A Duel of Aces - The Famous Dogfight of Werner Molders and Sailor Malan - WWII Historic Recreation

[Music] coming up throughout the second world war there were a great number of famous aces who tallied many kills throughout the conflict both sides had their heroes in the skies and top scorers who would go down in history but one thing that we rarely hear about is an actual confrontation in the skies between a pair of these fan bases however in the midst of the battle of britain one of these very situations occurred when by a stroke of fate one of the raf's top scoring pilots would duel with the luffa's leading ace in an intense dogfight over england today we will dive into this historic dogfight between two of history's most famous fighter pilots [Music] before we get started i'd like to give a thank you to my patreon supporters who helped make this video possible if you want to support my content and get access to awesome bonus videos please consider checking out the patreon link in the description of this video enjoy this famous encounter would take place in the first month of the battle of britain the luffaffa and british air force were locked in a battle for air supremacy in the summer of 1940. planes were being shot down over the channel and into english fields every day british civilians followed the battles closely in the daily papers hanging on the inspiring words of winston churchill as they desperately hoped that the handful of british pilots could defend their island from the germans seeking to bond them into submission the gratitude of every home in our island in our empire and indeed throughout the world goes out to the british airmen who undaunted by odds and worried in their constant challenge and mortal danger are turning the tide of the world war by their prowess and by their devotion never in the field of human conflict was so much old by so many these german forces obliterated dozens of raf planes and despite suffering great casualties of their own both in men and aircraft their greater size and numbers allowed them to offset their losses with ease compared to the raf the british pilots plagued with constant and bitter air duels were growing exhausted and nearing their limit the future looked grim and hopeless but the raf continued to fight determined to protect their people and country from across the channel adolf hitler is pushing his air force to continue their attacks on britain his skilled fighter pilots are the tip of the sword in this battle tasked with protecting the german bombers and finishing off the royal air force many of these fighter pilots fly in the messerschmitt bf-109 the 109 is widely regarded as one of the greatest fighter aircraft in history leading to it being one of the most widely produced planes of all time with its modern engine sleek design and powerful cannons it wreaks havoc on the allied pilots one of the best fighter pilots to ever fly in the 109 was luffa ace verna motors who currently in july of 1940 was the highest scoring ace in germany and likely in the entire war up until this point with 25 kills to his name he is quickly becoming an icon in the luffaffa and his fame is spreading throughout the third reich on the allied side the raf pilot that will meet molars in the skies is adolf sailor milan milan has quickly risen in the ranks after having a great deal of success as a fighter pilot in the evacuation of dunkirk milan has 10 kills to his name thus far which may pale in comparison to molars 25 but it is important to note that mulders has seen much more combat time in the air fighting both in the spanish civil war and in the battle of france while sailor milan has just recently been thrust into combat earlier in 1940 at dunkirk but all things considered these are easily two of the top pilots from each side at this moment and as the fates of war would have it destiny would see them meet in an air battle just as the battle of britain was beginning on this fateful summer day in 1940 the skies of southern england were swarmed with hundreds of german and english pilots tangled in a wild throng of dogfights bullets screamed past one another as the battle raged on the air was filled with spitfires hurricanes and 109s dogfighting at high speeds trying to propel their side to victory among the chaos the famous duel between milan and mulders was about to unfold at this time in this july day mulders is over the channel leading jg 51 one of the most elite fighter groups in the entire luffaffa on a hunt for british fighters at the same time milan and his men are headed right for them guided to the exact location of the german fighters by their new radar in just a few moments the dogfight was underway as verna moulders jumped into a dogfight with raf fighters he began the day with success he placed himself behind a spitfire opened up and watched its smoke and turned downward shortly after scoring this probable kill he then locked on to another spitfire looking to add his second kill of the day this plane by pure chance happened to be piloted by sailor milan the german ace honed in on his target moments away from earning what would have been his 27th kill muldress leaned in in anticipation for his next victory certain it was just within reach but milan had a different plan in mind fueled by skill and instinct he jerked his spit into a tight turn and through some skilled maneuvering he was able to not only evade the fighter on his tail but to actually place himself behind the german aircraft it was not until later that he would discover this 109 to be flown by mulders milan clutched the trigger of his spitfire and unleashed an eruption of bullets tearing into the german plane's radiator the rounds ripped into their target leaving mulder's leg wounded in the process by some force of sheer luck or chance the raf ace triumphed in the duel with germany's leading pilot never to meet in battle again after being hit hard with a damaged plane and an injured leg mulders turned his messerschmitt back towards his home base in france and was able to escape the engagement he would nurse his bullet-ridden aircraft back over the channel and upon getting over friendly soil he brought his plane in softly and would manage to survive a successful crash landing although his wounds from the encounter with milan and the crash were not fatal they were enough to render him unable to fight for a few weeks this would be a detrimental blow to mulders who was desperate to keep his spot as the top ace in germany this down time to recover would likely give his opponent adolf galland time to catch and potentially surpass his own kill count sailor milan would go on to become one of the top scoring aces in the battle of britain he was pulled off the front in 1941 and sent to a reserve squadron after racking up 27 kills he would survive the war and live on a sheep farm in south africa after recovering from the injuries to his leg verna morris would be back on the top of his game destroying british fighters at a faster rate than any other pilot in history [Music] he would tally over a hundred confirmed kills by july of 1941 even before the united states would enter the war unfortunately for the germans tragedy would strike the beloved ace before he was able to reach his full potential at the young age of 28 the newly promoted moulders would be killed in a plane crash this time he was on board not as a fighter pilot but as a passenger on his way to a funeral during an intense thunderstorm the he-111 that he was flying on would experience an engine failure the pilot of the transport plane attempted to land the aircraft but was unable to causing it to slam into the ground and kill several people on board including the famous ace werner mulders he would be laid to rest with the highest honors in germany next to the famed red baron manfred van richthofen i hope you enjoyed this historical recreation please make sure to click subscribe and comment if you have any ideas for future videos if you want to support my content please check out the patreon link or my merch store in the description below thanks for watching and i'll see you next time

Channel: TJ3 History

Views: 189,576

Rating: 4.8907194 out of 5

Keywords: IL-2 Sturmovik, IL2, Flight Sim, World War II Flight Sim, IL-2 Great Battles, IL2 Game, IL-2 Crashes, IL-2 Highlights, IL-2 Flight Sim, Combat Flight Sim, War Thunder, Realistic, Dogfighting Game, History Channel Dogfights, Historic, Documentary, Werner Molders, Sailor Malan, werner molders luftwaffe, werner molders death, Adolph Sailor Malan, Molders vs Malan, Battle of Britain, Spitfire, Bf-109, Spitfire vs 109, Battle of Britain Dogfight, Heroes of the Skies, TJ3 Gaming

Id: Ln8fKTQYaZI

Length: 9min 50sec (590 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 20 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/TrentJComedy]

And although the thumbnail says "True Story" there is some debate among historians as to who actually did hit Molders. So let's call it more accurately a "Mostly True Story" lol. I noted this in the comments and description btw. Thanks!