Hitler's Commanders (32 page)

A Dornier Do-217 bomber, night fighter and high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft. Too mechanically complex and suffering from structural strain, it was an inadequate airplane and was typical of the poor models produced during the Udet era.
Source:
United States National Archives

Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering, the Supreme Commander of the Luftwaffe.
Source:
Courtesy of Col. Ed Marino

Colonel Johannes “Macki” Steinhoff (1913–1994), an ace who had 180 kills during World War II. He was severely burned at the end of the war. Later he became chief of staff of the Luftwaffe and a high-ranking NATO officer. His daughter married a former Colorado state senator.
Source:
Bundesarchiv

Adolf Galland (1912–1996), the general of fighter pilots.
Source:
United States National Archives

Ernst Udet, seen here as a lieutenant in Baron von Richthofen’s “Flying Circus.” The leading ace to survive World War I, he was over his head as chief of air armaments and played a significant role in the decline of the Luftwaffe. He committed suicide in November 1941.
Source:
U.S. Army War College

Prince Heinrich zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, the inventor of the “Dark Trains” on the Eastern Front. A top night fighter, he had 83 kills when he was shot down and killed in early 1944.
Source:
United States National Archives

Major Walter Nowotny (1920–1944), an Austrian-born fighter pilot, had 258 aerial victories when he was killed in action in November 1944.
Source:
United States Army Institute of Military History

Field Marshal Erhard Milch (right), state secretary for aviation and chief deputy to Hermann Goering, the commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe. A ruthless political general, he attempted to maneuver the Reichsmarschall out of his post and become commander of the air force himself. He is seen here talking with Major General (later General of Fliers) Martin Harlinghausen, an anti-shipping expert. Harlinghausen later commanded the II Air Corps in Tunisia.
Source:
Author’s personal collection

Erich Hartmann (1922–1993), shown here as an officer-cadet. The leading ace in military history, he shot down 352 enemy aircraft in four years. The Soviets called him the “Black Devil of the Ukraine.”
Source:
United States Army Institute of Military History

Hermann Goering visiting some of this troops during the Battle of Britain.
Source:
United States National Archives

Allied air support over the hedgerows of Normandy, June 7, 1944. The aircraft on the ground are discarded gliders.
Source:
United States National Archives

Grand Admiral Erich Raeder, the commander-in-chief of the German Navy (1928–1943).
Source:
United States Army Institute of Military History