Heinkel He 111 - In The Movies 

That clip of Bo messing around with the Heinkel still makes me laugh to this day; on par with cutting wings with the tails of PBY Privateers

I'm really glad you included the scene from the start of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in this, that's always been one of my favorite movie scenes period. Really helps to set the stakes of the setting, especially for people who just think it's a fantasy story going in.

The Heinkel He 111 is a beautiful and extremely cool aircraft.

BIt of an interesting fact, that a lot of Japanese Army aircraft took many design philosophies from the German Luftwaffe and their aircraft designs. Meanwhile, the Navy used more design philosophy than the US airforce. The Navy had more similar configurations to Us bomber designs. While the Army airforce took a lot of designs from the German He-111s.

The He 111 gets a bad rap due to the Battle of Britain. That is because it was flying against an enemy who had the advantage of radar that allowed the fighters to intercept at the right time and at the right altitudes. Elsewhere in early to mid WW2 bombers flew and only faced interception by roving patrols that were often low on fuel and at the wrong altitude, making the bombers far more survivable. Compared to other nations' pre war bomber designs that were swept from the air attempting daylight bombing (with the exception of the B-17) the German bombers actually flew at day well into 1942/3. After that they were just victims.

Long ago there was a small book about the making of "The Battle Of Britain". In it is a story that upon seeing the squadron of Spanish bombers one production crewman turned to another and said "do you realize that right here we have fully 50% of Spain's strategic bombing force.."

One of the few German aircraft from WWII that was as beautiful as she was deadly! The HE-111 was a masterpiece of design, and looks like it could have come from the minds of American bomber designers! One of my all-time favorite planes from this era!

As a historic note, prior to WW2 there was a Luftwaffe general named Walter Wever who was pushing hard for a German strategic bombing force. However, he was killed in an air crash in the late 1930's and the strategic bombing idea died with him. So the Luftwaffe developed into a tactical air force which worked just fine, until it didn't.

I love Battle of Britain, used to watch it from a VHS recorded off the TV in the 80s every time I visited my grandparents. Some facts about the film are: - The "109s" like the 111s were also Spanish copies, HA-1112s, and some were painted RAF colours to stand in for Hurricanes (they could only get 3 airworthy hurricanes, they had 17 HA-1112s) - With about 100 aircraft under their control, the film studio was also the worlds 35th largest air force at the time. - More blank rounds were shot during filming than live ones during the actual Battle of Britain. - The scenes of a bombed out London were shot in a housing estate in Peckham Rye that was being demolished - Some of the extras playing civilians lived through the actual blitz and quit after a few takes due to PTSD - All aircraft were painted in period correct camouflage and markings, which meant the aircraft could only be filmed on cloudy days since the camera aircraft (a B-25 painted bright colours so stunt pilots could see it and dubbed the "Psychedelic Monster") had trouble filming them - Luftwaffe general Adolf Galland was the films technical advisor, and the scenes where the German pilot asks Goering for a "squadron of Spitfires", and where Goering leaves yelling from his railway car, are based on personal exchanges Galland (allegedly) had. - Michael Caine's role in 2017s Dunkirk as the Spitfire squadron leader is an homage to his role in this film. - The scenes in RAF fighter command were shot in the actual facilities used in WW2, with the props and furniture being mostly the ones used in the war. - It was one of the WW2 films that George Lucas paid tribute to in Star Wars, with the spitfires rolling away one after the other to engage the bombers inspiring the scene where the X-Wings break away to dive on the Death Star.

The Battle of Britain movie is such glorious classic warbird porn. CGI can never replace having actual aircraft and the way they behave. If only because the animators just don't quite know how these aircraft move and because directors can't help but overindulge themselves making the aircraft and/or cameras do unnecessarily flashy moves. And there is of course that glorious BoB movie soundtrack which lifts the movie up to an ever higher level of aerial bliss.

Mi father worked with the HE111 in the Spanish air force, based in Puerto Pollensa in Mallorca- Spain in the 50´s. The emergency landing gear deployment was a simple fixed cable scissor were the cables passed thru. Pulling a handle they just cut the cables and the landing gear dropped down, simple and effective. I like your channel, i´m also aircraft maintenace engineer like my father, subscribed and like, greetings from Barcelona.

