Last Luftwaffe Dogfights 8 May 1945

Even on the very last day of WW2, 8 May 1945, German pilots scored kills, several while on their way to surrender! Find out the full story of the last Luftwaffe dogfights of the war.
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[@jaywilliams9294]

When the war ends at 2pm but its only 1:30pm German pilot: I got time

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

*"HOLD MY BEER...."* 😊😊😊😊

[@MasterMalrubius]

@@Allan_aka_RocKITEman Exactly.

[@IrishCarney]

Soviet pilot who's survived this long against all odds with 30 minutes of war to go, seeing futuristic Nazi jet coming in fast on his 6: "oh come ON."

[@wideyxyz2271]

@@IrishCarney Why Me???????????

[@program4215]

@@IrishCarney Most Soviet pilots had not been fighting for very long at this point. The Soviet Air Force was hardly even operational due to German successes early on, but had rapidly expanded much like the Red Army as victory became more certain.

[@professorgomezbolt1083]

Ok, one correction. Hartman was not only Germany’s top ace, but the top ace in aviation history.

[@PewPr0]

The Germans really didn't like the Soviets apparently.

[@GlamStacheessnostalgialounge]

Of course they wouldn't like the guys who kicked their asses back to Berlin.

[@TheSunderingSea]

Russians weren't too fond of them either, can't say I blame them.

[@BigBossMan2000]

@@GlamStacheessnostalgialounge Russia was the one who got kicked moron.

[@ponycentaur1456]

Most germans early in war went to fight soviets because communism is the mortal-enemy of most European allies. If you check out alot of german accounts, most were heavily into stopping the 'red plague'. Not to mention most POW atrocities were aimed at german pows and vice versa. SO there was alot of hate built up like crazy. Compare that to the British, where german pilots were often treated well, and in turn, British pilots were treated well.

[@blanqdex1993]

ww2 started for prevent soviet expansion of europe, nazi german ideology build on anti bolshevism, and bean soviet or german pow basically similar hell

[@OmarSlloum]

Imagine not having seen a German plane since 1943 and then only moments before the war ending seeing a fricking me-262 land at your airfield.

[@TheJudge2017]

Who in their right mind Scraps that ME-262?? How cool would it be to see the ME-262 that got the last German kill of the war.

[@ricardosoto5770]

Canadians did.

[@TheSunderingSea]

Oftentimes its hard to tell the historical or collectors value of something until it is gone.

[@no1DdC]

In 1950, it was just an outdated plante with no real value anymore that is incredibly expensive and difficult to maintain. Think of it like an ancient Greek throwing away a slightly damaged vase. It costs money, space and time to preserve an aircraft, even in a non-flightworthy state.

[@markymark3572]

Yeah, what idiots, it could have been a prize exhibit in any number of the worlds museums as the plane with the last Luftwaffe kill of WW2.

[@DataWaveTaGo]

The Canadian Aviation Museum does have a number of German aircraft from WW1 through to WW2, including an Me 163 and an He 162 to represent the more advanced models.

[@cryo1246]

if Germany is the fatherland and Russia is the motherland does that make ww2 domestic violence

[@aylor1882]

Yes

[@IrishCarney]

May have felt that way to all the smaller countries trapped between the two giants.

[@wolfattacker1]

Bruh 😂

[@therealunclevanya]

Two competing socialist idealogies having a squabble

[@uberpotato379]

Mind ooof

[@dobypilgrim6160]

How many of us wish that so many of these planes hadn't been scrapped?!

[@CHixon]

There's a squadron of Messerschmitt BF 109s for sale in Texas.

[@20thcenturyman21]

Mark , Germany's top ace Erich { " Bubi " } Hartmann 's last mission over Vienna where he sighted a formation of Soviet planes at one altitude + an American one at a higher altitude. Seizing the opportunity, Hartmann fired on the soviet formation ,then quickly disappeared into the smoke pall rising from the city. The soviets assumed the Americans had attacked them . A wild dogfight ensued , while Hartmann slipped away chuckling. He finished up as a General in the West German air force . Thanks as always for your most interesting quality videos.

