The He.111 used was modified to carry extra fuel, giving it a total of 4,285L of fuel, which should have been sufficient for the 2,500km raid. However, this reduced the bombload down to 16 55kg SC50 bombs (880kg in total). So, whilst this one-off raid is impressive for the distance travelled and the psychological impact it had, it had little or no impact. No Allied aircraft were recoded as damaged let alone written off. All that was lost was 400,000L of fuel out of the 2.5million in the Fort Lamy area (200,000L in the bombed area was saved from the fires by men shifting the barrels by hand).

I met Luftwaffe pilot in 2012 in Austria, he fly cca 90 mission over the Russia in He111, he lived in USA!

Note: "Luftwaffe" is pronounced like "LOOFT-VAFFA".

@jefferyroy2566

29 күн бұрын

At least he spoke the "w" as a "v."

@Thorr-kl6jl

28 күн бұрын

@@jefferyroy2566 Of course, "Panzer" is pronounced like "PONT-SER".

@TomCogghe-mv3bk

28 күн бұрын

​@@Thorr-kl6jlno it's not.

@TomCogghe-mv3bk

28 күн бұрын

That's AI speak :)

That first picture of Rommel is the worst I have ever seen him look. Was somebody supposed to touch it up but never did?

@Sturminfantrist

28 күн бұрын

i think the foto is made late in african campaign, the germans had alot of Health issues in Africa, i have only one source the Wing (Geschwader) Chronik of JG27 (Fighterwing) and they mentioned all sorts of Tropical desease, Hepatitis. Some Pilots look healthy at arrival in africa, one year later they look like ghosts. Saw a Foto of Rommel during the late Africa Campaign and he had Herpes infections around his mouth, heard he also got Hepatitis.

That was very interesting, thanks for the video! Otto Skorzeny's book talks about a long range bombing mission in Russia but by the time they were ready it was already too far. I think past the Ural mountains and a dam supplying power to the war factories there.

@Thorr-kl6jl

28 күн бұрын

In his book, "Stuka Pilot", Hans Rudel describes being asked by Goering to organize long-range bombing missions against industrial targets in Stalin's USSR. Rudel declined, saying that, as a ground attack pilot, had no experience with organizing strategic bombing raids.

I didn't know the 'real' story, but British historical fiction author Derek Robinson (best known for 'Piece of Cake', his novel about 'Hornet Squadron' a Hurricane Squadron during the first year of WW2), in his novel, A Good Clean Fight: the German protagonist (a middle aged Intelligence Officer) helps plan a raid by a single HE111 to Fort Lamy, which after they succeed they ditch in the desert. The crew and the German protagonist are all captured by an SAS desert raider patrol (led by the OTHER protagonist, an adrenaline junky SAS officer who's been plaguing the German Protagonist for most of the book); as the SAS trucks and Jeeps head home, a patrol from 'Hornet Squadron' (now serving in the desert with the few survivors from the previous novel) mistakes them for German vehicles and kill everybody on the ground by strafing them.

@Thorr-kl6jl

28 күн бұрын

The Ft Lamy raid is also discussed in the book "The Foxes of the Desert", by Paul Carell.

@nickmitsialis

28 күн бұрын

@@Thorr-kl6jl Paul Carell...now that's a name I have heard in decades.

Well that was an interesting watch.

...talk about shoe string operation...

I first read about the raid on Ft. Lamy in the book, "The Foxes of the Desert", by Paul Carell. Interesting video!

I want to know more about the German Desert Rescue force, would be intresting to know more

@Thorr-kl6jl

Ай бұрын

The 1942 movie "Besatzung Dora" ("Aircrew Dora") includes a sequence with an Italian Airforce Desert Rescue Flight, using a SM-79. This movie is about the crew of a JU-88 reconnaissance aircraft. The movie was filmed on location in France, Berlin, Russia (near Estonia), and in Libya.

@Sargewashere

Ай бұрын

@@Thorr-kl6jl Thanks, I'll have a look Thor 😊

danke

Operational limits explains why Axis from the North Africa didn't help Italian expeditionary occupying force in the Ethiopia, when they were defeated.

@ikmorro53

Ай бұрын

Don't you know a anything about Italian SM82 that delivered 51 Fiat cr42 fighter in Ethiopia during the war?

@serdradion4010

Ай бұрын

@@ikmorro53 Thanks on sharing.

@Thorr-kl6jl

Ай бұрын

One thing that the Italians did when they occupied Ethiopia in 1936, was to outlaw slavery! The British did the same in northern Nigeria, in 1936.

@serdradion4010

Ай бұрын

@@Thorr-kl6jl So the African nations black ones had an slavery practice in their states of all kinds: the multi tribal kingdoms, tribal states.

@serdradion4010

Ай бұрын

@@Thorr-kl6jl If slavery was common practice in black African states, what happened with the Italian Army POW and colonized citizens after the final defeat of Italian East Africa? Not to mention the local Italian allies. Even attrocitives were mentioned on both sides . African rules of war.

This seems to confirm that the Germans were not able to conduct long range air operations well. If they could, this raid would have been repeated multiple times, but it wasn't. The fact that it was a one-off gives the game away. "One swallow doesn't make a summer", as they say.

@markaxworthy2508

Ай бұрын

@@walterschumann2476 Thank you for your tacit agreement.

@daveanderson3805

Ай бұрын

The problem was that the Luftwaffe wasn't set up as a strategic force. They were neither trained nor equipped for long range operations in the way that the RAF or USAAF was. In fact, when the Luftwaffe was first created, a strategic bomber force was ruled out, as it was considered too expensive, and also that development would take too long. I suppose one could say that the Germans saw the Luftwaffe more as flying artillery for the army than anything else.

@darrellborland119

Ай бұрын

@@daveanderson3805 yes, Dave. Not a Strategic AF. Goering, nor Hitler seemed to think globally, colored by their ww1 experience. Thanks.

@vordenkerkatastrophe9863

Ай бұрын

What a Nonsens ! 🍀🇩🇪🍀

@Eric-kn4yn

Ай бұрын

V1&2 were to replace long range heavy bombers.

Worst pronunciation of German names and words that I've ever heard in my life. Any German listening to this would be unable to make any sense of this at all.