Hermann Göring, Fighter Ace: The World War I Career of Germany’s Most Infamous Airman

192 Pages·2010·81.4 MB·English

by  Peter Kilduff

Hermann Goring is most remembered for his excesses
and crimes during the Third Reich (1932-1945), but his
activities as a young career military officer in World War I
have been glossed over - until now. American historian
Peter Kilduff has produced a landmark volume based on
extensive research into Goring's early military records,
including his own combat reports and related writings,
and thousands of German and Allied documents. His
book is therefore the first in-depth study to assess him as
a military flyer and air combat leader during The Great
War, and the experiences that shaped the personality of
the man who gained the world's attention in the next war.
At the outset of war, Goring was eager to prove his value
to his fatherland in initial skirmishes with French troops.
When struck by severe rheumatoid arthritis in September
1914, the twenty-one-year-old officer's burning ambition
and ego could not tolerate being sidelined and, the follow
ing month, he began a new career as an aviation observ
er. Goring went on to become a fighter pilot with twenty
two downed enemy aircraft to his credit, the last wartime
commander of the Red Baron's own fighter wing,
Jagdgeschwader Richthofen, and recipient of a row of
prestigious medals including Prussia's highest bravery
award, the Pour Ie Merite.
Illustrated with seventy-five drawings and photographs,
including many from Goring's private collection never
before published, Hermann Goring - Fighter Ace is a tour
de force of the early combat career of one of the
Twentieth Century's most infamous military figures.
Front cover: Oberleutnant Hermann Goring as commander of
the Richthofen Fighter Wing in late 1918, stands by Fokker
O.vll F 5125/18, decorated in the all-white colour scheme
applied at the Fokker factory for him. He is wearing a Heinecke
parachute and holding the walking stick created for his prede
cessor, Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen. Back cover: Some of
Hermann Goring's war colours. Top: His first fighter aircraft was
a Halberstadt 0.11 (serial number 0 115/16), which he flew
while attached temporarily to Artillerie-Flieger-Abteilung 203 in
the Verdun Sector in July 1916. It bore standard markings of
the time and no individual inSignia. Middle: Goring flew Fokker
Or.1 triplane (serial number 206/17) in the spring of 1918, when
he commanded Jagdstaffel27. Previously, he flew Albatros
0.111a nd O.v fighters with black fuselage, as well as white nose
and tail. His units Fokker triplanes arrived decorated in stan
dard 'streak' camouflage, to which he directed that his person
al markings of a white engine cowl and tail be applied.
Bottom: After assuming command of Jagdgeschwader
Richthofen in the summer of 1918, Goring flew Fokker O.vll
294/18F when he scored his twenty-second and final aerial
victory on 18 July. This speculative view of the markings is
based on an examination of original photographs of the aero
plane, which combines his earlier white tail with the red nose
favoured by the Jagdgeschwader's founder. the Red Baron.
Original artwork prepared for this book by aviation artist Ronny Bar.
ISBN 9781906502669 £20
HERMANN GORING -
FIGHTER ACE
This book is dedicated to my longtime friend and colleague
Stewart K. Taylor, one of the masters of World War I aviation
history from whom I have learned much - and remain grateful
Other books by Peter Kilduff
The Red Baron
That's My Bloody Plane
Germany's Last Knight of the Air
U.S. Carriers at War
A-4 Skyhawk
Germany's First Air Force 1914-1918
Richthofen - Beyond the Legend of the Red Baron
Over the Battlefronts
The Red Baron Combat Wing
The Illustrated Red Baron
Talking With the Red Baron
Red Baron - The Life and Death of an Ace
Black Fokker Leader
HERMANN GORING -
FIGHTER ACE
THE WORLD WAR I CAREER OF
GERMANY'S MOST INFAMOUS AIRMAN
Peter Kilduff
Grub Street • London
Published by
Grub Street
4 Rainham Close
London
SWll 6SS
Copyright © Grub Street 2010
Copyright text © Peter Kilduff 2010
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Kilduff, Peter.
Herman Goring: fighter ace. .
1. Goring, Herman, 1893-1946.2. Fighter pilots -
Germany - Biography. 3. World War, 1914-1918 -
Ariel operations, German.
I. Title
940.4'4'943'092-dc22
ISBN-13: 9781906502669
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in
any form or by any means electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior
permission of the copyright owner.
Cover design by Sarah Driver
Book design and artwork by:
Roy Platten, Eclipse - [email protected]
Printed and bound by MPG Ltd, Bodmin, Cornwall
Grub Street Publishing only uses
FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) paper for its books.
CONTENTS
Foreword 7
Chapter 1 A Shining Image 11
Chapter 2 From the Fortress to the Frontlines 21
Chapter 3 Into the Air 33
Chapter 4 Early Aerial Combats 47
Chapter 5 Air War over Verdun 60
Chapter 6 A Fighter Pilot at Last 77
Chapter 7 A Dream Come True 89
Chapter 8 The Test of Combat 102
Chapter 9 In Flanders' Skies 111
Chapter 10 Shifting Winds 124
Chapter 11 Rising to the Top 134
Chapter 12 End of the Beginning 146
Appendix I: Victory List: What was Goring's Final Tally? 159
Appendix II: Casualties 167
Appendix III: Glossary 170
Endnotes 171
Bibliography 184
Index 189
HERMANN GORING - FIGHTER ACE
Oberleutnant Hermann Goring, wearing his Pour Ie Merite, in a sombre mood and standing by a Fokker
D.VU, possibly 324/18, with which he scored his twentieth aerial victory.
FOREWORD
Hermann Goring lived for fifty-three years, ten months and nine days. For more than half
mat time his name became draped by infamy due to actions and crimes he committed
juring the Third Reich period of 1933-1945. After World War II ended, Goring was tried
