MORE Shocking Friendly Fire Incidents that Changed the Face of WW2 Armies [Part 2]

With between 2 and 20% of casualties being caused by friendly fire, we here at The Front thought it best to shed some light on this overshadowed topic, showing you some more of the worst instances of friendly fire in the Second World War.

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Chapters

0:00 Introduction
0:59 Shooting Down of Italo Balbo
1:36 Disguised German Freighter sunk by U-boat
2:25 The RAF Shooting at British Civilians
3:07 Italian Ship Sunk by Italian Submarine
3:43 Captured British Ship Sunk by U-Boat
4:27 Allied Bombs Falling on American Soldiers
5:18 RAF Sinking Soviet Submarine
6:03 Japanese Hell Ships
6:50 German Anti-Air Guns Shooting at the Luftwaffe
7:30 Allied POWs attacked by Allied Aircraft
9:28 U-Boat Captain Shot by German Guard
10:14 Conclusion

[indianajones]

I know you’re mainly WW2 and Vietnam War stuff, but there’s a large untapped WW1 potential for your channel

[vietcombatvet]

We were hit by our own artillery on our first day in Cambodia with a barrage of about 175 rounds killing and wounding many . My platoon took refuge in a NVA bunker we had recently cleared out, I watched through a small aperture while they rained down on us. (C/3/22 25th Inf. Division). Several stories about why it happened but no clear explanation; pissed my men off considerably..Our forward observer tried desperately to stop it but couldn't get anyone to listen to him '

[MrStag-gyyn]

Would love to see more videos on the myths of WW2 like the M8 greyhound that killed a King Tiger and such

[christianv]

This ozzy narrator's German and Italian pronunciation is always on fleek

[xkgwgfc]

Apparently the Germans had a joke going around the time of Operation Cobra which went along the lines of:
"When the planes are British we duck.
When the planes are ours they duck.
When the planes are American everybody ducks."

[vaporhtrail]

My grandfather who served was a bomber pilot in europe. He said in his diary one day his bomber was struck by flak and had only one of it's two engines going. It barely limping along fast enough to stay in the air. Thankfully it wasnt long before heading back across to allied lines. However, his squadron had reported the bomber shot down and with the sun starting to set. The airfield flak gunners took him for an enemy. They peppered his plane with hellish fire before it touched down on the ground. Nearly having killed them. When he got out of the plane he took off his hat and grabbed a empty canister and literally started beating the gunners who had opened up on him XD Nearly got himself court-martialed

[AdmiralWillisLee]

Can you do a mini series or very long video on the hunt for the Bismarck?

[hansvonmannschaft]

Some of the incidents in both videos were clearly the result of, as stated, miscommunication or poor intel. But at the same time some were the fruit of sheer stupidity, period.

[breckshd]

I find it good that included the Cap Arcona Incident or Cap Arcona Catastrophe as it is often overlooked even though the results were devastating

[motorsphere]

Can you do an episode on the sasr in Vietnam?

[betsydierlam]

What the USS Seawolf? It was a submarine in the pacific that was sunk by an American destroyer in the Philippines in 1944. She was on her 15th patrol.

[johnryder]

The first time either Hurricanes or Spitfires met in combat was on each other, on September 6th, when Sailor Malans flight of Spitfires were scrambled and met their support, 56 squadrons Hurricanes, but then again, neither side had even seen a German plane up close!

[darryl]

Love your videos, keep up the good work!

[JeanLucCaptain]

The Laconia incident was a series of events surrounding the sinking of a British troopship in the Atlantic Ocean on 12 September 1942, during World War II, and a subsequent aerial attack on German and Italian submarines involved in rescue attempts. RMS Laconia, carrying 2, 732 crew, passengers, soldiers and prisoners of war, was torpedoed and sunk by U-156, a German U-boat, off the West African coast. Operating partly under the dictates of the old prize rules, the U-boat commander, Korvettenkapitän Werner Hartenstein, immediately commenced rescue operations. U-156 broadcast their position on open radio channels to all Allied powers nearby and were joined by the crews of several other U-boats in the vicinity.

After surfacing and picking up survivors, who were accommodated on the foredeck, U-156 headed on the surface under Red Cross banners to rendezvous with Vichy French ships and transfer the survivors. En route, the U-boat was spotted by a B-24 Liberator bomber of the US Army Air Forces. The aircrew, having reported the U-boat's location, intentions and the presence of survivors, were then ordered to attack the sub. The B-24 killed dozens of Laconia's survivors with bombs and strafing attacks, forcing U-156 to cast their remaining survivors into the sea and crash-dive to avoid being destroyed.

Rescue operations were continued by other vessels. Another U-boat, U-506, was also attacked by US aircraft and forced to dive. A total of 1, 113 survivors were rescued; however, 1, 619 were killed – mostly Italian POWs. The event changed the general attitude of Germany's naval personnel towards rescuing stranded Allied seamen. The commanders of the Kriegsmarine were quickly issued the Laconia Order by Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz, which specifically forbade any such attempt and ushered in unrestricted submarine warfare for the remainder of the war.

The B-24 pilots mistakenly reported they had sunk U-156, and were awarded medals for bravery. Neither the US pilots nor their commander were punished or investigated, and the matter was quietly forgotten by the US military. During the later Nuremberg trials, a prosecutor attempted to cite the Laconia Order as proof of war crimes by Dönitz and his submariners. The ploy backfired and caused much embarrassment to the United States after the incident's full report had emerged.

[oquendo]

Good thing I found you about a month ago. watched all videos like I was watching Netflix

[rejecteddriftwood]

Yes, do a friendly fire video on Vietnam and other conflicts!

[davidsincere]

I'd like to see more those Friendly fire videos! Don't care what war there from!

[robertharper]

How about a video on the German attack on the port of Bari that unleashed mustard gas that the allies had brought over??

[AVD]

Hell yes. Its like Christmas morning when you upload

[comradecomrade]

Any possibility of a video on the Laconia Incident?