Battle of the Bulge, Animated - Part 6, Bodenplatte, the Final Ride of the Luftwaffe

With the return of Allied Air Power to the skies above the failing German Ardennes offensive, the Fuhrer grows desperate. He rallies all available Luftwaffe units on the western front for one final assault against the Allied Air Forces. After being caught by surprise on the ground, the RAF, RCAF and USAAF respond, and devastate the attacking German aircraft.
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[@TheOperationsRoom]

Per my Community Post, I cancelled the ad read scheduled for this and next week's episode, so get signed up to The Intel Report instead if you aren't already 👍

[@timf2279]

If you think it's worth donating at least $ 1.00 a month you get special access for future content and to vote on future videos.

[@stefanmolnapor910]

Subscribed!👍

[@manurocker1]

@@timf2279 um thats an easy decision, thanks

[@jasonhudson3362]

It was definitely the lordship one wasn’t it

[@eddiemaciejewski9445]

I'm in

[@warpatato]

The Operations Room getting so baller that they're being sponsored by themselves.

[@edwardetheridge1511]

They are really good don't get me wrong but I assume that because their last sponsor was a scam they decided to sponsor themselves this time.

[@joecool2501]

@@edwardetheridge1511 yes but this also shows integrity to give up sponsorship money, honorable people

[@edwardetheridge1511]

@@joecool2501 oh I 100% agree I was just pointing out that it may not have been because they are "so baller"

[@dester3275]

@@edwardetheridge1511 I also believe its simply that they did the research, and can use it for a different style of videos so decided to, but the channel is new and needs a start.

[@atakorkut5110]

This just goes to show that they believe in their work being objective, and free of biases that introduction of outside capital always comes with

[@fuoco1365]

The fact that the 262s the most advanced fighter they had were used as basically Commissar's to ensure obedience of orders and recon plans instead of fighting is actually insane

[@robberbarron7602]

Tbh if I was Gorring I would use the 262s as fast mobile fighter squadrons to counterattack any large enemy fighter formations that take off during Bodenplatte.

[@nottherealpaulsmith]

@@robberbarron7602 I think you would have emptied what few fuel stores remained in about six hours by doing that.

[@joshros4786]

@@robberbarron7602 ever heard of logistics?

[@Toenism]

@@joshros4786 Me 262s didn't suffer very heavily from fuel shortages though? Cool no-knowledge Reddit comment.

[@TheKsalad]

>build a jet that can fly faster than any allied plane >still need to slow down to even engage them with machine guns

[@FacloFormerFavorite]

“The first time I saw a jet, I shot it down” One of my favorite quotes ever.

[@charles07km83]

-Chuck jeager. The part we miss is that him camped that kill xd but also a kill is a kill

[@kameronjones7139]

@@charles07km83 he would have been a great cod player

[@jiyuhong5853]

Time stamp?

[@xJeremySx]

@@jiyuhong5853 It's not part of this video. It's a quote from General Chuck Yeager after he shot down an Me-262 in November of 1944

[@jonfoulkes3160]

🤢🤢🤢

[@tombenjamin9924]

I would absolutely love The Operations Room to do a series on the Korean War - So many interesting and bloody battles which don't get spoken about enough.

[@tattyheid7279]

Known as the forgotten war. My dad was conscripted and sent there. Managed to get napalmed & shot all in one day (survived 😊).

[@visassess8607]

@@tattyheid7279 Well, that sounds painful

[@visassess8607]

Yes! The Korean War is rarely talked about. It's usually WW2 or Vietnam

[@emiliodemartines836]

my grandpa was in the iron triangle with the 7th infantry division he has tons of different stories but he's 91 and vets are going fast i definitely want to see a series on Korea

[@slayerr4365]

Sadly like many of these channels they have an extreme obsession on following the west only. They don't seem to care to cover wars involving none british or american sides nor do they ever seen to cover the many battles in which they lost. But I guess that's what you get with bias. It's the same as trying to find strategic unbiased analysis of the russia ukraine war. There is just nothing at all on the internet that is not providing fake ukraine bias with made up information. History really does get blocked and ruined by arrogance and bias in the modern day sadly

[@ohmygoshitscole]

The guy who pulled up while holding down on the breaks is such a badass. Imagine seeing a plane shooting up at you while stationary.

[@urlichwichmann6456]

I recon, that the intention was to lower the nose (lift the tail), because it's a tail dragger configuration.

[@noobster4779]

Fun fact: Shortly after this Galland, general of the fighters, would be sacked by Göring after an event called the fighter pilot revolt. He would convince Göring to allow him to form and personally lead a small fighter unit that would solely be equipped with Me 262 fighter jets to prove their value which was granted by Göring. Galland then went through the remaining Luftwaffe and collected a significant ammount of the still alive fighter aces for his new unit. This new aces squadron would then operate from march 1945 to the end of the war under General Galland personally. The kill ration of this squadron for the last 3 months of the war was 4 to 1. This was basically an all stars assamble of german WW2 aces going on a finish lap round with their own unit to end the war. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagdverband_44 If im not mistaken its also the only fighter force in history personally lead and commanded in the air by an airforce general. Imagine the allied pilot who would have killed him, would a general kill make you an instant ace? :D

[@diestormlie]

Well, if you shoot down an Ace, you steal their kills. That's just how it works.

