On 10th April 1945, Me 262 pilot Leutnant Walter Hagenah took off with his wingman to intercept an American bomber formation. En route, the two jets were attacked by US fighters, with Hagenah’s wingman being shot down. After avoiding this attack, Hagenah was able to ambush the same P-51’s, reportedly using his R4M unguided rockets to shoot down two of the fighters, although only one is credited to him on this day. Hagenah then returned to base under the noses of another group of American fighters strafing the airfield.

According to US sources, there is little to no evidence that this event ever occurred. Similarly, Hagenah’s victories were not confirmed by JG 7 in the desperate last days of the war. As such, it is difficult to corroborate the event with such conflicting accounts. However, I have endeavoured to create this video as it is an interesting and rare aspect of the WWII air war.

My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=60384096
Patreon members: Ethan Esgro

Visuals: IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles https://il2sturmovik.com/

Sources:
Forsyth, Robert. Me 262 vs P-51 Mustang (Duel)
Forsyth, Robert. Jagdgeschwader 7 'Novotny' (Aviation Elite Units)
P-51 skins: https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/...
US and German records:    • The ME-262: How effective was it real...  

Music: 'Omega' by Scott Buckley – released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

#sotocinematics #history #il2 y