Staged interception by JG 53 Bf 109 Es of a French Bloch MB.200 near Saarbrücken in 1939

?At 0:07 Luftwaffe ace and Condor Legion veteran Werner Mölders can be seen climbing into his aircraft. At the outbreak of World War II on September 1st 1939, Mölders' Staffel of JG 53 was stationed in the west protecting Germany's border in the Mosel–Saar–Pfalz region. The "Pik As" or "Ace of Spades" squadron markings are prominent in the footage.

On September 8th, Mölders' fighter suffered an engine failure and he crash-landed, flipping the aircraft over and injuring his back. This injury kept him out of combat for several days. He returned to flying eleven days later and the following day, between Contz and Sierck, at the apex of the Dreiländereck over the three borders area, he shot down a French Curtiss P-36. This earned him the Eisernes Kreuz zweiter Klasse.

On September 26th 1939, JG 53 was ordered to form its III. Gruppe. Mölders relinquished command of 1./JG 53 to Oberleutnant Hans-Karl Mayer and organized the formation of III./JG 53 at Wiesbaden-Erbenheim Airfield; within two weeks, Gruppenkommandeur Mölders reported that the Gruppe was conditionally operational with 40 pilots and 48 aircraft.

On December 22nd, Mölders, leading four Bf 109s from III./JG 53, engaged three Hawker Hurricanes over the Saar River, between Metz and Thionville, that were trying to intercept an unidentified aircraft.Mölders and Hans von Hahn shot down two Hurricanes flown by Sergeants R.M. Perry and J. Winn, becoming the first German fighter pilots to shoot down a Hawker Hurricane. Mölders shot down another Hurricane on April 2nd forcing Flight Lieutenant C.D. "Pussy" Palmer of No. 1 Squadron RAF to bail out, and on April 20th he destroyed a French Curtiss P-36 east of Saarbrücken.

Following this participation in the "Phoney War", he also took part in the Battle of France of May to June 1940 and the Battle of Britain from July 1940 onwards. With his tally standing at 68 victories, Mölders and his unit, Jagdgeschwader 51, transferred to the Eastern Front in June 1941 for the opening of Operation Barbarossa. His tally had risen to 101 victories by July 1941.

Prevented from flying further combat missions for propaganda reasons, at the age of 28 Mölders was appointed Inspector of Fighters. While inspecting the Luftwaffe units in the Crimea he received orders to return to Berlin to attend the state funeral of Ernst Udet, a Luftwaffe general and World War I flying ace. The aircraft in which Mölders was traveling as a passenger to Berlin experienced an engine failure and attempted an emergency landing. It crashed at Breslau, killing Mölders and two others on November 22nd 1941.

The French Bloch MB.200 featured in the footage does not appear to have any individual markings. The type had been acquired by Czechoslovakia with examples also built under license. Through German occupation of the latter nation, the bomber was already in service with the Luftwaffe. One wonders if it was not in fact a captured French aircraft but a Czechoslovak example that had been painted to appear as such.