[@daiichidoku]

its really no surprise, given how carefully Galland had husbanded his fighters for a "big show" and inflict "unacceptable losses" on an 8th af mission. after all of his machinations and efforts "the fat one" swoops in and takes it all away to squander it in turn for such an ill advised op.

[@noobster4779]

@@diestormlie well he has officially 104 kills while beeing shoot down 4 times himself... If thoughs numbers arent already corrected its propably in reality between 50 to 80 because some planes shoot down actually survive without anybody noticing, can be repaired, or just good old double reporting... So even if you steal 50 kills....pretty sure you would immediatly be top allied ace of the war if im not mistaken :D

[@streamofconsciousness5826]

Probably land you in the brig for killing a Officer if you got the wrong Officer taking the report. "You killed a General, bloody hell!, you have no right killing a General, what are the news papers going to say" oh right this was the 40's when commonsense was not a rare superpower.

[@danraymond1253]

​@@noobster4779Ivan Kozhedub had 64 kills

[@ryansullivan7581]

Hearing Historograph suddenly appear through my headphones made me practically cheer. These collaborations are amazing

[@SMJ495]

“One German pilot breaks radio silence and screams SPITFIRES” instant chills at that part

[@kawaiku]

I heard that line as if it were spoken from The Battle of Britain movie.

[@Sharkzy64]

Awesome as always. I would love to see a series within the Mediterranean Theatre of WW2 as it is often overlooked, such as the Invasion of Italy.

[@jobvanhetkaar8848]

That would be great.

[@zygo0]

Imagine being the guy who asked if the report was an April Fool’s joke only to hear hours or minutes later that a massive German air attack hit several different airbases. Good job, champ.

[@davijones406]

How to lose your job speedrun

[@samanyupalthi]

@@davijones406 he might have got a promotion for paying attention when everyone were not

[@manuelvalentin2648]

Basically the ETO's equivalent of the officer on duty at Pearl hearing from the radar operators about the large formation of aircraft closing in on the island and him replying, 'those are a flight of B-17s...don't worry about it '.

[@wolftamer5463]

@@manuelvalentin2648That’s exactly what I thought of too.

[@comraderoman4299]

​@@manuelvalentin2648I thought this was a comment from me for a second hahaha

[@NickJohnCoop]

You’d almost have to thank Goering for destroying his own airforce.

[@J1N6666]

dude was a psyops

[@Cailus3542]

He was practically an expert at that by late 1944. The drug addiction, obesity and sycophancy didn't help matters.

[@hunter35474]

Goering? Don't you mean Meyer?

[@NickJohnCoop]

@@hunter35474 I would but I wasn’t sure enough people would remember his boast. I love the depiction of it in the BoB film.

[@hunter35474]

@@NickJohnCoop "As of right now, we are called Meyer".

[@patrickt7]

I find it fascinating that the Luftwaffe was able to carry out somewhat significant operations in 1945, even up to the Rhine crossings in March of that year. Really gives a unique perspective of the last months of the war in Europe.

[@RobinTheBot]

Strategic Bombing doesn't work because Strategic Bombing is a euphemism for bombing civilians and non military targets. Industry time and time again proves to be more resilient than anyone believes. It was a failed doctrine, and frankly, could have been better served by putting all that work into logistics and even more CAS.

[@SandvichTrolli48]

It was the equivalent of going for broke just like the ground offensive of the Bulge. Akin to running a marathon and basically tossing all your energy in the final stretch.

[@jacobharmon9795]

A cornered fox is at his most dangerous. Shows that even at the end of the war Germany was still a threat that needed to be taken seriously.

[@patchouliknowledge4455]

@@jacobharmon9795 Alas, if only the allies weren't that lax at the end of the war. I wonder what would be different if the allies were more alert

[@marcofava]

And even more both the Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe run massive evacuation efforts from the east to Germany proper and further west up to May 1945, the resources they managed to find and the Herculean efforts those two services put on on the logistical level is often under appreciated, as we only look at their major combat operations, and not their support operations.

[@danielnavarro537]

All of the guest speakers are people that I watch. This is truly will be and is an amazing in depth documentary of the Battle of the Bulge. To all who made this documentary, thank you very much. This is amazing. Godspeed to all. And to the Operations Room, this is a spectacular documentary so far. I cannot wait until the conclusion. My hat is off to you.

[@tiberiusgracchus4222]

That was one of my favorites videos yet! I had forgotten about that Luftwaffe operation and the toll it took on them. I've heard of armies having a unit behind the front lines that stopped any soldiers trying to flee the battlefield but I had not heard of the same thing happening with an air unit in formation.

