P-47 Thunderbolts Role In WWII, The Defeat Of The Reich, Germany, And The Luftwaffe

The story of the last battles in Germany during WWII, before the German capitulation, and the contribution of the P-47 Thunderbolt to defeat the crippled Luftwaffe.
It starts with the aftermath of the Battle of the Bulge.
The video Includes Interviews with WWII veterans and brave P-47 pilots.
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The pilots' first mission was a fighter sweep of the French coast in March 1944 and from then until D-Day that June the ground supported Allied preparations for the invasion of France, taking out German military sites and equipment in northern France. The Group was awarded a DUC for quite a singular action: when supporting infantry in the St. Lo area on 11 July 1944, the pilots discovered a column of enemy tanks as yet unknown to the infantry. Despite coming under intense fire, the Group, as well as striking nearby pillboxes, the intended target of the mission, attacked this column. This put many of the German tanks out of action before they engaged the infantry. The Group carried out armed reconnaissance missions during the Battle of the Bulge (December 1944-January 1945) and escorted bombers during the assault across the Rhine River. The Group's last mission saw them attacking harbors at Kiel and Flensburg on 3 May 1945. The Group remained in Germany after the war and, as part of the United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), was part of the occupation force.
The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American aerospace company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. Its primary armament was eight .50-caliber machine guns, and in the fighter-bomber ground-attack role it could carry 5-inch rockets or a bomb load of 2,500 lb (1,100 kg). When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to 8 tons, making it one of the heaviest fighters of the war.
The Thunderbolt was effective as a short-to-medium-range escort fighter in high-altitude air-to-air combat and ground attack in both the European and Pacific theaters. The P-47 was designed around the powerful Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp 18-cylinder radial engine, which also powered two U.S. Navy/U.S. Marine Corps fighters, the Grumman F6F Hellcat and the Vought F4U Corsair. An advanced turbosupercharger system ensured the aircraft's eventual dominance at high altitudes, while also influencing its size and design.
General characteristics
* Crew: 1
* Length: 36 ft 1.75 in (11.0173 m)
* Wingspan: 40 ft 9+5⁄16 in (12.429 m)
* Height: 14 ft 8+1⁄16 in (4.472 m)
* Airfoil: Seversky S-3
* Empty weight: 10,000 lb (4,536 kg)
* Max takeoff weight: 17,500 lb (7,938 kg)
* Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney R-2800-59 18-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 2,000 hp (1,500 kW)
* Propellers: 4-bladed Curtiss Electric C542S constant-speed propeller, 13 ft 0 in (3.96 m) diameter
Performance
* Maximum speed: 426 mph (686 km/h, 370 kn) at 30,000 ft (9,100 m)
* Range: 1,030 mi (1,660 km, 900 nmi)
* Service ceiling: 42,000 ft (13,000 m)
Armament
* Eight .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns (3400 rounds)
* Up to 2,500 lb (1,100 kg) of bombs
* Ten 5 in (127 mm) HVAR unguided rockets
#p47 #thunderbolt #aircraft

[@Dronescapes]

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[@richardmontana5864]

The P-47 Thunderbolt. The higher it flies,the better it flies!

[@lukycharms9970]

I do not understand how this channel doesn’t have more subscribers. These videos are some of the best documentary type videos I’ve ever seen.

[@Dronescapes]

Thank you. It is growing...

[@unmuffledautonews]

​@@DronescapesI've been following you for a while, and love your content. The diversity of your content is incredible, and the research you put into making such great content is incredible. It reminds me of the early 00s History Channel or NOVA documentaries I grew up watching. Keep up the good work!

[@oO-_-_-_-Oo]

100% agree.

[@mike4769]

They don't make men like this anymore. Greatest generation.

[@oO-_-_-_-Oo]

Absolutely the greatest generation.

[@stevefranklin9920]

Sadly today, too many Americans don't even care about the bravery it took to be in the service knowing things like your life expectancy was only 2-3 missions! But yet these guys did!

[@timfallon8226]

Bravery or stupidity.

[@lamarfandango1623]

​@@timfallon8226 If you listen to the interviews, these pilots knew exactly what the odds were. They weren't stupid. They did their duty in a pre-nuclear when all-out war was still a thing. Their actions were needed. That's the difference between WWII and today's western military ventures.

