The Real Life Maverick and WW2's Maddest Lad: Hans Joachim Marseille "The Star of Africa" (Part 1)

Hey guys! Welcome to a two part series biographical story about the coolest man of WW2, the maddest lad I personally know of. And though he is famous in the fighter pilot community and the aviation history scene. No one really knows about him.
So I thought I would tell the story of the biggest badass to ever live. History's greatest fighter pilot. And certified Giga-Chad. Bedding supermodels and movie stars, winning dogfights outnumbered 10 to 1. Stealing his commander's car to go partying. And telling Moustache Man to go Fornicate himself... TO HIS FACE.
This is the story of Hans Joachim Marseille. Buckle up boyos. You Aren't Ready.
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[@AnimarchyHistory]

Part 2 kzbin.info/www/bejne/fXy5qIqoZdJqfpY

[@Bochi42]

Part 2 is even better folks so do not miss it. Brilliant story and great work presenting it. I'd read about Marseille's career but never learned so much about the young man. Shit, when I realized he was only 22 when he passed I was shocked at the maturity he displayed. A long life in short time it seems. I'd like to ask that you add some of the best sources to learn more about this young man in the bit where you give a description. Truly a shooting star, eh. Ironically Germany really could've used him postwar. Hitler got that right by accident and in the wrong way of course. As a frivolous side note I don't think I'll ever fly a G1 or G2 in a flight sim again. And I'll work on my shooting of course. At any rate I'd like to thank you very much for these videos you've put together. Must've been a lot of work, it's masterful and I highly encourage anyone who sees this to watch the second one.

[@rickoneal3068]

Thank you.

[@igalmakler2067]

Hi was the best pilot off the second would war .

[@StalinLovsMsmZioglowfagz]

What we know from recent events (and data combed over by Dr John Campbell and others) is that they lied about coof and kids. But… amazing video.

[@StalinLovsMsmZioglowfagz]

Also, Wyoming IS, in fact, a REAL State. It ain’ “fictional”. Cheers, FROM Wyoming.

[@CrackaPackify]

Marseille was taken to meet Hitler and top Nazis and was asked if he'd consider becoming a member of the party. His response apparently was "that if he saw a party worth joining, he would consider it, but there would have to be plenty of attractive women in it." What a lad

[@abysswalker2594]

How the fuck did he not die

[@werrkowalski2985]

How does that make sense in German?

[@BRyder-ul2rd]

"Maybe if you got rid of that yee yee ass moustache of yours you'd get some bitches on yo dick"

[@jeffreyval9665]

I doubt very highly he talked to Hitler like that.

[@mafmaf6417]

Yeah I'm sure all the Allied pilots he killed didn't suffer and were killed outright. He killed for Hitler but wouldn't join his party. What a Saint.

[@Shankinator-zx4tp]

I love Marseille and think he was probably the best dogfighter to ever live, but I think Hartmann was an overall better pilot. Engaging in dogfights was very risky for both Marseille and his wingmen. Hartmann's ambush attacks allowed him to rack up victories without the dangers of engaging in a dogfight. However, it is undeniable that Marseille was the biggest madlad.

[@koflynn2159]

Hartmann was trained by Walter Krupinski, which both of them were playing simulator battles while Marseille was playing arcade.

[@matthewadams-richardson6980]

Comparing Hartmann and Marseille is like comparing Iceman and Maverick from Top Gun. Both are exceptional pilots but they are polar opposites in terms of their respective approaches to fighting.

[@koflynn2159]

@@matthewadams-richardson6980 Absolutely right.

[@AnimarchyHistory]

@@matthewadams-richardson6980 Notice I say "Successful", but success does not equal the GOAT. Artyon Senna from Formula 1 is considered the GOAT in motorsport, yet Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton won way more than he did. And you can say that in almost everything, sports, academics, politics, business. The most successful is not always the best at something. There are a multitude of factors. Hartmann had superior training, excellent wingmen, a professional demeanour and was fighting on the Eastern Front against far inferior opponents (most of the time). He had all the factors in his favour. Marseille meanwhile was loud, brash, unprofessional, flamboyant, a lone wolf. Everything about him should result in him being shit. And yet, he scored more kills, more quickly against the Western Allies than any pilot in the entire war in all theatres. Why? Because while he was terrible in all other aspects of his professional life. There was one thing he excelled in more than anything else. Being a fighter pilot. He lived the very ideal, he is the very essence of a fighter pilot. If you were to distil what it means to be a fighter pilot into a serum. It would be called the Marseille Serum. No one could fly like him, no one could shoot like him, no one could pull the girls, rock the sunnies and drive fast cars like him. Hartmann, Krupinski, Barkhorn. All of them are better soldiers, and better professionals. But none of them, are better fighter pilots.