[@peppapig9987]

Darn you Graccians. Trying to support the peasants with your land reforms you darn... Gracciand. Anyways, wouldn't expect to see you here. I think your in the wrong time period...

[@michaelccozens]

Such formations are often called "blocking" units, which is a pretty benign name for such a brutal tactic. But, yeah, I had also not heard of such an approach (or a lighter version of it) being used in aerial combat. Not sure it'd be very effective - how's one pilot supposed to monitor dozens of others in battle? - but I'm sure the brutality of it would appeal to shallow, vicious minds like those of Goering and Hitler.

[@outlet6989]

Maybe this is why Ukraine claims so many Russian planes have been shot down. Referring to the shooting down of 'coward' pilots. Putin, "If it was good enough for the Germans in WW2, it's good enough for me."

[@ryancooper4475]

@7:24 That has to be the 3rd or 4th time just during the battle of the bulge where front line units called in waves of enemies and their superiors responded with "Ha!, yeah right!" and then hung up.

[@atakorkut5110]

I love the fact that he has the guest speakers from all other history channels, especially enjoyed historigraph on this one

[@wolfu597]

The Allies had no problem replacing the approximately 300 aircraft destroyed by the Luftwaffe during Bodenplatte. The Germans on the other hand, has used up their very last reserve. Its quite ironic that this offensive, which was meant to hurt the Allies, ended up finishing off the Luftwaffe.

[@grahvis]

Much like the Battle of the Bulge, the loss of German armour could never be made up.

[@kaletovhangar]

Yeah,there is quite funny anecdote about German fighter pilot parachuting over American airbase,smirking cocky at the burning American fighters as he was being taken prisoner and rather quickly loosing that cheesy smile after noticing new batch of P-47s and P-51s the very next morning.He could only say "well,that is what is beating us".

[@ivan_pozdeev_u]

That's the definition of a "last-ditch effort".

[@Marshal_Dunnik]

11:11 Correction. 401 Tactical Fighter Squadron was an RCAF formation, not RAF, but of course RCAF aircraft were under RAF operational control during the war. 401 Sqn still exists, it flies CF-18s.

[@happyhowey]

Thought I recognized the name - 400-409 squadrons are Canadian I think.

[@Marshal_Dunnik]

@@happyhowey Yes, numbers 400-449 were assigned to RCAF squadrons; surviving squadrons still carry these numbers today

[@denniscleary7580]

Really loving this series, puts it in a great perspective 🫡

[@matthewmaurysmith2486]

Operations Room videos are so great!!!! Nothing else like this. Can't wait for more and more and more

[@oscarsiri2763]

Great series. All other documentaries mention the German advance and after explaining a few days they finish with "the weather cleared and the allied planes took off and that's all" This is very complete.

[@visassess8607]

Yeah when people talk about the Battle of the Bulge it's almost exclusively focused on the 101st at Bastogne.

[@TANKMUN]

Definitely one of the videos of all time

[@12what34the]

For sure the most. My number video.

[@lucaamedeowilber1557]

@@12what34the the most number one of all kind

[@q-tuber7034]

I wasn’t sure, but I checked and can confirm: it is one of the videos of all time.

[@leong108]

Thats a bit much. Maybe a video of living memory.

[@ThisHandleFeatureIsStupid]

Fake! Not video time definitely of.

[@Snelson5094]

Man thank you for doing this. I made a paper for school that talked about bodenplatte and the battle of y-29 and from what I remember the operation was meant to be the air cover for the tanks moving through the Ardennes. It didn’t work out because of the weather. I also remember hearing that a flight of mustangs of the 352 were sitting on the runway trying to get permission to do a patrol since the leader believed their would be an attack. The flight of German aircraft that were coming to y-29 were intercepted by p-47s that were heading out to be air support for troops near the Ardennes. The mustang flight lead saw the flak burst in the sky and told his pilots to take off and he shot down a plane that almost crashed into the other planes taking off behind him. Dogfights battle of y-29 is a good resource.

[@joeschenk8400]

Great telling of the story of Operation Bodenplatte! Thank you for all the work you put into this.

[@oasis1282]

Actually good work

[@Bootneck-RMC]

This is the first time that I've been given such a complete and comprehensive re-telling of this German campaign. Thank you The Operations Room. 👍

[@BasPlankgas]

Definitely one of my favourite channels at this point! One tip, the maps of the Netherlands woud have looked quite different in the 40s, most of Flevoland, Europoort and the Delta works did not exist yet ;)

[@klobiforpresident2254]

Another fun thing to look for (although less with the 40s and more the 1400s) is the relative size of the Waal / Neederijn. (I'll also point to the IJssel if anyone says rivers don't split. I'll also point to it if people say words can't start with two capital letters (even if IJ is kind of only one).)

