Ernst Udet : the fall of an eagle

[proton45]

Its not really "on topic", but has anyone seen the movie "The Great Waldo Pepper"? Bo Brundin plays a disillusioned WW1 flying Ace (German) turned stunt pilot by the name of "Ernst Kessler". The character of Kessler (seems to me) is based on Udet... The way Brundin playes the charecter of Kessler has always "tainted" the way I imagined Udet must have been near the end.

A video link to a clip from the movie showing Brundin & some great flying (ya, I know Redford is in the movie)....YouTube - DOGFIGHT WITHOUT AMMO - THE GREAT WALDO PEPPER 1975

And here is the REAL Udet doing some stunt flying...YouTube - Ernst Udet's amazing landing

[Maestro]

I think I read somewhere that Kessler was based on Udet. Now, was it real or not, I don't know.

[Lucky13]

Here's a question.... Would Udet have made a better Luftwaffe Chief?

[stona]

Originally Posted by Lucky13

Here's a question.... Would Udet have made a better Luftwaffe Chief?

Yes, anywhere but nazi Germany. The senior positions were, for the most part, held by men who were part of Hitler's old "gang", people to whom Hitler was always indulgentl. Who else would choose Hess as a deputy, certainly no threat I suppose. Speer was often frustrated at Hitler's unwillingness to move against the Gauleiters most of whom were old comrades. Himmler made barely veiled threats to the same group who immediately complained to Hitler using their old party apparatus (Boormann). It was who you knew, where you were during the Munich putsch, what you had done in the early days of the party,definitely not a meritocracy!

[Guns'n'Props]

Originally Posted by Lucky13

Here's a question.... Would Udet have made a better Luftwaffe Chief?

I could be wrong but I have the impression that Udet was not all that comfortable "flying an office either", but at least he was a much more realistic person and was aware of his limitations. He was probably easier to work with so in sum I would say YES.

Back to Goering - let us say he rose much further than his level of competence. Also the death of Gunther Rall brought me back to the LW Fighter Pilot's Revolt of '45. I can't even imagine how one could call men like Trautloft, Graf, Priller, Lutzow et al a bunch of cowards and blame them for the reversals of the war
when they had done an incredible amount of fighting and were some of the highest decorated men in the regime. Again Udet would probably have been much more understanding.

[BikerBabe]

Originally Posted by Guns'n'Props

I could be wrong but I have the impression that Udet was not all that comfortable "flying an office either", but at least he was a much more realistic person and was aware of his limitations. He was probably easier to work with so in sum I would say YES.

Back to Goering - let us say he rose much further than his level of competence. Also the death of Gunther Rall brought me back to the LW Fighter Pilot's Revolt of '45. I can't even imagine how one could call men like Trautloft, Graf, Priller, Lutzow et al a bunch of cowards and blame them for the reversals of the war
when they had done an incredible amount of fighting and were some of the highest decorated men in the regime. Again Udet would probably have been much more understanding.

...which yet again as far as I understand it, were one of the more unfortunate personality traits that Hermann Göring displayed during WW2, i.e. blaming others for his own mistakes.
As far as I've understood, that was a personality trait that increased as Germany became increasingly pressed during the war.
The drugs ceratinly didn't do anything good for the man, except for keeping him painless when he needed it. And afterwards the drugs has just enhanced any weaknessed and/or twisted the person using them.

Quoted from the web:

"Wolfgang Paul in his "Hermann Goring. Hitler Paladin or Puppet" records that Goering first took morphine to counter wounds he received in the air in November 1915.
"The engagement occurred during an interception patrol with two fellow officers when attacking a large HP twin engined bomber.Goering attacked one of these lumbering bombers with his machine gun and forced it to go down.Attacked by six British fighters,his own aircraft took hits in the fuel tank and lost a wing.
He managed to land behind the German line,but had sustained a serious hip wound.
Metal splinters had to be removed from the deep gash, and without immediate medical attention he would have bled to death. Sixty bullet holes were discovered in his aircraft. He was in for a long stay in hospital".

When the Geschwader "Richthofen" was disbanded at Aschaffenburg November 1918 (the aircraft had been flown to Darmstadt and destroyed), Paul records that Goering "suffered greatly from the wound in his thigh,for which he had to take morphine to ease the pain"

Goering was further wounded in the failed putsch on November 9 1923 and by 13 November, his wound,high on the thigh was critical,it was infected, causing pus, fever and pain.
To alleviate Goering's suffering, the doctors authorised (- and by this time he was sheltering in Austria) two morphine injections a day which continued for a month.
Despite this, the pain did not diminish and while the continuing morphine injections were later to ease the pain in his groin and leg,he became addicted to the drug. (Something the Wehrmacht were to become aware of and resulted in a policy of morphine injections being discontinued after a short time, as Wolfgang Paul experienced himself in the Second World War Russian campaign).

In the spring of 1925, Goering fled to Sweden from Italy and arrived there with a large supply of morphine, but his intake had increased from two to six injections per day over the previous year.
It is recorded that there was an attempt by Goering to forsake morphine but the lack of painkillers led to him purchasing the much dearer morphine."