B24 Bomber Shot Down - Incredible Footage, [Full Resolution]

[Grandizer8989]

A couple of ironies here..this plane was shot down on VE Day. And some of the wreckage is now next to a Jap. Hotel

[Grandizer8989]

@mrredroster53 There were actually 11 men on this plane. Apparantely the Cook went along for a joy ride... Bad decision to say the least..

[Grandizer8989]

@871yt. I can't rule out a bomb impact from above...it certainly looks like it could have happen. All I know is the Navigator made it out alive ..was captured..and was beheaded by the AAA commander who "shot" him down

[TheMrBlinx]

Isn't it amazing how crisp and clear this ancient video (movie actually) is, yet today's YouTube posters, with all their modern equipment, can't manage a fraction of this quality? Why is that?

[Grandizer8989]

The way the wing folds upwards would make one think that it was a friendly bomb that hit it. But I think you would be able to see the bomb before impact

[871yt]

@Grandizer8989 look in the background..you see strings of bombs falling past the plane from above...then a bomb appears for a fraction of a second and tears the wing off rupturing the fuel tank which is inside the wing and under pressure

[habman2009]

If the plane were hit underneath her...the engine would have disintegrated...this explosion came from above.." friendly fire "..thats why they are making the pics public at the time...

[habman2009]

If you frame by frame the Vid, you will see bomb patterns real close to the plane and I think it fell into the path of a sister plane's stray bomb...fucking bombs look big nest to the plane in question.

[Grandizer8989]

Damn..The wing I found isnt from this plane after all. But I know where it is... Looks like I have to go back

[Grandizer8989]

OK.. Did some more research...This was a new B24M (nicknamed Brief) and was brought down by AA fire on May 5 1945. Only the Navigator made it out and was quickly captured and later beheaded by the unit commander who shot him down.

[waggerification]

that plane was hit by a bomb dropped from a plane above it

[Grandizer8989]

I don't freakin' believe it! I just did somw research on bentprop.org and now I am 95% sure I found the port wing that you see here that got shot off. I can confirm evidence of shrapnel damage so it wasnt a bomb that accidently hit it. I'm going to make that documentary now!

[Grandizer8989]

I smell documentary!

[Grandizer8989]

The more I watch this the more I think I've touched this wing! Based on where it appears to land and the landmass next to it. Also found dozens of flak guns nearby.. What if?

[Grandizer8989]

The natives said that there was only one survivor of the B24 that I found. The japs found him and decided he would look better w/o a head

[Grandizer8989]

No way! I never knew this was over Palau!  I've been there two years in a row. If this video was in color you'd be like why are they fighting there! Truly one of the nicest place on earth. I found a B24 wing sitting near the shore of an island. Could it be from this plane? Check out my channel and watch the video and see it.

[iaink51]

I say it's a bomb from above. You can see the bombs falling to the side and just missing but getting closer to the plane and then the wing just sheers off as it is struck. No flak visible or effects of a flak hit can be seen. I apologise in advance for not calling anyone an ahole or retarded or both. I'm British and adult.

[TheDjDeter]

nonono it's very unlikely a friendly fire back there. Not they did'nt exist but planes are pretty weak constructions compared with speeding 40mm flak shell that can easily penetrate the aluminium plates at heights 6km, the planes, if not interrupted by enemy figters, followed a strict squad formation to gain maximum counterfire and avod friendy fire. that would have been a very weak projectile even at this low acceleration of free fall ( ._____.)

[trainmandan05]

How these camera guys must feel after coming back from something like that, That is if they had survived.

[fbrown172]

This B-24 WAS NOT destroyed by a bomb from another aircraft. A bomb would most likely not fallen far enough to arm itself, and in any case would not have hit nose first. The impetus of the blast was upwards, through the wing. This aircraft was clearly hit by AAA.

[871yt]

@fbrown172 you can see the bomb coming from above.

The bomb did not detonate it weighed 500 lbs and ripped the wing off

and the fuel tank inside the wing ruptured ..shit you can actually see the bomb

doing it.

[MrHetzman]

The plane was hit by ground fire not bomb from above have watched this clip on "Air Power' DVD the bombs that are falling, as the shell hits wing, are off to right of tail. The bombs that appear below the plane as the wing starts to fold are coming from the plane that is hit

[realvanman1]

I always wondered how they avoided hitting planes below with bombs dropped from planes above. Apparently, sometimes they didn't. That sucks!

[dmimcg]

It's obvious he was hit by a bomb from ABOVE, not shot down. Look at the video!!! Friendly fire kills again. Nice job boys.