[@benlincoln7358]

Amazing series and vid as usual @TheOperationsRoom love your work and the Collabs. One I would love to see is B. Of Chosin Reservoir. That would be great as so few know of possibly most epic struggle in Marine corp history, and I think you could teach/reach many with the incredible story! Thanks for all your work.

[@timf2279]

If you think it's worth donating at least $ 1.00 a month you get special access for future content and to vote on future videos.

[@AnthonyJ504]

Love this series and channel! Have watched every single video some multiple times. The Intel report channel as well. Absolutely fantastic content! Keep it coming!

[@bookaufman9643]

I just watched a very old documentary series about the battles for the Rhine with the Canadian and British troops on one side and the American 9th army coming up from the south. It was really fascinating and I think that you would do a very good job covering this series of battles that don't get enough coverage.

[@jdotoz]

Imagine being on the front line of a war, in the middle of beating back a major offensive, and 1) degrading readiness with a New Years Eve party, or 2) treating a report of a raid as a joke.

[@KN-jr6tx]

I was thinking the same. From my arm chair, professionalism should be critical in the middle of a major enemy offensive.

[@diskopartizan0850]

@@KN-jr6tx if it's a real story it's likely the result of hubris. The senior officer thought that it couldn't be possible for the Luftwaffe to launch an attack so assumed it was a joke.

[@Archivial]

this, it irks me a bit when I heard this line just because its new years eve and the enemy is in tatters doesn't mean you can just lax about, especially in a War environment.

[@JohnyG29]

they'd hardly seen any kraut aircraft for weeks, so its understandable.

[@jdotoz]

@@JohnyG29 It's inexcusable. You've been fighting these guys for years. You're on the front lines. They already took you by surprise with an offensive just a few weeks ago. Maybe you could be skeptical about the report but to completely blow it off as a joke?

[@madmonsterbbb9131]

The Operation Room + Historigraph = perfect combination

[@duffdabsduffdies]

I love this featured presenter! He's my second favourite military history channel, to yours 👍🏻

[@loopernoodling]

This was my favourite campaign in Chuck Yeager's Air Combat! Can't remember what they called it - 'Last Stand' or 'North Wind' or something, I suppose. Great channel guys. I've been following your Battle of the Bulge videos like they were a hit TV series - I'm always waiting for the next installment!

[@HowlingWo1f]

When you think this channel doesn’t get any better. Absolutely fantastic

[@mr.j7647]

I been watching this series all lastnight and I’m so glad that another video is here🎉 I have learned so much

[@orterves]

The only problem with having two channels is I switch over to watch the intel report before I remember to like the operations room video

[@thetalesofdaneandco]

12:23 Historigraph and The Operations Room together in a video. Ya love to see it.

[@janatlmb2770]

I have never heard of this battle. Thanks you again for your great work and impeccable narrative.

[@megapet777]

The battle of the bulge has been such interesting series. I hope it will still continue. The art of the planes at the latter part of the video was really cool too!

[@michaelborucki2896]

Thanks for mentioning the poles! 🇵🇱

[@Mr.Plight]

I noticed a similarity in this and Pearl Harbor. The ships and planes at Pearl were lined up in a lazy manner. Here, the British decided to cram squadrons into one place instead of spreading them out. Making both instances easy targets.

[@Nemesis_121]

My father told me the story of being on the airbase at Eindhoven that morning, crouched in a trench while being strafed. He never knew the historical importance of what he experienced and nor did I until I researched it later in life.

[@phyrexd4365]

This multi-episode format is awesome! I love the personal stories interspersed throughout. I suggest Stalingrad or D-Day next. Or maybe some North Africa tank battles?

[@PUBHEAD1]

Awesome timing to release a new video. Friday night, a cold wintery evening after work and a new video to watch to start the weekend.

[@weschaffin]

The interruption of the 2nd narrator was nice…alternate English accents are always pleasant to the ear…love the channel

[@jamesmcstein6758]

Glad to see you are bringing other channels in on your videos. Adaway' Historigraph is a great channel 👍

[@malickfan7461]

Finally! I've waited a long time for someone to make an animated battle map of Bodenplatte.

[@dabeamer42]

Yet Another Marvelous explanation of something in WWII that I had never heard of. Great work.

[@ThereIsNoSpoon4]

One of the very best channels on the Tube. Thanks for your hard work sir.

[@johngaglione2236]

You guys at the operations room are doing a hell of a job documenting the history of all these wars I just wanted to say thanks so that this information isn't lost and that future Generations can not only hear the history but see it as it unfolded thank you again for doing such a great job

[@BigRichG]

Perfect Timing, just got home from work, ready to have dinner, now I have my entertainment! Thank you!

[@treposey4107]

Love that you are so involved with other creators in our hobby. Love seeing it. Love the content

[@nc_classics9767]

Never heard of this operation. Incredible

[@RaymondCore]

The animation ups the learning. Thank you.