[@randomlyentertaining8287]

I mean, Hartmann also had the advantage of being placed on the Eastern Front, during a time when the Soviets were still trying to get their air force in order, whereas Marseille missed out on half of the Battle of Britain and due to his antics, was relegated to North Africa and it took him around half a year to finally really get into the vibe, but by then, he only had a year left to go. Of course, if you take that year (Sep '41 - Sep '42) and the 100 or so kills he achieved and took that as an average he could do per year, then if he lived, he might've surpassed Hartmann for highest scoring ace of all time. But we shall never know.

[@jessasnamoi]

I love how he stuck to his core principles while being absolutely wild in every other aspect. I see a "persona not even the Luftwaffe could break" who did no harm to any friends and sought to even include his enemies in that. This should be made into a blockbuster movie, I find his story deeply inspiring.

[@haakonsteinsvaag]

While not harming his friends directly, he was a danger to them by breaking formation all the time. It is the first rule of air combat. YOU NEVER LEAVE YOUR WINGMAN.

[@tavish4699]

There is a really good movie about him called der Stern von Afrika The Star of africa It has exactly that witty and charming feeling

[@Idengard]

I can vividly imagine his exploits in such a movie. In fact, those were the right kind of shenanigans for a movie, especially a german one of the past.

[@Idengard]

@@tavish4699 oh cool so there is such a movie. I hope it includes said shenanigans 😅

[@thurbine2411]

@@haakonsteinsvaagand he learned that after quite a while. Yeah he had big problems in the teamwork part but once he fixed that he was very very good

[@roberttalbot1658]

It's a shame that he didn't survive WW2. Can you imagine the autobiography this man could have had, because of his noble, and decent nature.

[@bentalexranebundgaard4867]

Not to mention that scattering of bastards all over Europe would likely be legendary.

[@alexandarvoncarsteinzarovi3723]

​@@bentalexranebundgaard4867 Eeesh Charlemagne 2.0, if he was captured by the Allies, he would be bagging the future Queen Elizabeth II on the fat ministers desk,

[@mikedrop4421]

You know man, you are getting so good at telling stories that your videos feel like a tribute to the subject.

[@ag7898]

Agreed. I'm still getting used to the shorts where we actually see Pac's face rather than the avatar.

[@kevinsaunders4824]

Try it 4

[@gaylebordeaux7632]

I agree a damned great story teller, ah man your the best!

[@borisdjordjevic1295]

"He just need to lose one more 109 to be considered allied ace" This is WInning sentence, LOVE IT!!!!! :D

[@ericli6027]

lolol Steinhoff is a legend too

[@Doom1981]

If Hollywood made a movie about that guy, nobody would believe it.

[@Errorcutive]

I mean theres James Hunt for comparison lmao.

[@michaelmckinnon3476]

There is a few movies about him including one by Hollywood look it up

[@axelhopfinger533]

If Hollywood made a movie about that guy, he would either be made American or a villain, because he was German. Because that's just how Hollywood works.

[@globaladdict]

There's a old movie from the black and white era. Would love yo see a modern remake

[@BobSmith-dk8nw]

_The Star of Africa_ kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXK4h5qgiZ2FbK8 .

[@aidellamas5542]

A corporal black guy POW, became in his best friend in Africa, they used to play chess and learn german- english each other. Marseille was a great guy!

[@ShellShock11C]

"He only needed to lose one more 109 to be an allied ace" LMAO

[@grumpycato8314]

The fact that he wasn't sent to the most remote part of the Reich as punishment never ceases to amaze me

[@CattyRayheart]

That his dad was a general probebly helped a lot.

[@nebunezz_r]

When you're that good the only thing they can do is send you to the CO that can bear with your shit.

