High Quality Raw Luftwaffe Gun Camera vs USAAF B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators

[@craigowens4629]

These WWII gun cameras are a lot better than what we have filming UFO's 80 years later. Thanks for posting!

[@anml1969]

And Bigfoot.

[@hux2000]

That's because UFOs don't exist.

[@michaeltaylors2456]

That ought to tell us something.

[@widehotep9257]

There are ten- of-millions of security cameras and dash cams recording 24/7, but still no Bigfoot or little green men pictures.

[@onceuponatimeonearth]

I assume you're joking but in case someone actually tinfoil hats about this, military footage is often captured zoomed in for many miles, recording targets not even visible to the naked eye, and footage is nearly always released in low resolution to obfuscate true military equipment capability from rival nations.

[@neilaldenarmstrong9806]

My dad was 19 years old in 1943 when he was a nose gunner in a B-24J. His bomber was shot down 3 times during his service and he was one of the lucky ones that survived. I can't imagine what it felt like to sit in that little turret and see the muzzle flashes of the cannons of the Messerschmidt coming straight towards him.

[@okapmeinkap7311]

If you can elaborate shot down 3x and survived.

[@karlarsch7760]

do you really think someone believe this shit you are talking???

[@martinhansen7094]

Ami Go Home 😂

[@Xx_TopGrade_xX]

My grandfather served with 10/JG11 in 1944. I never met him, he had passed on when I was only 2 y/o. However he told my father everything about his experiences as a fighter pilot. One story stood out about the time he shot down a B-26 Marauder over the Normandy Front on 6/8/44. He told my father it was one of his most grueling engagements because of the intense enemy AA and Flak. In addition this B-26 started evasive maneuvers and would not die! He had spent all his cannon rounds, but finally brought the AC down trailing smoke. When he landed, his air crew checked his guns and found there were only 14 rounds left in his machine guns! My grandfather would always end his stories to my father with “May they all rest in eternal peace, we were all so young… war is a terrible thing”.

[@nikitavoronov7373]

Мои деды били фашистов

[@JarekPłonka]

Ilu polityków zginęło na wojnach......NIKT. trzeba z tym skończyć. Wojny to szaleństwo o pieniądze banksterów.

[@СЕМПРОЦИЙГРАКХ]

хороший дед👍, летал на bf-109 или на fw-190

[@coldbliss5392]

The 5:37 clip was gruesome. Looks like the Messerschmidt scored direct hits on the tail and low ball turret gunners. The tail gunner glass was completely shattered and I can only image the carnage inside behind the window. Once those positions were neutralized, the Luftwaffe pilot was confident enough to slow down and take more measured shots at closer range.

[@pelleban]

It's a bf110 attacking, there is an ai enhanced version of this attack that is pretty well spread, check it out.

[@jamesgoldring1052]

​@@pellebanwould the job have been easier if the nose guns were articulated and could be aimed? Why don't planes do this?

[@Immortal_carp]

@@jamesgoldring1052 Caus autocanon is a HEAVY stuf, mechanism for aiming that must be very strong or it just fal apart after few shots. All of it will weight lot more than regular construction and plane vill dont fly at all.

[@Munakas-wq3gp]

You can actually see the smoke trails from the ball and tail turrets when they fired back up until the fighter landed a few shots there...

[@SwedishAnubis]

Since the guns was pointed down I assume the ball gunner left the turret most likely due to injury or was removed by a fellow crew member

[@woska7493]

My Dad was a Tail Gunner on Ice Cold Katie. He survived 30 missions. Many of his friends never came home. This was hard to watch, especially when you consider the souls on board.

[@bluskytoo]

my dad was a navigator in the 455th BG , B-24s, he seldom talked of the bad stuff, but told me about a mission where the pilots head was laying on the throttles and the co-pilot was almost dead, the flight engineer was wrestling the headless body that was thrashing around spraying blood. He was the oldest on the crew at 24. He said of that mission only 3 of ten survived.

[@GaryBlake-ij1zt]

Flying coffins

[@MichaelDevonport]

Watching this almost looks surreal

[@BLzBob.7268]

A nightmare on the flight. And a nightmare revisited many nights afterwards. Glad he survived, and thank you for sharing his memory.

[@martinhansen7094]

Ami go Home!🎉😂

[@rogercude1459]

Daylight madness. All volunteers total respect to them❤️

[@1ambrose100]

Daylight raids with no long range fighter escort was suicidal.

[@fanda789]

Američané v noci nebombardovali,měli strach a neuměli ve tmě létat.

[@Necronaut]

@@fanda789 they couldnt see ground targets, that is the only reason dum dum.

[@internetpointsbank]

@@fanda789 Technology wasn't there to locate the bombing target. Cities where blacked out at night.

[@thoralfhelmutson7953]

Dummköpfe eben... 🤣

[@elwap0]

And it was like that all day....can you imagine..

[@mattl3729]

Wonderful quality footage- I've seen a few of these clips before, but never so clearly, and many are entirely new to me. Especially the one at 5:00 is impressive as you can see three of the B17's gunners firing- in previous, lower-quality versions of this clip, you an sort of see the ball turret smoke, but I hadn't noticed the tail or top gunners firing before.

[@hw97karbine]

The clarity really makes a difference, at 5:38 you can see the exact moment the ball turret gunner decides to evacuate his position.

[@SpenzOT]

@@hw97karbine From what I can remember, that gun camera footage was from a Bf-110G2 (saw it in their own title card of another version I watched). I can only imagine the havoc and horror those 30mm shells are causing in that bomber. I wish I knew what happened to that B-17, since that footage is one of the most popular clips, but those who do not return tell no stories. You are by far the best curator of this kind of footage. Thank you for sharing it (especially with no watermarks).

