How One Man Beat Germany's Best Pilot, Twice!

00:00 Hans-Joachim Marseille escorts a group of Stuka dive bombers
01:38 Marseille's BF-109 vs Hawker Hurricanes
02:23 Scissor manoeuvre dogfight
03:24 Marseille is hit
05:00 James Denis. Second encounter
05:50 Denis senses Marseille's overconfidence
06:15 Hurricane gives chase
06:48 Epic dogfight BF-109 vs Hurricane
07:40 Marseille attempts to outsmart his enemy
08:15 Critical hit
09:43 Total count
Hans Joachim Marseille was doubtless an incredibly talented pilot. He was and is considered by many to be one of, if not the best pilot in the history of aviation. While in North Africa, Marseille unexpectedly dives into an attack against a squadron of enemy Hawker Hurricanes.His daredevil lone assault surprises his own team. Despite missing his first barrage of shots, he remains undeterred, drawing fire from three enemy planes. He masterfully dodges their attack, leaving them behind except for one persistent adversary. Locked in a high-speed dogfight, both pilots try to outmaneuver each other. A miscalculation exposes Marseille to the enemy's fire, causing severe damage to his plane. Although shocked to be alive, he's aware of his critical situation as his damaged plane loses power and the enemy pilot, James Denis, prepares for another attack. In a first-ever concession, Marseille flees, diving towards the safety of his airfield. Denis, rather than sealing the kill, opts to assist his embattled squadron, leaving a wounded Marseille to make a desperate escape. But this isn't the last time the pair meet. What would happen on the second engagement?

Photo Credits:
”Hans-Joachim Marseille” - image provided by Bundesarchiv (Bild 146-2006-0122)
”Nordafrika, Marseille, Abschuss Hurricane” - image provided by Bundesarchiv (Bild 101I-440-1313-09)
”Nordafrika, Marseille, Abschuss Hurricane” - image provided by Bundesarchiv (Bild 101I-440-1313-03)
”Flugzeug Messerschmitt Me 109”- image provided by Bundesarchiv (Bild 101I-662-6659-37)

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[Paladin]

And unlike Marseille, Denis lived to the ripe old age of 97. Note, he was 35 when he fought these engagements - an old man by fighter pilot standards.

[Vengeful_Octopus]

I love it when two enemies fight so well that at the end of the battle they’re just like “Bravo, mate. Well done.”

[LancelotChan]

It's especially stunning when you can see Marseille's rendition was so extremely close to the real life photo! Bravo to Denis too!

[CC-]

Its kinda sad that people like Denis don't get enough recognition for triumphs like these. Thank you for bringing them into light with such spectacular way

[WoobooRidesAgain]

Fun fact: When Marseille died attempting to leave his stricken Bf-109 over Sidi Abd el-Rahman in 1942, Italian engineers took it upon themselves to build a pyramid where he fell. It was neglected and eroded by 1989, when Marseille's old JG 27 comrades petitioned the Egyptian government to restore it. They did, and the pyramid is still there at time of writing.

[AppleHistoryGuy]

I would love it if Yarnhub did a video on the Monchy 9 of Newfoundland. 9 men of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment positioned at Monchy-le-Preux during the Battle of Arras in 1917 hid behind shrubbery and defended the town from a German force anywhere from 200 - 300 men strong for 11 hours to prevent a German break through. I think it is a very cool and very underrated battle that sounds like the plot of a movie.

[mandalortemaan]

I just love the cheeky "Yeah, it's me again." Your videos seem to interact with the audience even more. Not only has your animation grew significantly, but so too has your writing.

[gillesbeaumont]

For those who want to know more about James Denis and the Free French EFC-1, Denis and his squadron were the first free Frenchmen to fight within the RAF but with the designation Forces Françaises Libres (FFL), it was a specifically French unit commissioned in March 1941 and disbanded in September 1941, which fought in the Battle of Tobruk and the Battle of Crête among Squadrons 73 and 33 of the RAF. James Denis, licensed Air Force pilot since 1929 but dismissed for health reasons since 1936, was a radio instructor during the Battle of France and therefore did not fight. He escaped to England just before the Armistice and joined De Gaulle who formed the No. 1 French Fighter Escadrille in December 1940 with the support of Churchill. Denis was its sole commander and main ace with 6 victories (not 21) +4 probable, including the two dogfighters against Marseille) only during the battle of Tobruk, and several of its members also became aces ( Albert Littolf and Noel Castelain were among the first to join the Normandie-Niemen squadron in 1942 and died in action in Russia on July 16, 1943). At its dissolution in September 1941, the squadron had 165 war missions, 26 aerial combats, 17 victories for 2 pilots killed or missing out of the 11 pilots who composed it, the EFC-1 and 9 of its pilots became Companions of the Liberation, and all of them have lived incredible stories.

[triadwarfare]

James Denis does not currently have a Wikipedia article under his name in English, but he has in French. I think we need to make an article about him. While he isn't as "successful" as Marseille, at least he gets to see the end of the war and live the rest of his life until his death in 2001

[williamcostigan]

The Free French Forces have always been underappreciated so its fairly on brand that despite besting Marseilles twice, Denis story is relatively unknown.

[MaliqIbrahim-]

Crazy how men can almost kill each other but always respecting the fair enemies. Another great video from Yarnhub and I got to see it early! (Yes I'm still waiting for more ground vehicle videos, can't wait!)

[panzer-fwsc]

Finnaly an animation talking of a frenchman ! This was just amazing, the battles are incredible, we need more of thoses!

[dong]

This has to be one of my favorite dogfight videos you all have made, it seriously blows my mind how good you guys make these air battles. Great video!

[Rolandbadger]

One of your best videos yet, my friends! Dramatic and heroic, yet tinged with a flavor of sadness because we know Marseille's fate.

[SuperNova-nrtb]

Merssails has so many amazing storys that you could make an entire 80 or 90 min movie just on him and his wacky, weird, amazing, and nail biting adventures.

[jlvb]

So Denis a French man with a German name is fighting Marseille a German with a French name. That's interesting.

[thehappyhopper]

there's a kind of beauty to ww2 style dogfights, every fight looks like something straight out of an action film

[michakadubowski]

Breaking the fourth wall in 0:13 is simply a masterpiece, in fact, such a behavior could be expected only from Hans Joachim Marseille, which is why it turned out brilliantly. I hope that this German ace will appear in more than one video in the future.

[brokenbridge]

I'm actually impressed that I never heard of this man named Denis. I was thinking that no one ever bested Marseilles in the air. Not once. More should be known about this man. Not less.

[jasonknoll]

The animation is actually unbelievable now. Can't believe y'all started with 2D videos... Thank you Yarnhub for teaching us even more interesting stories about our favorite events in history!