When a German Ace Taunted a P-47C 

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This really shows how survivable the P-47 was, half the ammo of a Fw-190 dumped into it and it still managed to get home.

“When did your trust issues start?” Lt. Robert S: *“It all started with this German pilot in a FW-190..”*

My Dad , 1st Lt. McKendree R. (Mike) Long Jr, also was a P-47 pilot and had told me a version of this when I was around 12-13 y.o. and would pepper him with questions about the war, and more about Thunderbolts. He joined right after Pearl Harbor; survived flight school and training ( most didn’t as early on there was a very high ‘wash out’ rate); and was flying out of Britain in late Spring 1943. Most of the ones that he arrived with never left Europe. He had to crash land twice after the plane being shot to pieces; once by a couple of BF- 109’s (Messerschmidt) and once by a Focke Wulf 190. The Thunderbolt was the toughest plane ever built and so had by far the highest survivability rate. He used to joke that if not for the toughness of his P-47, me and my siblings would never have been born. They were a tough breed, as tough as their planes.

Johnson wrote a book called "Thunderbolt" in which he describes this event. There are pictures of the actual plane in that book and it s a miracle it (and he) survived. A man from my hometown of Oil City, PA was a pilot in the same squadron, named Francis Gabreski who went on into the Korean war and became one of only 7 Americans to become an ace in both prop planes and the jet F-86. Sidenote...I took one of Gabby's nieces to her high school prom.

“We like to do a little trolling”- The 190 ace probably

The additional details here were incredible, like the radio swapping and such. You guys always find someway to improve with every video.

My Dad worked at Republic Aviation late fifties early sixties, mr Johnson worked in PR and pops was a vp of personnel. I got to hear the story from the man himself. He was very patient with this little kid hanging on his every sentence.

It was as though the Jug (The nickname of the P-47 Thunderbolt) was refusing to let Johnson bail and assure him he would make it back safely. I can say Republic built a fine aircraft during the campaign. While the Mustang was the iconic aircraft during the second World War, the Jug was the workhorse. It's fascinating to hear the stories about how this plane and how well it performed even under all of the stress and strain.

When the Thunderbolts first arrived in the European theater, the British were aghast at the size of the plane and didn't think the P-47 would survive long, but they soon proved their worth.

The German was trying to give the American a chance to bailout (obviously not knowing the canopy was jammed). When the American didn't, he assumed that he would take his chances in a shootout. It wasn't taunting. The German was like WTF?

As my dad always said..."the Jug is a tough Ole Bird"!! He loved that plane and was all hands on with the P-47. Dad served in the 20TH USAAF, 7th Army Air Corp, 414th Fighter/Bomber Group, 413th F/ B Squadron in the South Pacific Campaign on Tinian, Saipan and Iwo Jima. Dad was a flightline engineer and mechanic on the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. His unit received 2 Unit Bronze Stars in the Iwo Jima campaign. RIP Staff Sergeant Robert E DeHart 1917-2006.

The A-10 Thunderbolt II's tribute to its namesake is spot on.

I wonder if the german pilot tried to get Johnson to bail out from his plane, thinking that Johnson's refusal of bailing out was his way of saying that he wouldn't be captured. So the german pilot, saluting him for his bravery, went to finish it off. After shooting Johnson, he then admired his courage, so gave him one more chance to surrender, not realizing Johnson's canopy was stuck, and he couldn't bail out. After this, he spend all his rounds, realised he failed and Johnson "won" looked at him once more before leaving. Or of course, he was in fact, a major dick. Sadly we will never know the german pilots side of the story.

Aw i still remember the first video i watched from this channel, the bf-109 that spared the B-17, how times passed, from 2d animation to full on beautiful 3d! Theres so many details its difficult to keep count of! And the commentary is just amazing! Really everyone at yarnhub keeps getting better and better!

No wonder P47 pilots loved their "Jug's" - ability to take punishment and damage, and still fly and get home - huge radial engine to get protection behind, and no fragile liquid-cooling . Apparently one of the fastest planes in a dive ( due to their 8ton weight ) , a feature many axis pilots found to their error. What a machine. Toughness reminds me of the Grumman "ironworks" planes - Wildcat and Hellcat - not as fast and nimble as some of the Japanese planes, but woundn't suddenly burst into flames , or disentegrate either.