[@Interdictiondeltawing]

The luftwaffe: Alright boys LETS MAKE OUR FINAL STAND. Allied Air Force, young pilots with no experience, German flak guns: REHEHEHEHE

[@aslamnurfikri7640]

When your air force is so bad you assume any aircraft is enemy's

[@macebobkasson1629]

Your air war videos are my favorite. This one did not disappoint!

[@pebborino9087]

Smoking that Luftwaffe pack

[@knox7095]

This is awesome guys. I've never heard about this stuff. I always hear of Bastogne and a few fights but not to this detail. Thanks again you all, this is great information.

[@bobsemple6537]

Aerial Commissars? That's new.

[@AttyFox]

Loving the cameos from other collaborating channels- Historigraph is extra special because I got recommended to here after watching one of their videos.

[@michaelimbesi2314]

This was great, especially on the day that the B21 Raider was revealed

[@casegriffin2205]

Babe wake up new operations room just dropped

[@brad4266]

“Thanks for shooting down a German plane into my flower shop… here are what’s left of my roses.”

[@lovelessissimo]

The base at Y29 could have an episode all of its own. The captain took off against orders, risking court martial, because he could see P47s engaging Germans and knew they needed help.

[@joshuariddensdale2126]

Yeah. In the Dogfights episode Death Of The Luftwaffe, about Operation Bodenplatte, one of the surviving pilots recounted "This is either a decoration or a court martial", in reference to John C Meyer taking off against orders because he saw the Thunderbolt squadron engaged in combat (one of the pilots of said squadron also recounted several moments from that engagement. Bob Brulle was in a fight against a 109. He remembered the 109 shooting at him, and quipped "Isn't that pretty? Honest to goodness, I thought that!")

[@string-bag]

No. 401 Tactical Fighter Squadron , a.k.a. "City of Westmount" Squadron (originally No. 1 Squadron), is a Royal Canadian Air Force squadron and was the "RAF Squadron" mentioned in the video.

[@Cetchupboys]

Small correction: The german pilot shot down by his own AA is called Heinz-Jürgen Kilian. I imagine this error arose from old german handwriting making the "Ü" look like "LI"

[@JamesBraunicorn]

I love that Historigraph was featured - they're one of my favourite channels! Having only recently discovered your own, I'm loving what you do too. Keep up the collaborations - it's great to see.

[@Sierra-208]

Practically a turkey shoot, once the shock of the attack wore off and the Allied Air Controllers sent every plane that could dogfight after the Luftwaffe

[@glenchapman3899]

Well in every step of this battle, the allies ability to regroup and counter punch has been amazing to see.

[@andrewklang809]

The flak alone (including from the Germans) would have crippled the Luftwaffe. 47% of losses from Allied AA. Probably at least another 3% from the Germans. But yeah, like the other Turkey Shoot, inexperienced pilots just got shredded, thrown away in a fit of hubris and desperation.

[@kakitakenzo5013]