[@masharocket]

Despite the two not having such a good relationship, Marseille's father being a high ranking general he always managed to defend his son, and due to Marseille's high skills, it was difficult for commanders to take such a heavy loss in the luftwaffe

[@tavish4699]

@@masharocketwhilst that is true the sheer propaganda value overshadows both your arguments by a long shot The propaganda needed him to

[@joeclaridy]

The Gestapo part had me in knots. Good on Stienhoff for not being a blue falcon.

[@istvansipos9940]

what is a blue falcon? Thanks

[@henryofskalitz2228]

Blue falcon is snitch

[@tomicbranislav3]

@@istvansipos9940Blue Falcon=Buddy Fucker... Suppriesd me his Commander didn't just turn him over to the Gestapo guy... I mean Marseille had F***Ed the Gestapo guys daughter...

[@ohredhk]

It sounded like some cheesy movie

[@Rokaize]

@@istvansipos9940 blue falcon = buddy fucker

[@Shredder884]

I watch a lot of WW2 documentarys, but I must say your way of presenting is so funny and entertaining that I can remember even more of the info. I wish some teachers would take notes. Hats of to you, great as always

[@fonesrphunny7242]

In our semi-historic IL2:1946 Africa missions, we always had a highly skilled AI, simulating the presence of Marseille. Even there he was a badass!

[@olgagaming5544]

cool!

[@djordjetasic6133]

o7

[@yeahman.9262]

What mod do you use for the North Africa set ups?

[@1966joern]

Otto Skorceny didn´t rescue Mussolini,he just tagged along with the Fallschirmjäger unit who did the work and he took credit for it afterwards

[@Alte.Kameraden]

One of the inspirations for Yellow 13 from Ace Combat 4. Though Yellow 13 was a patch work of a lot of fictional and none fictional pilots. Even used a quote from Erich Hartmann about his greatest achievement was never losing a squadron member, which is similar to Hartmann's claim his greatest achievement was never losing a wingman. Fictional character wise, Char Aznable from Mobile Suit Gundam also inspired the character, being his relation ship, and ethnicity of Yellow 13 and Yellow 04 was identical to Char and Lalah from OG Gundam.

[@ottovonbismarck2443]

Yellow 14; Marseille made yellow 14 famous.

[@Alte.Kameraden]

@@ottovonbismarck2443 Yes.. I know. Yellow 13 is a fictional pilot based off Marseille. Reason I said Yellow 13 was in reference to the fictional pilot not Marseille's distinct Yellow 14.

[@ottovonbismarck2443]

@@Alte.Kameraden Not that I see any clearer now, but ok ... 😂

[@elijahscottcalanog2964]

Here I was think that Erich Hartmann and Manfred von Richthofen were some of the best pilots, then I see this. Wow.

[@ReisskIaue]

They both were. But it's also true that Marseille often seems to be overlooked.

[@sirboomsalot4902]

Richthofen wasn’t even naturally a good pilot; in fact early on he was quite bad at flying. It was through sheer willpower he became the legend we know him as.

[@Xenomorthian]

@@sirboomsalot4902 in a way they mirror each other Richthofen wasn't a good pilot but through sheer will became a legend, whilst Marseille was naturally a good pilot but lacked the will to actually act like one

[@0Turbox]

@@Xenomorthian Voss and Udet probably were better pilots. Maybe even his younger brother.

[@thurbine2411]

All of them were great but distinct in their own way. Each story deserves a read

[@primal_guy1526]

This man was about as much of a menace to his own commanding officer as he was to enemy pilots.

[@paulricketts1089]

...I sat in his 109-E. It had been shot down coming home from England, landed in France, pushed into a barn by a farmer where it sat until it was purchased and shipped to Chino and lovingly restored to its former glory.......

[@daveholekamp1069]

I've known about Marseille for quite some time - but - Your style of presentation along with a lot of extra background information made this video priceless. No sugar coating or other white washing. That is the way another pilot would talk about a contemporary. Very well done. Looking forward to Part 2. Thank You.

[@nordveld]

This was about the most hilarious best documentary I have ever seen. I am radically hyped for the continuation. You sir, are an artist!

[@winghungyuen2726]

Haven’t seen the entire video but I am excited to learn about this guy. Glad to see you are covering Strike Witches characters. Can’t wait to see more. Keep it up!