The 4 Engine one from Cicero is already haunting my dreams and I havent gone to sleep yet. It almost looks like a B-17D but someone had to put so much effort into making that model instead of just downloading or buying a model of a B-17

The Heinkel 111 was a difficult aircraft to fly with a single engine. Some years back now, an HE-111 crashed on final approach to Cheyenne airport when it lost an engine.

The Heinkel He 111 is by far one of my favorite ww2 planes

I like how at 2:13 That plane treated the bomber like an aircraft carrier And at 2:47 how classic music is playing while a guy nearly gets killed by a propeller after being hurled off by an agent

2:15 love the Bo Time Gaming reference

Awesome job. The He-111 is one of my personal favorites. I saw on in the UK. I spent 6 weeks touring it with my family seeing all the sites including Dover, the battle of Britain museum, the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, Bovington and the RAF Museum. Anyone that likes militaria a show in Los Angeles is scheduled for June 17-18!

The OST of BoB, 1969 by Ron Goodwin always had me pumping up. His work is also heard in Where Eagles Dare.

I went to the RAF museum outside of London and there was a HE111 in excellent condition. Really cool to see it up close.

Lemmy from "Motorhead" once had the song bomber on the album cover (from 1979) and was a Heinkel 111. Yes, we also saw that Stalingrad Heinkel 111 wreck in "Enemy at the Gates" (2001). Great video Johnny!

Always liked the look of the He 111. Good on you, Johnny for including the torpedo bomber role.

You missed the most incredible story about a Soviet fighter pilot Devyataev (Movie "Escape from Hell", 2021). He managed to steal He 111 from a Nazi camp and fly away with 9 other prisoners. Mikhail Petrovich is a real Hero.

The He 111 was intended both as a bomber, and as an airliner (V1 and V3 were bombers, V2 and V4 were transports), while Heinkel kept trying to interest Lufthansa in transport versions as replacements for the He 70, Lufthansa had no use for another gas-guzzler.

"Pearl Harbor" (2001): A blockbuster that dissed THREE World War II theaters. (The Battle of Britain, Pearl Harbor, and The Doolittle Raid.)

Well you came up with a good subject Johnny, and I live in any area that was subjected to repeated air attacks during the second world war by this type and others, my family knew lots about this and it's nice to see and hear you have kept up with this, they would have liked it too. The film footage took some finding and that is always a joy to see your dedication with that, well done, more please.

Fun Fact: The Bomber B project was meant to replace the He 111 for a much heavier bomber aircraft. However, due to the failures of the aircrafts supposed to replace it meant that the He 111 continued to be Germany's main bomber aircraft. Thankfully, Germany never made a heavy bomber aircraft equivalent to the American B-17 and British Lancaster bombers.

6:32 That and the only other German fighter, the BF-110 Destroyer was a twin engine heavy fighter. It had range on par with that of the 111, and had good firepower, but it lacked maneuverability to dogfight Spitfires and Hurricanes

fell in love with the Heinkel 111 when i saw THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN IN 1969. Then look around for a model kit, and found the LINDBERG 1/64 SCALE KIT. Had a lot of fun building those!

The " Battle of Britain " Casa 111's even with their bulging Merlin intakes still look the part , my favourite all time Aircraft film which got me into Models long time ago.

Wow the he 111 looks badass

RAF museum Hendon, London has a late war fallschirmjäger version on display. I feel like I’ve known this aircraft since I was a kid but I only learnt today abt the Z and V1 carrying versions. Excellent!

Here’s a suggestion you should make a video on Japanese air craft next This was a great video btw keep up the great work :)

The 1969 Battle of Britain footage got recycled quite a few times in the years that follows, probably the most interesting use was in the TV adaption of 'Piece of Cake' a novel about the early days of WWII that ends with the first of the German raids on London. I've also heard of at least two films using footage from the film converted to 'black-and-white' as substitutes for period newsreel footage.

I know there is a car called Brutus that was featured on the old (and best) Top Gear which was built around a Heinkel engine. They also had another car that was built around a spitfire engine that they ended up racing.