[@hw97karbine]

@@SpenzOT My pleasure! As to the clip alas without even a date it is hard to pin down the identity of the bomber. I don't think this particular 110 was equipped with 30mm cannon, what we are likely seeing the effects of 20mm MG 151/20 fire. The larger munition had around four times the bursting charge and would be tearing off much larger chunks, as well as shaking the camera more.

[@mattl3729]

@@hw97karbineHaving seen the ground test footage of an MK108 and the devestating damage it causes, I'd have to agree. It takes the entire tail off a fighter. There are also a very few confirmed clips of Me163 and 262s firing on bombers and the explosion flashes are huge.

[@hw97karbine]

@@maxandshakira I suppose you mean YB-40, and it's not the case, it has the standard loadout for a B-17G including the chin turret.

[@nathanbarnes4740]

I have been into WW2 history ever since I was a kid. Books, documentaries, movies, the lot. I have seen plenty of gun camera footage as well but I have to admit that the clarity of the above made it quite hard to watch. Knowing that there were very young men on the other side of those cannon rounds it becomes quite horrifying yet mesmerising at the same time. It's almost unbelievable seeing the real footage that clearly, particularly with Masters of the Air out atm, it's almost easy to think it's all just Hollywood until you see this.

[@glenncole7721]

One things for sure. I wouldn't want to have been a tail gunner in a B-17 or a Lancaster... or any bomber for that matter. It would have been bad enough anywhere on one of those bombers - but tail end Charlie must have had a somewhat shorter life expectancy? Thanks for the upload. Very haunting.

[@rosenscharf]

Also, the tail gunner was excluded from the cabin in all planes that I know of. Still, crews hated the ball turret position more.

[@jgstargazer]

glenncole7721: The skin of a bomber offered no protection for the crew against flack or enemy fighters. It had the thickness of a tin can. Knowing this such brave men.

[@Ukraineaissance2014]

These bombers have been damaged and seperated from the formation. Getting behind a formation of heavy bombers with a fighter is an extremely dangerous place to be, you get the combined effect of all the tail gunners in the formation firing at you, so it's not such a bad gunner position usually

[@lucas82]

I read several conflicting accounts on which position was in fact the most dangerous. Some sources claim the occupants of the cockpit were the least likely to survive, others claim the tail or ball-turret gunners. I suppose the navigator and the top turret gunner/engineer would have the best survival rates as they were behind the cockpit.

[@Devonshireoldfart]

Did you know the RAF tail gunners never wore parachutes? There was no space or room for them to be worn in the rear turret. The chute was stowed outside their fighting compartments, if the Lanc or Wellington was hit they had to exit, grab their chute, clip it on, then try and exit from their gun turret. This was done by depressing the guns, rotating the turret fully, and falling out of the turret access backwards. Now think of doing that whilst the plane is falling or diving, on fire, wings possibly breaking off, in the dark, maybe blinded by searchlights, with flak and enemy fighters shooting at you.

[@92naz32]

This is some of the most terrifying German gun camera footage I've ever seen.

[@mirrorblue100]

Looked like that last fighter was going to board the B-17.

[@hw97karbine]

The last segment is particularly harrowing, not least because of the evidence that none of the defensive guns on the B-17G are manned.

[@dave.of.the.forrest]

@@hw97karbine so many hits on that thing, probably everyone aft of the cockpit was dead or wounded. RIP guys.

[@trickolas78]

Are you someone i should care about?

[@foenikxsfirebird3067]

Surely your 1st one....there are yet more horryfieing

[@Farbar1955]

Nearly all of these are of bombers that had dropped out of formation and were by themselves. You could tell the tail gunners had been taken out since there was no return fire and so many shots through the fuselage had to have taken out the waist gunners. That last scene with the guns of the ball turret gunner hanging down and not moving was so sad.

[@AntonReut]

If the barrels of the ball mount hang down, it means the shooter has left the ball, because the hatch is located exactly behind the barrels.

[@Farbar1955]

@@AntonReut Sometimes but I don't see the reason why the gunner left the ball turret in the middle of the battle, outside of wounds (and he was pulled out) or the turret is in its default position because the gunner is incapacitated.

[@747ZEPP]

I noticed that, too so sad, these men, may they rest in peace...

[@hux2000]

@@Farbar1955 The most likely reasons are because he was hit and needed medical attention, or the turret or gun had been hit and disabled (in which case there's no point in the gunner being in there).

[@widehotep9257]

@@AntonReut That is EXACTLY what she said.

[@gunner17470]

powerful images - thank you for sourcing and sharing

[@garyraines7511]

As an old follower of JG 301 Trivia, I will share the following mit alles meinen Kameraden:: the VON VORNE Angriff (Attack) is the feared HEAD-ON approach....the Aim point is the Pilot and Co-Pilot Compartment......the VON QUERAB is a more Curving Approach from the Side......The VON HINTEN is the Classic Rear Attack; the Tail Gunner is Often Neutralized, then the in-board engine is Fired..... the ME or FW 20 mm Rounds bring the Fire Back to the Oil & Gas Pipe-chase Eventually Destroying the Wing Spar. I kept placing these observations in another Vid, but the Krautenese Jackwadder running that show kept cancelling them out....but this is what he Bomber crews were up against. gl

[@kaptainkaos1202]

I was a US Navy P-3 Aircrewman. We were trained that if there was an uncontrolled engine fire we were to prepare to bail out. Within a very short amount of time a wing fire will weaken the wing spar so all we could do was jump. No one that I know of HAD to bail out of a P-3 but I heard that SEALS dropped for training said it was a very violent egress to dirty air around the main cabin door,

[@garyraines7511]

@@kaptainkaos1202 Jawohl Kamerad, I was with the 4th Recon Btn. USMCR stationed at Corpus Christi NAS....later, '68 & '69 I got 50 jumps with the Confederate skydivers in Lubbock TX. That was a major technique the good Jagdpiloten used...Willi Reschke , who you might still find on U-Toob, wrote his memoir of flying with JG 301, exclusively attacking the huge B-17 & 24 Raids of '44 & '45.....that was a major technique he described-----firing up the main spar...with major fire on the wing, the pilot rings the bell and everybody gets the hell out, because, as you note, the wing WILL fail. Reschke got over 20 bombers, some pilots got none....he even brought a '24 down after his fire-control system failed, by doing the rare Ramjager Angriff---rammed the Elevator of the '24 and sent it down. Of course he had to jump. gl

[@MidnightExpressMC]

@@kaptainkaos1202 Thank for your service, sir!

