"Luftwaffe Day" Flying Heritage Collection, Everett WA |
If you look up "World War II aces" in Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_War_II_flying_aces) you will find something extraordinary. The first several pages of the list of Aces of World War II is made up entirely of Luftwaffe pilots.
Last summer the Flying Heritage Collection in Everett, WA featured a "Luftwaffe Day" which I attended with my son (see http://americanconservativeinlondon.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/flying-heritage-collection.html).
Erich "Bubi" Hartmann, 1922 - 1993 Ace of Aces |
Bubi even shot down five American P-51s while based in Romania (see...http://americanconservativeinlondon.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/tommy-hitchcock-and-p-51-mustang.html). He was surrendered to American forces in Czechoslovakia at the end of the war and was turned over to the Soviets who imprisoned him on trumped up war crimes for over ten years. Hartmann was, of course, an extremely fortunate fellow who managed to survive the war and worked for the West German Bundeswehr air arm.
Focke Wolfe Flying Heritage Collection, Everett, WA |
Many Germans were excellent pilots; they were not, however, supermen. Hardly.
Some Luftwaffe pilots gained valuable combat experience flying in the Condor Legion during the Spanish civil war. German aircraft outclassed all of their opponents, save the RAF, for the first three years of the war. Luftwaffe aircraft were faster than the planes of the Red Air Force, giving them a significant advantage in air to air combat on the Eastern front.
Storch (type of plane used to rescue Mussolini in 1943) Flying Heritage Collection, Everett, WA |
Many Japanese pilots also outscored all Allied pilots. The Japanese were just as desperate as their Germans allies though their planes were, in general, not as good as those of the Luftwaffe.
Ivan Kozhedub (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Kozhedub) from the Ukraine was the most successful Allied ace of World War II with 64 credited kills. He survived the war and even shot down two American P-51s during the Korean war.
Major Richard Bong (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Bong) of the USAAF was the highest rated American ace of the war scoring at least 40 - enemy kills. He was killed while working for Lockheed as a test pilot on August 8, 1945 -- the same day that the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki.
Spitfire, RAF Museum Hendon |
A handful of Luftwaffe aces, such as Erich Rudorffer and Walter Schuck, are still alive today (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Rudorffer, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Schuck). Their courage is undeniable though they fought for a morally tainted cause.
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