German Air Force

Generaloberst Ernst Udet.

Conrad - Bundesarchiv

Studio portrait, dated to 1940/'41 in Bundesarchiv caption. One of Germany's greatest WW1 fighter pilots, and a daredevil exhibition flyer in the interwar period, Udet (who seems to have had little interest in ideology or politics) was recruited to the Nazi movement by his old boss from the Richthoven "Flying Circus", Hermann Goering, on the promise that the latter would supply him with two aeroplanes. Goering's motivation in doing this seems to have been that of adding another star war hero to the Nazi Party's "stable" as a propaganda asset. Notwithstanding this, Udet rose high in the Reich's air bureaucracy, becoming Director of Development in the Reich Air Ministry, and subsequently Luftwaffe Director-General of Equipment. In these capacities he was a major influence in the development of the Luftwaffe's obsession with dive-bombing capacity, ultimately a somewhat counterproductive tendency. Unfortunately for him, Udet lacked the appropriate talents or interest to discharge his bureaucratic duties, or to survive in the snake pit of Nazi politics. He wilted under the pressure of demands for unrealistic levels of warplane production in the build-up to and early period of the war, and was further plagued by the intrigues of his deputy, Erhard Milch, and by the tendency of Goering to use him as a fall-guy for Luftwaffe failures. These circumstances drove him from "normal" heavy drinking to full-blown alcoholism, and into serious depression. On 17 November 1941, Udet committed suicide by shooting, following a day of sybaritic high dining and (appropriately) suicidal heavy drinking with a group of friends. His suicide was hushed up by the Gestapo (who were every bit as good at hiding things as they were at discovering things). The German people were told that he had died a hero's death, acting as a test pilot in an experimental aircraft crash. Best regards, JR. (Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1984-112-13)