11 Kills in a Day - The True Story of Erich Hartmann - Historic WWII Cinematic IL2 Sturmovik 

He really was, my uncle flew with him after the war in the bundeswehr, and i met him a couple times myself. I was still pretty young though when he died.

Cool to be that close to history. Thanks.

That would be amazing.

He didn't like the F-104 right?

@@Joshua_N-A no one liked that plane

Well, those 352 "confirmed kills", was not 352 actual kills. The over-claim for fighter pilots of all nations was considerable and very often there where ~3 "confirmed kills" for every actual kill. This obviously differed from unit to unit. In the US it tended to vary from air force to air force (the 8th forinstance had a very low overclaim of ~30%, while the US forces in the Med and Pacific had far higher overclaim. In the Pacific there where cases where the number of "confirmed kills" greatly exceded the number of japanese airplanes in the actuall fight. For Germany the difference in overclaim varied between units at lower level and units with a lot of aces, tended to have a higher over claim.

Если эти немцы такие асы с громадными счетами сбитых, то отчего это немецкая авиация закончилась к концу войны а не советская?

A real warrior always admires a Hero even if he was an adversary.

@@drittenreichlieber And a real student of history, doesn't consider unsubstansiated claims from one side (the Luftwaffe) as facts. The truth can only be found, by comparing data from all sides. Thats why we today know that forinstance Rudel lied his ass of, and whats how we know, that the germans where nowhere near winning the battle of Britain, and thats how we know that the battle of Prokhorovka was not a spectacular tactical loss for the germans, but a spectacular tactical victory. When it comes to aces (be they fighter pilots, tankers, submarine commanders, snipers et cetera) there is a general problem, that we take their one-sided claims at face value, or in some cases, that we take the claims that was made up by someone else after the war at face-value as is the case for german tank aces.

Geschichten aus dem Paulanergarten.

But without hate and division the Democratic party would not survive.

This is even more astonishing knowing that Hartmann had to spend 10 years in Soviet gulags as a “war criminal” and was only released in 1955. Even after this terrible experience of spending his best years in prison, he still wanted to encourage others to live without hate.

Yes, what a ride man. NEVER HATE because it brings you down to their level. Hitler , Hess, Goerbels, Goering and Himmler were 5 evil.tyrants that will pay for what they did. You cant blame ALL germans cuz they did not have the means to stop him. Hitler had the military CONVINCED they were the master race and they blindly followed him and his FINAL.SOLUTION. Ask any of the great german aces about the holocaust and they will tell you IF they could have stopped it THEY WOULD.

⁠@@JimLaifstailyea, and even more astonishing knowing he was the greatest lier of all WWII pilots, less than 20% of his kills are confirmed, check your facts lads.

@@Liberalmonkey haha, keep dreaming 😁.

Very cool!

@Pojka well... There's a reason he was called "Bubi"

Good for you, man!

He actually swapped his air craft with an inexperienced fighter, since the black tulip painting was known and feared. At one point there was even a significant prize on his head, but nobody wanted to take it. As soon as they saw the markings the russian pilots fled at top speed. So he thought giving it to young and inexperienced pilots gives them time to learn since at that point the education of new pilots was way too short

@@daftwulli6145 This is literally the most stupid thing I have ever read and was taken from the Book which was not written by Hartmann himself but by some fanbois "Holt Hartmann vom Himmel". "Hey new guy, there is a prize on my head but you can fly my plane, that will keep you save." Whatever omegalul.

@@ariannescharfi9366 It was to distract the enemy, he gave his plane to new pilots and it's true that some fled but obviously he did it for him to to undercover

@@ariannescharfi9366 I don´t know how to tell you this but that book was OK´d by hartmann himself, and he was pretty proud of it. I got that from the horses mouth myself and have a signed copy of the book with a personal inscription for my mother. My uncle flew with hartmann in the bundeswehr till he died in a crash with the starfighter. Hagen hülfert. The prize on his head did not matter, since enemy fighters where for a good reason scared of the black tulip.

@@daftwulli6145 Geschichten ausm Paulanergarten.

