This reminds me of a quote from a German Pilot “For us it was the Iron Cross or the Wooden Cross”They did their duty flying on and on.A large percentage KIA
Badass pilots! I don't know if it's the pictures or the stress of the life they were living, but these guys look so much older than todays 20 year olds. These guys were in their early 20s and looked like they were in their 40s. Not all of them but quite a few.
Same observation here. Many German pilots had hundreds of combat missions, many got killed and many of those who survived were wounded. That kind of life is hard for us to imagine today but i believe that those things can leave a mark on the way you look :)
I have a picture of my granddad, Jasta 18 in WW I. In the picture he is 22 years old and looks fortyish. He survived both world wars, the first as an infantry lieutenant and then a fighter pilot with 11 confirmed kills. My existence is rather improbable not to say miraculous.
@@historycomparisonvideos First: Erich Hatmann looked young all through the war. He looked old though after he came out of a bolshevik POW camp. Second: Yes, generally speaking people were aging faster a century ago. It has to do with their harder life -- again, not life as fighter pilot, but *life in general* -- and their worser -- that is: less luxurious -- nutrition back then.
И ещё заметьте с исключительным мужеством. Ведь они бывали сбиты по несколько раз, многие ранены, и всё-таки после этих очень сильных стрессовых ситуаций опять вставали в строй и поднимались в небо. Привет из России.
They flew in usually in good weather, so it was more possible to meet "the other military mail code number fellows" in the sky. Another thing was with RAF pilots, who could take-off even then, when crows kept themselves intentionally grounded! US 8th Air Army pilots: "Oh my God, Great Britain is NOT a California!"
None of the Allied aces came even close to this many kills .The highest scoring American ace was Maj .Richard Bong with 39 kills who died in a accident before the war ended.
As far as I konw, this was because Allied system called for the most succesfull pilots to become instructors for the new ones whereas Germans kept their most succesfull pilots on the front "to the end".
@@maximelecompte4446 Another factor was that most of high scores reflect the the Germans superior training of the German pilots over the Soviet pilots who in early stages of the war received minimal training.Also ,the technological edge of German aircraft was obvious . Most of the aces racked up their high scores on the Eastern front.
What makes Hartmann's victories even more insane is the fact it took only 2,5 years for him to achieve them. He served from late October 1942 til May 1945. On top of that he never lost a single wing man. The guy was a machine though apparently he himself thought Marseille was truly the top 1 ace of Luftwaffe.
Read an interview with Hartman where he said his strategy was to dive on the enemy at top speed from high altitude, never revealing his presence until the enemy plane completely filled his gun sight at which point he would blast them out of the sky. He said he never engaged the enemy unless he had the clear advantage. Marseille was different. He was the master of the deflection shot (aka leading the target). After much study, he was able to instantaneously calculate the correct amount of gunshot lead allowing for his speed, the speed of the enemy and the turning angles. Absolutely amazing. He also would engage the enemy when outnumbered and they knew he was in front of them -- -- turning, swooping and shooting in running gun battles. Two completely different approaches. The results speak for themselves. (The foregoing is from my reading. Hope I haven't mischaracterized either of these genius warriors.)
@@georgesalmas4582hartmanns approach wasnt just the dive. It was sneaking from behind in general. He also developed the tactic against IL-2s, to appreach them from a lower altitude and shoot at the cooler. But heres the real funny part: when confronted by the russians about his insane killstreak, he played it down: bruh, that was just russian planes. Guys in the west had it harder 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
I'm an American who has a ton of respect for ALL German Soldiers and Airmen of WW2. I was stationed in Furth in 1988-89 when I was in the Army. I love your beautiful country!
Hans Joachim Marseille was not really KIA by shooting down….his engine broke down by fire and by leaving the plane he had a collision with the rudder…not sure if that has killed him immediately or it forced him to unconsciousness..,,it was seen by eyewitness that his parachute didn’t open so it can be that he lost life by crashing on earth!
@@darkawakening01 Es gibt im Englischen die Abkürzung KIFA, Killed in Flight Accident; so in der Fachliteratur für Piloten verwendet, die nicht durch Feindeinwirkung ums Leben kamen. Das trifft auf Marseille zu...
@@fasold2164 Das ist ziemlich spezialisiertes Wissen für ein solches populärhistorisches Video, welches diese Abkürzung ja auch nicht verwendet. Aber danke für die interessante Information.
