Dowding’s defensive system.
In the event you see this, I love all your videos. Thank you for posting these on here. I'm learning more than I ever would because school is terrible and they never really go over things like this. Please keep it up!
Another great video Mark. I did some work on boddenplatte during my masters thesis and it never ceases to amaze me that's such a concentration fuel and pilots was wasted in such a fruitless manner
WWII is one of my favorite subject in history, having a grandfather that worked at Los Alamos during the war, I am also an aircraft mechanic and have worked on several warbirds on a volunteer basis and it is very rewarding. I love this channel as you often go into obscure moments in the war that are fascinating. thank you very much for putting out the content that you do!
7:30 Gotta love some hip fire Bren gun action😃
Truly tragic when you look at Germany's actions at the end of the war so many lives lost needlessly.
Desperation towards the end. Happens in lots of wars unfortunately.
They bought time, hoping to delay enslavement of half of Europe, or a miracle peace treaty with the civilized allies.
@@werre2 I doubt the National Socialist commitment to "anti-enslavement," given that they'd been comrades and allies of their fellow socialists in Russia when the enslavement process was initiated.
It was an existential fight. Look around.
@@werre2 yeah.... nope. That was all a delusion and wishful thinking by Hitler and his generals. They threw a million German lives away because they couldn't admit they had failed and tried to save their own asses.
WW2 was amazing in every possible way you could mean that.Those aircam shots will live forever.
The little I know about the Luftwaffe they were relatively honourable and chivalrous and might have balked a little at orders to shoot up crew accommodation. There's the story of the Luftwaffe fighter pilot who, having determined that a damaged Allied aircraft was no longer an active threat, escorted the aircraft back to England as far as he dared go. He credited his commanding officer who also forbad shooting enemy pilots in parachutes stating they were there to fight against machines of war, not murder helpless men.
I love you Mark. I’ve never “Felton” this way about another man. “Mark” my words, I’ll never unsubscribe.
Creepoid ..
You sir, are a true Felton Fanatic! Glad to have you as a member of the club! :)
awwwwwww 🥰🥰🥰🥰
Garand thumb fan I see
It’s not that you love another man that makes you gay. It’s how you went about telling us.
This is off topic but still might be of interest to some. My father was a B-24 pilot in the 15th, did 30 missions. He said something about facing German fighters I've never seen mentioned elsewhere. He remarked, "There was nothing friendly about those airplanes." I said sure, they were German, etc. He retorted, "That's not it. Our fighters were brand new, flashy, shiny. The 109s and 190s at that point ('44-'45) were filthy, grimy, spattered with oil. They had no time to clean them up. They just rearmed and refueled them and off they went again. The pilots were desperate and they fought like it."
That footage was amazing! I nearly forgot I was watching a KZhead video. Excellent work as always.
Excellent video.Great action footages. Fantastic editing. Classic Mark Felton.The best channel on You tube!
Mark, I love your videos. ❤️❤️❤️. I grew up just after the war, and have always been a history buff. I thought I’d seen just about every war film out there...until I found your channel. It’s like falling in love all over again. Thank you.
What a surprise, another 12/10 awesome videos by MR. Mark Felton... keep that amazing work Man, you are da guy
THANKS AGAIN MARK, GREAT FOOTAGE MUCH OF WHICH I HAD NOT SEEN BEFOR.
I thoroughly enjoy watching your videos Mark, looking forward to many more!
Great job Mark! Love the longer format!!!
As the self appointed pubah of the Felton Fanatics, let me congratulate you once more for an amazing video!
Another great history lesson and another awesome video Mark !
I have never heard this story before today in your channel. Thank you so much Mark it gives a clearer picture of the complexity of the German plan towards the Ardennes.
Even today, as a german, many details are still not known or simply ignored bei my fellow "Landsleute", my fellow citizens, of these maniac activities of the failing "Luftwaffe". So, it is important to keep a fact based history stream of these topics going. Excellent work, Mark! Keep up this very good and informative channel. One would have to read 'tons' of history books on those special and lesser known subjects, so it is good to get the most important facts and information in a nutshell. Anybody interested further in the topic can always revert to detailed books anyway.