[@JohnSmith-du4fi]

Gulag officer: How many soviet aircrafts did you shot down? Erich Hartmann: Yes

[@windyhiller]

My wife's late Uncle was a navigator on an RCAF bomber that was shot down by an Me-262. His crew was lucky to bail out safely. They actually were saved by German Army troops who picked them up before some of the local farmers who were going to kill them. He survived the POW camp and lived to age 97 in Canada.

[@83RBurke]

Fitting that Hartman should have a kill on the last day of the war

[@cgaccount3669]

Ya but let's not forget someone's family lost a son for no good reason that day. Just a wasted life.

[@andrewstrongman305]

@Old Iron I've never heard of Allied fighters actually dogfighting Russian fighters in the last days of WW2. Allied fighters such as the P-51 would have decimated Soviet fighters if that had happened.

[@flyinryan7773]

@@cgaccount3669 yeah but he was a communist

[@mebsrea]

iatsd Exactly. Particularly at low and medium altitudes, the latest Soviet fighters were competitive with their Allied and German counterparts in performance and armament, if not avionics and communications equipment. Average pilot quality in the US and Commonwealth air forces was unquestionably better, however.

[@youmaus]

The squadron of Me262s had a "top cover" squadron to protect them in their painfully long take-offs and landings. Consisting of FW190 Dora fighters with their undersides painted barber pole red and white stripes so that airfield AA gunners could easily recognize them. All pilots in this unit had over 100 kills in earlier models of the FW190.

[@chriscarbaugh3936]

N not true, squadron of expert yea, but not 100 kills. Look up JV44 instead

[@AudieHolland]

@@chriscarbaugh3936nyway, the Me-262 squadron commanded by Adolf Galland was unofficially known as the Knight's Cross squadron.

[@thunderchief7]

I'm glad you mentioned the painfully slow take-offs and landings. Some people have said that if Germany had more ME262s they would have won the war. By 1945, we had so many fighter aircraft over Germany, that they had to wait in line to shoot at German planes.

[@tubularfrog]

First ever jet fighters, absolutely cool. Also the Me 262 was a very beautiful and fast aircraft.

[@caroltenge5147]

Back in the 1960s I knew a german nazi soldier named Herman. I asked him how it was to lose the war, and he said "what can you do when the whole world is against you"

[@DocBolle]

Interesting. Faßberg - the airfield where the last victorious Me-262 landed - was the location where I did my military service in the Bundeswehr from 1985-86.

[@williamcharles9480]

A German soldier or sailor definitely didn't want to get captured by the Soviets. Living out your days in a Soviet gulag in the far north of Siberia was a fate worse than death.

[@ben2741]

Western Allies: ok Germany, party’s over. Time to bring your toys in Germans: just one for the road.

[@CKC_Productions]

This channel is amazing the effort and information you put in each video is marvelous! Bravo!👍🏽

[@AVKnecht]

Your German pronunciation especially the difficult ones like Messerschmidt is really good.

[@ilmarvaim317]

Messerschmitt

[@dpr97527]

I find it interesting how most German aces flew their last combat missions against the Soviets to get their final kills then promptly flew to Western allies to surrender. Seems like they wanted to stick it to the Russians one last time before surrendering. I'd imagine capture by the US/UK would be more preferable than the Soviets. Makes me wonder though, did any attack the Western allies then surrender to the Soviets?

[@GlamStacheessnostalgialounge]

Rather few germans surrendered to the Soviets willingly, usually secret Communists or Socialists who were not sent to concentration camps before the war, and that was usually during the early to mid war, by the end of the war however, none that I've ever heard of.

[@ricardosoto5770]

They well well aware of how Germany treated soviet POWs and Soviet citizens, so they expected the soviets to have a revenge, so they wanted to surrender to the Brits, Canadian and Americans instead.