🇬🇧 RAF 131st Polish Fighter Wing 🇵🇱 - "Air Battle over Ghent" - *Slight correction: in the description of the battle over Ghent, from several studies, I have never found a description of the opening fight, during which the Germans allegedly shot down (as many as 9!) Polish Spitfires approaching the landing at the airport. The Poles lost only 2 Spitfires in the air and 18 destroyed on the ground. They themselves claimed 21 air-kills and were credited with shooting: 18,5 certain, 1 probable and 4 damaged. Below a brief description of this battle : - "On January 1, 1945, at dawn, the Germans launched about 1,000 machines of various types into the air. The target was Allied airfields - dormant, filled with planes and - as the German staff officers correctly assumed - a bit lazy and hungover after New Year's Eve. "Operation Bodenplatte" - as this was the name given to the unexpected raid - was to destroy the Allied air force not in air combat, but on the ground. The Germans assumed that the destruction of hundreds of enemy machines would deprive their troops of air support and change the fate of the campaign in the West in the Ardennes. No wonder that almost everything the Luftwaffe had at the time was thrown into the fight. The effect turned out to be spectacular: the German air force destroyed about 450 enemy aircraft. However, the success came at a high price. A good example is the fate of the pilots attacking one of the airports. They were unlucky - they had a raid on the Sint-Denijs-Westrem base near Ghent, where experienced Polish squadrons from the 131st Fighter Wing were stationed. - "On the Allied side of the front, preparations were being made for a grand celebration of the New Year, which was to be the last and victorious year of this long war. Colonel Tadeusz Sawicz, commander of the 131st Polish Fighter Wing, expected a hard night. The unit, which was made up of a trio of: the 308th Krakowski Fighter Squadron, the 302nd Poznański and the 317th Vilnius Squadron, was stationed from October at the soggy Belgian airport of Sint-Denijs-Westrem near Ghent (according to the Allied system of marking airports on the continent - B.61). Since operational orders could come for January 1, Sawicz issued an absolute ban on drinking alcohol to pilots on duty that day. However, this time the discipline was not good, and a large part of the "service" pilots had a great time until dawn. Everyone hoped nothing would happen on New Year's Day. - “But in the morning of January 1, 1945, the weather was great - a slight frost and a cloudless sky,” recalled Sawicz. (…) - We dispatched the 308th, 317th and two fours from the 302nd squadron to bombard positions behind the front line, in the area of the Meuse and Waal rivers. Each aircraft was armed with one 300-pound bomb and two 250-pound bombs in addition to the normal ammunition. 308 Squadron - 12 aircraft - led by Capt. Ignacy Olszewski, started at 8.15. 317 Squadron - 11 aircraft - led by Cpl. Marian Chełmecki, at 8.35. 302 Squadron - Key 1, four aircraft, led by Capt. Edward Jaworski, started at 8.40. Key 2 - four planes - at 9.15". - Sergeant Jerzy Główczewski of the 308th Squadron slept for two hours that night. When the mechanic saw him scrambling to the plane, he immediately ran to get an oxygen tank and hooked the young pilot to it for a long time. It was a sure-fire way to feel better quickly throughout the Air Force. A few moments later Glowczewski was in the air. - Almost at the same time, Herbert Ihlefeld took off at the head of JG1 and, flying at an altitude of about 150 meters, headed towards Belgium. However, his unit was not so lucky from the start. While crossing the border, Ihlefeld's plane was shot down by his own anti-aircraft artillery. The pilot survived, but his regiment flew on without a commander. After a while, the unit split up and two squadrons of the regiment, about 40 focke-wulfs, headed for St. Denis Westrem. They reached their destination around 9.30. All hell broke loose over the surprised airport. Meanwhile, the Spitfires of the 131st Wing found their targets one by one and dropped their bombs. Since no targets were found for the on-board armament, the planes headed towards their airfield. It was then that the pilots received a radio report that their airfield was under attack. - One of the first victim of the Poles was among others, Gruppenkommandeure of the I/JG 1 Hauptman Georg Hackbarth. He was shot down by a Lieutenant Wacław Chojnacki who had to detach from his Squadron earlier and was now returning to his base due to the failure of the underwing bomb ejectors in his Spitfire. As he approached the landing at the airfield, the attack of JG.1 fighters just began. Chojnacki instantly retracted the landing gear in his Spitfire and, still with 2 bombs under the wings, launched the attack. His attack was observed from the ground by sergeant Sobel from 308 Squadron, as he himself relates: "I was in the command post when the enemy attacked. i hid in a trench when I saw a lonely Spitire with the designation ZF*P on his fuselage, flying over the airfield at an altitude of 60 meters. Three Focke-Wulfs were approaching to attack at the same moment. A Spitfire attacked them from a distance of about 700 meters and opened fire. Soon one of the enemy planes was hit and a large piece of his tail fell off. The German pilot lost control of the machine, which hit a tree with its right wing and hit one of the airport buildings with its fuselage. Its remnants fell on the nearby Flying Fortress, which began to burn. In the smoke of the burning Fortress I lost sight of the Spitfire." Chojnacki was unfortunately hit shortly after shooting down the Focke-Wulf and died defending his airfield. - In the meantime a group of pilots from 308 Squadron, already warned about the attack on their base, approached the airport. They went full throttle to help. The first to notice the Germans was Lieutenant Bronisław Mach, who immediately joined the fight at the head of his four. In a short time, he shot down two FW 190's. Jerzy Główczewski also got "his" focke-wulf, in the end, he was only credited with half a kill, as anti-aircraft artillery shells were also found in the wreckage of the FW 190. Initially, the Germans accepted the fight, but when the 317th Wileński entered the action a moment later, they began to retreat. The Poles had a supply of ammunition, but after the morning flight they were running out of fuel. Further pursuit was impossible. Finally, the 302nd Poznanski appeared, but the battle was over. - The success was huge. The pilots of the 308th Squadron shot down 12,5 German aircraft and damaged one, the 317th Squadron recorded 6 further confirmed kills, 1 probable and 4 damaged. The following were killed in the fight: Lieutenant Wacław Chojnacki from the 308th and Lieutenant Tadeusz Wieleza from the 317th Squadron. Three pilots, including Jerzy Główczewski, ran out of fuel, but they all landed safely. By 10.10 it was all over. - However, the losses on the ground were quite serious. As Colonel Sawicz recalls, “3 mechanics were killed (Cpl. Jerzy Bielka, Cpl. Józef Sikora, both from the 6302nd Maintenance Echelon and Cpl. Antoni Komorowski from the field material depot of the 408th Air Stores Park), and 18 were wounded. 18 Spitfires were destroyed and 3 damaged. In addition, many American and British bombers that were forced to land with us on their way back from expeditions were destroyed. Several cars were destroyed, fuel depots were set on fire, and there was extensive damage to airport facilities." - The Commander of the Polish Fighter Wing, (W/C) Wing Commander Gabaszewicz, soon received a congratulatory telegram that reads: "Congratulations to You Sir and your Squadrons on your splendid achievement this morning. With the destruction of twenty-one Germans, you have managed to compensate for our losses on the ground and to teach the enemy a lesson they will not forget." - And so it was. In total, during Operation Bodenplatte, the Luftwaffe attacked 19 out of 20 planned Allied airfields and destroyed about 300 aircraft on the ground and 15 aerial, however herself lost almost 300 planes and pilots. In practice it was a last and Pyrrhic victory for the Luftwaffe.