Mark does a wonderful job with these short films.
The courage and skill of these men deserved a better cause.
This is officially my favourite English language channel at the moment. Thanks a lot Mark.
Your videos are awesome, while watching feel I am seeing alive the incidents which happened a long time ago before I was born maybe I was in that incedents in my previous birth, really incredible.
I first learned about Bodenplatte from the game Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe. It was one of the Historical missions.
Congratulations! And what a superb and complete way to present it! Story is always very interesting but you make any topic fascinating! Boy I wish to attend one of your lectures! Greetings from Guatemala!
Fascinating as always, Mr. Felton. - A proud patron
Awesome content as always Mark. Keep the great vids coming
If I could pay 10$ a month to have double the videos you put out I would. Love love love this channel
Mr.Felton. Thank you for this new offering...
Great to see the old 303 Bren Gun in action again. Its been years since i fired one, before and after they were modified to fire 7.62cal rounds. A very well made weapon. Bob, New Zealand.
A great and very interesting Video! Thanks Mark!
The fact that the Luftwaffe could still pull off this large scale air offensive (at all), this late in the war, is a testament to Germany’s resolve, ingenuity and spirit.
Thank you Mark. Great stuff as usual. Dogfights had an episode called, The Death of the Luftwaffe: The Legend of Y-29 where they featured an air battle over the slag heaps of Belgium during this operation but they never discussed the background details of the German attack. Now I know!
Here's an account of the fight over Y-29 skeptic78240.wordpress.com/2015/01/01/death-of-the-luftwaffe/
@@DaveGIS123 Not any more, A&E has laid claim to the video and blocked it.
As usual, just awesome!! Thank you!!
5:05 Yes!!! The Canadians (RCAF) were there and thank you for saying so.
I always love the mention
Poor Canada. Often forgotten but always gives a helping hand anyways.
lol they didn't even get off the ground.
The RAF/RCAF base at Eindhoven got clobbered by JG 3, which destroyed some 47 aircraft and damaged another 43 on the ground. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Bodenplatte
The Canucks were excellent and above any reproach on land , on the sea and in the air. And unlike others , were most humble and modest about their many achievements.
Another great vid, thanks Mark.
Thank you Mark, excellent as usual
Thank You Dr. Felton!
And another Gem Mr Felton Thank You!
This video just made my morning coffee so much more enjoyable cheers Mr.Felton ☕
USAAF Cadets received 80 hours of advanced tactical fighter tactics training (this is after basic pilot training). And then two months in theater transition training by experienced aces before being sent to combat duty. US Army and Navy Cadet training was superb and quality actually improved during the course of the war. Most US aces were sent Stateside to training assignments.
I really enjoy your videos and your narrative is excellent. Two thumbs up.👍👍
Hands down the best history channel on you tube!!!
“That plane’s ours, Hans! It must be a major operation.”
Great videos mate!
Thank you Mark,very informative historical education about the Luftwaffes,last offensive in WW2.Would be interested in an aftermath prologue to May 1945 if you have footage
MARK!! thank you so much for the amazing videos. Could you please do a short feature on General Von Bredow and his insane cavalry charge for additional context? Pretty please?
EXCELLENT CONTENT AS ALWAYS... I donated to your patreon
Fantastic video... This channel with its videos on ww2 and cold war... Just great...
@Mark Felton Productions - Mr. Felton, as an adjunct to this video, could you perhaps tell the story of the Battle of Y-29? It's the worst disaster the Luftwaffe suffered during Bodenplatte, and is definitely worthy of a video. Thanks! 2:30 - It wasn't the handing over of squadrons which hampered the ability of the Luftwaffe to inflict damage on the bombers, it was their lack of fuel. When the Soviets captured Ploesti, in late '44, it was pretty much all over. I knew a guy, on the discussion forums of a WWII aircraft website, who was a B-17 bombardier in the 360th BS(H), 303rd BG, toward the end of the war. He said he only saw TWO German aircraft during all his missions (on different missions, not on the same day). Neither one attacked the bomber formation. Both just shadowed it then left. 4:57 - You forgot P-47 Thunderbolts. Let's get some "Jug Love" here, folks! ;)
Greatest history channel ever keep on
Always the best. Thanks Mark!