[@Pasakid]

I feel like Ilmari Juutilainen is one of the if not the best pilot in WW2. He was the most successful non-German fighter pilot of all time. He had from 94 to 126 aerial combat victories, with 34 of those kills being done with the Brewster Buffalo, a plane that was despised from every other user other than Finland. He also flew the Fokker D.XXI and the Bf 109 and he finished the war without even a single enemy hit on his plane. Unlike most other pilots, he actually never lost a wingman. By the wars end he was credited with the Mannerheim Cross being awarded to him two times. Overall Juutilainen was a gigachad.

[@commissargeko4029]

To be fair though, he was fighting the soviet airforce, which requires a lot less skill. Still quite an impressive man.

[@generalpanzerfaust2387]

With brewsters? Damn that's some skill

[@Pasakid]

@@generalpanzerfaust2387 Yes sir, the Finns really made use of them. They lightened them up by removing all unnecessary things and they used them with actual doctrines that work with Brewsters.

[@generalpanzerfaust2387]

@@Pasakid Did they use spitfires or hurricanes? I know the Finns made use of bri'ish bombers and other utility planes but I never saw anything about fighters

[@Pasakid]

@@generalpanzerfaust2387 The Finns did have a few Hawker Hurricanes, but their combat record isn't great here since there were serious spare part shortages, due to the UK not trading with Finland during the Continuation War. The Finns did not possess any Spitfires, though there may have been enemy Spitfires fighting Finnish aircraft, because of the Lend-Lease program to the Soviet Union. The British bombers you mentioned were Bristol Blenheims and they were used to great results here, since they were seen as very fast bombers. You can actually see a Hurricane and a Blenheim at the Central-Finland Air Force Museum in Tikkakoski.

[@MrBBaron]

This pilot lived the life of a fighter plane rock star. It would have made a really good Hollywood movie.

[@andreasvenator]

I met Johannes Steinhoff in the early sixties in the then brand new German Embassy in Washington, D.C... I was eight years old and I will never forget the horror I experienced when my Dad introduced me to Gen. Steinhoff, who was a highranking NATO officer visiting D.C. at the time. My Dad later explained to me the wheres and hows of Steinhoff´s disfigured face from his ME-262 sortie in late 1944 which saw him badly burned in the face and on his hands. It seems a British surgeon performed the plastic surgery which allowed Steinhoff to regain composure after such a fate. By golly I didn´t know that he was involved in mentoring such a gifted young man. To this day I am convinced that there is little more satisfying in life than taking a young lad on the fast track to juvenile delinquency and setting the scene for their own recovery from a deadly downward spiral. Later I met one of the drivers of the German Embassy at the time who´s daughter was a classmate. He´d been a Luftwaffe mechanic in Africa and recounted that for every hour of flight time on those Me-109 G´s in their T-versions (for "Tropen") they had 2 hours of work getting the dust out of the airfilters!

[@destroyernet123]

Part. One. That's the best way you can describe the sheer volume of tomfoolery this man committed, I personally only know of his escapades in the book 'A Higher Call', but this goes above and beyond what I heard in there.

[@haakonsteinsvaag]

From the deeps of my heart, I thank you for this video. I have not laughed so much for a very long time and the images in my head, trying to picture all of this can never be replaced. The crown jewel of this was the description of his commanding offiser dressing him down and then laughing his ass of afterwards. THANK YOU.

[@freeabramsanton2229]

He was killed by the poor reliability of the early version DB605.... the front-line pilots and ground crew nicknamed the bmw-801 "Sau motor" (SAU is an abusive word, meaning "sow"). They also nicknamed the DB 601 / 605 "Blumentöppe" (meaning "vase"). To be honest, their self-confidence suffered a serious blow when this message was passed to the ears of the rear engine Engineers... "

[@ilo3456]

You know you just can't be mad at the guy, he is funny, a good pilot and on top of it all you have to impressed by the game he pulls. Like seriously having an amazingly beautiful woman drive you back to base while you are doing another amazingly beautiful woman in the back seat, this man's moves had to be some legendary level shit to convince those kinds of women to sleep with him and then also drive him back to work.

[@cisarovnajosefina4525]

Alcohol also helps

[@johnbeauvais3159]

“I’m a fighter pilot” pretty much all you needed to say.

[@liamweaver2944]

Facts “I’m a fighter pilot” *Panties drop*

[@The_ZeroLine]

@@johnbeauvais3159 As many pilots will tell you, it doesn’t help that much.

