How ONE German Pilot Became the Allies Worst Nightmare

could this single German pilot have been the most feared Ace in World War II according to history he was dominant against the best fighters that the Allies had and was responsible for the tactic that brought down hundreds of American b-17s in addition he has been the focus of myths that have become popular War Stories and if you can believe it we might have even uncovered the actual gun camera footage from his famous death so what exactly is accurate was he really this deadly and what exactly did we find it's time to dive into the records and separate truth from fiction on the pilot who could have been Germany's most deadly fighter race on September 1st of 1939 Adolf Hitler began what would become the greatest conflict in history with the invasion of Poland in this opening strike of the war the luftwaffa began to assert their dominance as the most advanced Air Force in the world but the young man at the center of our story was not yet in the cockpit of a fighter on this famous state as the war officially began the 22 year old German boy was in route to fighter pilot school far away from the front lines this boy was Egon Meyer and was destined to go down as one of the most deadly and renowned aces in the history of aerial Warfare just a few months after this Meyer had completed fighter training and was officially a combat pilot where he was assigned to jg2 the famous Rich dolphin Fighter Wing named after the Red Baron Manfred Von Richtofen here he would be flying The Messer Schmidt bf-109 without question one of the best planes in the air at this time it was Sleek fast and boasted a powerful Armament in addition jg2 had multiple season Pilots already that had flown a great deal of combat these factors created the perfect environment to raise a young pilot to become a future Ace as Meyer settled into this new unit in the spring of 1940 the Battle of France was underway and as it would soon be won German commanders were already preparing for their next major offensive one that would be crucial to the outcome of the war this would be the Battle of Britain and in these plans jg2 was destined to play a major role just before this new battle began however the young mire would score his very first kill on June 13th of 1940. this would be one of the last remaining French fighters in the air trying to defend their country an ms-406 this first Victory would be a memorable moment but it was just one of the many marks that would eventually be added to his list of Victories the following month the Battle of Britain would officially begin in these missions he would gain valuable combat experience but as a wingman as for most of 1940 he flew on the wing of another famous pilot Helmut Vic being on the wing of such a skilled pilot meant that Meyer's job was primarily cover ensuring that his Leader's tale was clear so that he could score most of the kills this meant that Meyer would actually have very few opportunities to get victories himself but from this he learned how to dogfight from one of the very best in the world for the next year Egon Meyer would score just two kills both against Hawker hurricanes of the RAF but as the Battle of Britain came to an end two crucial events took place that would change the career of the young German pilot the first would be his promotion on June 10th of 1941 Meyer was made a commander of a squadron in jg2 this meant that not only would he have more responsibility but it also meant that now he was a leader the pilot who would go in for the kill in air engagements the second would be the large-scale introduction of a new opponent that he would now have to face as the Battle of Britain came to an end in 1940 the luftwaffa had begun to realize that they had finally met an adversary on an even playing field the super Marine Spitfire as we will see the Spitfire would play a major role in this story so much so that I would even argue that Egon Meyer might deserve to be called the Spitfire killer but before we get there we need to understand how this plane stacked up against the other Allied aircraft to really grasp the gravity of Meyer's Feats the most common Allied Fighters that jg2 had faced so far in the war were aircraft like the Polish P11 the French ms-406 or the British Hawker hurricane and while these were all solid Fighters none could truly compare to the Spitfire The Spit with its Sleek look was faster and easier for Pilots to handle in combat this new fighter also had increased visibility and a better Armament making her an aviator's dream in addition to that the Spitfire became known far and wide for its handling in the air it could outturn nearly any aircraft in the sky and cut through the air like no other plane to put it plainly it was simply on another level if there was any fighter that the Germans truly feared in 1940 and 41 it was the Spitfire but Egon Meyer would not back down as the summer of 1941 came it would bring a new battle in the air this time again over France the British were now trying to take an offensive strategy and the luftwaffar were told to eliminate any RAF Fighters over their newly gained territory this would be the role of Meyer and jg2 for the foreseeable future and it would change his career forever his first Victory as a squadron leader would come just seven days after his promotion to squadron commander on June 17th and it would be you guessed it a super Marine Spitfire one week later clearly using the lessons that he had learned in the prior Year from helmet Vic he pounced and downed his second Spitfire on June 24th this would also be his fifth confirmed making him an ace but he took no time to