Read about this incident years ago and is one of my favorite WWII aviation stories. Although the video says he made a perfect landing back at base, in reality he barely got over the coastal cliffs and had no brakes or flaps due to loss of hydraulics. He nearly ground looped into a line of parked aircraft.

"He gave up counting after reaching 200, without taking a single step" Aircraft Mechanic: So how much damage did your plane take? Lt. Robert S: *Y E S*

Even with only one week, this team still manages to make quality and entertaining content. Thank you for your hard work, Yarnhub team.

Amazing recreation, thankyou for keeping this story alive & giving this story a cinematic representation of what happened.

This is without a doubt THE BEST World War 2 animated and narrated series to ever grace Social media. Hats off to you Yarnhub for your commitment to history telling and unmatched visuals. Sincerely, viewer.

"Personally i wouldnt let someone taunt me like that" - their wingman probably

Honestly, Yarnhub videos are better than many high-budget productions.

i am not english speaking I'm from Kazakhstan, I watch your videos with subtitles, your videos are awesome!

This was my favorite WWII biography when I was growing up. I am teaching my teenage kids a WWII class in school and all of them mentioned this in their book reports. Such an amazing moment in the book! I just sent this video to them!

This is one of the reasons that the P-47 is one of my favorite aircraft of WW2. It did struggle at first but got better with every improvement that helped better its performance in the air. Built like a Tank and being able to be armed to the teeth made this one of the deadliest and successful aircraft of the War. I'll always love the P-51 but this has a special place in my heart.

For anyone wondering, this is very unusual of Luftwaffe pilots. Most German pilots were very chivalrous and would think of something like taunting or toying with a wounded opponent like in this scenario, or with any opponent, as something disgusting and wrong. This behavior was so looked down upon that in many cases commanding officers and superiors would punish a pilot who was caught doing something like this.

Such an incredible video. Thank you. I’ve seen a few Thunderbolts in person, such a beautiful aircraft. Love the cold start too.

Such amazing work the team does!! Another great episode in history,brought to life through animation. Thank you for what you do!

People can obsess over the Mustang all day long, but stories like this are why I love the Thunderbolt. It didn't need to be nimble or flashy; it was durable, rugged, and could tear targets to shreds.

3:17 Thunderbolts were made to survive. Wouldn't expect one to go down so easily. Also, I don't know which version I like better. This one or Dogfight.

This is the absolute best piece I've ever seen on WWII aviation. Wow.

Thanks from Spain to all Americans who did ight in Europe for the Freedom, and after the II W W, they saved us from the Soviet Tiranny. God bless all you ! God save UNITED STATES OF AMERICA !

Having flown the P-39, P-47, and P-51 my grandpa always said the P-47 was his favorite. He said it had better handling than the P-51 at low altitude and its ability to take a beating saved his skin on several occasions. Not to speak ill of the P-51, he said it was an amazing plane - but the P-47 was a special kind of machine in the best ways.

It’s simply unfathomable for someone to receive 9 DFCs; an award which is commonly given posthumously as it’s requirements typically involve actions which claim the life of the pilot. My dad received a DFC and multiple Purple Hearts among other medals in Vietnam, but he always said the DFC was the one that actually meant something to him. Nine? I can’t even comprehend it lol.

toxic players in war thunder be like:

I read his story while in JR High, around 1964, it was in one of the Balentine Pocket Books. As I read it I gained great respect for the man. Read it again two more times over the years from the same book. I'm in my mid-seventies and still have the book, but my eyes aren't the same and I couldn't read the small print on the yellowed pages. I found re-prints on eBay, and I'm presently reading it again. I kept the cover off that old Pocket Book which was an artistic rendition of a pilot mounting a running P47. Mister Johnson had passed last year if I remember correctly.

Incredible how much beating a P-47 could take & still keep on flying.