[@jamessolak1619]

@@timfallon8226 loyalty to and love of country stupid

[@Brian32689]

Bravery by the bucket load

[@ToddBrooks-o5m]

They don't teach history in school anymore . They don't know any better .

[@seanmager1168]

the P-47 ThunderBolt. A TRULY WONDEROUS AMAZING and MARVELOUS Aerial Weapon. a BRILLIANT Display of American Aerial Warfare and Aerial engineering. Not something all Flashy and Fancy Like and All "Show off" Or "Show-Boating" Like all that Crazy stuff the nazi's tried to build. The P-47 was a SIMPLE and Rugged and also, DAMN DEADLY BEAST of the Sky's. It was like a Flying Tank. The fact that it had 8 Browning M2 50 CAL Machine Gun's, Could Carry some PRETTY BIG Bomb's and also, Could Carry a Good Number of Rocket's, just Made it a KILLER of the luftwaffe. and the Ground force's of the german military, the P-47 also Hurt them PRETTY DAMN Good also. Even if the Rocket's and Bomb's did Not always Kill/Destroy the German Tank's, They could REALLY Scare the crew's and Traumatize Em and make Em abandon their Tank's. Also, the P-47 also could Destroy the Trucks and cars and Horse pulled Carts and Wagons and Train's Carrying fuel and ammo and Spare Part's for the german Tanks. The P-47 ThunderBolt was TRULY a MAJOR Part of CRIPPLING and Destroying the luftwaffe...

[@ronwilsontringue6574]

Don't forget that the P-47 was Russian designed - look it up.

[@jamessolak1619]

@KellyAvianLaw my uncle walter served on B17's as a navigator and there is a reason the air crews all called their plane "the fort", there is nothing glorious about flying a whole bomb group deep into germany knowing fighters are going to get at least 3 cracks at you on the way in, flak at the bomb run, and another 3 cracks on the way out, fact is 8th air force picked the 17 for it's superior high altitude performance and greater resistance to battle damage, apples to oranges, the B24 had it's place, her long legs and bigger load out made her shine in the battle of the atlantic, med, cbi and the pacific......as kids uncle walter only shared the good things about his tour to us.............

[@CncrndCtzn]

⁠@@ronwilsontringue6574I did look it up and the P47 was designed by Alexander Kartveli, an American. He was from Georgia (not Russia), but an American nonetheless. It was easy to research this. Why do you think it was Russian designed? Such a weird thing to say.

[@asdf9890]

Love your videos, thank you! Perfect for someone who’s currently obsessed with WWII aviation.

[@michaelpierson1534]

My father-in-law flew this airplane over Normandy!

[@daviswall3319]

Cheers to the maintenance guys on the Jug! My hat is off to you sirs 🍻

[@bobwilson758]

Agreed ! Thank you - mechanics are barely mentioned …. WTF ?

[@jollyjohnthepirate3168]

Most of these guys are gone now. WW2 vets are getting rare these days.

[@daviswall3319]

Well aware. I had two great uncles that were Marine Corp Corsair maintenance and they passed away about 15 years ago give or take

[@asdf9890]

My grandfather was one, he talked about these massive fighters a lot. He retired as a mechanic for American Airlines in the end, but this was his start.

[@asdf9890]

9:28 what a badass!

[@RandallSoong-pp7ih]

Thank you!

[@wolfganggugelweith8760]

Brave German pilots! 😎💪😺👍🐺

[@silasfatchett7380]

Yes, as brave as the Allied pilots they faced.

[@markbrown7103]

Are used to have an airplane book. It showed all the airplanes that were captured during World War II. I’ll have to watch the story, but I am not going to right now. I’ll save it for later, but it caught my attention when I seen the thunderbolt all painted and German markings and got my curiosity👍🏼😁😎✈️

[@mimikurtz2162]

This is an amateur colourised version of a black and white photo, and the colours are WRONG. The yellow tail is OK, although the paint used (RLM 04) was normally a bit deeper but it did vary at the end of the war due to pigment shortages. All the undersides were the same yellow. The upper surfaces were the original USAAF olive drab, except patches where the national insignia have been painted out with dark green (RLM 71). This was standard for all captured allied aircraft while being tested. After a while ex-French aircraft were used as trainers and often lost the yellow as the danger of friendly fire decreased, and later were fully painted in Luftwaffe colours. A small number of B-17s that were moved from appraisal to operations with KG400 received new Luftwaffe camouflage but that never happened with any P-47s.