[zbehlik5]

@dmimcg if watched in slow motion no bombs are dropped onto the wing of the aircraft i believe it was struck by ground fire faster than we could see

[Teh447]

@dmimcg

you have no idea about aircraft information

[dmimcg]

@Teh447 Actually I do as I'm a FAA licensed pilot and my grandfather was an officer stationed at Pearl Harbor during WWII.

[dmimcg]

Friendly fire kills more in war than the media wants you to know. Case in point. War sucks.

[MrRedrooster53]

now think about this 1 bomber contains 10 men so in the film you just saw the death of 10 men who are probably under 17

[ten8goa]

shot down????

[nexusdawn]

@scottwins2 p.s. you seem so proud about a bomb hitting the wing, like you discovered the fact, when it's already been stated several people weeks before your dumbass even made it to this vid. Fail.

[scottwins2]

@nexusdawn Your not only a bottom feeder but ignorant too.

[TheThebounty]

"all you need is love" John Lennon

[flyinwalenda]

This was an accident not a result of enemy fire. As stated one or two planes was out of position and a bomb fell or drifted after release and slammed through the wing.

[scottwins2]

THIS B-24 AIRCRAFT WAS NOT SHOT DOWN, IF YOU WATCH CLOSELY IN SLOW MOTION A 500LB BOMB RIPS THROUGH ITS WING FROM A FRIENDLY ABOVE. THE UNFORTUNATE AIRCRAFT WAS OUT OF POSITION.

[98Flying]

@390bullitt1968 You're an ahole...hahahaha

[390bullitt1968]

@98Flying - you are now on ignore. did you wish OBL a happy birthday today? I'll do it for you.

[98Flying]

@390bullitt1968 Good morning Willie my favorite Nazi loving ahole. Don't you have a terribly empty feeling - in your skull? LOL

[VANISHTHEWEAK]

I've seen other reels or vid's of this and the announcer said something to the effect of "unfortunately this bomber was hit by another bomber in their close formation".

[scottwins2]

@VANISHTHEWEAK THIS AIRCRAFT WAS NOT SHOT DOWN AS ASSUMED BY THE ANOUNCER. IF YOU WATCH CLOSELY IN SLOW MOTION A 500LB BOMB RIPS THROUGH ITS WING. THE AIRCRAFT WAS OUT OF POSITION IN THE FORMATION. NOW YOU KNOW THE REST OF THE STORY.

[nexusdawn]

@scottwins2 First off, you don't need to CAPS & SHOUT. Secondly, the announcer never said or implied the bomber was shot down by the japanese, all he said was "A Liberator is hit", and your imagination made up the rest. Good day.

[scottwins2]

@nexusdawn I LIKE TO USE CAPS AND SECONDLY IF YOU HAVE STUDIED THE FLIGHT YOU YOU WOULD FIND THE SAME FACTS I FOUND. THIS PILOT HAD HIS AIRCRAFT IN THE WRONG POSITION AND A FRIENDLY FROM ABOVE DROPPED A BOMB THROUGH ITS WING, PERIOD. IT APPEARS YOU NEED THE FACTS BEFORE YOU MAKE AN ACCUSATION.

[nexusdawn]

@scottwins2 Use all the caps you want, it just highlights what a dumb ass you are, and makes up for your small penis.You're really retarded as well, since you lack the ability to read and understand what is written. I never said it wasn't a dropped bomb hitting the wing. But you accuse the videos announcer of implying it was it was a the japanese shooting them down. When again, the announcer -never- claimed that, he just said "A liberator was hit" (by your rock of a head for all we know) Dumbass

[scottwins2]

@nexusdawn Your actually the idiot, you may want to read the heading. Run along a play.

[nexusdawn]

@scottwins2 Do you have down's syndrome? Because obviously you can't tell the difference between a video heading, and an announcer.

[crazyknight2008]

i would say he was hit by one of the bombs from his buddy.. as i didnt see any FLAK or AA fire

[Johnzoil]

Poor fuckers

[1949kf]

@Johnzoil Saw this same film of the B24 going down used in a newsreel claiming it was hit during the raids on the Romanian Oil Fields.

[mckeague1984]

As a American, 35 Years of age."I would like to thank you (Robertto26666) for your kind words." I grew up knowing a B-24 waist gunner,"Name of (Dennis Murphy)." " And I'll Never forget him."He took me to my FIRST airshow. I can tell you he has everything to do with the passion I have for flight-"It's in my blood!" I remember asking him about what he saw and went through. At 8 yrs.of age to his ? ;He never told me much of the horrors he saw; "But Taught me,- and told me of the beauty of flight."