[@ottersirotten4290]

@@The_ZeroLine different times back than

[@cocobot90]

FINALLY I left comments about Marseille under a bunch of different videos on different channels, eventually spoonfeeding a lot of info myself in the comment, with a bunch of links and annecdotes. Given his colorfull history and personality, on top of his achievements, it was mind-boggling to me that no major channel had yet made an in-depth video about him. So great to see someone finally pay respect to this truly mad lad. Thank you so much!

[@honestlordcommissarbrighte7921]

I fondly remember his name from the Aces of the Lufttwaffe book that compiled the war time career stories of the aces of the Germa Air Force. Pity how Marseille died.

[@jackthunderbolt4307]

"good luck youll need it" is the understatement of the war

[@pot8552]

This mans storytelling is on another level.

[@Jagdpanther93]

Hartman himself regarded Marseille as his mentor and the best fighter pilot of the war in is book

[@thurbine2411]

Mentor? Did they fly together, can’t remember that but I know he thought highly of him

[@carlosgallegos9514]

This guy deserves a movie, good lad and legend in the air.

[@vladdrakul7851]

Check out the great film 'The Star of Africa'. A 1950's German classic and very well done which has aged very well like a good wine. He was the Jimi Hendrix of WW II aces and like Jimi was well known for his love for beautiful women and partying as well as his unique unequalled talent! Both died too young as well. How truly tragic as both died due to 'accidents'.

[@bluearmy6847]

I love how you brought this young pilot to light, knowing he's a different breed on his own he has an outstanding performance in his plan and his introduction if I say so myself, outright 10/10 hope to see the next video.

[@akaroth7542]

My Grandpa was a sketchy torpedo plane gunner in Alaska during WW2. He would have loved this guy.

[@simonbengtsson9241]

If the two people on this thumbnail ever met up... Hanna would learn of "the mastery of the stick". Also, "Trude" would probably have an aneurysm if she ever learned of the basis for Hanna: Her little sister idolises "The Star of Africa", and with her being based on someone worse than Erika Hartman... You can do the math.

[@dennismason3740]

The 109 footage is superb. The narration is fine. The writing is shockingly good for YT. Thank you, mate.

[@malcolmcarter1726]

Wow! Fantastic film. Joachim Marseille has long been one of my heroes, and you have really done his story justice here. The guy was a legend. My favourite episode during his unfortunately short life, is when he met Hitler during a party (of sorts!) amd was asked to play piano for tne guests which included Willi Messerschmitt and 'Der Fuhrer!' He played a few melodic Rachmaninoff pieces, and parts of Wagners 'Rheingold' before getting bored and bouncing into frenetic Ragtime Jazz! Hitler was well known for his hatred of Jazz which he considered syncopation for 'untermensch!' Hitler went red in the face and rose from his seat and announced, "That will be enough of that I think!" Haha. He was quite the lad but also one of the greatest 'Experten' pilots ever. His lufburry (excuse my spelling) techniques against the SAAF amd their P 40s (he would pop in and out of the luf' circle, taking an aircraft down each 'pop!') an amazing natural but also technical fighter pilot. Great work, and I cant wait to see the second half.Thanks!

[@liamweaver2944]

32:40 "VAT ZE HELL IS ZIS!!?? It's thick enough to be a goddamn telephone directory!" LMFAO 🤣

[@koflynn2159]

I love Marseille. I'm so glad someone finally did a good video about him and his story. And from a fellow kangaroo fighter and eucalyptus eater!

[@GraueHerren]

absolutely a mad lad indeed. cant wait to see more of him

[@kai_plays_khomus]

His enemies build him a memorial..

[@jeremyloeffler2783]

I'm related to him I've got many neat pictures one is him next to his 109 with his ace spiral my dad says I resemble him quite a bit

[@kai_plays_khomus]

@@jeremyloeffler2783 Interesting! Your last name gives away your german ancestry - a "löffel" resp. "loeffel" (ä, ö and ü are just another way to write ae, oe and ue; when it's about machine readability or crosswords the latter variants get employed) is a spoon so your name boils down to "Spooner", but I bet you were already aware about that. 😅 I'm sharing my last name with one of the two most famous german language poets of whom I'm not a direct descendant but member of the larger family so to say. 😁

[@kl0wnkiller912]

One of my favorite Characters of WW2 was Adolph Galland. Not necessarily 'mad' but he was very flamboyant and an outspoken critic of Hitler and particularly Goering. He had an ashtray installed in his BF-109 so he could smoke cigars while flying missions. Despite being an open critic of the Nazis his popularity and flying skills kept him protected (generally) from Hitler's wrath, He survived the war and served in the post-war German air force.