[@ThomasFerner]

Go Go Gabreski ....An American HERO !

[@vxa1513]

Amazing

[@Dronescapes]

Thanks

[@Richard-or5yg]

It was the P-47C and the early P-47D razorbacks that turned the tide. You will not "out dive and out run a Thunderbolt".

[@crazyhorse18]

Top👍👍

[@Dronescapes]

Thanks

[@396375a]

Didn't Hodges get across the Rhine before Patton?

[@i-a-g-r-e-e-----f-----jo--b]

I think Colonel Robert Hogan was a P-47 pilot before his Stalag 13 days.

[@SoloRenegade]

Bomber Commander

[@murray4826]

Norice the Dornier Do 335's at 22:49

[@HappyHermitt]

Ill take a Jug over a Mustang any day

[@seanmager1168]

I Agree. While the P-51 Mustang was VERY GOOD. As its Long Range was AMAZING, The P-47's Ruggedness and All that, combined with GREAT Maneuverability and its AMAZING Fire-Power its Also Has, Just was a AMAZING Fighter-Bomber. the P-47 ThunderBolt was TRULY a MAJOR Part in CRUSHING and ANNIHILATING nazi Germany's air force.

[@francouz23]

​@@seanmager1168the thing is, if the thunderbolt wouldn't be overlooked, it could have the long range ability prior to p51 P47N was the longest range escorting fighter

[@brentvfreiberger]

The compiler of this tale seems to have forgotten the 9th Armored division seizure of the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen. That was on March 7, 15 days before Third Army’s crossing at Oppenheim.

[@bolyami1975]

Honestly, this is a skewed view from a retired officer. Enlisted servicemen are the ones who get screwed. However, this shut down HAS TO HAPPEN AND STAY DOWN UNTIL WE STOP PAYING BRIBES/LAUNDERING MONEY THROUGH UKRAINE

[@ksztyrix]

Every time Americans tell about some German town, factory or base they captured, they say they "liberated" it. What's up with this?

[@MadMulberry]

Over 100 bullets per second 9:22 😂

[@SoloRenegade]

16:20 sent 8 out, 1 came back, and the survivor never flew again due to the emotional stress. The P-47 was not invincible, and suffered high losses. A far cry from the false myths of superior toughness modern fanboys try to spread. At the end of the day teh P-47 had all the same critical vulnerabilities as any other fighter. Elevator and other critical controls, oil cooler radiators, fuel/oil/engine fires, pilot in the cockpit, fatal crash landings, etc. First hand accounts from these pilots proves they didn't feel invincible, nor that the P-47 would bring them home. 18:00 P-47 pilots told they'd be doing ground attack mission against a defended target, and they all thought it was a suicide mission and nobody wanted to go. Not the attitude modern fanboys would have you believe about the P-47. They'd have you believe it was impervious to ground fire.

[@garyfinchum3252]

If I had ever flown a p-47 I would have had in big black letters in german "Size does matter" just to cheese off the german pilots.

[@thegolgatha5337]

And me in my FW 190 would have answered ´brain as well´ after shooting the barn door down😂

[@SoloRenegade]

Haha! Nice.

[@SoloRenegade]

@@thegolgatha5337 I'd even take him in a P-40. Drag him below 15k ft and curb stomp him. Or an A-36.

[@cajun4me]

Sounds like a Tom Clancy novel written by Zelensky

[@ronwilsontringue6574]

The actual true story of the WW2 battle between the Luftwaffe and the allied air forces is not between a particular airplane (in this case the Russian designed P47) and the German 109 and 190 but rather numbers - if one side (the various allied warplanes) has enough units it will always dominate. The combined numbers of British, Russian and US planes combined could defeat any foe based on only massive numbers , not any magical ability of the the country as the US would have you believe - the US will always win simply because the US will always win. Had Hitler not turned against Russia the US would be speaking German/Russian today.