[@kakitakenzo5013]

- Although so many Allied planes had never been destroyed in a single engagement before, it didn't matter much to the Allies. Their aviation regained combat capability within a few days. Destroyed or damaged machines could be quickly replaced with new ones, the more so that during the air raids mainly unmanned aircraft standing on the ground were destroyed - the Allies lost a lot of equipment, but few people. The resources involved did not bring the expected breakthrough - the advantage of the Allies was so great that the loss of even half a thousand aircraft was not a significant difference at this stage of the war. - In the case of the Germans it was different the effects of the attack were truly tragic. Tactical success for them meant getting rid of the last of their resources. It was all the more painful because after the massacre that the Luftwaffe experienced in 1944, at the end of it, the German air force began to recover, both in terms of equipment and trained personnel. - The use of these resources meant that the Luftwaffe ceased to count as a real force by the end of the war. - 281 Luftwaffe planes did not return to base. Half of them were shot down by their own anti-aircraft artillery, which had not been notified of the operation. 277 pilots were killed, taken prisoner or missing. Two regimental commanders, six squadron commanders and ten squadron commanders were killed. Many outstanding air aces died, including Horst-Gunter von Fassong, who had as many as 75 victories. Gerard Specht also died - 32 kills - and Lieutenant Hermann Hackler, who won 67 duels. The latter had exceptional bad luck, because he got entangled in the network of ropes of the balloon dam over Antwerp. From these losses, the German air force never recovered. Add to this the losses suffered during the Ardennes Offensive between December 16, 1944 and January 5, 1945, the Luftwaffe lost a total of 850 fighter pilots. It was her final end. - Of course, the culprits of such a great catastrophe were sought. However, General Dietrich Peltz remained unpunished. The scapegoat was General Adolf Galland, who was dismissed from his post. The milieu of German fighter pilots was in an uproar. - Several outstanding commanders of Luftwaffe fighter regiments led by Günther Lützow led to a meeting with Reichsmarshal Hermann Goering. They criticized the "Bodenplatte" operation, General Peltz himself and the way the excellent Me 262 jet Messerschmitts were used, and above all, they defended General Adolf Galland. Iron Crosses flew onto the table in protest. Goering was furious. He threatened a court martial and shooting. Eventually, Galland was only expelled from Berlin and sentenced to house arrest. Colonel Günther Lützow had to leave Germany and take up a post in Italy. Both were forbidden to have contact with each other and other "rebels". Many other experts and commanders of fighter units lost their positions at that time. - The 131st Polish Fighter Wing in the meantime regained combat efficiency within a few days. In January it moved to the Belgian Grimbergen, and in mid-April to Germany, where it remained until the end of its existence. - Sergeant Jerzy Główczewski mentioned at the beginning, was one of the few pilots of the 308th Squadron who returned to Poland after the war. Unfortunately for him and his colleagues, despite the victory over the Germans, Poland was not a free country, but occupied by the Soviets for the next 50 years. - Heowever he manage to studied architecture at the University of Technology. As an architect, he participated in the reconstruction of Warsaw which which was completely destroyed by the Germans after the Warsaw Uprising (VIII-IX 1944) as an act of their revenge. - He also flew in the Warsaw Aeroclub, but soon negatively verified by the communist authorities, as an "unwanted Western element" like many Polish airmen who have returned to their homeland, because of their service in the Air Force of the Western Allies, not "the only acceptable" communist ones, and he lost his pilot's license and eventually left the country. In 1962 he settled in the US. He was professor at North Carolina State University. In New York, he worked for the Ford Foundation and the United Nations. And also taught architecture at the Pratt Institute. He died in New York, 2020 at the age of 97. - In Sint-Denijs-Westrem on the outskirts of Ghent, at the end of Poolse-Winglaan (Polish Wing Street), there is a monument commemorating the participation of Polish squadrons in the victorious battle of Ghent. On the monument in four languages (Polish, English, Flemish and French) it is written: "To the fallen Polish pilots".

[@Abbeville_Kid]

Nice video. I have the 1/48 Hasagawa “St Trond” Fw-190, that I might eventually get around to building. It’s the A-8 that got shot up during Bodenplat and ended up landing on the airfield that it was attacking.

[@angrydoggy9170]

For a second there I thought you had the actual plane. Diagonal reading doesn’t always work.

[@Abbeville_Kid]

@@angrydoggy9170 lol. If that was the case, all would be right with the world.