[@herbertstrenn1635]

Galland did not serve in the post war German Air Force but Steinhoff did. Galland went to Argentina after war as an advisor for the Argentinian Air Force.

[@scriptsmith4081]

Actually, he was the only pilot to have a cigar lighter installed in his BF-109.

[@ucthongbui8701]

Love your story telling, like you are in front of me the whole time, gently going though the plot.Can't believe it was this good, totally looking foward for part 2, you also add to my own collection another great historical character.Cheers!

[@matydrum]

Have you read "the big show" by Pierre Clostermann (free french ace on spit and tempest)? He talks about his respect for him and how he was even affected by his death. Anyway great video! Can't wait for part 2!

[@SpiritOfMontgomery]

It’s a great book

[@matydrum]

@typo pitsources for that incident? I heard him on an interview talking about how he found criminal and disgusting the pilots who shot at airmen while they were descending on their parachutes so I doubt he would have done that, and never heard of it but if you have some source so we could make our opinions go ahead.

[@riograndedosulball248]

That book is IMPOSSIBLE to find in the country that spawned Clostermann, which is... Brazil. As a big coincidence, the city he was born in, Curitiba, spawned ANOTHER super Ace during WW2, Egon Albrecht, who flew for the Luftwaffe, but didn't survive the war, being *strafed as he bailed on his parachute, after being shot down.* Ironically, Brazil never had a fighting ace, but that one city alone has two. Neat.

[@matydrum]

@@riograndedosulball248 French here! Clostermann spent a lot of his youth out of France, when the war broke out his was studying in the US to become an aeronautic engineer. But he must have always been surounded by compatriots because he had the typical french posh accent. Brazil may not have great ace but they certainly had great and brave pilot, I read about the Brazilian volunteers who flew p-47, mainly in Italy I think. Have you heard of it?

[@johanalitalo8331]

Ohh this was golden, I loved this. I so hope when you are done with joachims story, coud you do more videos of other pilots, both from ww1 and ww2. Please.

[@klaasklever6526]

What a story, even my young daughter love Hans-Joachim Marseille! Great story and very well told!!

[@fullmag8897]

Germany had it's own maverick before top gun did what a damn Chad

[@jerrydeem8946]

This is one of the most interesting stories I've never heard of concerning a world war fighter pilot. Really good stuff. Thanks.

[@jroch41]

I've seen many pieces on Hans Joachim Marseille but this amazingly well crafted documentary tops them all. I truly enjoyed watching. Hats off, sir.

[@paulsec8852]

Hilarious! This Marseille, what a badass! Thank you for the good time.

[@AbdiPianoChannel]

He was absolutely the craziest man that I ever heard

[@DeltaLimaDelta]

This dude is a freaking legend.

[@markwilliamson6002]

Hans Ulrich Rudel-maddest lad and greatest warrior certainly of WWII

[@ferallion3546]

The fact that he survived a dogfight against Tuck’s luck is crazy. Tuck is a man to study as well. His exploits and “luck” were legendary. You should definitely do a bio on him.

[@boraeananaren]

I read Tuck's biography - Fly for your life (I think) - a good read. Nice to hear him mentioned. He took to flying like a cat to water, but got there through perseverance.

[@ferallion3546]

@@boraeananaren YES! I LOVE that book. Flying was just natural for him. I too am really glad he got mentioned. He gets forgotten far too often I think. The number of situations he came out of the other side on are pretty astounding.

[@mikedelta4346]

One of the best stuff on Marseille I've had the pleasure to watch. Much enjoyed the witty register 😊. Congratulations 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼🎉

[@petrameyer1121]

You did not become a Luftwaffe Ace with a mere 5 kills. You needed 100, later on, on the Ost Front even 200.

[@e-curb]

Also incorrect early in this video, a pilot's score wasn't confirmed, nor was it restricted to air-to-air kills. If a Luftwaffe pilot shot up 10 planes on the ground at an enemy air field, that counted as 10 kills.

[@liamweaver2944]

Most of this was before operation Barbarossa. After the overwhelming early successes of the Luftwaffe on the eastern front, the OKW changed their criteria for aces.

