On the night of August 17, 1943, the Royal Air Force’s bombers embarked on a perilous mission deep into the heart of Nazi Germany. Unbeknownst to them, the enemy had a cunning strategy in store.
Defending the German skies for years, the Messerschmitt BF 110, also known as the backbone of the Nachtjagdgeschwader, faced its true test in 1942 when British heavy bombers began appearing on the horizon.
Suddenly, chaos erupted. Aircraft shuddered violently, and the deafening echoes of explosions reverberated through the darkness. They were under attack – from an invisible opponent.
They couldn’t see where the enemy was coming from; there were no telltale signs, no tracers to follow. Few even saw the elusive German fighters. Fewer still returned fire.
Astonishingly, the RAF bombers reported nothing unusual despite excellent visibility. They couldn’t fathom the new weapons or tactics employed by the German night fighters.
Tracerless ammunition and attacks on their blind spots left them bewildered. At first, they thought it was just exceptionally accurate flak. But it would be years until the Germans’ secret was unveiled.
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Illegal is a liberal term and only used to describe things that are perfectly ok.
Looks a lot like the de havilland Mosquito.
illegal Airplane? R U Krazee? So, a pirate nation, the UK, along with their domestic France, declared war to Germany to get rid of them as industry and trade competitor, you say self-defense is criminal?
Did you notice that invasion of Ruhr, an attack impossible to forget, is what the W Shakespeare character Shylock requested? Shut Up!
They werent as much of a shock as the mosquito and the mustang
RAF passed an order for several hundred Wellington heavy bombers before summer 1939, Roy Fedden stated in his memories he had realized was impossible to avoid. Yes, if those who decided starting again a war against Germany thought it was impossible to avoid, it was impossible to avoid.
A silly example of self-fulfilling forecast. Gesund +
Built a model of the ME-110 as a kid. Germans had a radar equipped night-fighter version as well, with an X-configuration of antennas across the nose.
There is no such thing as illegal in war. We always follow the laws of war as set out by world organizations like the United Nations, blah-blah. Other countries don’t govern 2 $hits about that. We always follow the rules and it is always to our detriment. Screw the rules. We should fight to win using ALL weapons at our disposal and all of our resources!
My Uncle was crew on a Royal Canadian Air Force Wellington Bomber over Belgium…night mission…1942…when a ME110 shot his plane down. One survivor…not him.
The twin engine fighter destroyer was a failed concept. The only successful one of WW2 the P38, and it wasn't a good dogfighter.
They forgot to mention what was illegal was the war crimes the British committed when they saturation bombed German civilian populations with phosphorus and other munitions. Dresden was so bad that people underground shelters were burned to death because the heat was so intense.
Shouldn't the title have read "War Crimes of the Royal Air Force? The saturation bombing of German civilian populations including the use of incendiaries was a massive war crime that was never punished. Dresden was particularly horrible. Those who know the truth know that the RAF was the true villain in the air war.
The RAF countered with Intruder aircraft such as the Beaufighter and Mosquito, which patrolled German airfields in the dark and attacked these nightfighters. By the end of the war, they could home in on emissions from the German radar sets until they were close enough to user their RADAR to attack.
Why not say that the german airforce was supposedly not allowed to exist under the treaty made in France back in the early 1920s not to have an army full of panzer tanks or an airforce of bf109 110s and junkers 88? It was obvious that Hitler was going to buy the scrap metal from the Scarpa Flow scuttled german fleet and go on to make pocket battleships and submarines. To say it was illegal is rubbish. The treaty forcing the Germans to dismantle what was a proud nation lead the way for a coup maneuvered by Hitler during a huge recession. Then after his prison sentence he got elected and his rhetoric created what happened during world war 2.
illegal???
Illegal?
Nothing is illegal in war
So tell me how did P51s shoot down ME110 night fighters at night?
bet this is the belly busters.
"shocked". Such a clickbait adjective. So overused. So clickbaity. Yeah, another channel blocked.
what is illegal in war anyway ?
Great video! Would you do one on the English WWII Night Fighter program? They not only developed radar sets for planes, but technology to track German night fighters.
German rearmament (Aufrüstung), and the R&D for it, after the Treaty of Versailles, was illegal in every way, and was carried out in secret, a lot of it taking place in the USSR. All work on tanks and combat aircraft was hidden from the rest of Europe. Pity for the Germans that even Stalin took notes.
From Wikipedia: Carl von Ossietzky exposed the reality of the German rearmament in 1931 and his disclosures won him the 1935 Nobel Peace Prize, but he was imprisoned and tortured by the Nazis, dying of tuberculosis in 1938. Ossietzky's disclosures triggered the re-armament policy in Great Britain, which escalated after Adolf Hitler withdrew Germany from the League of Nations and World Disarmament Conference in 1933.
Good video, but the word 'illegal' in the title is baffling, or was it a typo?
Please use the metric system. Only three countries don't use it.
Like always bad Information, the plane was old an easily show Down. You Dark siesta are an expert in desinformation
What is the aircraft at 13.23? Not a bf110. And,as many have asked already, how was th bf110 illegal??
Ridiculous title, but interesting history.
Thanks!
I don't get it. The P51 didn't end the 110s night dominance because it was a day fighter only? I thought it was the introduction of the R.A.F Mosquito night fighters and intruders which turned the night battles more in the British favour.
The 110 made a great night fighter!
Bro I wouldn’t call it pathetic 💀it was just used in the wrong roll over Britain did great at night and in the ground attack role
So here we have the reason the Luftwaffe won the war! Oh! Wait a minute….
Enough with the BS clickbait titles.
It was war, no such thing as cheating.
I thought you were better than that Dark Skies, you don't need them.
Judging by other comments I'm not the only one to think so.
I will not view another one of your videos that has a clickbait title.
Major Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer from Calw/Germany: Mit insgesamt 2.300 Starts und 1.133 Flugstunden war Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer der erfolgreichste Nachtjäger (121 Bomberabschüsse auf 164 Feindflügen) der Geschichte.
Ritterkreuz ( 31.Dezember 1943) Eichenlaub (27. Juni 1944) Schwerter (30. Juli 1944) Brillianten (16. Oktober 1944).
What a load of sht. You make it sound like it was specifically built for night fighting. It was commissioned around the same time as the BF 109, yet was destroyed easily by British fighters and had to be pulled out of the line.😡😡😡
one of the best looking planes in ww2 !
This video's name was changed.
My Dad came up against these aircraft on night raids….. formidable!!!
The Junkers ju88 was just as deadly.
mediocre at best… quickly obsolete, nearly useless very early in the ww2… variant after varian was a compromiye to already existing compromise…
If you made this faster and more powerful, lighter and more maneuverable you could have your own version of the Mosquito……You know what, just grab your pencils, go home and start again!
The ME-110, along with the JU-88, was used in attacking American bombers during the USAAF’s daylight bombing campaign. There would also be equipped with rockets. The introduction of long range fighter escort such as the P-51 saw the end of the ME-110 being used to attack daylight bombers.
Tracerless ammo — all video of BF110 firing from underneath — tracer ammo.
Your Docs are incredible. Thanks for the great history lesson!