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Adolf Galland’s memoir was manufactured during the 1950s. His plot follows a similar style to books published after the Great War. The content is dubious and should be treated with caution. https://twitter.com/militaryhistori/status/1339117473258479616
Galland benefitted from the destruction of the Luftwaffe records in 1945. The Luftwaffe had a lot to hide including: medical experiments, use of Jewish slave labour and providing flak detachments to the camps etc. https://twitter.com/bloodphilip/status/1334656329475100677
There is considerable alternative evidence to build a story about Galland. Noting that not all Luftwaffe troops were impressed with his leadership.
Galland’s general narrative - knights in the clouds - regurgitated in multiple sources, such as docu-progs and interviews as in The World at War series. Guy Hamilton (interview circa 1970) claimed Galland refused to accept the Luftwaffe aces ever made the ‘Hitler-greeting’.
Nazis and Göring - refering to the memoir. A career steeped in Nazism and the regime’s propaganda celeb. The compromise: his deep-seated loyalty and appreciation of Göring, but desperate to be seen standing against the regime. He was never able to come to terms with his past.
Hunting and pilots: Nazi dogma from 1935, part of Göring’s policy to Germanise the hunt, and continue the process toward a middle class professional pursuit. All airmen and foresters were expected to live by the code and continued to do so after 1945. Note the Postwar fantasy.
Incidentally, anyone wishing to better understand the origins of ‘Horrido’ and the social history of the hunt from 1848 will find an essay here. More essays on hunting and the wars will be uploaded in the new year: https://www.academia.edu/43096984/Weidmanns_Heil_a_history_of_Social_Hunting_and_the_German_Middle_Class_1848_1914_
Stanford-Tuck meeting January 1942, Forrester p.313:
A Lw-major snapped, “You English are fools to have anything to do with the Poles, in the end they will betray you – and the Americans – into the hands of the Bolsheviks!” Galland did not interrupt the politics in the mess.
A Lw-major snapped, “You English are fools to have anything to do with the Poles, in the end they will betray you – and the Americans – into the hands of the Bolsheviks!” Galland did not interrupt the politics in the mess.
Holocaust perpetration - Jewish slave labour assigned to Luftwaffe production:
Letter to Göring from Himmler February 1944 - as general of fighters, Galland would know the production numbers. The letter not only mentions the SS involved, but was also specific about the camps.
Letter to Göring from Himmler February 1944 - as general of fighters, Galland would know the production numbers. The letter not only mentions the SS involved, but was also specific about the camps.
Holocaust awareness - date of his first hearing of genocide.
Gitta Sereny interview with Galland for her book on Speer discovered another truth. From March 1942 he knew what had been going on, which relates to other dates in his career…
Gitta Sereny interview with Galland for her book on Speer discovered another truth. From March 1942 he knew what had been going on, which relates to other dates in his career…
November 1941 - his memoirs are at odds with his movements and actions. This part of his story is told in full in my forthcoming book.
Abstract found here: https://www.philipwblood.com/
Abstract found here: https://www.philipwblood.com/
Luftwaffe cartoon reader: issued as a training document in 1944. The pamphlet reflected the hunting dogma. One cartoon has a very specific anti-Semitic caricature. The identification of allied bombing with Jewish big business was typical Nazi propaganda.
Steinhoff conspiracy, ‘The Final Hours: The Luftwaffe Plot Against Göring’, (2005), pp.73-76:
The ‘experts’ plotted to oust Göring and considered asking Heinrich Himmler to become their benefactor godfather. Revealed the political naïveté of the pilots even by 1945.
The ‘experts’ plotted to oust Göring and considered asking Heinrich Himmler to become their benefactor godfather. Revealed the political naïveté of the pilots even by 1945.
Postwar reconstruction: Galland’s requested to be referred to as Generalleutnant (not retired) in forewords during the 1960/70s. He wore his medals openly and lectured NATO forces about aerial combat. He was probably more at ease with former allied pilots and aces.
Galland’s legacy. During a talk (May 1994) RAF ace Johnnie Johnston referred to Galland as the ‘bluff and bluster’ Luftwaffe fighter experts. Former Lw pilots began challenging Galland’s opinions in the 1980s. The removal of Luftwaffe names from the Bundeswehr closes this story.
