Narrated by Jay Joel and Szymon Postlethwaite. Illustration by Piotr Forkasiewicz. If you enjoyed, please like and subscribe to help us make more videos like this! Visit the WingLeader website: wingleader.co.uk
Yes, until some islander decided to relentlessly "carpet bomb" German cities with phosphor, blast and incendiary bombs without any mercy to men, women and children.
After Dresden churchill said ,are we monsters, though they did horrible deeds ,that pilot was still someone's son ,someone's dad,or uncle ,we are all human , yes both sides did bad deeds
My deceased father, fought in the Sherwood Foresters during WW2 as well as 8th Army etc. He was very badly injured in the trenches in Italy when American Artillery short-ranged an assault killing multiple men alongside my dad. He had a friend “Tim” from Nottingham who was a Spitfire pilot who, shot down multiple German planes . When I met him some 30 years ago, he had the appearance of a mild- mannered vicar. I asked him about his exploits, he declined any conversation about his kills, stating that killing anyone is nothing to be proud of. He did say he cried, every time he shot a plane down, also requesting that kill’s weren’t painted on his fuselage- a real man.
I seen a documentary about the battle of Britain, they interviewed a few surviving 109 pilots ,one said " you could get behind the spitfire,get him in your gun sights,give him every bullet you had ,and still not hit that " little bastard " ..." As he called it!!
Just wow not only we got to see the film towards the end of the dogfight but then to see the film of the Pilot being taken away for medical care. That is just epic. I think this video should be remembered at cost.
Absolutely fantastic!! I love that kind of detective work. Bringing so many pieces together to make a fascinating story. Well done and congratulations Mark and Wing Leader Team.👏🏻😀
Great bit of historical forensics. Before people get too dewy eyed over a downed German fighter, I always remembered an account my mother experienced whilst out shopping in Worthing High street a German fighter came down and strafed the street, luckily my mother was not hit and survived by diving into a shop doorway, others apparently were not so lucky, and luckily I'm here to share her story.
From what I have read, they did this often over the English countryside as well. I suppose that they developed a taste for strafing civilians during the Battle for France: all those columns of refugees.
That's interesting you should mention the Worthing incident. My grandmother who was aged in her 90's when she passed nearly 20 yrs ago also recalled it. Never provided much detail but certainly backed up your mothers experience. To this day I've never heard anyone else mention it.
@@punkybrewster7667 Thank you for your reply, wow to think they were probably in the same area all those years ago? it became a standing joke in our family, because my Mother was pushing my eldest brother in a pram she left the pram and brother in the doorway and went in to the shop for cover, he always joked that she was trying to get rid of him, obviously not true. 😂 she also told me they use to stand in her garden and watch the dog fights going on above.
@@ZedsDeadOK - Ha, yeah I can imagine your brother becoming the joke with that story. My uncles (grandma's kids) used to also watch dog fights overhead and on one occasion found a live round dropped. One tells the story of pushing it into a fresh cow pat while friends gathered around. An air rifle was then used to shoot the primer. On detonation the shooter got a little cow manure around his ankles, the others copped manure in the chest & face. 😁
The German pilot was extremely fortunate to survive. I have always admired the tenacity and grit of the English fighter pilots. Great footage and a very well put together documentary.
True. And in my opinion this footage clearly shows, that despite radar, observers and careful planning and organisation of fighter aircraft for defensive purposes, air combat itself was comparable with man to man combat. Best regards from Germany.
I have seen that photograph at 2:35 a number of times over the years and as soon as I saw the first few seconds of this excellent video, with the silhouetted 109 with 1 wheel down that very photograph immediately sprang to mind. I LOVE your investigative videos... they REALLY appeal to my own meticulous nature. My own field is family history. I MUCH prefer keeping my tree small but investigating each member as thoroughly as I can to produce as detailed a picture of the individual's life as possible, rather than a huge tree of meaningless, empty names, so to see this snapshot of a particular historical event researched and illustrated in depth & in full is just VERY satisfying to see. Thanks for the production. Another EXCELLENT and concise military channel on YT is "military history in a minute" well worth a look at.
The chances of getting so much footage and a still of the same combat and rescue back then when film was at a premium and movie camera's a rarity. Wow, that's unique.
I clicked on this, not expecting anything too revealing. Wrong! It's a fabulous, gripping, well-researched account of a snippet of the Battle of Britain. By pure coincidence, I was in Folkestone, very close to where the first picture was taken, just this weekend. The harbour wall (arm) is still there - now a popular spot full of pop-up bars and eating places. By locating the exact spot where the photo was taken and taking the splash in reference to the harbour wall, it would be straightforward to locate the exact spot of the crash site. There should be plenty of 109 chunks down there if not the whole aircraft itself.