[@IrishCarney]

I don't know about pilots. Out of the three branches of the Wehrmacht (as opposed to the Waffen SS, the SA, etc.) the Luftwaffe was probably the most Nazified as a whole, although the U-boat section of the Kriegsmarine (as opposed to the more traditionally conservative surface fleet) was even more Nazified. But clearly some must have fought in the West and surrendered in the East, at least from the Heer (the Army) since the early days of the East German military show a lot of former Wehrmacht officers in leading roles. There was even a legal minor political party in East Germany (the National Democratic Party of Germany -- nothing to do with the current NDP) which was designed for ex Nazis and military officers, although of course like all East Bloc non-ruling parties it did not actually oppose the ruling party.

[@corsa701]

Nope. Due to Propaganda, everyone knew what could happening. "Sieg oder Sibirien- Victory or Sibiria" the Propaganda said. During war there was a chance to survive by switching the sides, but as soon the war was over, Russians looked for revenge.

[@TheSunderingSea]

In a purely self interested sense being captured by the Americans or Brits was a much preferred outcome. Half of all Russian soldiers captured by Germany died in captivity, about 3 million soldiers, and the population and infrastructure of the USSR mortally damaged by the German invasion. The Russians had no reason nor incentive to treat German POW's any better.

[@MrGeoffHilton]

Why was it scrapped, it would be worth a million today!

[@DataWaveTaGo]

The Canadian Aviation Museum does have a number of German aircraft from WW1 through to WW2, including an Me 163 and an He 162 to represent the more advanced models

[@franktaeterUSA]

Easily 10s of Millions

[@cgaccount3669]

Perhaps it was considered secret at the time so a museum display wasn't even considered

[@jwenting]

At the time they were a dime a dozen, useless militarilly, museums didn't want them because they were chronically underfunded if they existed at all, and just keeping them in storage would take up hangar space needed for other things more pressing, new aircraft then under development. It wasn't until much later that museums and private collections started looking for WW2 relics to restore and put on display.

[@doogleticker5183]

@@DataWaveTaGo - ctrl c, ctrl v

[@mikelindsay6980]

About 25 years ago an old guy appeared at our gliding site and told us "The last time I flew a glider was at Arnheim." Later we learned that he' been a POW, but one day all the guards had just vanished. So they all started walking West.Pretty soon the met an American unit, who took them to an RAF base. They were asked to wait by the side of the runway, they would get the next Dakota UK bound to to take them home. Suddenly an FW190 appeared, did a circuit, landed, and taxied up to them. The pilot got out and offered his pistol to the POWs saying "I wish to surrender!" They were a bit nonplussed at this, they told him they couldn't accept his surrender. Just then the RAF police turned up and peace was restored. Griff was a lot of fun, we used to see hime nearly every week. When he died at 95, about 18 months ago, he had a grand military send off, with a helicopter fly-past. Rest in peace, Griff, we will remember you and not just at the going down of the sun and in the morning.

[@cw6679]

This is such a fantastic channel. Your insights and research into WW2 produces some truly gripping content. Well done Sir!

[@StoneCoolds]

The last air kill of WWII by the most advanced plane of the era, what we should don whit this unique piece of history sr ? Canadians: Lets scrap it !

[@frankwhite3406]

Ace of Aces to the very end of hostilities!

[@gastonave]

I got to see an ME262 fly at the Wings Over Houston airshow.

[@greaseman01]

Always a video with information not commonly talked about. Mark you are an excellent and engaging historian. Keep up the good work.

[@aderyn50]

This is how to do an historical aviation video. Clear narration and correct aircraft film. Very well done.

[@jonminer9891]

Thanks for your hard work. Finding all that old footage must be quite difficult. Also, the voice narration is very good.

[@bigchungus4349]

I love this channel so much! I always watch Potential History’s vids but somehow I like yours more! I love to see your channel grow, and I hope you keep growing.

[@SupesMe]

It always blows my mind that a lot of these guys have autographed 8 x 10’s floating around out there. It’s almost like they were actors and comic book artists signing at a con. Very interesting

[@terraflow__bryanburdo4547]

Rommel did a lot of these. I imagine they would fetch a ransom by now.

[@389383]

There were a lot of books written by pilots on all sides after both wars; they became stars.

[@markdavis2475]

There are a few interesting books about the end of the Luftwaffe: "The Last Year of the Luftwaffe", "I flew for the Fuhrer" and "The Last Chance".

