He Flew for the Fuhrer

Just finished reading "I Flew for the Fuhrer" by Heinz Knoke, a German fighter pilot in WWII. What struck me immediately about Knoke's story is that he apparently flew the first successful mission to bomb a bomber formations from a fighter plane, something I had never heard or read about until this week.

The Messerschmitt BF-109 was able, just barely, to carry either one 500-lb. or four 100-lb. bombs. By attaching a 15-second fuse and placing his plane 3,000 feet above a formation of B-17s, Knoke knocks a wing off one and startles the others, breaking up their formation so he and the other German pilots can pick them off separately instead of braving the massive fire of a tight group. Until rockets are adopted, this air-to-air bombing continues for a while. Desperate measures.

As with just about every fighter pilot from that war who started early in the war and lived through it, Knoke goes through a series of horrifying near-death experiences that he mentions in passing as if describing trips to the supermarket. I suppose when you face violent death daily while challenging enormous bomber formations with small flights of fighters, often six or more missions a day for weeks on end, while your comrades disappear one by one, you either learn to compartmentalize or go crazy.

I've read a fair number of first-person accounts of combat, and all of them acknowledge that there are some among us who belong in war, who thrive on the chaotic possibilities and only really seem alive during battle. These men (and women, on the Eastern Front) are few, and even they cannnot survive the emotional strain of modern war forever. Fighter pilots in the World Wars, however, seemed to have another impetus, the sheer joy of flying what at the time are the most sophisticated and performance-oriented machines ever made for the air. Long after Knoke has ceased enjoying shooting down Allied planes, he still loves to fly.

He seems to be thoroughly ignorant of the real state of world affairs except in his assessment of Russian intent; even as late as the failed plot against Hitler he believes in the Nazi cause, and if he is to be believed only loses faith after Germany surrenders. This is a common theme in German war accounts, and I believe some of it. Field Marshal Erwin Rommel and his subordinate Hans von Luck (who wrote a really interesting book of his own) both claimed to have been too wrapped up in fighting to see Hitler for what he was until far too late, and it is certainly possible that much of the German population of 1945 was genuinely ignorant of the true evil of Nazism. Then again, as my father points out, running a camp the size of Buchenwald would require an enormous number of civilian workers, not to mention the cattle cars full of people coming in regularly and the smell of burning human flesh around the clock. I suppose people know what they want to know.

Anyway, here are a couple of quotes from the book. First, another pilot's motto: "Swearing is the laxative which purges the soul." and a longer quote from Knoke about the rear-echelon soldiers who had been occupying France for four years but are offering hardly any resistance to the Allied forces as they drive toward Germany in late 1944:

I am sick with disgust at having to watch our occupation forces pack up without any thought of resistance after years of being stationed in France. Personal safety seems to be all that matters to the civil administration and military government staffs . . . For years the officers and administrative officials of these units have been enjoying a life of parasitic luxury in France . . . Their vehicles are loaded with crates full of personal provisions and loot. Often their French girl friends travel with them to share in the spoils.

If we should lose this campaign, the conduct of the French women must bear a major share of the responsibility. Nights of passion and debauchery have undermined the morale of our officers and soldiers. They are no longer ready to sacrifice their lives to the glory of the Fatherland, thanks to the enthusiastic collaboration of those amateur and professional harlots.

(emphasis mine)

I just assumed those bitches were just Nazi-loving whores who deserved it when their sorry heads were shaved. What was I thinking? Sounds like they did as much damage as the real Resistance.

Mike's review: 2.5 out of 4 stars, not detailed enough for me and very little opinion on the meaning of it all. But worth a read for the combat accounts.