He also once escaped from soviet union, after been shot down. By foot.

Hartmann was never shot down by an enemy fighter. Only debris from the planes of his victims and ground fire caused him to crash land

So the guy was technically shot down 22 times ...

He developed slowly into an ace, was initially undisciplined, did not follow the command instructions, initiated an independent fight, so he was punished several times! He reaped his 352nd air victory on the last day of the European War.

that only works against very inexperienced pilots or loners

@@cyrkestuffl9051 really interesting

@@vladimir0681 Well he apparently met a lot of these then!

352 pilots concur!

Birkner was his wingman

Read the book too..wanted to write to him just to ask what sidearm he carried. Was trying to make heads from tails from his photos on the sidearm he had. "..a man is judged by the arm he carries.." _ Theodore Roosevelt ..asking of what firearm Mulai Ahmed er Raisuli, a Morrocan tribal Shariff who kidnapped an American woman , carried.

This is a myth written by the pseudo book of "Holt Hartmann vom Himmel". In freaking air combat you don't fucking see a tulp painted on an airplane like in some anime cutscene. Especially someone who flies BnZ the whole time and avoids deady turnfights. + How can u see the noseart of a german plane when literally most of german planes had something painted on them. I can imagine that u guys want to believe something but this is not so smart.

@@ariannescharfi9366 go away troll, you’re copying and pasting the same shit in every reply section that’s sad.

@@ariannescharfi9366 sorry, but don't agree. identifying paint scheme and markings were used by friends and foe to declutter in air combat. Cheers.

Good point: If Hartmann stays right on the tail of his target, any Russian plane trying to help would fear hitting his own friend. Smart!

No way dude.

Shot down felling like a splash .

Smart And Very Brave Man Salute

@@weissrw1 did you know that Erich „bubi” Hartmann became a flight instructr after the war ?

Amen!

@Viсente D That's how my paternal grandpa lost his first plane... although _he_ was RAF 😆.

@@KrautGoesWild Douglas Bader instructed his pilots, "Get as close as you can before opening fire. When you think you're much too close, get even closer".

@@raypurchase801 Different sides, same advices 🙂.

Well given that they give Franz Stigler the massive overclaiming liar the time of day, I am not holding my breath....

Ну да в тот день илы послали бомбить немчуру без истребительного прикрытия, и было это явно в 41 году. Да и те 11 наверняка половина просто села на брюхо и .... потом их починили.

@Clinton Reisig Y the wouldn't, they make songs about ww history and he is an important part of it

@@-difr03 ask them lol

Но как им приятно верить в белокурого рыцаря, у которого минимум 50% "побед" записаны с его слов. Разве можно не верить словам настоящего джентльмена

BS Goebbels propaganda. Think man, ME 109 had only 40 min to fly, so take off - fight - landing. Hitler was very happy.

Was in captivity and what? As his "bloody commies" released alive, that's the question))) Apparently he licked something important to the communists. And about the victories. Hartman comes out against the Soviet Air Force. Hartman says that he shot down 10 communists, and in the communist loss log there is 1 shot down plane. Probably the communists were hiding the losses so that heroes like Hartman could not confirm their heroic deeds ...

@@sapiensrex5603 In January 1997, three years after his death, Erich Hartmann was rehabilitated on the Russian side and acquitted of all his previous crimes. Furthermore, the Russian committee made it clear that the multi-award-winning fighter pilot had been unjustly convicted.

He surrendered to the Americans who unjustly gave him to the Bolsheviks.