God i love Battle or Britian, that music never dails to stir emotion, hope, courage, desperation and sheer bloody grit. Even the opening soundtrack and german theme are perfect.

This was a great video. The first bomber model kit I put together was a Heinkel 111, so this video brought back cherished memories. Thanks!

There is a video from a couple of years ago with a pilot of a Spanish Casa 2.111 giving a tour of the plane and he said flying it was really loud and could be hot in the summer because of the glass cockpit.

04:30 thanks for featuring this clip from the Battle of Britain! As an East End kid in the 1960’s I played on this ‘beach’ a few times before it was closed to the public…

The Fritz X radio guided bomb was tested using the 111. There is video of the bomb mounted on the 111 under the wing. However, the Dornier Do 217k carried the bomb for attack procedures.

Always liked the look of the 111. First saw it in the 90's when I watched Battle Of Britian. Must be fun to fly in War Thunder, and World of Planes.

- Messerschmits. - Heinkels - Messerschmits. - HEINKELS! I love this scene! it's so endeering.

Why does your channel comfort me so much? I just feel so cozy when watching. 🤔

Dark Blue World is a favourite of mine and I am glad you managed to fit it in.

2:08 - I love this editing. Showing WT players goofing around while talking about overconfidence of the real-life Luftwaffe

very nice to see you including the turning tide, my gran lives in Troon where it is is set and I often go down there where they filmed the Heinkel scenes neat the South Beach.

7:43 as the Casa's in this sequence were performing strafing runs I'm guessing that they are stand-ins for either the BF-110 or JU-88.

I’m not a big bomber fan I like WW2 and Cold War fighters, but I do like the design of the He111.

4:27 "Messhersmit!" "ANKLE!!!" "Messhersmit!" "No they're not they're ANKLES!" Lol.

Great video. Most enjoyable and informative.

Great video. And thanks for including details about the bombing of Guernica. It was an unprecedented war crime at the time, soon to be exceeded by all sides in WW2. Also, it inspired the only work of art by Picasso that I like. I really don't know why he is so admired. In the late 90s, I did get to meet a man who was a member of the Lincoln Brigade (US volunteers who fought against the fascist forces in the Spanish Civil War in 1936-37. Quite an astounding person, one of the very last survivors who participated in that struggle against fascism. Now it goes around again. I hope this generation is up to the challenge.

I'm glad you include the movie "Into the white". I remember seeing it when I was younger and remember it being a very unique movie. Nice video as always!

He had some of the most beautiful aircraft ever manufactured.

A very useful adjunct to the book on the story behind the plane by Heinz Nowarra, that I used to have but was amongst a whole raft of books that went in a house move about three-an-a-half years ago, so thanks a lot for this video. One of the quotes from the book referring to the CASA 2.111 as used in 'The Battle Of Britain' alluded to this strangely familiar and yet not-so-familiar aircraft at an air museum. There was always a strange irony in a juxtaposition of the aircraft type that partially influenced the He 111, the He 70 with a Spitfire in a pair of photos in the book - the He 111's nemesis, if it weren't for the Hurricane! As a fellow medium bomber that was also used as a torpedo bomber - and thanks for making reference to the He 111's role as such - I'd love to see an 'In The Movies' video on the Savoia-Marchetti S.M. 79.

the HE-111 was also in Dunkirk

Super cool I really enjoyed that. Reminded me as well what a great film that Battle Of Britain 🇬🇧 from 1969 was.

Bugger me! The bloke who is playing Franco is a dead ringer for him!! HE 111 had unsynchronised (or was it synchronised?) engines that made them give an undulating hum. The scene in BoBrit where theNazi He111 ‘Tomatoes’ tried attacking my hometown across the North Sea and got there arses handed them gives me goosebumps every time I watch it (the bit where the Henkel splats in the drink and the music kicks in). Every time!! Nice one Jonny. You should do this for a living:)

I was born in 1960 and I still remember to see them stationated, circa 1970-71, in Gando's Spain Air Force Base, in the south of Gran Canaria (Canary Islands).

izetta the last witch is really good at first i thought the tone would be out of place but i really turned to liking it

One my favourite WWII aircraft together with the Spitfire and some more. I think it was called The Wolf in Sheep's Clothes because of it's robust nature

The Battle of Britain is such a fun movie to watch, one of my favorite ww2 movies

Great video. Good catch on "Turning Tide."