Fantastic. Knew of the photo and the story behind it, but had never seen the footage before. So this is the most documented combat of the Battle of Britain. Remarkable. I imagine that the aftermath of Ray Holmes' ramming of Feldwebel Zehbe's Do 17 would probably be in second place.
From PoorOldSpike- Speaking of rescues, it reminds me of a true account I read some years ago of a Brit POW helping to get an injured pilot out of his crashlanded Me 109 in France. (I forget the exact details). A German officer who witnessed the rescue was so impressed that he wrote a little note complimenting the POW and gave it to him.
Remarkable collation of historic evidence, and a well told story that really brought to life the events of that day 80 years ago. Really resonated with me.
I believe that the man in a greatcoat with corporal stripes at 4.47 is the same man mentioned at 4.57 as a rescuer. He's not wearing any side cap or helmet; his hair looks out of place, & he has his hands in his pockets suggesting that he may be quite cold. He's also not wearing a collared uniform shirt under the coat, suggesting that he's had to take off his shirt & put on the greatcoat instead. I think it's incredible that they may have caught the face of one of the brave men who jumped in the water to save a downed enemy.
More original and detailed research, which brings these individual historic elements together to form an interesting and compelling account - delivered in a balanced and fascinating manner. Excellent work. Phil Harvey
Quite remarkable investigative work, accompanied by an explicit infographic composition. Many thanks to Wing Leader for this initiative and its archival research work. Fred
The piece of land by the shore in the foreground is known as the Warren. I used to live at the top in Capel - le - Ferne. My dad was a Hurricane pilot during the war.
Wow Folkestone's changed a bit. I was there in the early 90s with the tunnel. Iirc there was a gap in the houses in tontine street where a house was bombed during the war and nothing was rebuilt. The railway to the pier (tram road) was still operational , although only used by tourist trains. Now that aspect would be dominated by a hotel that looks a bit like a ship , can't remember its name.. Fascinating footage and amazing that several sources were available for the same event.
Has to the best video I have seen on RU-vid, I only live 10 minutes from Folkestone and been there so many times and next visit will be a different one thanks to this video 👍
A friend of mine who has been a commercial fishermen all his life retrieved a messerschit from Hythe Bay (not this one) a book was written about it called 'The reluctant messerschit ' it is worth a read
I wonder if the 109 is still there or been recovered...Should be relatively easy to find given the footage...That would be great to have it as a museum piece next to the photo and footage...
Wonderful video. fwiw I noticed the landing gear down within seconds at first time of watching - maybe I should come and work for you guys @Wingleader Films?! The follow up footage of the Luftwaffe pilot being stretchered is the icing on the cake!
Thanks for advising about Me 109s carrying bombs. I am particularly interested in this aircraft because I only found out in2016 that my father-in-law (pilot of a Beaufighter) was shot up by one over the North Sea.
Great work piecing all that together. So, does the question remain, that there is a 109 still to be found in Folkestone Harbour? Or was it retrieved at the time?
The pilot would have had only seconds to jettison his hood before crashing into the sea. Even then he was fortunate enough to escape from his cockpit though injured. Fate dealt him with a fortunate hand, many pilots and aircrew were never that lucky to escape from the ditching and to then be rescued.
Great stuff!! And i like the comparison of the harbour images. Just look how higher the sea level is. P.S. If you're an aviation buff,you will see that the Bf 109 has a landing gear down. When the plane has only one landing gear leg down,you know it's in trouble. Oh yes,anyone please-where can i get those books about shot down planes? Thank you.
Bf 109E-4 (1969) 2+- of 4/JG2 was shot down by Flight Lieutenant I.H. Cosby and Sergeant N.V. Glew of 72 Squadron whilst defending bombers at 10.00. Aircraft crashed into the Sea between Folkestone Railway Pier and Copt Point, Uffz F. Dilthey, was rescued by a soldier and fishing boat. Wounded in the shoulder and with a broken leg, was in difficulties in the water and jumped in to support him until the pair were picked up by a fishing boat. 72 Sq "Basutoland" - RAF Biggin Hill, pilots: Ivor Henry Cosby , Norman Vipan Glew II./JG2 - Dunkerque / Mardyck, 51°01'50.0"N 2°15'45.0"E II./JG2 - Beaumont-le-Roger, 49°5'42"N 0°47'33"E