celebrate Downing yet another Spitfire the very next day as the air battle over France was starting to heat up and as we go deep into the claims of this famous German Ace I will undoubtedly get the comments that I've gotten in the past about German aerial kills over claiming lies and inaccuracies but fortunately I'm way ahead of you and every reached out for help in this to get a better idea of just how accurate Egon Meyer's claims might be this help comes courtesy of Nick Hector a researcher in German Victory claims and Allied losses his specialty is cross-referencing luftwaffa kill claims against Allied losses to determine the accuracy of Victories and while we can never guarantee that information is accurate and complete it does look like things are checking out pretty well so far for the young Spitfire killer on June 17th the date of Meyer's first Spitfire kill we can see that according to RAF losses one Spitfire went missing flown in the same area as Meyer's claim this was flown by a young JF Armitage no wreckage was ever found and his fate was undetermined again for example on June 25th three different RAF squadrons lost Spitfires in a large day of dog fighting over France and while it is difficult to determine exactly who his victim was this day the pieces are there and the records check out so for now his victories appear to be accurate but we will check again as we go along because his streak was only just beginning July of 1941 would be unbelievable for Egon Meyer Downing the raf's best fighter at a staggering rate on the second Myers shot down two Spitfires in a single day and on July 3rd another pair getting to four kills before the fourth day of the month on July 5th he added yet another as the street continued by the end of July he would add an additional seven more Victory marks to his tail all of them being RAF super Marine Spitfires this brought his new total of kills of the RAF fighter to 12 for the month and 15 overall here is a photo of another Victory Mark being added to Meyer's tale around this time and interestingly we can even see the difference in the first marking indicating his first and only French kill and yet again with these July victories as we cross-reference the Lost records of the RAF for the most part the accuracy is quite good on July 3rd for example jg2 claims three Spitfire kills total with two belonging to Meyer we can see that on this date the RAF lost three different spits in a clash over France Sergeant DB Crabtree who bailed out and escaped Sergeant R.H Cochrane who bailed and became a pow and Sergeant MK McHugh who was killed in the dogfight the crash of his Spitfire actually being photographed can be seen here or we can look at July 12th where yet again Meyer claimed two Spitfires shot down and yet again the losses aligned in this battle over France one of the famous polish units 308 Squadron claimed two losses against 109s Sergeant Stanis varveigas killed in action and Sergeant satisfa majek who crash-landed at manston and survived so the records are clear whatever the reason Egon Meyer was quickly becoming one of the most deadly pilots in the luftwaffa and had no problem taking on the raf's advanced Spitfire Over the next year he would destroy so many of this fighter in particular that it seems impossible to believe in August of 1941 he scored two Spitfire kills in September 3 and in October 4. as the New Year came in the first eight months of 1942 still a commander in jg2 he showed no signs of slowing down and shot down another 21 Spitfires now in August of 1942 his total kill tally was 51 victories as a fighter pilot with 44 of these claims being super Marine Spitfires without a doubt this famous Ace was one of the most feared adversaries for any Allied pilot and it appeared his dominance would do nothing but continue but in the late summer of 1942 something would happen that changed everything the Royal Air Force was exhausted and had been carrying the burden of the air battle entirely on their own for nearly three years but finally when they were nearing their Breaking Point reinforcements had arrived in the form of the United States a their Force after the Germans had failed to win the Battle of Britain in 1940 Operation Sea Lion had been put on hold leaving the island of Great Britain to be used as an air base to attack Europe and with the United States entry to the war in late 1941 this is exactly what they needed after months of coordination and planning the usaid Air Force had finally started to arrive in England and was now ready to join the fight with a bombing campaign against Germany but we must remember that this was still early in mid-1942 in the first half of 1943 the Allies were still trying to work out the Kinks of heavy bombing when most people think of the U.S Air Force in Europe in World War II they think of the elite Fighters like the Mustang dominating the skies and bringing Victory to the Allies but in 42 and 43 this was not the case at all losses were high and there was a lot to learn for the American bombers the Americans however were not the only ones making a big change in the summer of 1942 jg2 had just received a brand new aircraft to fly the fockov of 190. it was a deadly dog fighter and was immediately on par with the Spitfire in 109 in maneuverability and speed but it packed an even heavier punch in Armament and could take far more damage this made it perfect for use as a heavy bomber Interceptor also exactly what the Germans needed it was officially now a new battle the American Heavy bombers against the luffa and their 190s and it is also important to note that in these early daytime bombing raids in 1942 the Americans had