Always great videos.

Outstanding video! One of my favorite German WW2 aircraft.

I love the heinkel 111 in war thunder, good bomb load for tier two and while it wont bite against the late tier IV vehicles it is more than enough to kill early spitfires and yaks

Rather randomly a heinkel appears in the 1970's "Battle of midway" during a montage of stock footage. It's clearly a Casa from the battle of Britain movie used incorrectly in the edit.

One of my favorite planes. Love it.

Some of the so called spanish casa versions used in the battle of britain movie were actually genuine ww2 german built aircraft which had been converted after ww2 by spain with extended frames to hold the Merlin engines.....to look like the spanish built version...theres one of the movie planes in the uk minus engines or covers and the german factory stamps are clearly visible on the framework and one can see where the frame had been extended

The King's Choice is an excellent movie. The sinking of the Blucher at the beginning of the movie is a great scene.

During operation Pedestal, Vics Fulmars attacked a group of HE111 TPS from Fleigerkorp X. They had the upgraded armour you mentioned. The Fullies had been fitted with .50s as an experiment (and ‘cos the .303s where like hens teeth at the time) but they’d misbehaved in artic conditions and were removed. Consequently, the Fulmars (and Sea Hurricanes) had to engage the He111s at point blank and near suicidal range to defeat the new armour plating. There was probably some Polish fighter pilot at the time shaking his head saying “we’ve been doing it that way since 1939 but you guys crack on!” Most Fulmar losses were consequently to return fire from bombers. If you can do a video on the Fulmar, JJ, then I’ll buy you a pint! I think there’s a training film from 1943……. And that’s it. Shame. Great planes.

I don’t like what it was designed for but love it as a plane..

I had a chance to get in one from the Confederate Airforce back in 1999. My impressions is it is very cramped inside. This one you enter through the right side. The classic door underneth was closed off. They had a gun in the upper mount and 2 on either side. The cockpit was blocked off but you could look inside. They added a second set of controls. The cockpit was hot, it was August but all the glass gave it a green house effect. Talking to the guys that flew her she was bit a user friendly plane. Very loud and hot with the green house effect. Unfortunately she crashed in 2003.

The music video "Spitfire" by the band Public Service Broadcasting features He 111 bombers.

i love flying it in IL-2

Cool video. I recently purchased a 1/32 scale Revell model He 111. Can't wait to start constructing it!!

It's a very sleek looking plane to be sure.

Thanks again, Johnny. I'm going to have to keep a pad and pencil handy to jot down titles of the films I haven't yet seen! 👍😉

Very interesting and complete information

Good compilation. I was waiting for the scene where Patton is shooting back at a 111 with a pustol.

Yeah. One of the things about early WWII and the conflicts immediately preceding it - was that there were a lot of things that had not been done before and no one really knew what they were doing. For the Battle of Britain - the Luftwaffe had never gone against such a sophisticated and technologically equal opponent before. As would later happen between the 8th AF and the Luftwaffe - the participants shot each other to pieces. All in all - the Luftwaffe didn't have the horses to do what they were trying to do - but then - again - they didn't know that going in. They could put drop tanks on 109's but - they didn't have enough. I read once that those they did have were made out of a paper like material (they were after all disposable) but they got left out in the ran - and ruined. Their initial attacks were properly thought out and they went after the Enemy Airfields as they had in Poland. Here though - they suffered from Over Claiming - thinking they had done much more damage to the RAF than they really had. They thought they were winning - and they weren't. The switch to bombing cities - was only partially out of revenge - but they thought that this would cause the RAF to send in massive fighter defenses - which they would then be able to destroy. That didn't work out as planned either. They would have been better off sticking to airfields. The thing was - at NO time were the Germans ever close to winning. People love to over dramatize things (like the Germans being on the skirts of Moscow (Oh! They were so close! They almost won the war!!!!!) when it was never that close to being decisive). Same thing with the Battle of Britain. Of course, the British didn't KNOW how well they were actually doing. There's a line from _The Battle of Britain_ movie where the production guy (iirc) is talking to Dowding about the accuracy of the RAF loss estimates. _"If I'm right - they'll quit," Dowding says, "If I'm wrong - they'll be in Whitehall in a week."_ Of course - this - is exactly the kind of over dramatization I talking about. Sea Lion - the German Plan for Invasion - never stood a snow ball's chance in hell of succeeding - but again - no one had ever done anything like that before - so - they just didn't know how badly prepared the Germans were. It is only in contrast to the later Allied Efforts that we can see how hopeless the Germans Efforts were - but then - the Germans didn't have those operations as guidelines yet either. .

another great video, thanks Johnny!