md sentenced to be executed for crimes against humanity, but cheated the hangman and
jied ignominiously by his own hand. All of that history is recounted in other books,
many of which are listed in this book's bibliography.
But Goring's military activities in World War I have received very little coverage and
have been overshadowed by his more horrific deeds during the Nazi regime. I became
lnterested in his 1914-1918 military career in 1975, when I located and obtained copies
:)f substantial research material on him from the U.S. Library of Congress and, later, from
u.s.
me Army Military History Institute. In more recent times, German archives - chiefly
the Bundesarchiv Militararchiv, the Landesarchiv Baden-Wurttemberg and the
'vlilitargeschichtliches Forschungsamt - have been extremely helpful in providing copies
:)f documentation that provide insight into Goring's early military service.
The thought of writing a book about what Goring did in World War I occurred while
[ was researching my previous book, Black Fokker Leader: The First World War's Last
4.iJfighter Knight (London, 2009). The subject of that biography, the late Carl Degelow,
related some of his unpleasant experiences with Goring to me and those comments gave
rise to the questions: What events formed Goring's early life and led him to a military
:areer? What motivated him to behave in ways that were (or should have been) out of
keeping with a man who once showed such promise as a professionally trained member
:)f the German officer corps? And what drove him to the levels he achieved during World
War I?
There were no simple answers and certainly none with the brevity needed for a book
that focused on Carl Degelow's experiences in World War I - without having it
:)vershadowed by Goring's larger-than-life personality and his varied exploits. With those
a.nd other lingering questions in mind, I felt that a study of Goring's World War I
a.ctivities - and some understanding of them - had to be my next project. This book is
the result.
I am neither a psychologist nor a psychiatrist and I recognise the hazards of trying to
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HERMANN GORING - FIGHTER ACE
delve into the mind of a person who died almost sixty-five years ago. Fortunately, during
Goring's post-World War II examination and interrogation by members of the U.S. Army,
he and his actions were analysed by both a qualified psychologist and a psychiatrist. Their
observations appear at appropriate points in the book.
Those analyses took place in 1945-1946 and, since then, behavioural science
advancements have led to new diagnostic criteria to help quantify behaviour such as that
evidenced by Hermann Goring. In no way does such quantification relieve Goring of
responsibility for his actions; rather, it may offer insight into why he did what he did.
Worth considering is what Dr. Elsa Ronningstam wrote in Identifying and Understanding
the Narcissistic Personality (pp. 8-9) about a "Nobel Prize complex", in which someone
like Goring is 'intellectually and artistically gifted ... and guided either by an active fantasy
of being the powerful one (destined) or by passive fantasy of being the special one
( chosen). However, [these 1 achievements become overshadowed by [a 1 preoccupation
with acclaim, an attitude of "all or nothing," or "dreams of glory", of attaining a position
of extraordinary power or worldwide recognition ... '
As you read this book, I invite you to consider Goring as exhibiting those signs, as well
as what is now identified as Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). A person affected by
NPD, Ronningstam notes (Ibid., p. 72), would have 'heightened self-confidence and self
worth, sense of invulnerability. Capacity for unusual risk taking and decision making,
and to integrate unusual ideas, ideals and goals into real achievements or creative
accomplishments:
Also worthy of note, examples in the bibliography show two ways to spell his family
name. This book uses 'Goring', with the umlauted '0', which is the preferred family
spelling. In English and other languages, the name is' commonly transliterated as
'Goering', using 'oe' as the standard representation of 'a'. The meaning of the name and
its evolution to the current form are covered in Chapter One.
The reader will also note throughout the text and in Appendix I that, as another part
of the research process, I postulate which air units and even individual airmen most likely
fought against each other. This educated inference is made possible due to the availability
of many archival sources that provide evidence of such encounters. In recent years, this
form of research has become more conclusive with the help of books such as The French
Air Service War Chronology 1914-1918, The Jasta Pilots, The Sky Their Battlefield, and other
valued standard reference texts published by Grub Street, which are included in this
book's bibliography. I am grateful to the authors of those books for their labours in
compiling such works.
While researching and writing this book, I received help from many people and note
with gratitude the kind efforts, encouragement and information provided by: Richard L.
Baker, U.S. Army Military History Institute (PSD); Joachim Brauss, Kreisarchiv Neuwied;
Tina Buttenberg, Stadtarchiv Rosenheim; Bonnie B. Coles, U.S. Library of Congress; Elke
Conrads-Wirth, Landesarchiv Nordrhein-Westfalen; Jochen Dollwet, Stadtarchiv
Wiesbaden; Achim Koch, Bundesarchiv Militararchiv; Stephan Kuhmayer, Deutsche
Dienststelle (WASt); Oberstleutnant Harald Potempa, Militargeschichtliches
Forschungsamt; Jessy Randall, Colorado College Special Collections; and Dr. Wolfgang
Mahrle, Judith Bolsinger and Manfred HennhOfer of the Landesarchiv Baden-
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