Great timing for the video, with the new IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Bodenplatte about to be released!
Another great video mark. Have you ever thought of releasing your videos in audio format? Like a podcast perhaps? Im lucky enough to be allowed a radio or earphones at my place of work and listen to podcasts often. Would be great to be able to listen to some of your work, either way, thank you for the content 👍👍
Very interesting vidéo as usual .thank you to share with us forgoten episodes of the war.french subscriber.
Very interesting as always Mark thanks again
amazing film as always Mark! keep up the good work
This event was covered in Pierre Clostermann`s book "The Big Show (Le Grand Cirque)". I highly recomend this book. Pierre Henri Clostermann (28 February 1921 - 22 March 2006) was a World War 2 French fighter pilot. During the conflict he achieved 33 air-to-air combat victories, earning the accolade "France's First Fighter" from General Charles de Gaulle. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Clostermann If i remember Clostermann`s observation of the raid it was something like this; The RAF had some planes in the air but most where returning from mission and was already empty or low in ammo. Also the amount of German planes and the heavy AA ment that allied planes had difficulties making a significant impact on the German raid.
It was also on that Dogfight series, in fact the episode drew largely from the book I seem to remember.
I would not recommend Clostermann's book unless purely for entertainment value. As in, it's a good book, but there's plenty of not-quite true statements in it, and taking it at face value is a mistake.
Good read that book!
Clostermann was of the opinion that the german planes had better weaponry throughout the war. Read the book 15 years ago.
@@gunner678 I have the Dogfight's series on DVD, it's excellent. Back when the History channel lived up to it's name. One of the American flight leaders suspected that the Germans would attack on New Years and got some of his planes warmed up and idling, as he took his take off run he saw them coming and started firing even before his landing gear had retracted! By this time the Germans were so desperate for fuel and the lack of pilots that this was the effective end of the Luftwaffe. At the end of the war many ME-262's were found hidden in the woods near roads, with either no fuel or even no engines, having run out of raw materials or the factory bombed out.
Thanks Mark. Good point about crew quarters being targeted, could of had disastrous consequences
Many thanks for another excellent presentation.👌👌👏👏
I read (can't remember the book) that when faced with a bad situation they were to bailout instead of fighting, they were told that Germany had plenty of planes, it was pilots they were running out of.
Very nice video Mark. I enjoy every bits of it. Haha
Mark Felton is the king of KZhead.
you're not wrong with that statement Make sure is very knowledgeable about the frist & second world war's as i said to Mark i thought i knew just about all there was to know about both conflicts Ritchie
The luftwaffe pilots were not only great airmen, but they served their country to the last bitter end, irregardless of the situation, fulfilling their duty, as do all who love their country, to make little of that is a sacrilege in anybodys country. Thanks for the post Mr. Felton, never knew the losses at Eindoven were that high, only that the Germans losses were unsustainable by that late point of the conflict, so thanks again.
Great video
Those FW-190a's were beautiful birds, especially with that winter camouflage.
Planes can be built. Experienced pilots cannot. Thanks again Mark for another fascinating fact on WW11.
5 Minutes ago and I'm Number 1112..... Your Channel is growing 😊.
This Channel deserve a Million Subscribers
His voice is so perfect and takes me back to school films and early videos and dare i say it, dare i even consider it . . . . . .The World at War, the standard setting and epic series . . . . . .you remind me of a young Sir Laurence. . . .
Your videos are awesome Mark!
Awesome ! Thanks for your work !
If you enjoy "novelized history" as I do, Spencer Dunmore's "Ace" is a great read, from the German perspective. "Bomb Run" is also a page-turner. They are out of print but available on flea bay.
Both worth reading.
Great footage. Great research. Thanks.
Hey mark, another fantastic video as always, i would like to tell you that for some reason when i came to watch this video i was unsubscribed from your channel, not sure if this has happened to anyone else but is very strange
I remember history channel covered this in thier dogfights episode they called “ the legend of Y-29”
Correct.
@@Ni999 A&E has blocked it now, bummer.