[@MidnightExpressMC]

@@garyraines7511 Thank you for your service, sir!

[@buckappel6835]

My father served with 401st Bomb Group Deenethorpe England. I remember him telling me about the mission over Schweinfurt Germany when I was a kid.

[@j.4332]

Maybe your Dad wasnt in the 401st if he flew on the two "classic" Schweinfurt raids of August 17th and October 14th 1943...The 401st didnt become operational until 26th November 1943,its first raid was on Bremen.

[@luapnosboh7421]

There's a 30 min video on here but I suppose you've seen it

[@redtobertshateshandles]

When the ball turrets and guns aren't moving, you wonder if the guys are dead. That last plane.

[@methylene5]

Spaghetti sauce'd. No doubt.

[@williammorris584]

He’s probably pretty sure of it to close so slowly to tens of meters and finally using the rudder to spray the engines.

[@lukum55]

In the beginning of the clip you can see the tail, waist and top gunners returning fire but as the clip progresses and the bomber takes more hits the guns stop firing. The gunners either get killed, wounded or otherwise unable to continue firing.

[@PL-rf4hy]

The amazing thing to me is, the German was blasting the engines on the left wing at point blank range at the end, and they still appeared to be running normally.

[@julkitan3017]

Indeed, It’s incredible how this B17 could eat so many hits, it keeps on flying, pieces of metal, exploding and detaching from everywhere but it’s impressive how it seems to keep going, solid as a rock…

[@Bo_Nidle]

A few comments on here regarding the apparent lack of defensive fire. I think you’ll find it is there but it should be remembered that the USAAF eventually removed the tracer rounds from the gunners ammo belts as it was causing them to suffer from parallax error with their fire being perceived to be on target when it wasn’t.

[@jp-ty1vd]

I would think that you should see some "twinkling" from the guns being fired.

[@martham2930]

Thank you for sharing. Very interesting and intense footage. I read Donald Miller's book Masters of the Air and am also watching the series which has been excellent and quite well done. I'm sure filming it for the small screen vs a larger theatrical release viewing had it's challenges. But I'm glad the book was turned into a film to tell this story in a broader way. I have some background with the Mighty 8th AF Commemorative organization in the UK and these stories are so important to tell. Thanks, again, for sharing this and I hope people keep the men of the Greatest Generation in their hearts.

[@sergeantsalty1236]

Nope

[@6milesup]

@martham2930 I would also suggest reading "Damn Lucky" by Kevin Maurer. It too is an excellent book.

[@kaptainkaos1202]

Does anyone know if their were reports of Luftwaffe aircraft being lost due to damage from parts coming off the Allied aircraft? There was a lot of stuff falling and many of the Luftwaffe aircraft were in the middle of the stuff. Also I saw very few instances of muzzle flash from the Allied guns.

[@hw97karbine]

Ace of aces Erich Hartmann, whose preferred technique was to get as close as possible before opening fire, made several forced landings as a result of his Bf 109 being struck by debris from the aircraft he was targeting.

[@FrecherPfirsich]

Most Nightfighter (Bf-110) chose 20mm over 30mm because of the low distance in night fighting. The 20mm cannons could easily set a bomber on fire, while the heavy 30mm shells often damaged the night fighter due to flying parts of the bomber flying off.

[@timmorodgers4271]

I remember reading about a British night fighter (possibly a Beaufighter) which flew through the fireball of the JU88 it was attacking as it exploded. After landing part of a Luftwaffe airman’s uniform was found in an air intake.

[@CobraBry]

After finding out that my great grandpa sadly passed away as a waist gunner, this makes me feel for him and imagining what every b17 crew member had to go through. According to my great grandma he was in his last few missions and on a mission the b17 and his position where strafed by a German plane, and the bullet wounds he received where said to be as big as tennis balls.

[@davidmurphy8236]

Given that Luftwaffe had very powerful 20 and 30mm cannons, it’s a wonder how anyone survived their attacks….

[@boon1580]

adolf hitler once asked one of his fighter ace adolf galland whether if he wanted to add 2x20mm cannons to his wings or 1x30mm cannon in the prop shaft. galland said 'both' and adolf hitler grinned and gave him both.

[@markusschmidt4597]

Viele deutsche Jagdflieger verloren ihr Leben,als sie die Amerikanischen fliegenden Festungen angriffen. Jeder dieser Flugzeuge war mit 12× 12,7 mm Maschinen Kanonen bewaffnet . Ausgesprochene Killer waren das.Die deutschen mußten sich diesen Herausforderungen stellen. Der Luftkrieg über Europa brachte viele Opfer mit sich. Für jede Seite. Kriege sind das Barbarischste, was der Mensch bis zum heutigen Tag macht.

[@brianoneil9662]

The B-24 had a ball turret that could be retracted into the main body to allow the gunner to exit. In the B-17, the turret was fixed to a transverse roof beam. The only way to enter or exit the turret in flight was to have the turret oriented with guns pointed down. The odds are good that any time you see a B-17 under attack and the turret is pointing straight down, the gunner has exited into the fuselage. The tailgunner, on the other hand, was isolated in one of the worst locations in the plane. Difficult to exit from, and center mass in the gunsights of a fighter attacking from behind.