I think this is a world record: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-xIT95HqXsi4.html&lc=UgyTrGwRyifn4Ex8qQp4AaABAg.9NNlJ-cIZ9T9NaNxsQtdym The last Hungarian prisoner of war spent more than fifty years in a Russian mental hospital. András Toma was enlisted in 1944 at the age of 19. As a soldier of the 1st Hungarian Army, he was captured somewhere around Auschwitz and Krakow in January 1945. The young man was then transported to the Boksitogorsk prisoner-of-war camp near Leningrad, and then in the spring of 1945 to Bistrjag, 1,500 km east of it. The journey could torment the young soldier, both physically and mentally, as half of the prisoners of war crammed into the wagons lost their lives during the trip. The battered nervous warrior was finally taken to the Kotyelnyitsk mental hospital, more than 800 kilometers from Moscow, in January 1947, where he spent 53 years. After Toma crossed the gates of the psychiatric institute, he was removed from the list of prisoners of war according to Soviet practice, so he disappeared from the eyes of the Hungarian authorities and could not return home from captivity even after the post-World War II relief. In fifty years, Toma was not very interested in language learning: he only communicated in Hungarian, he learned only one word (yes) in Russian. Perhaps he would have died there, forgetting the distant Russian land, if a Slovak doctor had not noticed the strange Toma, who spoke only Hungarian, more than fifty years after the war, and who was mistakenly registered as a psychiatrist as András Tamás. The strange figure was then noticed by the Russian, then the Hungarian press, and the Hungarian authorities. Budapest Dr. András Veér sent a neurologist and psychiatrist to the scene, who officially stated that Toma had every doubt exclusively Hungarian. Repatriation could then take place. After returning home for half a century, he became a resident of the National Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, where a full exploration of his past began. Lieutenant Colonel László Erdős kept in touch with the old man, who said that Toma talked a lot about the alcohol, but when he was offered vodka or whiskey, he asked for Hungarian alcohol. Strangely, he also rejected it with the plum from Satu Mare, saying that it was not Hungarian. In psychiatry, he was diagnosed with a mental illness that could be treated with medication and also received his new artificial leg, which was 1.5 pounds lighter than the old Russian. The researchers also found that the elderly man lived in a settlement called Sulyánbokor near Nyíregyháza before he came to the front. The old man was then taken to his native village, where his half-siblings, sister and brother, Anna Toma and John, thought they would discover their father in the long-lost brother. Then came the school, where the surviving classmates could meet the soldier who had disappeared on the front. The Toma family also presented documents that András Toma's mind was already broken on the front. The cognate strands were finally confirmed by DNA studies. András Toma was promoted to Deputy Chief Sergeant by the Minister of Defense for his decades-long position, and he was paid his arrears of salary, which eventually cost him several million forints, as his service was considered continuous during his time at the psychiatric institution. The elderly gentleman was cared for by his brother Anna until his death in March 2004.

@@cyrkestuffl9051 Rehabilitated? in 1997? This is when Yeltsin was in charge? And what does this fact prove? Then they did not tell everything about the crimes of the Wehrmacht on the territory of the USSR. Under the USSR, so as not to offend the GDR, and in 1997 Boris Yeltsin had a friend, Helmut Kohl. Then many Nazi criminals wrote these papers on rehabilitation ... Only this rehabilitation is not worth the paper on which it is written. And Erich at the moment in hell is telling the devil how cute and good he is ...

The best was fw190 d3 by the end of the war if we do not count me262

I don’t know that I agree. Climb rate and such is all important, but high altitude performance combined with engine reliability probably count as more important.

On the eastern front high altitude engagements were rare unlike the western in which it was the opposite

What amazed me, at the fantastic Pensacola Air Museum, was how much lighter the Japanese Zero was, even with its ungainly glazed cockpit, than any off the Allied fighters

@@TheSoundsageIn the Smithsonian Next to the ME 109 was the Japanese zero and you were able to touch the plane it was like tin ,extremely thin metal that was seemingly was stretched to fit the plane. And the landing gear was thin in comparison to the Me 109.

yeah he has been narrating videos recently

Yes, i mean he shot down 25 Planes or on ground on one day. I think he was better than Hartmann.