Per usual and as expected, an unbelievably well made and high effort video truly deserving 10 fold of what it gets in views, revenue, and likes

I read this account in a book titled "Thunderbolt" The reason he couldn't open the canopy was because a 20mm cannon shell had hit right behind his head and jammed the canopy. The book is a great read.

Holy heck the quality increase on this videos keeps on getting better each time. When you first starting doing 3D animations, I prefered the old style, but after seeing this I would think that calling myself a blasphemous fool would be an understatement!

I’ve heard of this story. It’s incredible and shows how tuff the P-47 Thunderbolt actually was.

it is stated over and over again but i shall continue it your animations are gettig better and better in a seemingly exponential rate, you are awesome!!

P-47: best plane of ww2

Damn good creation. The most articulate and best illustrated video about Lt. Johnson's ordeal' yet. Thank you.

6:59 when you realize that your enemies think you upgrade the plane with stronger armor

I remember hearing this story from that Dogfights episode specifically about the P-47. They outta reboot that series. There’s a plethora of aviation stories that didn’t get featured and should’ve.

Those bullet Scars are war medals earned in aerial dogfight for that flying beauty !!!! ❤️P-47

Johnson wrote "Thunderbolt", which is available for around $10 as a Kindle book. I just bought it the other day. I'd read this book decades ago, enjoying it. This guy covers his whole life, and goes into this episode with the many passes from the FW190, and it running out of ammo, all while the P47 continues forward. The book is quite good for one of these pilot bios. That and Johnnie Johnson's "Wing Leader" are the first two of these I'd read.

Fw-190 pilot must be really salty after not scoring the kill. That’s some major skill issue right there lol

The P47 Thuderbolt was a huge fighter aircraft compared to other fighter aircraft from its time. Some claims that the large aircooling system placed below and aft the cockpit saved a lot of pilots. Shouldnt be surprised if the design idea for the P47 Thunderbolt was to scare the enemy to death before spraying the enemy with ammunition.

I have always heard what a durable aircraft the P-47 was, but this story really brings it home - as did the amazing P-47 for so many of its young pilots. Not the quickest or the best dogfighter - but unsurpassed both in its ability to sustain battle damage and to continue the fight, wreaking havoc as a ground support platform.

Oh wow this animation is wayyy better than the ones that were 2d from different channels. Keep up the great work!

My favorite WW2 story of all time. Thanks for animating this!

As a teen I read Johnson's account in his book "Thunderbolt". It is one of those things that just sticks in my memory, almost word for word. Very good video recreation! The book is highly recommended!

One P-47 pilot recalled his crew chief coming up to him and asking incredulously if he was aware that two cylinder heads on the radial engine had been blown away by ground fire. The pilot stated that he didn't notice ANY problems while flying. The P-47 was especially loved by it's pilots for it's capabilities and ability to take punishment. I remember on the 50th anniversary of D-Day my local PBS channel ran a great series called 'A Fighter Pilot's Story' about a Thunderbolt pilot.

P-47 Thunderbolts are my favorite aircraft. Honestly the most Beautiful prop fighter to exist.

This one was greatly awaited on my side and it was truly amazing! I know this story very well and have read Johnson’s account of it, it is superbly depicted in your video. Also, your work with light was excellent in this one, and added such a cinematic feel to it. Another masterpiece to your collection, thank you Yarnhub!

Almost everyday I come and watch this amazing channel, it always lifts my spirits keep up the good work!

At the time when the P47C was operational the FW 190 A5 had two 20 mm with 250 rounds each and two 7.92 machine guns with 900 rounds each. The Luftwaffe pilot had obviously already expended his cannon ordinance which would have ripped that airframe apart just as it did to B17s. The fact that 7.92 mm fails to penetrate armor behind the P47 pilot or reach and damage anything beyond is nothing that evidences anything at all about P47 durability. If it had been a later variant with the 13 mm secondary ordinance it would then be impressively noteworthy providing a Jug survived several hundred close range rounds of 13 mm from it's 6 o'clock with a green pilot resigned to his seemingly unfortunate fate without attempting to evade at least some of it. . Johnson was having a very lucky day to survive his first experience to become the pilot he became. He had the luxury of being able to think about surviving in this "game" that lots of first time combat pilots didn't get.