[@JAlexanderCurtis]

That might explain why a bunch of this footage they are just trailing the b-17 for minutes straight on without seemingly getting any return fire from the tail. Very sad! But the tail gunner probably died early on.

[@thedevilneveraskstwice7027]

Can someone please show this to Hanks and his team of experts which made "Masters of Air" tv-series?

[@astupiddvdcase]

nahh they preferred Star Wars style air combat

[@Conradlovesjoy]

Is it bad?

[@nkristianschmidt]

from the 75 seconds I endured, it so crappy, they wouldn't care

[@Sokol10]

@@astupiddvdcase What is norm in Hollywood, Russy'wood, etc.

[@seanmckenna228]

​@@Conradlovesjoy it's brutal. Acting is piss poor and the CGI isn't far behind.

[@jim2376]

From my mother’s sleep I fell into the State, And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze. Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life, I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters. When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose. Randall Jarrell, "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" The Eighth Army Air Force suffered about half of the U.S. Army Air Force's casualties (47,483 out of 115,332), including more than 26,000 dead. The Eighth's brave men earned 17 Medals of Honor, 220 Distinguished Service Crosses, and 442,000 Air Medals. Rest in Peace courageous warriors.

[@rodneyadamson8270]

My great uncle was a navigator B17 Dallas Dollie.. he went through a number of missions only to be MIA 5-31-45 with two other B17s and 14 men 😮

[@Michael-xz9ls]

Wow. Really raw material !!!!

[@string-bag]

Bless those young men, may they rest in peace.

[@miguelservetus9534]

What does that mean? Seriously, are the spirits/ghosts of the dead airmen who are restless? If we wish the to rest, does it help?

[@KnowYoutheDukeofArgyll1841]

​​@@miguelservetus9534 Depends if their spirits passed on, by accepting their fate. Others not so, and will "live out" WW2 until they become convinced otherwise. You asked, you got an answer.

[@miguelservetus9534]

@@KnowYoutheDukeofArgyll1841 I respect your response.

[@hairydogstail]

You get snarky from a sincere thought given to young men being killed in war?? You are demented.. @@miguelservetus9534

[@internetcensure5849]

@@miguelservetus9534 RIP is a respectful expression for the dead.

[@ThatoneWW2lover]

3:32 this is B-17G 42-37827 of the 351st BG. Was shot down by six ME 109s, knocking off half of stabilizer, salvoed bombs before baling out; ship crashed Oberelsbach, 28 miles N of Schweinfurt.

[@hw97karbine]

I don't think so, 42-37827 was shot down on April 13th 1944 while this footage appeared earlier in a German newsreel published over a month earlier on March 8th.

[@harrybo5482]

Sehr beeindruckende Aufnahmen! Der Frontalangriff war der Horror für die Bomber. Eine Garbe aus allen Rohren, 30mm und 20mm, war das Todesurteil für jeden Bomber. Ehre für die Toten beider Seiten.

[@user-jv4ic8rh4d]

Anyone else see the foofighter at the 2.43-2.56 mark??? On the left edge of the film coming towards the camera.

[@bluskytoo]

it was a puff of smoke from the B-24 that was hit

[@anthonyfox5337]

Front on attacks were brutal.

[@4vepvik781]

That B24 got the full fat head on attack straight through the cockpit!!..😮😮😮 Did the pilots survive!!??🙏🏾🙏🏾

[@hw97karbine]

One thing you have to consider is the approach velocities, the fact that the aircraft are flying head-on means that the velocity of both aircraft can be added to projectile velocity. So if for example a 13mm bullet weighing 38 grams would normally impact at 600 meters per second if fired from a static gun at a static target, it would have an impact energy of 6863 joules. Lets say the attacker and the target are flying towards each other at a combined velocity of 150 meters per second, we can (with some approximation, one would need to take deceleration due to air resistance into account) add that velocity to the projectile on impact, meaning it now hits at 750 meters per second and 10722 joules of energy, over 50% more than it would have if both aircraft were static.

[@capthawkeye8010]

The Luftwaffe began to prefer them for a time but the G model B-17 inherited the chin gun of the YB-17 to deter these attacks. In any case, only the Bf109 could really perform them as only it had enough performance at altitude to fly ahead of the B-17. The 110 and FW190 could only manage it if vectored beforehand, and they'd only get one pass. The 110's climb performance over 15,000ft was poor and the 190 was just all-around bad over 15,000 feet because it lacked a turbocharger. Focke Wulf pilots reported that over 20,000 feet the B-17 could actually outrun them.

[@hw97karbine]

@@capthawkeye8010 Typical of the German situation, the Ta 152 came far too late.

[@mattl3729]

@@4vepvik781Probably not. Those were 2cm explosive shells, maybe mixed with armour-piercing, so...

[@pvtjohntowle4081]

Did that last B-17 have two BTG's ?? Looks like there are two ball turrets underneath the ship. 06:04

[@seanmcdonough7394]

Chin mounted turret.

[@bluedragontoybash2463]

is the 20 mm cannon outrange the .50 cal ?

[@thedevilneveraskstwice7027]

depends on the ammo type. Minengeschoss shells had (en major) self destruction mechanism after travelling for some 1500 metres or so...

[@bluedragontoybash2463]

after resorting to google, .50 cal outrange (4.6 miles vs 2.7 miles), so its not cake walk to kill a bomber.

[@Sokol10]

It's the other way around, Browning .50 has effective range of 1800 meters and theoretical 7400 meters. German MG 151/20 20mm cannon has effective range of 1000 meters.

[@chpman2013]

No, the .50 has better range than the 20mm...but the 20mm has much better hitting power, as you can see.