Definitely we have to account for this, the eastern front was a turkey shoot, let’s face it. Hartman was a great aviator and tactician, I will not take that away from him, no way, but had he served on the Western front, there is a good chance he would have died in combat at the hands of the better tactics and high cover methods used by the Allied fighter groups. Many of the great German fighter pilots were killed on the Western front by skilled allied fighter pilots. We would have eventually killed them all had the war not ended. All you have to do is watch these videos and read books about combat in World War II and almost all successful attacks were by surprise. Sooner or later you are going to get surprised and killed because nobody has eyes in back of their heads. Obviously Hartman was more farsighted and cautious than most so he survived, but he was shot down several times anyway, and nobody wants to talk about that because for some reason idiots love to worship Nazi bastard pilots. Thank God we beat the son of a bitches otherwise our grandparents would all be glowing with a soft yellow light as lampshades. I hate those Nazi bastards. I wish we would’ve executed Hartman.

@@steveperreira5850 About being shooting down, I read the new version of the grand cirque (Great circus in english not sure) written by the most succesfull free french fighter Closterman. There are some differences between the old and the new version, the new one includes a story about how one day leading his cap of Tempests they saw two germans, he said : I go piece of cake... one minute later he was under his parachute and was welcome at the base with a cake with written on it 'Piece of cake'... as you said, a lot were shot down and some survived.

@@wilfriedkotzenberg-nitsch5740 many great pilots were killed during the war. Marseille was good but he was a solo fighter as Gunter Rall called such pilots who did not fit for fighting in formations.

@@steveperreira5850 he flew against western pilots... I believe he shot down 4 mustangs in one day or something like that

Not once this simulated Messer used the cannon?

Not very accurate though. Where's Hartmann's wingman?

@@nickhector5060 Wingmen don't behave properly in any of the IL-2 games - the AI doesn't let them actually watch your tail, but sends them into "free-for-all" mode. To illustrate the story, it's just easier to eliminate the wingman element of things. (Besides, if you imagine him there, you know that Hartmann never lost a wingman throughout the war, so tell yourself he got home safe! ;-) )

@@RevBoose he did lose one wingman. When he was temporarily oncombat instruction duty and was assigned a former bomber pilot as wingman. That bomber pilot didn't fly tight turns but wide ones and obviously didn't last long in the first dogfight but managed to bail out. From the book by Tolliver and Constable.

Hartmann never shot down 7 Mustangs, he claimed to have shot down only 2. One on 24.6.1944 and another around 18.3.1945.

i thought it was 2?

7 ? He never shot down 7 Mustangs lol

I don´t think so, Russia received about 2.400 Curtiss P40 from the US. Hartmann shot down fore shure some Curtiss P40.

@@ww2hungary827 Hartmann survived against 20 Mustangs. That is much more difficult than to shoot down two.

Tre t

Where did you learn that ? In the blond knight of Germany

I think you have some of Hartmann and Rudel confused. Hartmann NEVER trained as a Stuka pilot. Rudel was, however he started off badly, even being traversed out before becoming the Stuka ace.

I support that idea. Marseille has a corroboration rate of 70%, so between 10 to 14 out of his 17 claims that day were actual kills.

Beautiful Video Enjoyed It Very Much

Marseille had some eccentric tactics, didn't he? Like he made turn fighting work in the Bf 109

Sabaton, make a song about it!

I read from Hans Joachim Marseille that he once shot down 7 enemy planes during a takeoff and when he returned to the base the machine canon was missing only 9 rounds of ammunition! He died that due to a faulty installation - after replacing the engine - his plane caught fire, but - despite the words of his companion - he did not want to jump out of the plane - he wanted to take the plane back to the base, so he turned the flaming plane on his back to get less heat, then when he could no longer jump out of the plane, but his parachute caught fire and he crashed! Many consider him the greatest fighter talent!

The Force is strong in that one.

Likely. Johnny Johnson had the same gift. His ability to get off ridiculous deflection shots was attributable to his uncanny understanding of math and angles. Truly remarkable pilots.

@@mikemontgomery2654 just *imagine* playing chicken with 2000hp weaponized muscle cars.. in the air

@@Schimml0rd believe me, I do.

I have Robert Taylor's "The Hartmann trilogy" surrounding me now. Not only three Hartmann autographs (on stunning lithographs portraying highlights of his career), but those of other Luftwaffe pilots totalling over 100 victories amongst them (including "Pauly" Rossman, who taught Hartmann his craft). I also have a lithograph "Karaya One", also signed by Erich, and a framed photo of him looking SOO young, yet by the time of the photograph, he had already achieved 300 victories. "The blonde knight of Germany" also sits in my bookshelf. Erich is a hero of mine, not only for his war exploits, but afterwards (hint: read the book...he's an amazing man).