no real fighter support in part this was because many of their Fighters lacked sufficient range to get far enough to make a difference but also in large part because the American commanders expected the flying fortresses and liberators to be able to defend themselves after all they had 10 or more defensive guns that were covering nearly every angle of possible attack and for a brief while this approach worked as jg2 and the other units were reassigned to high-level bomber intercept roles they initially struggled they tried to use similar tactics to those that had worked against the RAF Spitfires usually an ambush from behind diving out of the clouds to hit the tail section of the formation but quickly they learned that the B-17 was no Spitfire it could absorb an absurd amount of damage without going down and if the fighters hung around behind long enough to actually take them down from the six o'clock the Gunners of the heavy bombers would have a clear shot and would pour lead upon them it appeared that the mighty Flying Fortress might be impenetrable after all in the American Commander's strategy may work as planned but they forgot to account for one small thing Egon Meyer as we look at Meyer's kill claims in 1942 we can see that his spitfire's claims come to an end in August and for three months he has no real victories this was no doubt during some of the initial attacks on the American bomber formations it is very clear from these records that they were not having much luck but on November 23rd of 1942 something surprising happens as we can see in his claims Egon Meyer destroyed three heavy bombers in a raid over France and unlike all of his previous intercept missions there is an obvious success here and jg2 Deals a heavy blow to the American bomber Force so what could have possibly happened the answer is a change in tactics as Meyer noticed a clear struggle in the ability to take down the heavy bombers the season Ace got together with a friend and fellow jg2 Ace George Peter Eder and came up with a new idea a head-on attack this new attack was clearly a crucial Discovery and fascinatingly I was able to locate a report that clearly documents this shift in a summary record from the U.S defense website we can read that the Eighth Air Force combat report for this day goes as follows November 23rd of 1942 Eighth Air Force heavy bombers hit Saint Nazir submarine base for the fifth time in two weeks the cumulative effect of the operation on the base is large though the sub shelter shows little permanent damage but most importantly heavy bomber Crews report a change in tactics from rear to head on as they learned that the B-17 and B-24 are weak in forward Firepower and very vulnerable to the enemy again Egon Myers claims here seem to be extremely accurate and even the enemy is taking note of their new strategy using this approach to attacking the American Heavy bombers Meyer would destroy six more b-17s by June of 1943 as well as mixing in a Spitfire for old time's sake a few weeks later however a fascinating event took place or perhaps didn't take place on June 26th of 1943 future U.S Air Force Ace Robert Johnson was flying his P-47 and was attacked repeatedly by a fakovolf-190 but the P-47 would not go down then after multiple attempts and exhausting his ammunition the Germans saluted him and flew home According to some sources this pilot was none other than Egon Meyer this was famously even shown and referenced in an episode of History Channel's dogfights a young fighter pilot named Robert S Johnson flies blue four at the tail end of the formation w190s nose lights up as Meyer squeezes the trigger [Music] Meyer a top German Ace has been denied his 67th kill he rocks his wings in salute and Banks away but many have doubts about the identity of the famous German pilot some claim that there is no evidence showing that Meyer was in this area at the time of attack and that he made no official claims of p-47s on this day but nonetheless the legend persists and the truth remains unknown the following month in July Meyer resumed his defense of the Reich Downing five more b-17s in a month and here a fascinating Mission with Egon mayor would take place that would make it clear why the bomber Gunners could not successfully keep their aircraft safe this would take place on July 14th and in this Mission Meyer was leading his wingman in an intercept after spotting the bombers the pair needed to get the attention of the rest of their flight which was patrolling in a different area so that they could join the attack but unfortunately Egon Myers radio was out so the leader of jg2 had to result to a different tactic to try and grab the attention of the rest of his unit aerobatics the following is a word for word recollection of a B-17 Navigator who watched this famous attack whoever it was gave a riveting display of aerobatics out in front of the entire 102nd combat Wing before slashing in to fatally attack the leading ship of the 422nd bombardment Squadron in the low slot the attack took place at 8 18 a.m near ethampas Southwest of Paris after fires broke out between the number two and the fuselage and between the three and four engines the ship nosed down in a spin somehow seven men managed to hit the silk I had never seen such a tremendous volume of Tracer go after that one plane with a wingman in tow downright discouraging to hit nothing but air even with a massive formation of bombers and just two German Fighters preparing to strike a skilled pilot like Meyer could avoid being hit and took down the leading Fortress with ease his kill tally now surpassed 70 and he was one of if not the best bomber killer in the world