Really fascinating. I think Hartmann scored most of his victories in Russia, on the Eastern Front. So many did not survive the war, but after all, they led a precarious existence! Each takeoff and flight could very well be their last. Brave men, all. Gotta respect their skills and courage.
~~~70% Hartmann's victories are fake. I dont know other pilots, but hes 352 vic's was investigated in last years by historians (reading reports of loses in both sides for example). He destroy maybe 100 planes.
Хартману повезло что он попал в русский лагерь в отличии от его друзей -десятков тысяч других пилотов Германии которые сейчас снизу смотрят как растет русская картошка. Присылайте ещё. Кто останется жив будет пилить лес в Сибири как Хартман
As much as I detest Nazis their Experten as they called them were brilliant fighter pilots. Just seeing how young some of them were, nowadays they would still be learning their trade- how times have changed! Hans-Joachim Marseille flew in North Africa where he once shot down 17(!) aircraft in one day and Emil "Bully" Lang fought over the Russian front where one day he famously shot down 18(!!!) aircraft in one day! Just think about how many fighter pilots flew throughout the war and never got near an enemy aircraft. The only way to improve this video would be to say what units these fellows served in and what aircraft they flew. Apart from that great video.
Heinrich Bär, with 221 was propably the best of the best. He fought in any area and took the second most western planes down. The ace of the aces of all time, Hartmann started his war career long after the happy times of summer 1941 were gone. He fought against superior planes in inferior numbers throught the whole war. His abilities to fight were outstanding, bascially everything you see in these BS-hollywood movies, just in real and "from the enemy". But always in inferior planes. He also nailed 7 mustangs, easily, against huge allied numbers, giving proof that it is the pilot, not the machine who is deciding.
I have to add another Experte who also served with Baer in JG77: Anton "Toni" Hackl also served on all fronts including the bitter end in North Africa and against the US Bomber Offensive with III/JG11, as well as supporting the German Army while leading II/JG26, then to JG300 and JG11 (Though the lack of fuel and overall chaos probably kept him from flying much); I think Hackl was credited with 192 victories split almost evenly between East and Western fronts (that includes the Med), as well as being a high scorer against 4 Engine bombers. He survived the war
Luftwaffe aces had so many victories because their tours never ended, it only ended when they were KIA or severely injured and did not return to aerial combat. Han Ulrich Rudel should be on this list!
Many considered Gerhard "Gerd" Barkhorn could have scored more then Eric Hartmann but he suffered very much from nervous breakdown so was forced to stop and train young pilots but it he was the was only fighter ace to ever exceed 300 claimed victories immediately behind Hartmann....
@@paoloviti6156 dont forget the psychological damage came from his shot down May 1944 by Soviet fighters and hospitalized for over four month. With Barkhorn sidelined, Hartmann surpassed Barkhorn.
The reason for so many pilots having triple digit kills is simple. Airfields on the Eastern Front were closer to the front lines, therefore, German pilots could fly many missions in one day.
Вспоминается анекдот - Доктор помогите у меня не получается с женщинами ! - Это совершенно нормально вам же 85 лет ! - А вот Рабиновичу 100 лет и он всем рассказывает что может по десять раз за ночь ! - Так и вы можете всем рассказывать что можете по десять раз за ночь !
These are scores in dogfights. Rudel flying most of the time with a Stuka was specialised in destroying targets. Vehicles, ships, buildings and maybe his gunners took out a few aircraft too but they were no "aces".
Biggest issue RAF had was the ancient Crusties forcing planes to have pop gun/pea shooter 303 instead of Heavy calibre like 50cal(did come along later)or Oerlikon Cannons which when got upped to our kill rates rose. Also German planes had self sealing tanks while ours just oven roasted the pilots when hit. Also Same ole Crusties enforcing the V formations while German pilots didn't as the V left us very vulnerable.
Wow, the other pilots are not even close to the Germans. The most unknown German pilots even have 100 victories 😅 Crazy numbers but for me the best in history is Marseille.
Que héroes son los pilotos de todas las Fuerzas Aéreas...🙏 En Malvinas los argentinos hicieron un nuevo manual de guerra..✌️ Están siempre presentes en mi mente y corazón...🫡
While sadly like a lot of things about WW2 and other wars , they fought fornan abuorrent cause and political leadership and establishment, youbhace got to admire and admire their sheer abilities, audacity and respect the expertise and efficacy. Like tank aces , rhw air aces of Germany showed many how its done ...Israeli tank prowess was alewf out of German tank gunnery and warfare . All I can say is thank God for superior American industrial might and overwhelming Allied resources and manpower...because man for man, these pilots and the tankers were clearly the better operators.😅phew.