@@sopwithpuppy I've another lithograph of an 109E with Galland, Hrabak, and Rall's autographs. That's pretty good company on my wall!

@@bluevonwagner8609 i have Robert stanford tuck Autograph think he became friends with Galland during the film BOB guessing that these high kill claims are shooting up convoys also horse and cart things like that think the russians put up anything that could fly even woman flying biplanes lol did all german fighters have camera's to back all the kills up

The Russian Yak 3 were far superior to the P-51 Mustangs, it is considered the third best fighter of the Second World War, the P-51 is only the sixth.

You're not detracting from his abilities. You're illustrating them. The skill is to get into to that close low 6 position without being seen, and get away without being hit in turn.

Think of how many kills he could have had if he could have stayed in a ME-109F instead of switching to a G model which used the new DB 605 which had issues with losing power/catching on fire.

Hartmann felt Marseille was the superior pilot - Western pilots, in his estimation, were worth three Russian ones.

Erich Rudorffer was also a great pilot, passed away in 2016 at age of 98. He was maybe the last of the great expertes. He made himself ace-in-a-day many times as well. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Rudorffer

But for that fateful crash he would have matched Hartmann's tally in the western front.

Another fantastic pilot, indeed

...He was also an overclaimer.

@@nickhector5060 Jealousy wont get you anywhere. By the way where you there ? Saying he was an over claimer means you know it all. Hahaha you must be getting on in age.

