Was This Lethal Spitfire Ace Killed by His Own Tactics?

This is the story of Paterson "Pat" Hughes - a famous RAF Spitfire ace during the Battle of Britain in World War II. In this video, we follow his life, death, and his mysterious final mission. This was made using the World War II flight simulator War Thunder. Hope you enjoy! Please like, comment, and subscribe. #WW2 #WWIIHistory #WarThunder

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[roverMds]

Quote "So how many victories did the Spitfire get? By adding the uncounted scores, the RAF and Commonwealth Spitfires scored 5, 988 kills. This puts the aircraft just ahead of the Mustang on 5599"
RAF Hawker hurricane scored 4009 kills compared to the p47's 3752.
The Hurricanes alone downed more Luftwaffe aircraft in the 1st 2 years of the war than any other RAF plane

[robert-trading-as-Bob]

A common problem experienced by over-worked pilots suffering from fatigue is slow reactions.
While Hughes was used to taking down faster aircraft from close range, dealing with a slower aircraft at close range WITH SLOW REACTIONS likely led to a collision, either from debris, or direct wing to wing contact, severing Hughes' wing.

The high g-forces of an impact, or the sudden yaw from his severed wing, could have impacted his ability to remain fully conscious, thus preventing him from deploying his 'chute after he managed to bale out.

I would have liked to see the autopsy report or doctors report of his injuries to get a better understanding of why he failed to deploy his 'chute.
Sometimes pilots baling out were struck by the upright tail, which led to instant death or unconsciousness, leading to an inability to deploy their parachute.
If the chute was partially unfurled, he might have suffered a 'Roman Candle', hitting the ground hard enough to kill him.
The reports of a collision from the civilian witnesses should not be so easily discounted.
By September 1940, those civilians would have seen numerous dogfights in the air above them, giving them a degree of expertise a normal civilian would not have had.
Then again, the alleged collision might easily have been between two other aircraft.

[RedcoatsReturn]

An incredible story 😲 Excellently told with great cinemaphotograhy 😊👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏😉👍👍 May this Australian fearless brilliant young pilot rest in peace 😔🇦🇺🇬🇧

[ThetrueJester]

Some excellent flying and even better story telling. Stay awesome TJ and keep up the great work!

[jameswebb]

He and Bob Doe accounted for half of the squadrons victories .

[RemusKingOfRome]

303s were short range guns, 8 x 303s is like a shot gun. Firing at short range was very dangerous. Bomber gunners can easily nail close fighters.

Fairy Battle was a death trap.

[jimcunningham]

The bent propeller blades bent back in mid air is absolutely ridiculous.
Props only get bend by contact with the ground

[aerogray]

An interesting vid....but a couple of pointers, if I may. The Bristol Blenheim is pronounced "Blennim". Adolph is NOT "Ay-dolf" but "Add-olf" and we never use KP/h in aviation. Knots or MPH (which is almost the same).

[raymondyee]

He should have been featured in the 1969 "Battle of Britain" movie.

[sharzadgabbai]

Addendum I’ve shot, with peep sights a 1917!Remington in .303
Into the black at 1000 yards. This is close to the maximum effective range

[Use-or-Lose]

Using only 303. calibre ammo, it’s a wonder the RAF managed to shoot anything down.

[janmale]

Good one TJ one of your best so far, that Spitfire sure was a gracious bird! Tragic story actually, Pat sure was one gifted flyer, one can only wonder what he could have tallied had the war lasted longer for him, and my heart goes out for his yough wife being bereaved so soon after them getting married, war is a cruel business!

[TheFunkhouser]

Bud was using 12.7mm 50cal while Pat was firing .303 British or 7.7×56mmR !! A huge difference Gosh
Also.. If the Nazis kept bombing the air-fields it would've tuned out bad for the Allies, thankfully Goering wasn't that good.

[robertbruce]

Thank you for a thorough, detailed account of a Battle of Britain pilot who well deserved his story to be told. So tragic that he didn't get some rest & medical attention when he needed it. The story of the mascot dog is cute but ended sadly. One footnote: The R.A.F. Fighter Command soon abandoned the peacetime 3 plane Vic formation for the Finger Four formation used by the Germans.. Very inspiring that they found the wreckage of Pat Hughes Spitfire & are proceeding with restoration, there have been some miraculous restorations of Spitfires & other WW2 aircraft of the recent years.

[NationalistPop]

Close range tactics were used by the Aces.
Erich Hartmann was quoted to have said "get as close to your enemy as possible and fire."

[petercousins]

one pilot seemed to be aware of 303's ineffective stopping power & realighned his guns to converge closer giving him better stopping power with all bullets converging in smaller circle.

[timstoker]

Great story-telling! I hadn't heard this story before so THANK YOU for the education TJ3. Love the way you have animated, will be watching more of your work!
👍👍👍👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇺🇦

[chrissofpv]

My dad was in "234" from Jan 1940 to 1945.
He was an "Aircraftsman" looking after AZ-K which a copy of is in the Tangmere Museum.
He spoke of his pilots who flew AZ-K and "knew" in saluting terms..Bob Doe and Pat Hughes, ..however his favourite pilots(maybe he did speak with Pat Hughes)🤔 were Commonwealth pilots as they were friendly, chatty, and easy to get on with.
Apparently quite a few of the British pilots were snobby and condescending 🤗.
My dad always got upset when he spoke about AZ- K, s pilots who he strapped in, never to return.

[eze]

Another theory of Pat Hughes death. You stated he was found without his parachute. Some pilots were known to hit their parachute harness release mechanism too early/by error/out of sequence of normal operations after landing, & effectively jump to their deaths. This was an unintentional consequence of rushing to get out of their aircraft (sometimes in flames), combat stress & fatigue.
An RAF pilot whose book I read about the Battle of Britain stated this, he'd done the same, but managed to refasten his chute straps/locking mechanism before he then jumped.

[MichaelCampin]

Hurricanes could survive more damage than the early Spitfires as they were more robust and more plentiful during the Battle