[@TheFlatlander440]

Good informative vid and I'm disappointed the Canadians scrapped one of those beautiful ME 262's. Thanks for sharing.

[@russellmoore1533]

Victors usually don't care too much about preserving the enemies equipment, mores the pity in this case, imagine how much an intact ME 262 would be worth today!

[@TheWoollyFrog]

@wood1155 You don't know what you are talking about. This happened in the 50's before it became a collector's wet dream. Military equipment costs money to store and maintain. It simply had no use and it wasn't valuable enough at the time to justify the storage and maintenance cost. They did the logical thing.

[@questionreality6003]

it was too ugly - Canadians then made the Avro Arrow

[@panzertracks]

Excellent content. keep those videos coming, never gets boring.

[@commandingjudgedredd1841]

Thanks for another interesting video. Your channel is certainly packed to the gunnels with interesting military history. Very glad I subscribed.

[@HRHooChicken]

Look up 'list of top fighter aces' on Wikipedia and you'll be amazed how brilliant the Germans actually were in the skies.

[@capslock3417]

Every day at 3am my family hears this intro music

[@skeletonwguitar4383]

Lesson? Shoot any reds before finally.going home

[@TheSunderingSea]

Or a complete waste of human life in a war that was quite literally already lost. I suppose its easy to LARP as a NATSOC behind a keyboard though.

[@DataWaveTaGo]

And hope they don't get captured. Stalin called captured Russians _traitors_ and sent them off to the labor camps. At least one POW repatriation train returning Russians back home had the letting "Here are the traitors", or words to that effect, written on one of the rail cars.

[@benmmm7359]

Aa Auliawan yup. A few less commie fkkers to worry about for the following 45 years of Cold War....

[@terraflow__bryanburdo4547]

Shooting down the PE-2 is ethically legit since it was possible or even likely trying to kill civilians. The Soviet fighters, not so much.

[@Simonsvids]

A sign of the Cold War soon to follow. The Luftwaffe saw the writing on the wall.

[@reddirtroots5992]

Very informative video. Always the BEST. Thank you Mark!

[@sr633]

Never was bored with this great video. Thanks.

[@slapitman]

My grandfather scored the second kill of a 262 on record. By then he'd had 6 kills already since the war began but he recalled the 262 largely because of how hard it was to chase them.

[@UliMuliko]

Congrats for 100 000 Mark! Victory!

[@williammorse8330]

great film footage and narration.... thank-you....

[@ryanmuro]

That was one of the most fascinating videos I’ve ever seen on KZbin

[@haideribrahim7261]

Amazing. If only the gun cameras were rolling

[@bigblue6917]

All things considered would you want to have that evidence if you were the pilot.

[@program4215]

@@bigblue6917 All things considered I would be more concerned about getting the hell out of there before the Reds arrive If I were the pilot.

[@RetroCat31]

I could't click fast enough when I saw the ME 262. Another incredible video :)

[@AtomicPeacenik]

I always get excited when I seen that you’ve uploaded a new video! I can’t wait to read your books.

[@bobbyricigliano2799]

Mark, your videos and narration are top shelf. Thank you!

[@evilcrow]

Sehr gutes Video. Vielen Dank.

[@wape1]

Excellent video, as always! I especially like your late-war and aircraft content, and here they are together! Actually, maybe you could do a video on Sonderkommando Elbe sometime in the future? Just food for thought... 😉

[@flycatchful]

No nonsense just facts this makes your channel a must watch.

[@Edwardnarby92]

Great video thank you for sharing!

[@HoH]

Understandable but such a shame that all Messerschmitts were ordered to be destroyed...

[@CHixon]

Over 100 Messerschmitt Bf 109s still exist

[@bigblue6917]

There is a sound recording made on the 11 November 1918 of the final moments before the armistice started at 11 am. In the recording you can hear artillery fire right up to the hour when it promptly stopped. One German soldier was firing a heavy machine gun right up until the signal was given to stop fighting. At that moment he got up, throw his helmet to the ground and walked away.

[@redwolf7929]

Great informative video as usual.Thanks Mark.I did not know about the German Jets in the Luftwaffe at the end of the war.Thanks again.Also your commentary is very clear.