@@rolandschramm3662 Can you name anyone shot down by him? I can: 1st claim 5.11.42/1205 IL-2 Sturmovik PQ 44 793 @ 400m (Own airfield: Digora, Caucasus) 7 GShAP, 4 VA. It is known that Grislawski downed Ml.Lt. Fyodor Artyomov, KIA and Serzhant Vladimir Zangiyev, bellylanded safely POW (returned) at around this time, but no further losses are mentioned. Overclaiming? 3rd claim 9.2.43/0655-0750 Yak-1 ("LaGG-3") Slawjanskaja (PQ 86722) @ 1000m 66 IAP. Mayor Barey Sayfutdinov returned safely, St.Lt. Ilya Vladimirovich Khludenev and Serzhant Grigoriy Kovalyov both KIA. Ml.Lt. Leonid Arestov’s badly damaged and bellylanded 5km W of own base (The other losses were inflicted by Friese and Lohberg) 4th claim 10.2.43/0615 Boston NE of Iwanowskaja (PQ 86671) @ 3200m 63 BAP, 132 BAD, 5 VA.Crew of St. Serzhant Isatov. The crew’s Navigator, Andrei Yakovlevich Smolyar baled out POW, returned home in 1945 6th claim 27.3.43/1150 I-16 “Rata” Usun area (PQ 85171) @ 800m (own airfield: Anapa) Probably 611 IAP, 236 IAD, 5 VA. Serzhant Vasiliy Mikhaylovich Strogof MIA 7th claim 15.4.43/1533 P-39 Airacobra E of Mertschanskaja (own airfield: Taman) 16 GIAP. 2 lost and 2 damaged, includes Lt. Nikolai Naumenko MIA. Some sources say this was finishing off 41-38451 of 45 IAP, St.Lt. M Petrov, which had been damaged by Wolf Ettel of JG 3, three minutes earlier 8th claim 26.4.43/1135 I-15bis ("R-5") NE of Tichonowskaja (PQ 86722) @ 700m (own airfield: Taman) 62 IAP-ChF. Kapitan Aleksey Petrovich Furletov, hit in combat, ditched off Gelendzhik (about 30km (SE) of Novorossiysk), Krasnodar Krai, but drowned 16th claim 15.5.43/1210 U-2 Krasnoarmeyskaya (came down Titarovskaya station) (PQ 86544) @ low altitude (own airfield: Taman) HQ 278 IAD. Leytenant Vladimir Ivanovich Ershov (senior pilot)[KIA] 274 IAP (3 IAK) and passenger Lt. Aleksandr Filippovich Makeev of 274 IAP (Bergstroem says passenger was M.Lt. Yevgeniy Kryukov of 43 IAP) Unconfirmed claim 16.5.43/1415-1515 La-5 Own airfield: Taman No losses at this time, rightfully unconfirmed 17th claim 23.5.43/0545 LaGG-3 ("LaGG") E of Ssewerskaja (PQ 85253) @ 5000m (Klaus Dadd and Guenther Rall claimed as well) 249 IAP and 267 IAP. Legitimate victories: there were indeed 3 losses all up. Pilot details pending 18th claim 5.7.43/0340 IL-2 Sturmovik 10km N of Woltschansk (PQ 61663) @ 300m (own airfield: Ugrim) 241 ShAP. Legitimate victory: seven losses for six claims (underclaiming). Includes Kapitan Tsygankov, formation leader (only he and one other pilot had any experience) 20th claim 5.7.43/1400 IL-2 Sturmovik mH 10km N of Tomarowka (PQ 61333) @ 200m (own airfield: Ugrim) 2 VA or 17 VA. 56 claims (45 confirmed) versus 55 IL-2s lost in the afternoon and evening. Within 305 ShAD, 175 ShAP lost 11 and and 955 ShAP lost 2. 290 ShAD lost out 16 of 32 sent up and 306 ShAD lost 28 IL-2s and 19 crews. 17 VA alone lost 64 IL-2s throughout the whole of the day 22nd and 23rd claims 7.7.43/0350 and 0352 2 x IL-2 Sturmoviks Krasny Liman sector 1 ShAK. Losses in this mission include Kpt. Stepan Poshivalnikov of 800 ShAP, already damaged by flak, belly-landed in German territory but rescued by a mate (may have been the only loss in this engagement) 29th and 30th claims 8.7.43/0905 and 0910 2x LaGGs 10km E of Prokhorovka (PQs 61223 and 61221) @ 2500m (own airfield: Ugrim) 40 GIAP, 8 GIAD. Overclaiming, only one loss: Mayor Moisey Tokarev KIA 31st and 32nd claims 8.7.43/1805 and 1825 2 x Yak-1s Ugrim (PQ 62872 @ 2500m and PQ 61134 @ 1000m) Soviet report mentions the loss of three Yak-1s to fighters around this time (very likely legitimate victories therefore) (Rall appears to have inflicted the third loss) Get back to me when you have done some R E S E A R C H, little man. As for jealousy... I have never wanted to look Ellen de Generes with a riding crop LOL

@@nickhector5060 Great research , what happened before 1942. The word jealousy you took out of text , poor Ellen how the mighty have fallen. As German born I took great interest in his life long achievements , sadly 10 years where spend as a POW in Russia.. To top it off he did not commit any war crimes , so let him rest in peace .....

You have nailed it...

There was actually 5 German pilots that made triple aces in one day, Emil Lang holding the record with 18 planes on four combat missions 3 nov 1943.

If he has lucky he was the on that crashed into the field with his fuselage intact... Or if he parachuted out.

@@igorpachmelniekzakuskov776 your sentence gave me a headache.

Ivan after respawning at the airfield: GODDAMNED SKILL BASED MATCHMAKING!!!!

@@thesmuggest6680 Lmao

Sadly, the il-2 devs never added the Pacific as it's a Europe Theater based game. So heros like boyington and nishizawa probably aren't gonna be in these videos.

Good I hope you guys like it because it makes me feel really weird doing it lol

@@TJ3 haha

@@TJ3 nah it was good :)

He was turned over to the Russians and spent 10 years in a prison camp. After his release he was instrumental in rebuilding the West German Luftwaffe aligned with NATO.

Poor Bubi. You can fly to Argentina in one hop these days. But back then you could probably only fly to Franco's Spain in a 109. I suppose he would have done something like that if he really wanted to.....

The Soviets sure held him long enough. What a pilot and what a man he must have been.