Мене весь час дратує коли московія на кожному куті кричить :"можем повторить". 30 німецьких пілотів вбили більше 2000 радянських льотчиків. Це зараз вони півторюють в Україні.
3 ноября 1943 года в районе города Киев Эмиль Ланг установил своеобразный мировой рекорд, сбив по немецким данным в один день в ходе трёх боевых вылетов 18 советских самолётов - девять Ил-2, четыре Ла-5, три Як-7 и два Як-9. Реально же при анализе архивных данных подтверждается один сбитый и четыре теоретически возможно ! В общем размер охотничьей добычи надо уменьшить !
Первые 100 пилотов люфтваффе уничтожили самолётов больше чем построил СССР :) Два вопроса -Чем в это время были заняты остальные пилоты люфтваффе и ПВО Германии? - Почему война окончилась в Берлине?
Not as impressive as it seems, the Germans liked their "stars" many team kills were given to the "stars" for propaganda reasons. Leaving the "stars" in the game too long also got them killed, the US and UK as well pulled their "stars" out of the game to train up the new guys. The results were the Germans had a few great pilots but also a lot of cannon fodder, the US and UK had a ton of well-trained pilots. The Japanese made the same mistake. As everyone I'm sure knows most of these guys racked up huge scores early in the Russian war against barley trained pilots in crap planes.
Were all these kills done in the air? Because the Germans were also counting kills on the ground and giving the pilot a confirmed down. Mainly on the Eastern front in the first 3 months of the war, attacks on airfields and destruction of planes on the ground reached 70% of the total Soviet air power which means over 18500 planes. Of course these were replenished almost immediately, as by the end of the war more than 144,000 planes of various types had been manufactured.
Germany was VERY resource poor=they didn't have nearly enough gun cams unless there was a special purpose for the missions (Training footage; proof a concept, like 'sturmbock', would work; effectiveness of Gyroscopic lead predicting gunsights);
Over claims were rampant on all sides... Especially but not limited to bomber gunners. Also... A not insignificant number of the overclaims by Luftwaffe pilots during the Battle of Britain were because the RAF would only consider a plane destroyed if it was totally unsalvageable. A lot of RAF fighter planes the Luftwaffe shot down were able to make some sort of landing where at least some part of the aircraft was salvageable. Even if only some of the parts of the plane could be salvaged, it wasn't written off as a "loss". But for the Luftwaffe... A lot of the planes damaged in combat over England, or run out of fuel due to the small fuel tank/short range of the Bf109/110 ended up crashing into the Channel or just inland of the coast of France and were a complete loss. That bit of context is very important.
@@WHJeffB Yes. ESPECIALLY over Britain, you can't inspect the wreckage on the ground (IF your German or if you claimed over the Channel) and if it's a BIG furball you can't watch your target for too long, lest you end up with a Hostile on YOUR tail, or even more likely, another one of comrades also puts shots onto the same target.
@@qre268Zrtb No. I mean that method of counting "kills" in Luftwaffe was totally different from that with the Allies. If it meant "kill assists" it would be much more appropriate. It is known that multiple pilots got "kill" just by assistence in real shotdown by other pilots. You do not really believe that Hartmannn shot down every single plane, do you?
Sometimes, the powers that be would confirm high scoring pilots vic with less 'proof', just for morale purposes. Of course, if the latest material that I have read is any proof: when it came to JG52 (especially in Hungary), the pilot with the best record for accuracy based on Russian/USSR archival records was Helmut LIpfert. Over Hungary, His victory claim accuracy was calculated to over 90 - 93%, which in air combat is just incredible.
@@nickmitsialis There were overclaims on all sides... I read an article recently that found that percentage of overclaims were pretty close between the Allies and the Axis powers on average. But this varied between individual pilots and most especially skewed when looking at Allied bomber gunners.
@@WHJeffB As for bomber gunners, not only were there dozens if not hundreds of gunners who all think THEY got that fighter, but the higher ups thought allowing those claims to stand helped morale of the crews (especially during times of very high losses).