The opening animation of the P-47s looks gorgeous, and the view in from the wingtip during the dogfight was really neat to see. Excellent work once again!

This story is one of my favorites. It is a testament to the durability of that great machine, and the courage of those great men!

Hey Yarnhub, it's all good! Totally enjoy and appreciate the entire content of this video, as well as all the others you've provided! From a slightly humorous point of view, at first glance at the 4:15 point, it initially appears as if the tail rudder has been shot off!! BUT, and as I mentioned in regards to the "first glance" of yours truly here, post a quick 10 second rewind it becomes pretty darned obvious that the rudder has in no way, shape, nor form been blown away by the ME109, but rather due to my erroneous observation, the rudder has simply been shifted via an attempted maneuver by the Thunderbolt pilot to where it (the rudder) points directly towards the video viewer here, or rather to where its maneuvered towards the left wing side of the P47! At any rate, its still an awesome video, and again is very much appreciated!! WADR, A_N

Wonderful video of this historic encounter! As a sidenote, Lt. Johnson would have been trained to release the back pressure and center the stick, not "pull hard," then apply opposite rudder to recover the aircraft from the spin, before initiating his pull out from the dive. Thank you for posting this, and all of your historical video's, very enjoyable and informative!

P-47C: WHAT THE F****K ITS SHOOTING AGAIN that one german: man i gotta shoot him to get the golden 109

Reminds me of a story where an American stole an F-14 from an Iranian Base and taunted the Iranian fighters whom are in an SU-35

The Thunderbolt, one of the toughest planes to ever fly. Well done!

Great story, well told. Thank you!

Yarnhubs animations keep getting more and more detailed!!! Good job!!

Bet the German was saluting to say: “You were a respected enemy, I hate to have to shoot you out of the sky”

I read in a UK fighter ace’s book, that when the RAF was trying out the first P47’s, that they thought it was so big in the cockpit (compared to Spits and Hurris), that if you came under attack, you could just hide!!

The P-51 was like a sleek sexy cultured big city girl. Thin with great curves, she could move fast and graceful like a ballerina. She could sing like an angel and break your heart just looking at her. Yes she handled like no woman you'd ever been with, but she was high maintenance and if you treated her rudely, she'd slap the shit out of you and leave you bloodied an broken. She was impressive on your arm and the other boys were envious. She was fickle but unforgettable, the kind you would eventually see her name in lights. The P-47 was like a Midwest farm girl, tough as hell from hard work and cute as can be. Big breasted with nice round hips, her voice sure and confident. You could hold her tight and you felt real warm in her presence. You could trust her and you knew she wasn't going to run off with the next sweet talking dude that came along. No matter how hard the job was she was going stand by you and bust her ass and carry her weight till the job was done. She was fondly thought of and respected by everyone, she was yours forever. Then, there's the exotic P-38, she made Dick a legend.

note: it is wrong to think that german pilots were bad people, most of them were just as honourable as pilots from allied countries, this one was just a case of big ego and no valor, remember pilots like him were also in the USAAF and RAF

There was a saying among US fighter pilots back then that went something like ''If you want to impress your girl you fly a Mustang, if you want to live to see her again you fly a Thunderbolt''

What a story ! A perfect example of never give up.

That P-47 should have been placed in a museum.

Wonderfully well told story!!! Again, Yarnhub has put history into its correct frame. You guys are GREAT!

you guys are one of my favorite content creators. When you upload a video I get exited and then sad after it is over because I have to wait a week. I wish there were more channels like yours.

I remember watching a video of the man that flew the p-47 tell this story. Was really something to hear it in his own words. Wish they would have gotten more videos of the men that came back and their stories.

The ultimate troll.

from 2d to this marvelous piece of animation, wow, you guys have improved so much since the first time i watch you guys, keep on improving!

I first heard about this dogfight when I read the book Hellhawks. It tell the story of Johnson's squadron from formation thru the war. Reading that book and the stories of survival for the P-47 is what made me love the plane to this day. Toughest in the war with nothing to compare it too.