but about this time in 1943 another Dynamic changed in the air War after the high losses that they were seeing the Eighth Air Force brass now realized that They too had to adjust tactics the heavy bombers were simply unable to defend themselves adequately even with the 10 or more guns spread out throughout the aircraft because of the new head-on attacks that had become widespread against the American bombers a chin turret was added to the next model of the B-17 four increased offense but even this was not enough what was truly needed was a fighter a dog fighter that could compete with the messersmiths and vacavos but could also boast enough range to make it across the channel and well into France and right on time a new aircraft entered the scene the P-47 Thunderbolt And while it would not get the praise that the Mustang did later on the P-47 was initially the Workhorse of the Eighth Air Force when a change in tactics now called for fighter support the Thunderbolt was the one assigned to the job eventually when the targets got deeper into Germany the p-47s would have to pull off and head for home lacking the range to remain with the bombers for the full mission but for now in mid-1943 with many of the targets still in France the p-47s could get the job done in addition the RAF would also begin to offer escorts during this time as well sending the advanced models of his old Nemesis the Spitfire back up to Aid the bombers because of this we now see Myers claims come to a slow in the months of August September October and November he claims to just five b-17s destroyed again the loss reports mostly match up with his claims with some of his victims during this time being B-17 bomb buggy and B-17 In God We Trust but despite some victories his Pace had obviously slowed this is because on multiple occasions his attention now has to be diverted to the fighter escort this can clearly be seen by the five Spitfires and three p-47s that he claimed in the same time frame with no Fighters at all being claimed in April May or July in addition the American fighters are now gaining experience initially when the war broke out the German Pilots were the ones with the upper hand they had far more time in combat than any of the other Allied Pilots but now things were different the war of attrition had begun to take its toll the skilled German aviators were now falling every day and very soon the number of men like Egon Meyer was thinning out but he would not go down before he had yet another famous Day to Remember on December 1st of 1943 Egon Meyer would take off for an intercept mission that would go down as his greatest day as he led jg2 to attack the bomber formation that they were scrambled to intercept they spotted something a flight of p-47s exposed and unaware of their presence if the Germans dove in to attack the bombers the fighters would quickly pounce on them so obviously they had to First Strike the Thunderbolts at approximately 12 50 that afternoon Meyer leading the way dove in on the American fighters and opened fire before they ever knew they were there in less than four minutes Meyer went from Target to Target with his perfected aim and claimed four p-47s destroyed and still after all this he had enough ammunition remaining to come back for one more head-on pass and take down yet another B-17 this brought his total to five on this date the rare Ace in a day feat and while I was not able to definitively confirm every kill on this Mission we do know that one of his kills was a P-47 flown by Vance P Ludwig an American pilot who had just received the distinguished service cross this Mission raised his kill total to 89 for the war and was a Monumental day for the leader of jg2 but the American p-47s would come back for Revenge very soon in the next two months Egon Meyer did exactly what he had for the entire War he shot down five more heavy bombers and seven Allied Fighters bringing his total to 102 victories in the war and making him the first German pilot to score 100 Victories on the Western Front he had by now received many awards including one from Hitler himself he was one of the most valuable and skilled pilots in the luftwaffa but like many others at this stage his time was drawing near and no one could live forever on March 2nd of 1944 the heavy bombers of the Eighth Air Force took off to attack targets around Frankfurt on their way back home the 355th fighter group was supposed to locate any stragglers and escort them back home one of the young American men taking off for this mission was a Virginia Boy by the name of Walt Gresham Gresham was a flight leader but was by no means a seasoned veteran he had seen little action thus far in the war and had no kills to his name like the rest of the 355th he flew a P-47 his in particular was named trigger Jeepers and had one of the more unique pieces of NOS art that I have ever seen a grasshopper or Locust with guns blazing in this unique Thunderbolt on March 2nd he took off with the rest of the 355th for what would be a very famous mission a little while later the bombers had hit their targets and were on their way back home all had gone normal so far as they were headed west however there were two German vacavos On the Hunt No Doubt ready to pounce one was Egon Meyer and the other his wingman while other flights in this unit were chasing various targets Gresham and the flight were still patrolling five thousand feet above the bomber formation as they scan the skies they spotted something two specs below clearly preparing to strike the bombers Gresham and the other Thunderbolts nose down and prepared to attack in countless missions with over 100 kills Meyer was as