[@sydecarnutz972]

"He only needed to lose one more 109 to be considered an Allied Ace". Anyone else here completely lose it hearing that one? Best note from a CO ever! I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe.

[@rickoneal3068]

I've read several books on Marseilles. I believe he best fighter pilot ever. His acrobatics and aerial gunnery were superior to anyone. Once in north Africa under Neumann he perfected his craft and really shined. Sad, for his death flying the new G series where engine not reliable at beginning. He refused several times, but was ordered by Kesselring to fly it which led to premature death.. I read about Erich Hartmann who was a great pilot. Was exceptional in ambush attacks on eastern front, but he himself said was fighting very inferior Soviet air force and skill of pilots was way inferior. Hartman flew 1,400 sorties with .25 kills per sortie while Marseille flew 382 sorties with .41 kills pee sortie against better planes and pilots.. A lot due to his less expenditure of ammunition per kill. Luftwaffe actually checked to make sure. Not everyone could fly like Hans Joachim Marseille for him to dive into formations on his own and other departures from doctrine. Marseille was just a prodigy like no other. Not to tske anything from Erich Hartman or other german pilots.

[@thurbine2411]

The Soviet planes were good especially once they started producing more yaks and la5s. Not that well read on Soviet pilot training but don’t think it would have been super bad. What I’m trying to say is that many people think that the eastern front was just masses of Soviet planes outnumbering better German planes and pilots but for quite a lot of the war in the east the Germans had the advantage in numbers or they were quite equal and the Soviet machinery was also very good. It was in no way easy to shoot stuff down on the eastern front though later in the war on the western front it became very hard as the allies had more planes and often times better planes 1944 and onwards

[@thurbine2411]

And yes Hartmann doesn’t have many kills per sortie but it is very impressive that he managed to survive for that long.

[@ChaseMunoz]

He truly was a mad lad but would you ever be able to do a documentary of the mad lads of Taffy 3 who held off the center force at Leyte Gulf and won with only destroyers, destroyer escorts, and escort carriers. Or the very least of USS Johnson and Samual B Roberts!

[@niclasjohansson4333]

You forgot about the 400 US aircrafts from Taffy 1, 2 and 3, and also exhausted Japanese officers and crew, damaged IJN ships, low stocks of AAA ammo, missidentifing the US ships and therefor using the wrong kind of shells, etc....

[@ChaseMunoz]

@@niclasjohansson4333 they weren’t forgotten you just can’t focus on everyone in a single video. Taffy 3 just happened to have both the USS Johnson and Samuel B Roberts.

[@randomlyentertaining8287]

"This Marseille character. He's a hothead and a danger to himself and others. I want him court martialed!" "But sir, he can literally out dogfight the best pilots in the Condor Legion." "Did I say court martial? I, uh, meant to say fast tracked! Hmm, yes, fast tracked." It should also be noted that Marseille was reprimanded for his actions of abandoning his flight to chase after the enemy. Same for the case where he got shot down, as his flight lead was shot down and killed.

[@brianvincavage7626]

This might be the most entertaining story I had ever listened too..thank you

[@louiszierlein5814]

I have been a history buff since I was five years old. The best history is out of the main stream. I am so glad I found your channel. Good luck, and hope you get millions of views.

[@kaungkhantaye6318]

Mersailles and Helmut Lent were aces faced with western pilots while other aces were on Eastern front. Those two men were legendary pilots and my most respected guys. The RAF squadron of his opponent Tuck is called Burma and it's motto is death or glory .....

[@ryancase8858]

Gunther Rall was a good guy. There’s a great documentary about him right here on KZbin if anyone’s interested.

[@mikeyakus2939]

I was originally going to pass on this based on the intro, but skipped ahead and was rewarded for sticking around. Very engaging, a great story.

[@212th]

Absolutely unbelievable. Love the footage too. Especially of him and Rommel. I've shared this far and wide

[@Helicopterpilot16]

Bring back the days that educational and historically significant stories become common again. This type of content is what inspire's generations. Because it's so rare and niche, it oppresses the truly inspired.

[@white-wy6dg]

Brilliant! Marseille is one of my great hero's and I can`t wait for part two!!