[@hw97karbine]

The .50 cal bullet is just a metal slug that relies on its velocity to damage the enemy, this means that the farther away it hits, the slower it will be and the less effect on target it will have. For a high explosive cannon shell, the velocity is less relevant, so a hit at 100 meters or 1000 meters is going to cause more or less the same amount of damage. That being said, the chances of a hit are reduced with distance, and we can see for example in the cases where self-destructing shells are visible that a considerable number of them fail to find their mark. Coming in from dead astern without the need for deflection however a competent pilot could still get good results, for example at 2:32 the firing starts at considerable range and yet a good number of hits land on target.

[@76ermaus]

Warum sind alle Videos, die wirklich gut sind, ohne Ton ?

[@fractalign]

The courage and skill of those Luftwaffa pilots is unquestioned, not only are they having to dodge the defensive fire of what were the most heavily armed bombers in the world, they were also risking be taken out by the flying debri !

[@indy_go_blue6048]

Many flew into and through their own flak as well.

[@fanda789]

Ty bombardéry měly úplně běžnou výzbroj, žádné nejsilněji vyzbrojené.Proto padaly jak mouchy.

[@internetcensure5849]

defending their airspace and civilians below. true heroes!

[@firecriss1392]

Reminds me of thr scene in "Memphis Bella" when john Lithgow is reading a letter from a parent as as he does so--scenes like this are shown until they cut back to the action on the Belle.

[@rjwintl]

wondering whether the strategy was to fire at the fuselage or the engines or to shoot back and forth fanning from one side to the other , then back again ???

[@B17FlyingFortress]

Very interesting gun camera footages. I wish, we can see more markings of the planes or the serial number to identify the individual ship and crews. @0:13 - I can see a white triangle on its right wing. 1st Air Division of the 8th Air Force. Looks like a „L“ inside the triangle. Means 381st Bomb Group. @4:32 - I believe this is a 15th AF ship, because no unit markings (Bomb Group) on the right wing. And the mountains could be the alps. @6:00 - sun is on the left (right side of fuselage is in shadow). Heading westwards. England, or Italy. Can’t see unit markings either. I guess 15th AF ship.

[@hw97karbine]

Unfortunately it's very rare to be able to make a positive identification, the few that I'm most sure of are listed in this compilation: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eXq8qZJqa9CFh5I

[@shootfirst2097]

That Fortress at 5:50, does it have TWO ball turrets underneath?

[@PieterHalveLiter]

No, it is a B-17g with a remote nose turret

[@tommytwotoes3880]

My heart just breaks for all these airmen.

[@atendriyadasa6746]

All spiritual histories of the world (for instance the Bhagavad Gita of India) say that, because they are a ultra-peak human potential, hero's that die in battle emerge in glorified spirit bodies, like angels, warrior-angels in the next life.

[@internetcensure5849]

😂

[@devingraves8044]

The footage at 2:32 is amazing. You can see the debris clearly coming off of the B24, as well as bombs falling to the right of it at one point

[@mattl3729]

Yeah, the bombs falling was freaky... I can't help but wonder if the fighter pilot was so fixated on his target that he didn't see them, or he did and felt the helplessness that he couldn't stop those falling on the people below...

[@thejohhny2943]

@@mattl3729 You think they were jettisoning their payload as a last resort to help evade fighters?

[@mattl3729]

@@thejohhny2943That's a good question- I don't know if that's something that would be done in a formation; I've heard of lone planes doing that when they're damaged and have to turn around or something, but this looks like a proper formation. Well wondering what all the different details in a record like this mean is one of the fascinating things about them :)

[@don_5283]

@@thejohhny2943 If you look at the plane in question, earlier in the clip it looks like the #1 engine (far left as you're looking at the back of the plane) may be trailing smoke. If the engine was failing for whatever reason, a B-24 probably would not be able to keep up with the formation while also carrying its bomb load, so you jettison the bombs in order to try to stay with the formation, and use your guns to contribute to formation defense, and try to get your plane safely home. What happens to lone stragglers is clearly attested by several of the other clips here. Better to ditch the bombs and bring the plane and crew home, to try again in a couple days.

[@ToddChaddingtonEsq]

was that someone falling out of the ball turret or a bailout from the open bomb bay?

[@hw97karbine]

It's not clear whether the bomb bay doors are open in the newsreel clipping but looking at this extended version it looks like they might be, and the fact that another man seems to drop out beforehand that makes it more likely.

[@sticktrik]

You cannot bail from the ball turret if the guns are pointing down!!!

[@npg68]

at 4.04 is that debris falling from the bomber or an airman falling from or bailing from the bomber?

[@seabee888]

My guess is that it‘s one of the bomb bay doors. The piece seems rather large and not very heavy, judging by how slow it falls towards the ground, much like the wing pieces that come off a few moments later.

[@chrisbjornberg7838]

A couple things amaze me... 1: How close the fighter pilots actually get to a bomber that has about 8 guns... 2. That the fighter pilots slow down to have longer to try to hit the bombers, and right behind the tail gunner which is seriously dangerous... the tail gunner doesn't have to lead his shot.

[@Majima_Nowhere]

That's why all those cannon shells are aimed center mass - the tail gunner can't shoot you if he's dead.

[@methylene5]

A little known fact is that many if not most attacking fighters didn't actually use tracer rounds, and in some clips you can tell which attacking pilots are using their sights as trained to do, and others are "hose piping" the tracers which was a waste of ammo. This is why many stopped using tracers as they weren't needed.

[@FrecherPfirsich]

Where did you get that information? I cannot confirm it because the quantity of tracer ammunition was chosen based on personal preference or availability. Ammunition belts were usually filled in a mixed way. In June 1944, a belt for a rigidly installed MG151/20 in a fighter aircraft for use against four-engine bombers consisted of the following: mine projectile, incendiary grenade, tank incendiary grenade.