[@bogusmogus9551]

Fantastic upload. Subscribed and liked. I have always loved the P47 Thunderbolt

[@dukecraig2402]

If you're into reading check out the book Hell Hawks: The Untold Story Of The American Fliers Who Savaged Hitlers Wermacht. It's so good when I finished reading it I started another book written by a guy who was a Marine Corps sniper in Vietnam, half way through reading it I put it down and read Hell Hawks again. In comparison Robert Johnson's book Thunderbolt!!! is good and I suppose the first half of it where it covers everything from his youth in Oklahoma to his P47 training on Long Island is necessary to get a feel for what he went through but with Hell Hawks the first sentence of it starts out with four P47's roaring low level across the English Channel on their way to strike a V1 launch site day's before D-Day and it just keeps getting better from there. My favorite story out of it is the one from Operation Bottenplatte on January 1st of 45 when the Germans launched a 400+ plane strike against US airfields all across France and Belgium, since air supremecy had pretty much been obtained at that point preventive measures had been relaxed for the sake of pilots being able to take off at a moments notice to support ground troops in close air support missions, P47's were sitting around full of fuel and loaded with bombs as a result so the Germans results were pretty good, at one unit of the 365th's air field an ME-109 pilot had been shot down while strafing their field and parachuted out directly over it and he landed right in the middle of it, two men jumped in a truck and ran over and picked him up taking him prisoner and took him back to their HQ building where he was held for several days, when the truck was driving past the unit's CO who was standing there looking at 42 burning and destroyed P47's the German leaned out of the trucks window and pointing back across the field with his thumb shouted "How ya like that!!!" in remarkably good English. 3 days later the CO took their German prisoner out of the room they were holding him in outside and pointing at 42 brand new P47's he said to the German "How ya like that!!!", the German pilot's head dropped and he said "This is how you're beating us".

[@mitchr8481]

"It didnt matter if you were a private or a colonel we were all the same." ~The Colonel

[@brianlachapelle8757]

600 mph? You might want to rethink that statement.

[@andyharman3022]

I raised an eyebrow at that one, too.

[@CaliforniaIsHome]

I was gonna say a Boeing 777 Flys at 600mph top speed so there is no way P47s can go that fast no matter what.

[@richiephillips1541]

Average life of a fighter pilot 4 hours? Averaged 2 missions before dying? I'm calling BS on that. Three missions a day, that means every pilot would die on his first day.

[@SoloRenegade]

few pilots were flying 3 missions per day, most would be averaging less than 1 per day. A large portion of US losses in WW2 were pilots and aircrew. There is a reason WW2 is called the Air War. Soviet pilots and aircrew suffered far higher losses.

[@j.osborne4914]

Can only imagine what staffing with 8x 50 cal machine guns did to a road packed with horse drawn carts. I do feel sorry for the poor horses. I wouldnt have liked to have to pull the trigger on that.

[@bobwilson758]

Straffing from air to surface ! Terrifying work -

[@cowboybob7093]

While the Nazis retreated they brought guns and artillery with them, concentrating their fire power as their supply lines became shorter. Combined with desperation that's tough. I feel sorry for the horses too.

[@Kwodlibet]

Hey, those were clearly Nazi horses. In full Nazi uniforms and sh*t, clearly working with and for the enemy. No need to feel sorry for them

[@TheGravitywerks]

What's the story with the black P-47 (in the background) at 5:34?Thanks for the video!

[@Dronescapes]

It was a captured aircraft, repainted with Nazi insignia, and eventually reclaimed by the allies.

[@ThomasFerner]

KZbin is so AMERICAN....they even censor our comments

[@johnnash5118]

Why the click-bait pic of the swastika’d P-47? Not even a mention of its story.