[@KartiacKID]

Absolutely loved your storytelling and personal take on the delivery of events. Thank you

[@fw1421]

I learned about Marseille in the 1960’s when I was a serious scale model builder. I built a model of every one of his aircraft with all their different markings. He was one of the all time best fitter pilots for sure.

[@MrBejkovec]

'Lehr' doesn't mean 'demonstration', it means 'Teaching/learning'. Lehrgeschwader is a squadron that learns and tries new techniques, not demonstrate them.

[@thehoff1793]

Thanks mate for such a great and well told story!!! 👍

[@marcm.]

Good storytelling. I remember reading a few books about the aces of Germany, including a couple of biographies and memoirs, and I do remember a little bit about this character, but it's very nebulous and I don't think it included any of the personable details that you have brought. Thank you for the storytelling and history

[@bobmiller7502]

well at least ive learned a new word "nebulous" thanks xxx

[@The-Red-Baron]

My guys mindset was: zero fucks given. 🗿

[@64mustangfan]

Wow! What a story! Brilliantly told, it rivals the best of anything I've seen on YT. If only we could get a movie of this in our pc world.

[@Persian-Immortal]

What a lad! This video does not need a like and dislike button. Only an awesome button ✅

[@seanarooney2008]

This is a great autobiography! Thanks for your video!

[@schnaufer5181]

What a fantastic video, I can't wait to see the second part.

[@blockboygames5956]

A masterclass in mixing scholarly research with wonderful storytelling. Thank you.

[@jorgeguanche5327]

First time i read about marseille was more than 20 years ago...what a Rockstar!!!!

[@dievkatyusha1976]

This is hilarious, I was laughing every few minutes. What a chad.

[@johnnykay9126]

I never comment…. But I have to say…. Well done 👍. You have some wonderful storytelling skills. I look forward to seeing part II.

[@ralphtijtgat3233]

I heard some stories about the dude, but this is just hilarious. Very nice work man, can’t wait for part two!

[@shaider1982]

Master of the deflection shot like the Canadian who fought in Malta.

[@alfredosenalle9284]

Some people regard Erich Hartmann the best German Ace of WWII. However we have to remember that most of Hartmann's victories were against Soviet pilots , while Marseille's were against American and British pilots , considered superiorly trained. During an interview to Erich Hartmann , he said: "I personally do not consider myself the best. The best of all of us , it was Marseille."

[@masharocket]

Where did Hartmann says about marseille? I cant found it

[@silverkingisley6438]

Ah, Germany's true Wunderwaffe. An Anime protagonist.

[@Sticky_mulk]

32:41 I died laughing at the "VAT ZE HELL IS THIS" and the "Its thick enough to be a god damn telephone directory"

[@janslavik5284]

the thought of a furious Herr Flick of ze Gestapo searching for me in all the Jagdgeschwaders in northern France sounds really scary indeed

[@fightersweep]

Although I was already very familiar with Marseille and his story, I really enjoyed your video and the your style of telling his story. Top marks from me! I've always felt it a shame that Marseille didn't survive the war. I can imagine the subsequent autobiography and interviews. That could have been interesting! On a side note, Marseille reminds me a lot of the 4th Fighter Group's ace, Ralph "Kidd" Hofer. I think they were very similar characters. Perhaps the subject of another video?

[@desperadolighfoot8534]

Hollywood, what are you waiting for? A movie, a series:)))

[@mattbarbarich3295]

Won't happen, Marseille was on the wrong side and Hollywood loves to shot Germans as much as possible not honour them.

[@owarida6241]

My man got more immunity from punishment than a field marshall 😂.

[@lukashuettner]

Man, your talent of storytelling is fantastic! I am German, enjoying good WW2 stories. You really took that one to a next level for me. I enjoyed every single word of it!

[@rudee1956]

AWESOME STORY & THANKS ..!! CANT WAIT FOR PART 2..!! 😎👍

[@thespeeddemon7832]

oh boy is this series gonna be fun 👀👍 (a luftaboo here.)

[@scarH1997]

Part 2 please, love this style of vid, would love to see more of other aces and “exuberant” characters

[@Karroe]

He reminds me a lot of George Beurling, who was a Canadian who flew for the RAF. But he was held back for propaganda purposes from serving later in the war, which is a great shame.

[@robertdeen8741]

Not too many know about Buzz anymore.

[@anonymous8780]

Beurling was a badass Gigachad Nazi killer.