German Air Force

Airman Heydrich.

Reinhard Heydrich in uniform as a Major of Reserve, Luftwaffe. Heydrich flew as a turret gunner over Poland, and as a fighter pilot in the West, and in the early days over Russia. Where the Third Reich's security supremo found the time for this parallel career is hard to imagine. Why he did it is open to speculation - but it may reflect a reckless streak in Heydrich that, arguably, helped expose him to assasination in the end. Why someone who was, apparently, liked and highly valued by Hitler - and highly valued, if not exactly liked, by Himmler - was ever allowed to to this is a mystery. After his third crash - as a result of being shot down by Soviet anti-aircraft fire - followed by near-capture by the Soviets, Himmler definitively grounded him as far as combat missions were concerned. It finally seemed to have occurred to the latter that allowing such an important police official to expose himself to the high risk involved in flying fighter sorties, with the attendant security risk attendant on the possibility that he might fall into enemy hands alive, was unacceptable. I suspect that Heydrich's Luftwaffe colleagues were relieved to be rid of such a dangerous and "sensitive" comrade. Best regards, JR.