@GbbJunkie I used to read the memoirs of RAF pilots like Bader and Stanford Tuck. My uncle died not long after he married, thanks to Hitler's war. I'm not bitter, I'm just too old now for Boys' Own Stories. That's why I don't know Bubi's story. On the Allied side, an ace such as Bubi would have been transferred to train rookie pilots before he reached 50 victories. His experience would have been worth a lot more than 300 kills for Hitler. While the Spitfire had similar landing gear to the Bf109, it was a real lady in the air, warning rookies when it was about to stall. The Bf109 was a bitch, killing many rookies on take-off and probably landing too. If the Luftwaffe retired its best into training schools and ditched the Bf109 totally for the Fw190 the Luftwaffe would have killed a lot more allied pilots in WW2

@GbbJunkie that was my point that the Soviets held him long past the time he should have been released. I have his book on my shelf. A great read about a great guy. Have you read "The Cruise of the Sea Eagle" fantastic.

I read that book in 1978. After I was done, my dad read it and he was WW2 veteran.

I read some chapters, and I'm skeptic about some passages. And the list of victories in his book did not match the ones in Luftwaffe claim records (there are discrepancies in dates, places and type of a/c claimed). Futhermore, he claims he was never shot down in air combat. But when I cross-referenced 5 out 14 times he suffered "accidents", or when he was "downed by flak", or reportedly he "ran out of gas", I found out that in 4 of them in fact was shot down by Allied fighters or fighterbombers. First he was downed by the rear gunner of an Il-2 in November 1942, then by a lend-lease Spitfire on 25 May 1943, by an Il-2 on 20 August 1943 (not by flak) and a P-51 ace on 24 June 1944 (he did not run out of gas). Hartmann was indeed a dangerous adversary, but there is too much embellishment and fantasy on his actual achievements.

@@Elrusoargentino what are you talking about? i stopped reading your statement as soon as i read he denied being shot down. then clearly you havnt read the book as he details each time he was shot down in detail. he even dedicates a chapter to the first time when he was captured and escaped. if you havnt read the book, and clearly you have not, you really shouldnt make such remarks.

@@paul123ggggggggg Hartmann denies being shot down IN AIR COMBAT. In the event you mention, he claimed he was downed by FLAK while he was shoting down his second Il-2 of the day (his victories 89th and 90th). He says that initially he thought the Soviet soldiers were Germans because they approached his belly landed Bf.109 in a German truck. Only when they came closer realized they were Soviets. Hartmann said they were Asian (Mongols, Buriats or Kalmyks, I assume). The event took place on 20 August 1943. But he was not shot down by flak, but by another Il-2 flown by Pavel Evdokimov (232 GShAP, 7 GShAK). Furthermore, in that combat the 232 GShAP, the unit engaged by Hartmann, did not suffer any loss, only one Shturmovik, flown by Viktor Yermakov, was damaged by a German fighter (evidently, Hartmann). But Yermakov could return to his base, and the Il-2 was repaired.

@@paul123ggggggggg So, as you can see, I read the book, I read the event you mentioned, and I remember the details provided by Hartmann.

Hans Erich Rudel more

Adolf Galland get it I guess

Thanks!

Yeah, I was wondering where he got 11 kills in a day for Hartmann. But you're right on the other three. Though Marseille's 17 kills in a day is disputed, they can only verify 9 to 11 of them.

Assuming that the presenter can properly keep count this time, I'm in favor of it. Especially if it is about Richard I. Bong.

@@hakapeszimaki8369 and education and discipline and society

158 kills. Otherwise correct

*109 G2

+@@konaber8020 ME-109 F-4

@@butchoharechicago6657 His last ride was in the Gustav, not the Friedrich. Bf 109 G2/trop WN 14256 to be specific. Source (e.g.): A History of the Mediterranean Air War, 1940-1945: Volume Two: North African Desert, February 1942 - March 1943

Gun cam?.

If he hadn’t died from an engine failure, he would probably be the most effective fighter pilot.

@@gyorgy58 - That is correct György. What a tragic accident.