[@ericmcquiston9473]

What can I say Mark, another outstanding video ! Its amazing they actually could get into the air let alone shoot any planes down.

[@napoleonwilson3912]

Congratulation on getting 100k subscribers.

[@doogleticker5183]

Well deserved Mark!

[@MatSpeedle]

Fantatsic stuff Mark, loving these stories of German operations. A side of WWII history often ignored. Keep up the fantastic work!

[@ewaldsteyn469]

Thanks. Your short video are excellent.

[@simonkevnorris]

Thanks for another interesting video.

[@carsonbrown7603]

Congratulations on 100k subscribers mark.

[@carlguenzel1447]

I don't care if i'm first or last, this was good!

[@ThatGuy-a48]

Nether did the ME 262

[@conspiracyscholor7866]

If you ain't first, your last.

[@TheJoeSwanon]

Definitely an underrated channel !

[@Jpriest13]

Had the honor of meeting Gerhard Thyben back in 92 along with Walter Loos and Willi Reschke. He was quite a character, and with his goatee he looked a bit like a salt and pepper haired Colonel Sanders. He paid tribute to Loos and Reschke who flew Defence of the Reich missions in the west, finishing in Stab 301 in the Ta-152. He said real courage was what they went through against the overwhelming numbers of the west. He didn't consider his number of kills as significant as the quality of opponents his compatriots faced in the west. He and his wife lived in Cali Colombia, birthplace of my father as it turned out. Three very nice men.

[@Kairos318]

Thank You for your amazing content. My father recounted the time his company was strafed by a plane they never heard coming - and only after understood that it was a jet fighter. I was too young at the time to appreciate his story or ask further questions, so unfortunately don't know more than that, but it may have been during the battle of the Hurtgen Forest?

[@Trillock-hy1cf]

To me, the ME262 head on reminds me of a Great White shark coming at me....with a grin...

[@brewt1mer]

Informative as ever..great channel...

[@sau002]

Very informative. Thank you.

[@Rickasaurus]

You should of noted that Eric Hartmann ended up being a prisoner of the Soviets for 10 years

[@doogleticker5183]

The grammar Nazi is coming for you...

[@1504strikehold]

I met Thybens son in Honesdale as he was an exchange student from Argentina!!

[@USCG.Brennan]

VERY interesting.....thanks for posting!!

[@willanger261]

I look forward to hearing Mark's intro music everyday.

[@obama2184]

Cool video

[@patrioticgamer5878]

My birthday is May 8th, which is pretty cool considering my interest of ww2 history

[@bigblue6917]

I used to know someone who's parents got married on the 3 September 1939. When he told me about it my reply was that he could not blame his parents for WW2. 😊

[@melodycity2720]

@@bigblue6917 i also hav great interest

[@kavkaz2005ify]

julius cæsardied at the day i was born, thats nice

[@moa1846]

Mine is on May 9th

[@dannyh8288]

Oh my gosh! That is SO strange!!! The odds of you having a birthday on May 8 is a staggering 1:365.25!!!!

[@HighSpeedNoDrag]

Excellent presentation. Subscribed.

[@jasondaniel918]

Thank you, Mark. Yet more information I had no knowledge of. By the way, I much appreciate your ability to pronounce German words and names properly.

[@marks_sparks1]

Erich 'Bubi' Hartmann. Was only just reading about him in Flypast magazines April edition. Truly the Ace of Aces

[@DataWaveTaGo]

For some very interesting insights into Bubi try the book "The Blond Knight Of Germany" by Raymond F. Toliver & Trevor J. Constable, ISBN 0-8306-8189-2

[@terrygrossmann2295]

Nice video. Insane how both sides continued to fight up to very last minute. Even in WWI many allied armies continued to senselessly through their men at German lines.

[@TheSunderingSea]

From what I understand with the last minutes of WW1 the last guy to die was some dumbass who tried to take a german MG nest to make up for being demoted.

[@thomascolones1937]

Excellent report and excellent information !