[@methylene5]

@@FrecherPfirsich Glad to hear my comments aren't still shadowbanned. Google is your friend. I would gladly send links, but yt won't allow it usually. Have a search online, if you don't have much luck I'll try and post links.

[@FrecherPfirsich]

@@methylene5I didn’t found infos, that’s why I asked. The only thing I know is that added tracer (Leuchtspur Oder Glimmspur) was chosen based on personal preference or availability.

[@methylene5]

@@FrecherPfirsich Mate, I don't doubt your integrity. I've just had a quick search and found many links. I'm using a laptop, and did a quick search and quite a few forums/links that came up, rather than using a smartphone. To be fair, I only learned about this myself just a few days back. I had always assumed they all used tracers, but actually I had that wrong after a couple decades of watching guncam footage. It wasn't the pilots that didn't want tracers, it was the high command who banned the tracers after evaluation/analysis of guncam footage and the waste of ammunition.

[@methylene5]

@@FrecherPfirsich Not the best link, but we'll see if yt even allows this. kzbin.info/www/bejne/a6DXkJdmlqxrapY&ab_channel=WWIIUSBombers It was the same for fighters as well.

[@collenfisher3635]

Would love to know if the German aircraft is a 109 or 190??

[@mattl3729]

Some are 110s.

[@DeltaEchoGolf]

Which carried a 30mm cannon in the nose.

[@mattl3729]

​@@DeltaEchoGolfThey could, yes, but most had just the 2cm MG151/20s. None of the hits in any of these clips appears large enough to be a 3cm MK108 shell- it had something like 4x the explosive filler of a 2cm Minengeschoss.

[@allgood6760]

So glad these videos exist.. thank you👍✈️

[@ronaldbrouhard1247]

I'd like to know why you never see any defensive fire.

[@PieterHalveLiter]

You can't see tracher ammo from the front.

[@JKeays100]

Those are in the Letter scene in the movie Memphis Bell (1990)

[@zahimiibrahim3602]

Brave men on both sides.

[@Oath_Keeper1979]

Wrong! Only Americans were brave. Germans were fighting for an evil cause

[@johnritter6864]

The Germans were fighting for an evil regime though.

[@pvtjohntowle4081]

A lot of these B-17's and B-24's if not all are stragglers, they have become seperated from the box formation that gave them protection. Also before March 44 when the P-51's started to escort the bombers as per Episode 7 of Masters of the Air

[@CorvusHyperion]

Yes, the losses were staggering. The B-17 was a sitting duck due to its slow speed.

[@steveo601]

My grandfather flew p51’s for the RCAF squadron 430. They were in that theater from dday to early 1945. France, Germany. There are sitting ducks then there were those. Those tail and belly gunner positions were near suicide from a wide open rear attack.

[@slammerf16]

I don't think Master of the Air is a research resource.

[@internetcensure5849]

"Masters of the Air" with thousands of losses.😂

[@pistolpete6321]

Shocking footage! Must have been absolutely terrifying for bomber crews.

[@chrisnewtownnsw]

We can't quite fully imagine it. The type of fear that has you uncontrollably shaking.

[@markusschmidt4597]

Auch für die deutschen Jagdflieger war der Anblick einer „Fliegenden Festung “ mehr als Furchteinflößend. Es bedurfte schon eine menge Mut ,sich diesen Bombern auf Schußentfernung zu nähern.

[@chrisnewtownnsw]

@@markusschmidt4597 very true

[@daskommandantkrieger2503]

"Fine gunnery, men. Gitcha case of beer for that!" - Oberst Kilgore

[@multa765]

I get it.

[@ald1144]

I'm guessing a lot of these were before the P-51 came along. Some of these Luftwaffe pilots are taking their sweet time on the trigger, not at all like they're afraid of getting bounced.

[@savagecub]

Being a bomber crewmember had to be one of the worst jobs you could’ve had back then. I once met a B-24 navigator on a cruise ship that was shot down on his 21st mission. I asked him about it and he said that he was incredibly relieved to be shot down ! Relieved because he knew he wouldn’t have to get up the next day and go through that hell again.

[@ronalddesiderio7625]

Where's the return fire from the B17's?

[@PieterHalveLiter]

There is. You can't see it from the front.

[@throbbinwood]

Aprox 3'44" pause and move forward frame by frame using "period" button. You can actuallly see several BR 21 rockets in a couple frame fly past the B-17 and explode in the distance. Scary how fast they traveled.

[@JohnConstantino-z7z]

Bombers bristling with turrets & guns, but don't see much shooting back in defense. Was all that armament useful or successful in repelling fighters?

[@stephenwhalen73]

Are you still at Leo's?

[@bevanson]

No evasive action or apparent return fire??

[@buckethead9894]

I agree, how maneuverable were the B-17? Could they at least bank back and forth rather than fly straight and level while being plastered? I realize most may have already been too damaged and became stragglers but sheez this was sickening to watch.

[@johnguz76]

Every picture the bombers do not seem to be firing back or you would see gun flashes.Why?

[@FrecherPfirsich]

You can see them firing back, don’t see the smoke? f.e. 04:48

[@SNOUPS4]

In the fourth one, I wonder if the german pilot stops shooting for a few moments because he sees the people about to bail out.

[@markusschmidt4597]

In den meisten Fällen versuchten die deutschen Piloten, die gegnerischen Besetzungen zu verschonen. Bei den deutschen Jagdfliegern gab es bis zum bitteren Ende die „Jagtflieger Ehre“

[@lucasokeefe7935]

The last clip seems slowed down at first. What range were those shots taken at? What aircraft? Obviously multiple nose mounted cannon, so my first guess is an FW-190.. But those rounds look quite a bit larger and slower firing than 20mm.. Were there any variants equipped with the 30mm used on the Me262? EDIT: Of course I typed this out before reading the description.. D'oh. I had forgotten the Bf-110 existed. I give myself props for recognizing the 30mm over the 20 though!