[nexusdawn]

@mckeague1984 Get over yourself.

[Roberto26666]

@mckeague1984 Thanks for nice words also :) Let's keep those heroes in memory :)

[1949kf]

This plane was hit by a bomb from above from the other planes in the raid...not by flak. It is as plain as day. Of course the censors during the War would never admit that mistakes like this happened regularly. Better to just say it was hit by flak.

[miltonluvsno1]

@1949kf It's flak for sure, if you download the video and play it frame by frame you see something hit it from below.

[twinstu50]

Oops, I meant to type, 'The aeroplane was called 'The Brief", I know of nothing called 'aeroplanet'.

 Captain Fumble-Fingers strikes again!.

[twinstu50]

The B-24 Liberator shown here losing it's left wing was shot down by Japanese Anti-Aircraft fire. There are numerous sites showing this footage, saying that it was hit by a 'friendly' bomb, this is not so.

Listen to the commentary, the B-24 was on a mission to attack Jap positions on one of the Pulau group of islands.

The aeroplanet was called 'The Brief".

At 00:56, a hatch cover between the top turret and the cockpit is opened, some poor bastard trying to get out?.

[Paganfuckingsexgod]

Yeah. But if you look at the wing cowling on the port side there is an explosion blowing upwards. Like it was hit from below. Good shot, bad for the crew though.

[Paganfuckingsexgod]

That was hit by flak probably. A bomb strike wouldn't explode I don't think. Plus if it did the man shooting the footage and all on the surrounding aircraft would have gone up. I think the 500lb bombs the US used had barometric fuses which kicked in below a certain altitude.

[mhatlie]

@Paganfuckingsexgod

I assume the bomb didn't explode, but the fuel tank in the wing did. I think it was a bomb hit, not flak, but it is hard to be sure.

[doerlidoe]

Awesome footage !

[jandean61]

was hit by our own bombs ?

[Paganfuckingsexgod]

Poor bastards.

[luisrock2008]

Brave Pilots

[TheDiegoMTD]

Poor man : |

[gnark1ll1us]

Is it known what happened?

To me it looks like he was hit by a bomb from a plane above.

[JetMechMA]

@gnark1ll1us I thought I read that same thing somehwere else. The narration of this film footage, after all, was probably war time propaganda. ...or the wing spar might have simply broken off. I think I remember reading somewhere that more aircraft were lost in the war due to accidents than were shot down.

[gnark1ll1us]

@JetMechMA It looks like it doesnt it? The bombs you see falling are not from the plane that goes down, it seems.

Like you say, they were unlikely to admit that in wartime propagnda like this.

[shananagans5]

@gnark1ll1us I don't think it is known for sure. My understanding is the official story was enemy flack but it was likely an accident & one of our own bombs hit it. Take that with a grain of salt though. I am far from an expert, just repeating what I have heard from sources that may or may not be accurate. Personally, It sure looks like a bomb from above hit it & that's what I think happened.

[DJSbros]

Its sad that there's such a huge possibility that some or even all the crew men didn't get out because it must of gone into a nose dive spin which would put a lot of G's on their bodies.

[Zionutsy]

@DJSbros

Why can't we just get a long :-(

[DJSbros]

@Zionutsy What are you talking about?

[Zionutsy]

@DJSbros

an end to war and militarism dude. Let's make love and not war, kaayyyy?

[DJSbros]

@Zionutsy I do it every day for a career

[Zionutsy]

@DJSbros

Wot! Make love to strange men on Youtube!

[DJSbros]

@Zionutsy I'm done lol i didn't think you meant it like that

[Zionutsy]

@DJSbros

You right. I'm just foolin around bored out of my mind but we all need to get on especially for the sake of the oppressed.

[DJSbros]

@Zionutsy true

[ME210FLYER]

This has been discussed on various aircraft forums and the opinion is that the port wing was hit by an Anti Aircraft shell. The bombs you see dropping are from another aircraft and fall past the B24 at some distance. The stricken B24 then jettisons or drops its own bombs. There must be a record of its fate somewhere in US files

[Roberto26666]

Hello. I'm from Poland. Watching all this moving and touching movies with bomber guys I would like to thank all brave and awesome Sons of American Soil who came here, to Europe, as volunteers and fought with nazi war machine during II World War. They never lost their courage and bravery despite They were fighting for others nations freedom. We will never forget Your sacrifice. Thank You for Your struggle. Nowadays I live as equal man, not untermensch. This is Your merit. Salute and hats off.

