What Happened to the Luftwaffe After WWII? (Captured, Scrapped, and Destroyed)

Описание: What happened to the thousands of German aircraft left behind after World War Two ended?

In the final days of May 1945, the Luftwaffe collapsed almost overnight. Across Europe, advanced fighters, jet bombers, transport planes, and secret prototypes sat abandoned on airfields from Norway to Czechoslovakia. Some were intact. Others were damaged, unfinished, or stripped for parts. All of them became the focus of an urgent Allied race.

In this documentary-style episode, we explore what really happened to Luftwaffe aircraft after the war—from the secret Allied recovery missions that captured revolutionary jet technology, to the massive scrapping operations that erased most of Germany’s air power forever.

You’ll discover:

Why thousands of German planes were left where they landed

How the U.S., Britain, and the Soviet Union competed to seize jet aircraft

The role of Operation LUSTY and Operation Surgeon

Why most Luftwaffe planes were destroyed instead of preserved

How some aircraft flew again under foreign flags

Why so few original Luftwaffe aircraft survive today

This is the untold story of advanced technology, Cold War tension, and the quiet disappearance of one of history’s most powerful air forces.
⏱️ ACCURATE TIMESTAMPS (16:22)
00:00 – The silence after defeat
01:05 – The Luftwaffe collapses in May 1945
02:35 – Abandoned aircraft across Europe
03:55 – Experimental jets and secret projects discovered
05:10 – Allied grounding orders and control measures
06:20 – Operation LUSTY: America seizes German jets
07:55 – British Operation Surgeon and captured engineers
09:10 – Soviet trophy brigades and factory seizures
10:25 – Rising tensions and early Cold War rivalry
11:35 – The decision to destroy the remaining aircraft
12:50 – Scrapyards, recycling, and underwater wrecks
14:00 – Luftwaffe aircraft reused by other nations
15:10 – Why so few aircraft survive today
15:55 – Legacy of vanished air power & closing thoughts

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▶️ Watch next: What Happened to German U-Boats After World War Two

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