Los de la película son CASA fabricados bajo licencia en España. Los motores son Rolss Merlín. Si os fijáis llevan los tubos de escape arriba

Just as an interesting point, The Bomber on Motorhead's "BOMBER" album is a Heinkel 111 compleat with what looks like Merlins

This is such a great channel! Many thanks from Hamburg, Germany

I lost it when I saw Bo time gaming

My grandfather - a signalman on a tin can (destroyer) - told me just before the landing at Anzio, the ship was upgraded with top secret jamming equipment. This was specifically for the purpose of disrupting the operation of those bomber-launched V1’s you depicted (I think they could only jam one or two at a time-some of them came through and dealt out horrific damage to troop transports, etc). I’d not really seen much of anything covering V1’s adapted in this manner.

Love your channel for a few reasons but I love to get movie titles I haven’t seen or even heard of!!

"Operation Crossbow" with George Peppard is another good movie about the development of the German rockets. Also check out the fictional "Strange Angel" series if you have Paramount Plus. Perhaps if the show had spent more time on rocketry development in Southern Calif. before the war and less time on the cult that the two main characters get involved with it would have gotten another season.

Great video as always. Such a unique plane

Brother, where do you find all these movies????? incredible. GOD I LOVE THIS CHANNEL!!!!!

Another great vedeo. Thanks Johnny

Would you please do a video involving the sbd3 dauntless dive bomber and dusty kliess and dick best, the only 2 pilots to hit 2 aircraft carriers in 1 day?

@6:53 The Pearl Harbor movie when the Spitfire made a dive attack above the He-111 shooting at the cockpit when it exploded, that was the common method RAF/American volunteered pilots do when they want a fatal kill on a bomber. They would aim for the cockpit where both pilot and bombardier would be from above where its' least protected. Grandfather told me stories he heard from his older brother who volunteered because he was Polish. They would load the 20mm cannons on the spitfires with high-explosive flak shells to make the bomber explode from inside, which was historically accurate and unfortunately would be a vicious kill because he said he never saw any parachutes from a downed Heinkel over the English channel.

2:46. That's the funniest line I think you've ever spoken.

Speaking of which. The Kent Battle of Britain Museum in Hawkinge has acquired one from Duxford and restored it apart from the engines throughout the lockdown in 2020.

Huh... Always wondered what those Twin Engine Aircraft Were back in my Younger Days, watching those Classics... And I Never even Bother Searching it afterwards, even when my Curiosity about is still Active, but now... This Video has Cleared me of my Question, a Question thats been on my Mind for Years... I Honestly dont know why I didn't search these up... But Hey At least my Questions are now Answered, thanks to you Johnny! Excellent Job! Very Informative as Always! Keep up the Great work, my Friend!

I saw yesterday an He 111 in the movie "Jane and the lost city" on RU-vid.

Thank u Johnny!

Can you do the JU 88 next? Despite being smaller than the Heinkel 111, it was made a workhorse of the Luftwaffe, being used in roles beyond tactical and strategic bombing.

Johnny Johnson 63.7K subscribers The German Heinkel He 111 is one of my all time favorite World War II Bombers.... It's a a shame that there aren't that many of these Heinkel He 111 Bombers still being flown today at Air Shows (Mainly because they are very very very difficult to fly and maintain). Could you please upload clips from various War movies (featuring the Heinkel He 111) such as the opening Blitz 1940 bombing scene from "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe" (2005) film?

The Aiirfix model of the mid war He111 which carried its bombs externally. It has the biggest meanest bombs of any 1/72 plane. They're about an inch and half long! There. That's my contribution.