[@rickoconnell4557]

They missed the airstrip because they were too busy holding a perfect formation. Now, how German is that.

[@amptechron]

This series and channel are excellent! Thank you

[@NR-rv8rz]

What an insanely good movie this would make.

[@IIBomerII]

When an Individual gets named they either A) Do something medal worthy B) are a person of note and will die.

[@thereisnospoon277]

If it weren’t for the astounding graphics, I wouldn’t even waste my time watching this amazing series. Thank you.

[@TheOperationsRoom]

Not sure if insult...or compliment...

[@MakeMeThinkAgain]

There's another great story about a USAAF P38 squadron fighting at this time. And an amazing story about a US infantry regiment from a green division that has yet to fully arrive in France that helps stop Himmler's offensive in the south, though at great cost.

[@Cailus3542]

Operation Nordwind, I'm guessing, and the subsequent Colmar Pocket. It doesn't get muvh coverage because of the larger simultaneous Battle of the Bulge, and because French forces played a large part in the battle (whereas Bulge was almost entirely American with some small British assistance).

[@walter9899]

The operations room uploads and I watched it’s that simple

[@Whubolt]

When I become a history professor I vow to use your videos in my classroom

:-D the sponsor of this episode = win. Great episode, great animation, great explanation of the whole situation on grander scale. Makes older style WW2 documentaries obsolete really

[@mbryson2899]

Bodenplatte seems to have been akin to Hipper's "Death Ride" at Jutland, but with a far different outcome.

[@thilomanten8701]

Being low on fuel can be a real advantage as the aircraft is light and agile.

[@theemissary1313]

You know, i had never heard of this part of the battle of the bulge. Nice one.

[@Andy-mr8te]

Super episode and series. Great work as always!

[@lesterksi4521]

If this is the final one, I will be watching the whole series

[@W1se0ldg33zer]

Lose 300+ planes was a lot but then they still had thousands more. With a lot more on the way. One of my uncles was a Navy pilot flying fighters off from light aircraft carriers on to islands. He said it was amazing to see airfields everywhere with nowhere left to park more planes at.

[@W1se0ldg33zer]

My other uncle was Army pilot and he was in Europe at that time but I have no idea where - flew a P51-D. He never talked about it.

[@Revy8]

this would be a great movie

[@everydaypancakemix]

So strange I've never heard of this in any documentary, it's always implied Germany's air force was spent at this point, very cool vid.

[@user-mp3eq6ir5b]

Now this is getting interesting! Historically Accurate, events glossed over in all other histories and just generally fascinating personnel details from action debriefs. Networking with other content providers such as Drachinifel makes History Come Alive!

[@dudududu1926]

The Allied would I to thank the German flak crews for their exceptional services.

[@deef6844]

A great video. As a note, however, 401 Squadron was a Royal Canadian Air Force unit.

[@slayerr4365]

The fact they were able to take out nearly 100 more allied aircraft and for it to still of been seen as a huge loss shows how hopeless it was for germany at that point. I don't think you would ever say destroying 100 more aircraft is a defeat in any even war.

[@napoleonibonaparte7198]

Surprising that the April 1st mindset is still present by that point.

[@seven_hundred-seven_hundred]

Very nice. Thank you.

[@raphaelambrosiuscosteau829]

So we use our only jet crafts which can carry quite a bomb load btw to conduct recon and just WATCH over young pilots in the older crafts doing the heavy lifting, instead of just organizing those jets in a few elite units which would carry out bombing runs on highest value targets during the operation. Moreover, we instruct pilots to maintain radiosilence which serves absolutely no purpose after attack on the field actually commences instead of letting few veteran pilots left direct the actions of your units, which could've easily prevented their overstay. The incompetence is just amazing, like holy shit, germans deserved to lose not because they are "evil", but because how astonishingly bad decision making of their high command was.

[@KentonBenfield]

Right? And just running back home, not even turning around to fight, as you are picked off one by one? Infuriating stupidity, but I'm glad the more deserving side was the one inflicting it upon themselves.

[@kaletovhangar]

Well this was the same thing observed by Germans themselves on the eastern front in first couple of years where they noticed many Soviet tanks just aimlessly driving across the battlefield because they lacked radios and good vision slits.

[@casparcoaster1936]

Always prayed for a channel to analyze recon & intel in historic battles!!!!!!!!!!!!! (not sure who to...)

[@livingthemcdream]

A minor mistake I noticed on the map is the Dutch province of Flevoland. It didn’t fully exist yet. The northern half was under construction arround that time tho

[@johnjuiceshipper4963]

It still shouldn’t exist tbh

[@lynnmei4346]

A few things missed in Y29 airfield. There was a squadron of P47 already took off and patrol the area before the attack. They earned time for P51 to take off.

[@MauriceBiermans]

Bodenplatte ( groundplate, pronounce: bohdenplahteh) is the metal plate onder a soldiers boots heel. So I guess the idea was to stamp the allied airsuperiority into the ground by one angry stamping session.