[HuettleTV]

@Roberto26666 I'm from germany, I think the same like you.

All this brave men died to free your country, my country and all other country the f...in nazis conquered.

I wish something like that never happens again. Nowhere.

[Roberto26666]

@HuettleTV It's nice there still are young people from different countries interested in history and who appreciate those great people's sacrifice. We owe them very, very much. Thanks for Your response :) Gruss aus Oberschlesien :)

[MrWilhelm76]

@Roberto26666 you also are thankful for 50 year soviet occupation and all the fun russians had with your country? why they didnt help you in warsaw rebellion? who also invaded you in 39 ? russia invaded countries before germany did,like estonia,etc no one cared....uk and russia invaded persia..no one cared..bla bla go to hell

[Roberto26666]

@MrWilhelm76 Hey, Friend, I thing Your speech is big misunderstanding. USSR policy is separated problem, and it was not better than nazi politics. I'm not thankful soviets for their occupation, but years of communism in Poland are very overestimated in a bad way. I understand You can hate those people because they dropped bombes on civilians, but that was total war started by nazis (notice: nazis, not Germans). I salute to those brave men who came here as volunteers.

[Roberto26666]

@Roberto26666 And they fought for other countries' freedom as volunteers. They didn't have to do it. They just could change channel on TV sitting in their houses somwhere in Texas for example and forget about it. But they felt duty for those nations invaded by guys from hell. It is very american at all. Althought I'm from Silesia, German teritory from past, and my Grandma was German, I think it is very difficult to say something good about nazis at all.

[olseneudezet1]

@MrWilhelm76 Believe me, noone in Poland is grateful for Soviets "liberating" Eastern Europe, I'm Polish aswell. Soviet Union is equal with Nazi Germany in our perception. Roberto adressed his words to American (and British aswell) pilots only and they helped (at least tried to help) us in the Warsaw Uprising, which was very dangerous thing to do, flying from UK or Italy to the Polish soil.

[nexusdawn]

@olseneudezet1 What makes you think the U.S. or the U.K. were any better? If you'd knew your own history, you'd know the U.S. and U.K. broke all their promises to the Polish people, and sold you out to russian without a fight or even a hesitation. You were just another gambling chip in their hands. So I'm not too sure what some of you guys are getting all pro american and patriotic about, when they screwed you over hard, and left you to the soviets.

[LucasBenge]

@Roberto26666 you might want to thank the numerous countries like France, Canada, and more. they were there first and helped out a lot aswell.

[Roberto26666]

@LucasBenge Absolutely. I really appreciate sacrifice of all allied nations. But this movie is devoted to B-24 Liberator and it very american machine :)

[nexusdawn]

@Roberto26666 Actually it was the U.S.S.R. that turned you from untermensch to comrades waiting in a bread line, few decades later, Solidarity rocked the boat a little, the berlin wall fell, and well, here you are. Not sure why you're thanking the lazy sons of america that did nothing but lean on the work of their father's, and that actually SOLD YOU OUT together with the U:K: to the U.S.S.R. (Historic fact) Know your history a little better man, I don't have all day.

[Roberto26666]

@nexusdawn It is one big bullshit, friend. You're right that USA didn't care about East Europe in the end of WWII but Roosevelt had another war theater - Pacific and he wanted to finish struggle in Europe ASAP. He also didn't understand Eastern Europe and USSR treason. But this is not reason to underrate bravery and courage of american soldiers. They wasn't aware of great historical policy. They fought for better world and freedom for european nations.

[nexusdawn]

@Roberto26666 Thanks for your interesting input on that. Yes I agree, total failure by roosevelt to understand the soviets. But you're mistaken, I didn't underrate the american soldiers of that war in anyway. I am anti-war, and honestly I think most soldiers were rather naive regarding the true reasons they were fighting (make the rich richer, the powerful, more powerful), but I'm sure their reasons were mostly noble, and I would not dare take away from their courage, nor the common soviet troop

[nexusdawn]

@Roberto26666 p.s. the only thing I did underrate where the newer generations of americans, that didn't fight in ww2, especially those trying to reap and mooch glory from the sacrifices of others that did. When in large part, they themselves are a bunch of brats that don't want to dirty their hands, had everything given to them, and the biggest sacrifice in their lives was having to endure a soy latte at starbucks. They don't make em' like they used to.

[Roberto26666]

@nexusdawn And one more thing - communism in Poland wasn't so bad as Western shitty propaganda describes it. I've been living during this time and my parents also. My fatfer as miner was given free flat and nobody was unemployed then. Today, after great victory of Solidarity we have to emigrate from our country and average salary is 400USD. We only stood in line after bread when heroes from Solidarity were on the strike and nobody did work. I would like to be born those times.

