The Battle of Midway's Forgotten Heroes That Changed History

you know the Battle of Midway the legendary clash in the Pacific that changed the course of World War II but do you know the story of the heroes that flew the jerry-rigged b-26s Into the Heart of the Japanese Fleet well in this video we will take a look at the Forgotten heroes in the Marauders that may have very well changed the outcome of the most significant naval battle in history [Music] thank you my crew and I traveled out to the incredible commemorative Air Force Air Base Georgia for some in-depth interviews with experts on the Battle of Midway now I will tell you that we absolutely could not afford to do this without the simulator that I used to make the visuals of this famous battle and the sponsor of this video War Thunder War Thunder is an immersive and totally free to play military vehicle combat game this immersive Sim is available on PC PS5 and Xbox and is fully cross-platform and it doesn't require any high-tech gear to play a simple mouse and keyboard works just fine so while you probably can't fly in a real SBD or a B-26 every day like some of these experts you can do the next best thing fly them on War Thunder along with tons of other vehicles including tanks and ships so right after this video join 50 million other players from across the globe and try War Thunder today you can actually add me as a friend and be my wing so support tj3 history today and download War Thunder at the link below totally free without further Ado enjoy it is June of 1942 just six months after the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor that crippled the American Fleet and now in the heart of the Pacific Ocean the American Naval and air forces are desperately looking to find a way to slow down the Japanese aggression and put them on their heels fortunately this is where they would get a much needed opportunity just like the attack on Pearl Harbor Japan has planned another bold surprise attack on a U.S island a small stretch of sand in the middle of the Pacific Ocean known appropriately as Midway Island there was one thing that would go differently in this surprise attack however the Americans knew that it was coming thanks to the code Breakers and the U.S Intel the U.S Navy was given Priceless information that the Japanese Fleet would be attacking Midway and instead began to make their own counter-attack plans and while many know the story of the heroic dive bombers and Wildcats that helped turn the tide in this iconic battle those Heroes aren't the focus of this video instead we will look at the often forgotten but no less Brave twin engine bombers that first attacked the Japanese Fleet and the extraordinary courage that they showed in the Pacific's greatest battle this would take place in the early morning hours of June 4th of 1942 after an American pby Recon aircraft cited and reported both the Japanese carrier Force as well as an inbound airstrike headed towards the island immediately recognizing that the American bombers would be Targets on the ground and that the Japanese carrier aircraft would be occupied with the attack and thus unable to defend their Fleet the American commanders sent a force of bombers to take off and hit the Japanese so less than a half hour before the Japanese attack arrived at Midway a force of six TBF Avenger torpedo bombers and four U.S Army Air Force B-26 Marauders took off to attack the Japanese Strike Force this would be the first ever combat for the TBF Avenger as well as all of their crew members likewise the crews of the B-26 bombers were also very Green in addition the B-26 was a medium bomber not at all designed to be a naval attack aircraft but once U.S Intel found out that an attack was coming from Midway these B-26 bombers were Jerry rigged to be able to carry Torpedoes so that they too could attack Japanese ships the mechanism to release a torpedo was quite a jury rig saying it took several actions you couldn't just pull one handle and the torpedo drop out you had to do several actions to get it to drop out so when they when the pilot said drop the torpedo it would take several seconds for the gentleman whoever he was located in the airplane to actually drop it and little did they know that one of these Jerry rigged bombers by the name of Susie Q would play a major role in the approaching battle there would be no escorts on this flight as all of the fighters were ordered to remain at Midway and defend against the approaching Japanese Strike Force and so because of these limited resources at approximately six o'clock in the morning just 10 bombers took off to take on the entirety of the Japanese Fleet this included six aircraft that had never before seen combat and four of which had been hand rigged to be able to attack ships all with no escort the odds were clearly not in their favor and there may not be a better definition of Bravery around an hour later the 10 aircraft force would cite their targets and come in for their attack runs during this time in the war many of the American tactics were flawed and needed Improvement torpedo attacks from the air certainly fell into this category one of the most obvious of these strategic problems was that in order to drop Torpedoes successfully and accurately the attacking aircraft would need to fly slow just a few hundred feet above the water and straight at the enemy ships this made them perfect targets for anti-aircraft fire and easy prey for defending zero Fighters since they had no escort the U.S commanders would quickly learn that fighter escort would be a necessity in these kind of attacks but that lesson would unfortunately come after Midway in addition for the first few years of World War II the United States was plagued with problems with its Torpedoes these included both the submarine launched and air launched Torpedoes they were commonly inaccurate and often failed to explode even when they did strike their targets we didn't get a good torpedo until well after the Battle of Midway it would run too deep and go underneath the ship it also had a problem when if it did hit the ship it did not always explode and then the other side of this is the the Torpedoes were all fighting for their lives because they had no protection from the American fighter planes basically no protection the Japanese Fighters were just picking them off easily the torpedo had to be dropped no higher than I think 100 feet above the water preferably lower than that uh it had to be dropped going no faster than 105 miles an hour so the torpedo planes were just literally sitting ducks on a Japanese fighter plane that's going 200 miles in our fashion than they are they're just zooping down shooting one down pulling up coming around and Swinging down and shooting another one down thus in accordance to military Doctrine at the time the Avengers and B-26 bombers began their attack runs with their speed lowered and their altitude around 200 feet off the surface of the water immediately multiple