[@lancehymers4674]

Mark, your videos are uniformly interesting and educational- keep up the great work. I’m happy to be a Patreon supporter and I encourage everyone else who enjoys these to kick in a few bucks too. There’s so much crap on KZbin, it’s refreshing to see great content like this.

[@lolkevandewitte1713]

....so sad that most of the video’s posted by mr. Felton end with the comment “...and it was scrapped”....

[@zacscurlockshobbies2133]

I love you content. Didnt you do WW2 in color I recognize your voice from it

[@jaed64abfsm36]

Zac Scurlock, he did didn’t he!

[@MRB1157]

Zac Scurlock no that was a different guy

[@chrish3850]

General Generic yea it was, but if they changed it to his voice I surely wouldn’t recognize the difference.

[@akillerpacman1709]

Haha! No that wasn’t Mark that was another British guy.

[@Wallyworld30]

No, but he is in a ton of Documentaries on Netflix and I'm sure others as well.

[@algiz21]

100.000 subscribers! Congratulations Mark! I love your content!

[@pedrot.2964]

Fanstastic video, and very good audio, as always...

[@SupesMe]

One thing I’m curious about here… Did the Canadians know that that Jet had scored the last kill of the war when they scrapped it? Because I just can’t believe that they would do that had they known

[@horaceball5418]

Canaduh

[@nicholaspatton5590]

German pilot sees inexperienced Russian pilots in Yaks. "Well, if you ain't first, you're last. Boogidy boogidy boogidy!"

[@chriskleckner1659]

Thank you for posting this interesting video,

[@samholdsworth3957]

Congrats on 100k Mark! Much deserved

[@dennispierson5607]

"Over 100 aerial victories ..." 2:12 Dang. "With an astounding 351 kills ..." 2:50 Incredible.

[@bololollek9245]

War is never started by the soldiers at the front. The ones who fight a war on the front will never be the one who benefits from the war. There are a select few, that will never see the horrors of the war and experience them. These people see profit in something that brings horror to ordinary people.

[@christopherthrawn1333]

Incredible jet. Well put together this documentary.

[@andrewheffel928]

Really good video and narration.

[@werre2]

I fly mostly german planes in simulators weekly and the german planes have the best instrumentation and cockpit layouts. Especially FW-190 variants and jets. They look more like 1950's cockpits.

[@wonderboy4993]

Lol I know all the video game planes lol

[@rexapis2125]

@@Gr-zny Typical millennials..

[@theunknown6144]

@@Gr-zny *best instrumentation and cockpit layouts* read that again. It has nothing to do with "expert historians". He is merely giving his opinion about the instrumentation and cockpit layouts of the German planes, no technical stuff like engines, plane stall speed, G-load etc. Simulators may not exactly simulate the characteristics of the plane like in real life, but they sure as hell will not get the instruments and cockpit layouts wrong. So please stop attacking people for giving their opinions on "instruments and cockpits" Seriously though, since when do i need to be an expert in "history" to be able to give an opinion about fucking instruments and cockpits?

[@henryluebberstedt7819]

@@Gr-zny He has never claimed to be an historian expert. But in fact modern simulations offer very detailed/photorealistic 3D cockpits. Search for "DCS Fw 190" or "Il-2 Cliffs of Dover" to get an idea of what a simulation looks like today. After a few virtual flying hours in those Fw-190 or Mustang or Spitfire you are able to compare the effectiveness of the different cockpit layouts.

[@man_vs_life]

It must suck being killed on the last day of a multi-year war.

[@me-co5bn]

I absolutely love the videos Mark Felton

[@kvdodenburg2031]

Brilliant, thanks Mark.

[@John_Steuart]

Mark I have enjoyed your videos for a while but I would like to see you make a video on the defences Wich the Germans set up on the beach we're d day would be fought

[@timg2088]

Just let me get one more...

[@ntrslmgb]

great video as always! and those coments are pure gold..

[@sprintershepherd4359]

their is a ME 262 at the Australian mar memorial in Canberra . I was amazed to see it there its tucked away in the back hardly even on display . although you can actually reach out and touch it . I have been amazed by that plane ever since i was a kid playing with toy soldiers . I never thought i would actually see and touch one while living in Australia The Australian war memorial is bloody amazing