[@FrecherPfirsich]

I think this is not 30mm MK108, but 20mm MG151. Look how the 30mm cannon shells explode kzbin.info/www/bejne/qHWycpWVep14qrcsi=3CdiH-Klmo_GGdw6

[@KuopassaTv]

Was it common for the bomber to explode because it got hit in the bomb department?

[@hw97karbine]

It could and did happen, but it wasn't common, you would basically need a lucky hit on the bomb fuze. The explosives inside were quite stable and simply shooting the bomb itself was unlikely to set it off. It's conceivable that fire could also cause the bombs to cook off, but the amount of heat needed for that to happen would have long since collapsed the aircraft structure.

[@mattl3729]

@@hw97karbineI've never heard of that happening- it'd have had to be particularly terrible luck I'd have thought.

[@hw97karbine]

@@mattl3729 I was looking through some B-24 loss reports the other day and there were several cases of bombers detonating spontaneously on take-off, even without enemy action there are a certain percentage of fuzes that are going to be faulty and the constraints of wartime manufacturing don't help, so while it was terrible luck it did happen.

[@DeltaEchoGolf]

And the fact that the bombs were armed only in-flight. So a hit on an armed fuze was possible.@@hw97karbine

[@mattl3729]

@@hw97karbine Oh THAT I've heard of- I meant being hit in the air; it'd have to be incredibly bad luck for a shell or bullet to hit and set off a fuze that wasn't even armed at the time. It seems the vibration on takeoff was extreme and withe everything, everywhere shaking, I could see a fuze that's defective being set off.

[@David-e1b3t]

If you put it on the slowest speed, it's a lot easier to see details of these attacks, hits and misses.

[@stanleydomalewski8497]

Interesting Video, Thanks for Sharing !

[@yobb89]

these bf110 g2 didn't have 30mm ? or is the b17 such a tank, some of those shots did nothing ..

[@FrecherPfirsich]

in the clip the Bf 110 had MG17 and MG151 20mm.

[@johnmacnabb7562]

Why no fighter escort ?

[@basilioreyes8079]

Is there return fire?

[@dhouse-d5l]

Havent seen this batch before...great lumps coming off that Liberator....sitting ducks, but the Jerrys didnt have it all their own way. Pilots have quoted, against some organised attacks it could be like flying thru a hail storm of lead.......

[@waynemiller7382]

so why on these gun camera films are the gunners on the bombers not firing back?. Not once is there any evidence showing turrets moving to fire back ?????

[@dangarcia6760]

I'm not an expert but just guessing, they seemed like they were planes knocked out of the formation and therefore had wounded or dead gunners by the time the gun cameras started showing what we were seeing.

[@smitthone]

5:33 you can see on the right side of that plane muzzle flashes

[@jhillestad]

Some of these B17's do not appear to be firing back ... ?

[@sarcasticguy4311]

It's not a movie. Guns don't really have as much muzzle flash or smoke in real life. Also the planes are moving about 350mph and any smoke is immediately lost in the wind. Most bomber turrets didn't use tracer rounds like fighters did.

[@jhillestad]

@@sarcasticguy4311 well judging by the ease they shot them down I guess they have really bad aim

[@sarcasticguy4311]

@@jhillestad It's not as easy to hit a moving target while flying as you think it is. The Army had dozens of training videos on how to do the appropriate math to hit incoming planes. Take a look as some of them are on KZbin. It's not just a matter of "put plane in reticle and pull trigger". There's also ammo limitations. Ammo is not unlimited.

[@jhillestad]

@@sarcasticguy4311 I guess those Germans didnt get that memo because they did a pretty good job flying in close and not getting shot...

[@1FokkerAce]

3:55….. The PATIENCE of that! That was crazy.

[@aesoundforge]

Not sure that i have seen all of these before. Nice find

[@pvtjohntowle4081]

It's also amazing that the Flak is still firing at the bombers (black puffs of smoke) at the same time that the fighters are attacking the bombers. I thought they would stop first and allow the fighters to attack to avoid friendly fire but I stand corrected.

[@FrecherPfirsich]

These black puffs of smoke aren‘t the Flak exploding, it's the cannon shells exploding slightly lower (because of their ballistic trajectory) at far distances.

[@6milesup]

@pvtjohntowle4081 In 1944 the German pilots did start attacking our bombers in the middle of their own flak. That is because Hermann Goring was getting so much heat from Hitler to stop the bombers that he order his pilots to do whatever it takes to kill the bombers. In certain instances, this even included ramming. I suggest reading "Damn Lucky" by Kevin Maurer where he points this out.

[@NiSiochainGanSaoirse]

Naah, you're right. Germans would always stop flak when their fighters were overhead. Americans bomber Crewe also tended to shoot back when Germans planes were around, but not a single.one of these bombers shot back... I think this is fake footage

[@FrecherPfirsich]

@@NiSiochainGanSaoirse this isn’t fake, you can see them shooting back, f.e. 04:48

[@hux2000]

@@NiSiochainGanSaoirse First, in some of the clips they are shooting back. Second, in the clips where they're not shooting back, that's because the rear-firing guns have been hit and are disabled, or the gunners have been hit and are wounded or dead. If that were not the case, you'd be seeing a lot of considerably less interesting clips of fighters shooting bombers from much further away, or lots of head-on clips of fighters screaming past bombers, only able to fire off a few rounds in a second or two, hoping they don't get hit. But when the tail and belly guns have been disabled, the fighter can camp behind the bomber and fire as many rounds as it likes with impunity. Those are the kinds of clips this channel has decided are the most interesting.