zeros quickly pounced on the flight dealing a deadly toll to the bombers anti-aircraft fire also filled the sky making their job essentially impossible but despite the fact that none of their Torpedoes would actually hit their targets this would not mean that the mission did not play a major role in the battle the force of six Avengers would quickly be crushed with five of the six aircraft being shot down only one of these torpedo bombers would make it back to Midway with one of its three-man crew killed and another seriously injured the B-26 however being a much larger plane with two engines could take a heavier beating than the Avengers as They carried on straight towards the heart of the Rising Sun this is where two of these B-26 Marauders would make history the four-plane flight of b-26s came up with the prized carriers in their sights preparing to release their torpedoes around this time the first of the four b-26s would be shot down by anti-aircraft and Fighters it dove into the ocean killing all seven on board the three remaining Marauders released their payloads as enemy fire continued around their planes flight leader Captain James Collins would successfully pull out of the attack escaping enemy fire and exiting the engagement one of the other remaining b-26s was heavily damaged however and never pulled out of its attack run on the carrier akagi it is not known for sure whether or not the actions that followed were accidental or deliberate on behalf of its pilot but either way the B-26 continued its attack on the akagi it headed directly for the bridge of the carrier right where Admiral chuichi nagumo was commanding from it narrowly missed however and crashed into the ocean just behind the ship the remaining B-26 nicknamed Susie Q was exiting her attack run and taking heavy fire but her pilot Lieutenant James Murray found that he was in trouble the anti-aircraft fire was taking a heavy toll and he knew that he had to do something drastic to shake their fire otherwise Susie Q would likely take a fatal hit in just a few moments in a bold move Murray turned the B-26 back around right at the akagi he figured that if he was right on top of the carrier then the anti-aircraft fire would have to let up for fear of hitting their own ship the daring pilot would be correct with this risky idea the anti-aircraft fire did let up for a moment as he approached the carrier the Japanese Crews on the ship watched in utter disbelief as the American bomber flew just a few feet above the carrier deck Lieutenant Murray and the other Gunners on Susie Q opened up on the akagi killing two men on the deck before pulling away over the surface of the water well I think it definitely shook up the Japanese because they have been told that Americans are soft and they're not going to fight and we're interested in our Cadillacs and we're interested in our Budweiser beer and I believe it was one of the officers on the akagi said these Americans die like Samurai so I think at that point they realize the enemy they're fighting is not the enemy they thought they were fighting the results of these B-26 attacks was not significant on paper as in reality all of their Torpedoes either missed their marks or did not explode and the only casualties that they caused were two crew members on the deck of the akagi that were killed but the psychological damaged caused from their courageous attacks may have very well been worth more than many have realized during the narrow Miss of the bridge of the akagi by the doomed B-26 as well as the low-level buzz and strafing by Susie Q vice admiral nagumo the commander of the carriers at Midway was likely shaken had the B-26 struck the bridge or a bullet found its way into the room he could have very well been killed some historians in fact have argued that this may have played a major role in the following decision to launch another attack on the ground targets of Midway Island nagumo had not received any intelligence that any ship was in his area and he had just survived attacks by torpedo8 Detachment Midway he survived attacks from the b-26s so he realized Midway is still a threat and when commander tamanaga who had commanded the attack on Midway radio there is need for a second strike I think he took and made a calculated bet that I haven't got any information of any ships the whole plan is attack Midway and draw the Americans out so I think his plan was right now Midway still represents a clear and present danger to my fleet and I have to neutralize it before The Invasion can begin this decision was in direct violation of Admiral yamamoto's order to keep the reserve force of aircraft arm for anti-shift operations this crucial decision to launch another attack on Midway would leave his carriers as wide open targets for the later attacks by American dive bombers with no real opportunity to ever launch his full force in an attack against the American Fleet this would end up sealing the fate of the Japanese and while this story of Susie Q's heroism is indeed extraordinary what was even more miraculous than the move by Lieutenant Murray and the other bomber was that Susie Q would somehow still make it back home the battle weary B-26 would somehow find a way to limp back to the airfield on Midway Island her landing gear would only partially extend but she would safely come to rest on the runway three of her crew members were injured but all would survive after the grounds crew finished counting they would tally that Susie Q had over 500 bullet holes throughout her body the aircraft was listed as damaged Beyond repair and would be bulldozed into a lagoon nearby but before this one of the crew members would cut out the famous nose art of Susie Q keeping it as a souvenir in total at Midway 35 of the 41 torpedo bombers that were launched would be shot down not One landed a single successful hit but the sacrifice and heroism of these young Airmen need not be forgotten in the battle that turned the tide in the Pacific don't forget to try War Thunder today use the link below to go to battle in over 2 000 beautiful military vehicles dogfight over tons of maps in realistic and immersive air combat even add me as a friend and I'll see you in the skies make sure to check out Air Base Georgia and the commemorative Air Force for their support in making this video and as always comment what story I should cover next

Channel: TJ3 History

Views: 390,321

Keywords: SBD War Thunder, B-26 Marauder, B26 War Thunder, B26 Plane, TBF Avenger, SBD Dauntless, Avenger Midway, Battle of Midway, James Muri, Battle of Midway Documentary, IL-2 Sturmovik, SBD Midway, IL2, Flight Sim, B26 Midway, World War II Flight Sim, B-26 War Thunder, IL-2 Great Battles, IL2 Game, IL-2 Highlights, Combat Flight Sim, War Thunder, Realistic, History Channel Dogfights, Historic, Documentary, Mark Felton, Yarnhub, TJ3 Gaming, Dark Skies, WW2 Air Combat, midway

Id: qVu_VM9ti0A

Length: 15min 30sec (930 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 30 2022