German Leadership

Dead Hero.

Bundesarchiv.

Bearer party and honour guard (headed by Adolf Galland, left, in helmet with sword) remove the body of Ernst Udet from the Ministry of Aviation building, Berlin, 21 November, 1941. Udet was Germany's second-highest scoring fighter ace in WW1 and a member of Manfred von Richthofen's fighter wing. He was by common agreement a supremely gifted pilot, and made his living after the war as a stunt/air show pilot, until enticed into the National Socialist Party in return for the use of a couple of aeroplanes. He continued to delight in entertaining his friends to hair-raising flights and flying stunts. Whatever about his part as a Nazi-promoting hero, Udet's involvement with "official Naziism" was unfortunate for him. An intelligent, artistic, Devil-may-care character, he was disastrously unsuited to his role as Minister for Aircraft Supply and, when the (inevitable) failures to meet requirements for aircraft and equipment in the face of supply shortages began to arise, he increasingly became a scapegoat for Goering and a target for his ambitions deputy, Erhard Milch. Depression followed, and heavy "self medication" expanded his already considerable alcohol habit. On 17 November, 1941, following an almighty night of fine eating and heavy drinking in the company of friends, Ernst Udet shot himself to death. The Air Ministry was a venue for several high profile Luftwaffe funerals in the course of WW2. The building somhow managed to survive the war more-or-less intact. It was used, in turn, as government headquarters by the government of the German Democratic Republic. I understand that it is now occupied by offices of the German Finance Ministry - a place of some interest to people in my country at the moment ... Best regards, JR.