[@Dronescapes]

Perhaps you are jumping to a conclusion too fast. The channel is not mainly driven by clickbait covers or titles, especially when compared to many other channels. That photo is symbolic. It shows an American reclaiming a captured P-47 Thunderbolt. The original image was colorized by us a while ago, and we thought it was perfect, as the video is about the end of the war, and the end of the Nazi regime. We see your point of view, but the choice was driven mainly by the significance of the photo. Probably many people do not even realize it is a P-47 from the cover. By the way, if you are interested in the "clean", but colorized image, here is the link: tinyurl.com/fpkyhb3p

[@rbnhd1976]

​@@Dronescapesthanks that's awesome

[@rbnhd1976]

​@@Dronescapesfollowed and will share around x

[@kennethcurtis1856]

Life is tough.

[@blueliesmatter2]

If you haven't realized it by now that was actually a captured p47. If I am not mistaken it was recaptured before that picture was taken. The allies took the picture not the nazis.

[@Muddybagclean]

Jesus Loves You

[@djcjr1x1]

22:48 those are pusher puller DO 335 Arrows! Super rare kills there, good thing they didn't get airborne. With an experienced pilot they were beasts.🤯

[@JamesLaserpimpWalsh]

So those planes coulnt have run without a hundred men to every pilot? Is that what you are telling me? Air power comes with a cost agreed. But that many? I bet tat is double with jets

[@danieltossounian1962]

Greatest generation….they kicked ass

[@kiwidiesel]

I love my German insignia and yellow painted P47.

[@Dronescapes]

That photo was taken when Germany was defeated, and the aircraft was returned to the proper owners, the victors (thanks God).

[@tomakers8652]

Ive seen a picture of that plane it's a P-47 that the Germans captured and performed testing on.

[@Dronescapes]

Here is the "clean" colorized image: tinyurl.com/fpkyhb3p

[@carlhull8276]

HUGE plane

[@ivanconnolly7332]

The claims of Tiger tank kills from .50 cal are a bit fanciful.

[@seanmager1168]

They did not mean the Tiger Tank was Killed DIRECTLY By the P-47 ThunderBolt's 50 Cal Browning M2 Machine Gun's... WHat they Meant Was That Im sure is the Trucks and STuff and Train's and cars and Horse Pulled wagon's were Destroyed by the 50 Cal Machine Gun's which carried spare parts and ammo and fuel. Also the Rocket's and Bomb's did Kill a few Tank's and also even the 1's which did Not get Destroyed, the Crew's were Traumatized and Terrified and Got outta Their Tank's and Ran.

[@BigWheel.]

You underestimate the strength behind a .50 and overestimate the strength of armor on tanks. Especially from above.

[@skyhook3495]

@@BigWheel. think you need to do some research on the ballistics of API rounds for the .50 caliber.... You might be playing too many video games

[@BigWheel.]

@skyhook3495 tiger 1 roof armor is roughly an inch thick, the deck above the engine has open grates and fans, below that is the engine and other critical components. All highly flammable. Api rounds can allegedly tap into about 1.8 inches of steel. I'm just saying it's possible, and there's gun camera footage to back that claim up.

[@sassonp8644]

It is true.thay would aim at road on which tank stood.ricoshet from the road undernid of tank would penetrate "soft belle" in many instances!!!

[@garyraines7511]

The major role of the 100% too fat '47 was to help Kraut Aces add to their Huge Scores....too big to Miss. Plus, 30 and 50 cals against 20 and 30 MM Cannons, Low power , low RPM old block of an obsolete slow turning radial air-cooled engine vs a DB 605 or a Jumo 213F.....be sure to sign your GI Insurance Papers!

[@kennethcurtis1856]

Who won the war?

[@garyraines7511]

The Russians!!@@kennethcurtis1856

[@jamessolak1619]

fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go thru life son, troll

[@OPFlyFisher304]

Gunther Rall had 275 kills on the Eastern Front, Mediterranean, battle of Britian. He made it 5 missions against P-47s. He got welcomed to Thunderdome REAL quick. Zemke and the 56th got him like the P-47 got 1,000 other Luftwaffe experienced pilots before the P-51 showed up in numbers. General der Jagdflieger (General of Fighters) Adolf Galland reported that from January-April 1944, 1,000 German pilots had been killed or wounded. The P-47 broke the back of the Luftwaffe. I'll await your response.

[@jamessolak1619]

brilliant!@@OPFlyFisher304 brilliant!