sharp as ever and was always aware of where threats could possibly be but even at his level not every threat could be caught and today it just so happened that neither Meyer nor his wingman noticed the patrolling Thunderbolts five thousand feet above without a doubt they had scanned the skies for escorts but for whatever reason they had never spotted Gresham a few moments later the p-47s opened up and poured tracers towards the German Fighters immediately Meyer and his wingman turned over in Dove they had been caught and they knew it knowing the strengths of their aircraft and that the Enemy No Doubt had the advantage they opted to try and Escape their attackers and on most days this might have worked according to the reports from this Mission Gresham and his flight ended up chasing the 190s for quite some time eventually though the diving power of the P-47 caught up after a lengthy Chase Gresham the flight leader finally had a shot it was not an easy one but he knew that it might be his only chance so from a significantly long range and at a high angle of deflection Gresham fired the 850 caliber machine guns roared to life and sent tracers ahead of the lead German aircraft and that animation is where this story would normally end if it weren't for this is a VHS tape that was sent to me by James Marshall the author of our might always a history of The 355th Fighter Group I was actually working on a story on Bert Marshall James father in an ace in The 355th Fighter Group I reached out to James asking if he had any gun cam footage and interestingly he told me he had it and more but it was complicated he had received a number of different Pilots gun cam footage and unfortunately as he was getting the footage transferred onto a VHS from the original reels to preserve it the editor mixed up the footage and cut out the labels that showed the pilots names and dates thus it was a mix-up of random footage and the only person who could really distinguish it was him so as I was making this video on Bert Marshall I sent James a Quick Clip asking about a couple of different shots that were on the VHS he told me that one was indeed his father's but that the other was none other than Walt gresham's pursuit of Egon Meyer on March 2nd of 1944. so now thanks to James we will break it down as accurately as possible using the actual footage from this famous moment as Walt Gresham pulled behind and saw his opportunity he squeezed the trigger we can see from the footage here just how far away the 190 is from the Thunderbolt and initially it looks as if Walt Gresham is firing from the camera shake and is failing to lead his Target but after a few moments he corrects putting his sights in front of the fock of wolf and then impact the 50 caliber rounds tear into the aircraft of Meyer and almost immediately a piece of the wing can be seen tearing away from the aircraft in the 190 falling over into a death spiral in a few minutes the German fighter would meet the earth exploding upon impact and since we know from the wreckage that Egon Meyer was unable to bail from his fighter based on the footage seen here we can conclude that one of two things likely happened one with the burst seen on footage striking the left side of the plane in a broad left turn one of gresham's rounds could have found the cockpit this could have easily killed Meyer allowing him no chance to bail out or to correct the spin that was obviously induced or two what I believe to be the most likely scenario is that the rounds cut off a substantial part of the left wing visible here with an enhanced look we can see that the rounds do appear to only hit the left wing perhaps missing the cockpit and fuselage and this violent role only occurs the moment the wing is ripped off meaning that Meyer was likely in control the entire time but then as soon as this role was induced Meyer could have likely been knocked out from the violent action inside of the cockpit or incapacitated from the intense dive that the plane was put into either way resulting in the legendary Ace being unable to jettison the canopy and bail out on March 2nd of 1944 Meyer had accumulated claims of 102 aerial kills this included 12 p47s 26 heavy bombers and 51 Spitfires at the age of 26 Egon Meyer was shot down and killed by P-47 trigger Jeepers flown by Walt Gresham and although he would later go on to become an ace this would be his very first kill of the war moments later his two wingmen also shared in the shooting down of Meyer's wingman it was the beginning of the Inn for Germany and in the coming months many other great Aces would be lost but perhaps none who played a larger role and showcased more skill than Egon Meyer hopefully with videos like this we can continue to save the history of the great dogfights and aviators but we cannot do it alone we need your help please consider joining my patreon here to support us making this videos and as a bonus I'll be posting some of this never before seen gun cam footage there for supporters thanks for watching and I'll see you next time

Channel: TJ3 History

Views: 254,420

Keywords: WW2 Air Combat, Luftwaffe, Egon Mayer, German Aces, Erich Hartmann, Gunther Rall, Red Baron, WWII Aces, World War II Aces, Top Aces of History, B-17 Flying Fortress, B-17, B-17 Killer, Bf-109, Spitfire Killer, Fw-190, Focke-Wulf, Messerschmitt, Focke-Wulf 190, P-47, Walt Gresham, IL-2 Sturmovik, IL2, Flight Sim, World War II Flight Sim, Combat Flight Sim, War Thunder, Realistic, History Channel Dogfights, Historic, Documentary, Mark Felton, Yarnhub, TJ3 Gaming, dark Skies

Id: B7uVsHD0hs8

Length: 34min 10sec (2050 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 12 2023