WWII Reinhard Heydrich secondment to the Luftwaffe
John Dewar
I am currently reading a book on the history of the SS and it mentions
that prior to Reinhard Heydrich becoming Reich Protector for Bohemia
and Moravia he had seconded himself to the Luftwaffe as a pilot. This
was at the start of the Russian Campaign in June 1941 and lasted for 6
weeks.
Can anyone tell me in what squadron and planes he served?
Thanks for any help in advance.
JD
Gordon
That is relatively easy. He flew no combat missions and served in no Luftwaffe
squadrons. This urban legend of "Jagdflieger Heydrich" is some sort of
Frankenstein that refuses to die. Luftwaffe Verband, a worldwide organization
of researchers and former Luftwaffe personnel, have had a running discussion on
the reports of Heydrich's 'service', nearly all of which can be distilled down
to a single Luftwaffe pilot's memoirs where he made the claim that Heydrich
flew combat missions in the Bf-109. Since no one else in that Staffel in that
Gruppe in that Geschwader seems to recall that the #4 man in Hitler's Germany
dropped in to fly combat with them, I think the chances are near zero that
Heydrich ever flew those missions as claimed. There are photographs of
Heydrich's personal aircraft, but it is not a Bf-109, it is a small transport.
Yes, he visited a Bf-109 unit in the East, but serve in that unit as a pilot?
(or at all?) No. Given the Nazi's love of propaganda and seeing photos of
themselves doing "manly things", I think its a little strange that Heydrich's
photographs from that visit include none with him in flying gear or in the
cockpit of a 109, preparing for a sortie. Draw your own conclusions, John, but
decades of research by dedicated Luftwaffe researchers nix the claim that
Heydrich was a pilot in the Luftwaffe.
v/r
Gordon
Gordon
Please excuse the sniptation, but I am trying to keep this brief. The editor
of the Luftwaffe Verband Journal has been kind enough to allow people to copy
his material; for the record, I feel the level of discussion within the pages
of his magazine is extremely worth reading as it brings neophytes, scholars,
and actual Luftwaffe members together to clear the air over unidentified
photographs, lost details, and the occasional urban legend.
So far, the discussion has been best summed up by Jean-Louis Roba concerning
Heydrich flying with III./JG 52. He writes "I am familiar with the
"information" contained in Dickfeld's book. The great problem is that he is
not very credible. He lost all of his belongings in the last days of the war
and reconstructed everything from memory. After shooting down 130 planes, it
is normal for things to get a little mixed up. Could you remember in detail
what you did last month? And Dickfeld had to recall five very exciting and
hectic years more than 40 years later." later -- "I still think that the
presence of Heydrich in III./JG 52 for only two war flights is very dubious. I
personally believe that Dickfeld and his comrades (on the Southern front in
Russia) heard some anecdotes about Heydrich flying with either II. or III./JG
77 in the same area and later transposed them to his own unit. The story in
his book sounds too much like some of the anecdotes (certainly partly false)
about Heydrich in JG 77 so I think we must forget that very strange story."
The editor, Barry Rosch, agrees with Jean-Louis about the problems associated
with trying to reconstruct memories after four decades or more.
That brings us to the next point -- apparently Heydrich DID fly at least a
mission or two with JG 77. From other conversations among Luftwaffe Verband
members, I gather that Heydrich felt himself an accomplished enough civilian
pilot to be able to participate in the "duck hunts" that he expected over the
Eastern Front. There is anecdotal evidence that he made at least one combat
flight and returned quite shaken by the whole experience and in short order
returned to Berlin, never to attempt such an stupid stunt again.
v/r
Gordon
<====(A+C====>
USN SAR Aircrew
"Senso, got anything on your radar?"
"Nothing but my forehead, sir."