Marseille fought in Western front, more difficult than Eastern front, great Luftwaffe ace.

Yeah, he was great. Adolf Galland said he believed that had Marseille lived, he would've surpassed Hartmann.

@@glennelliott5133 There would have been a great chance for Marseille, but things turn out the other way.

The Blond Knight of Germany - outstanding read!

Been on my shelf for a very long time!

It's not possible because it's very likely an inflated overclaim. Historians tried to check his official claims with the enemy losses and only 80 of the kills matched with enemy losses that time at that place. The info about that day: 24.08.1944: on this day Hartmann claimed his victories Nos.299 to 303 over the Soviet beachhead of Sandomierz across the Vistula river - all four were P-39s. The only unit equipped with Aircobras providing cover to Sandomierz were from the elite 9 GIAD led by Polkovnik Aleksandr Pokryshkin - they sustained no losses in air combat that day. One Soviet P-39 pilot was reported missing after becoming separated from his comrades, "...who could have been downed by Hartmann. But at most Hartmann could score only one victory that day, never four...."

@@nomcognom2332 - I've read that on average only 60-70% of claims from WWII are confirmed with a historical check. However, I wouldn't necessarily dismiss a claim because a certain type of aircraft wasn't shot down. Pilots were notorious for not IDing aircraft types correctly. IDing the type probably wasn't the biggest concern for someone fighting for their life.

@@tominva4121 Consider that all of what happened that day was him telling what was happening through the fighter radio. Not a single verification was made. When he landed people already was waiting him with champaign, flowers and a banner with the 300th number in it. Of course, the war reporters were there to inform about the moment a pilot achieved such a round number of victories. Very convenient.

@Tom McLean stay tuned within the next few months for a surprise on this subject:)

In fact, the Western pilots were better trained and equipped than their Russian counterparts but they too were badly mauled by the German pilots. My high school teacher was a former German serviceman in the Eastern Front ( I was in high school in the early 80s) and from what I remember, they had very strict criteria for counting a "kill" If anything, the Germans would under report planes downed or vehicles destroyed because of their attention to the necessary criteria.

I agree with you. I highly doubt that the actual losses match up to the accredited kills. Would be some big tallies nonetheless amongst the top Luftwaffe pilots but not at the level we see e.g. Hartmann 352 etc etc.

Not the best years of mine life, that's for sure.

@@erichhartmann1 wait, arnt u ded

Those square wingtips and the braces for the horizontal stabilizers were only on the "E" and previous models only....the "F' model started with the round wingtips and no stab. braces.

And Hartmann only flew the G model! With rounded wingtips and no tail plane supports....

And the claim that the Soviets put a price for his head... come on, that was the Second World War not the Far West. By the way, the only source of that is an interview of himself :/

@@nomcognom2332 I agree. So far I couldn't find any Russian source that mentions such "price for his head". I do not discard it, but I'm extremelly skeptical on this claim of Hartmann.

Thanks for the kind words. The insignia is automatically removed by the developer of the game, since they are located in Russia, where it is against the law to reproduce or distribute the Swastika. Thanks for watching.

@@TJ3 Thanks for letting me know! My sister hosted an exchange student from Germany, and those poor people were practically not even allowed to talk about Germany 1933-1945. Thanks again! And the video was really good. By the way, as I recall, the Russians really tried to deny Hartmann's record. I suppose it hurt their national pride.

@@-.Steven As a german I can tell you we talk about the years from 1933 to 1945. the so called third Reich. As a german history teacher I can say that the third Reich is part of the historylessons from grade 9 to grade 13 (the last grade of highschool). And that is still since my own schooldays. The fact is germans are not proud of this part of our history, so we simple don't like to talk about this that much.

@@-.Steven And of cause we were allowed to talk about this times.

@@felixropke9777 I'm glad to hear that! We should learn from history, not hide it or forget it.

US has the population advantage and the mainland was largely untouched. Only during the Cold War they got a real threat closer to home in 1962.

Да толку то с тех самолетов. Надо было еще пилотов так производить. А откуда их взять столько да еще и за день.