[Roberto26666]

@nexusdawn Also thanks for conversation. It is always good to know that despite WWII was such long time ago, there are still people interested in it, having their own opinions. Well soldiers are always tools in hands of rich men. It is how world goes on. Then I think the best thing we can do is keeping in our memory great achievements of those great fighting people.

[EddieHfromBottom]

This is the footage of the B24 being hit by bombs from an aircraft releasing it's weapons from above. You can even see the stick of bombs as they drop through the aircraft. They were clearly not armed yet or the explosion would have been immense. Must have been a rookie crew. They knew that they had to keep formation whilst on their bomb runs or face exactly that risk.

[181stTIE]

@EddieHfromBottom 'Dumb iron bombs' were self arming devices with a spinning propeller assembly in the tail fin, which only became live after a certain number of revolutions. A similar principle was used in WW1 German torpedoes, where a propeller attached to the contact pin wound clear after travelling a certain distance, ensuring that the weapon was not live in the tube.

[Dovenpeis]

That is called friendly fire.

[Ca1861]

I wonder if any of those guys got out....

[mattmatt115]

@Ca1861 I imagine it would not take long for escape to be physically impossible

Probably a matter of seconds before its spinning uncontrollably and breaking into more pieces... I also imagine it would be tough to wrestle your way to the door against centrifugal force

[matrix49A]

@mattmatt115 Notice the prop on the wing it was folding right into the left hand seat the guy most likely got it in the head with the prop.

[mattmatt115]

@matrix49A Yeah i just noticed it this time. Ouch!

I wouldnt want to be parachuting into the village i just carpet bombed though.. I'll go down in me flaming metal bird, thanks

[Eball06]

@mattmatt115 The way the plane was hit, escape is impossible. It went down immediately. No seconds to escape; except to scream in horror until lights out.

[McPruden]

So many deaths from stupidity...

[TheGodParticle]

Ive seen this before, this has been edited, the version i watched clearly shows a bomb from above hitting the wing. i wonder if any of the crew manages to escape.

[Cha0sSt0rm]

Bomb. Clear from the way the wing lifted.

[0341MarineInfantry]

@Cha0sSt0rm The wing lifting is a result of the lift generated by the wing itself. No wing failures have the wing go down. You are correct though, bomb.

[Cha0sSt0rm]

@0341MarineInfantry That is correct, damn my brain for not realising this when I posted.. its not like im doing a physics degree or anything.

[SittingMooseShaman]

...a bomo from above sheared off the wing...However the War Dept. then, could absolutely NOT reveal this to the audiences who viewed these heavily-edited film-releases...they used it(the footage) in a way that would elicit shock and anger from the audiences -few questioned War Dept(govt) films in those days: There was a war to win.

[madrabidfireman]

Everyone who sez its a bomb---- Your right! Everyone who sez its not----Your WRONG!!!!!!!.

[RustyRazor2010]

It was the result of flying out of formation. They were hit from above by bombs being dropped from another plane. This clip if often erroneously placed with European footage of bombing runs. It happened in the Pacific.

[HappyJack01]

@RustyRazor2010 Yes, I had always thought that film was from one of the Polesti raids.

[RustyRazor2010]

@HappyJack01 - If you go to the Pacific Wrecks 1995 -2012 site and look up - B-24M-15-CO "Brief - Serial Number 44-42058 - you will find more info about it. Sadly, all but one crew member perished as a result of the crash from what I understand.

[mashj50]

no flack in previous footage and the damage seems to appear on the top surface of the root of the wing , There's a stick of bombs going past very close to this aircraft. The logical conclusion would be an egg from above plowing straight through the wing root. Not good but shit happens in war. Don't tell me it's flack no way there is zero flack in the rest of the footage it's a nice clear day with no opposition , notice the voice over doesn't mention flack just "been hit" they knew what happened.

[PfhUkJiu101]

Why did they show that? Not necessarily good propaganda.

[bongotoo1]

This was a bomb hit from the plane above.

[ILoveMyTail]

@bongotoo1 erm, no. it's flak.

[sinCwa]

0:52



[freewave32]

It appears a bomb dropped from a plane above caused this. You can see bombs falling either side of the doomed plane. Similar accidents were recorded in WWII.

[behindtheline40]

@freewave32 IT IS WWII

[ILoveMyTail]

@freewave32 it appears from where? you seeing some other pics of this happening? doesn't mean it's the same thing. you can't see any bomb falling on the wing.