[@Edward1312]

Three observations, the fighter could be damaged by flak itself, secondly, why isnt the bomber making any evasive maneuvers, but just continues to fly straight even though it is taking numerous canon hits. Finally, why cant we see any tracer coming from the bombers gunners firing at the attacking fighter?

[@FrecherPfirsich]

If you mean the little detonations while a bomber is under fire, this is not flak (except 03:44), but the self-destructing cannon shells (from the Bf-109, Bf-110 and Fw-190) that missed their target. You can see this in almost every Luftwaffe guncam clip. There is information about it on the Internet if you don't believe it, and as I said, you can see it in almost every Luftwaffe gun camera clip, small bursts of detonating cannon shells missing their target. Due to the balistics, the cannon shells explode slightly lower and/or further in front of the bomber. You can’t see tracers of the bombers firing back because the tracer of 50.cal is at the back of the shell, in this video you can see them shooting back for example at 04:46 (no tracer but smoking barrels). The bombers usually don't make any defensive movements because such an attack only takes a few seconds at real speed. The recordings are significantly slowed down. When the German fighter was discovered it was often late to "evade".

[@Edward1312]

The fighters were also venerable to the flak trying to bring down the bombers?

[@heavymetal3975]

Beautiful !❤

[@DeadPixel27]

how did they decide which German planes to strap cameras onto?

[@hw97karbine]

Most combat aircraft carried gun cameras, they were useful tools for both damage assessment and intelligence gathering.

[@patrickbarrett5650]

The chaos and the damage happening inside those planes must have been terrifying.

[@Mo_Taser]

Why are they not taking evasive action?

[@davegoldsmith4020]

I live close to what was RAF RAckheath, home to the B-24, one named Witchcraft completed 130 missions, it makes you wonder how the hell did it survive.

[@don_5283]

She was a lucky bird, but starting her career in April 1944 is a big help there. Big Week in February took a lot of the stuffing out of the Luftwaffe, and the decision to start employing fighter sweeps really dropped the level of active fighter resistance, compared to what was seen all through 1943. Still amazing to see her survive so many missions, but declining German resistance made it at least feasible in 1944 and 1945.

[@multa765]

The clue could be in the name...

[@JeraldFahrsite]

I notice when these guns miss, they are always low, and never high. They are either on the target, or below it. I wonder why this is?

[@PieterHalveLiter]

That's in the mind. Aim where it is, not where it should have been to make a hit.

[@jcmangan]

Unbelievable what this aircraft could take.

[@terrygilmour1876]

The very first aircraft which is alone, is not a B - 17 but as the film shows the fighter getting closer through the smoke the twun tail boom of a Lancaster is visable .

[@scottjuhnke6825]

That B-24 at 3:52. That was, for me, the scariest. One has to wonder, given how the German guns lit up the cockpit, if those boys made it out, let alone home.

[@FrecherPfirsich]

probably not, most of the used cannon shells were explosive shells. Let us hope they did not saw it coming or suffered.

[@teatime6597]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/b2Kvhquno5aEj5I

[@CountCraigula]

That last one is incredile! The ball turret and tail gunner both disabled.

[@ahmadeid3005]

GUYS is B-17 at 0:26 is the same B-17 at 3:16 ? Same wing at fire!!!

[@Snagglepuss1952]

I am amazed at how close the fighters came in one even appeared to fly right over the bombers wing, bravery on both sides. My dad flew Lancasters mostly at night but around D-day he flew daylight sorties. He had to do 3 flights to count as a single sortie on his tally. He hated them. Only three turrets and different tactics. After the war he was never afraid of anything

[@tube-dude77]

How many people got injured/killed when those bullets came down to earth??,

[@johnadams-wp2yb]

Why was that Liberator flying straight when they knew that they were being shot at?

[@saschaesken5524]

Engines keep running😮

[@femtoeclipse860]

I don’t see the bombers firing back maybe is just the low quality of the video

[@sullacicero2610]

Everyone has a Father, a grandfather whatever. Not one of you would even get close to how horrendous this was.

[@PieterHalveLiter]

Very well said.

[@lennykump8396]

All these bombers entirely unguarded?

[@monsterstereos1836]

Damn, those bombers were easy pickings for the Luftwaffe. I also noticed that some of those rear guns in those bombers were just aimlessly dangling - not shooting back. Those guys never had a chance.

[@darrellcaraway6068]

They shot the tail gunner first

[@darrellcaraway6068]

They shot the tail gunner first

[@darrellcaraway6068]

They weren't stupid . It's us or them

[@alistairbarclay3116]

What’s amazing is the apparent lack of return fire from the bombers guns?

[@hw97karbine]

In the notations I have indicated where smoke from the defensive guns firing is visible

[@ss-oq9pc]

Pretty sure you can see the tail gunners face at 6:02. And during the fighters approach to that bomber you can see the tail gunner and belly gunner gun shooting before they're possibly killed.

[@hw97karbine]

I can see why you would think that, but I would say that we are seeing is the tail gunner's bullet resistant glass panel shattered by a shell impact.

[@michaelfrancis7072]

Why were hardly any of the allied planes returning fire. They are armed with heavy machine guns, yet none of them were being used to defend themselves.

[@PasstheDalek]

The gunners were probably already dead taken out in the early stages of the engagement. Don't forget the Germans FW190s and ME109s had cannons that outranged the .50 inch machine guns in those B17s so they started firing before the US gunners could. Furthermore a fighter is tiny and fast compared to a lumbering big bomber and it is not easy to hit it. These are gun camera shots slowed down.

[@slyguythreeonetwonine3172]

(3:44) Oof.......If you watch closely, that last tracer round went right into the cockpit of that B-17. You can even see the explosion light up the inside.

[@BlueAsh-MilitaryAviation]

3:05 when the B24 in upper right corner of screen drops its payload of 12 bombs.