Love stories like this. Bless you Mr. Johnson. What a brave soul. To have this happen and be flying again 5 days later is incredible! Thanks for posting Yarnhub!

He was an outstanding man and pilot. God rest sir.

You guys definitely out did History channels dogfight series in this one.

Incredible video. Thank you Yarnhub ! It was so good

I remember reading this many, many years ago. But imagine a German fighter using all his ammo to a already shot up Jug and it still keeps flying? That had to be demoralizing..Having seen one up close and next to a Hellcat and P51 it's absolutely massive! Like a flying train engine..lol Then the P47 went to the bubble top is when it was perfect. No longer could Japanese or German fighters get on its tail and have a chance..lol My dad served in the Pacific and I have his captured Japanese rifle that he took in a battle and it still has the emperors crissanthom and seals on it. Like he was, its priceless to me..

I have heard variations of this story before; this is arguably the best.

That Focke-Wulf was unlucky. He just had to expend all his ammo against a P-47. The Jug is just a tough bird to take down. It may be not as fast or graceful or long-legged as the P-51 Mustang, but it's built like a tank and can dish out the hurt just as hard!

it's awesome to see the evolution of the animations in this channel, keep up the good work guys

I read a book by one of the engineers who was involved with designing WW II era planes at Northrop Grumman. After watching this, I recalled a portion of the book as he described that all engineers designed with a priority of getting the pilots home. Always, the survival of the pilots was serious business and the designers of the P-47 must have been on the same wavelength. It's interesting to think that the designers and engineers worked to make a machine to aid in survival of one person, yet for others... to be deadly.

I subscribed. I loved the story of courage and honor. Animation is great too!

I knew a man who flew p-47s and p-51's during World War II. He actually preferred his P-47, because of its incredible ruggedness!

goosebumps. just absolute goosebumps. The storytelling, immersion and the absolute quality of this is astounding!

The events on that day and the saluting from Egon Mayer at the P47, was part & parcel of air warfare. Mayer was the Kommendeur of of JG111/JG 2 at the time of this incident. He was promoted and became Kommendeur of JG 2 1-7 in -1943 until his death 2-3-1944, he a total of333 missions 102 victories all in the west in the victories he had 25 victories over 4 engine bombers, with his death was considered as the most successful against 4 engined bombers and deemed specialist against 4 engine bombers. his death was on 2-3-1944 near Montmedy in combat against Thunderbolt fighters. There was a standard for Luftwaffe pilots as to not shoot down enemy pilots, and the Luftwaffe high command along with the head pilots in the Luftwaffe fighter squadrons. It also included not to try and shoot down crippled enemy aircraft. Mayor was also awarded the Knights Cross with Oak leaves and Swords, given his abilites and number of victories over the English Channel, 5.2. 43 all confirmed his death on 2-3.1944 was during air combat against Thunderbolts. Given his awards, and the incident in this mock up as well as his saluting to the P47's pilot, its hard to imagine that he could/would deliberately try to shoot down a severally wounded disabled aircraft as based on his flying alongside, also to consider that he would likely empty his ammo and have acted as an escort at that point. The info on him is found in the large book DIE RITTERKREUZ TREUGER DER LUFTGWAFFE 1939 - 1945 I was able to purchase a copy of this wonderful and informative book in 1966 not long after its publication and short supply from a military bookshop in Parramatta NSW Australia, and has been and still is a wonderful publication that is also sad considering the number of deaths along with the principle details of the pilots themselves. The companion books (my view) from the likes of Adolf Galland, along with Hartman, Steinhoff and similar are valuable resources overall.

Thunderbolt is a very underrated aircraft, turbocharged so full boost and power on the deck right up to its max service altitude. Radial engine so the engines tough as all get out.

I am getting nostalgia from watching this! This is an amazing story and visually stunning!

Its crazy how you guys improved over these years with animation, and narration

5:36 kudos to the camera man who risked his life trying to get a shot at the back

Sending much love for yarnhub!!