Interesting WWII Air War Book

[GregGleason]

I recently finished reading "A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II". It is written from the perspective of an American bomber pilot and a German fighter pilot, mostly from the perspective of the latter. If you are familiar with some of the more famous Luftwaffe pilots of WWII, quite a few of them are mentioned.

In addition to the well-written accounts of the aviation events, what I found fascinating about this book is how one family viewed the rise of Nazism within Germany. In fact inside of Germany, the Nazis were often simply referred to as "The Party", taking over the nation with only 46% of the vote. The Gestapo became so feared, having almost unlimited power, that much of the population was cowed into submission and maintained silence. One war widow told a joke (that involved Hitler), it was reported to the authorities and she was later executed. A leader within the Roman Catholic church took a dramatic stand against Hitler* before he invaded Poland (which I wasn't aware of) and an opposition movement within Germany called the White Rose (which I had never heard of). While "The Party" made inroads into many of the war fighting institutions of Germany, many of the pilots of the Luftwaffe purposely chose to ignore and some cases oppose them.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0425252868/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20




Greg

* As an aside, on this date, the Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed in 1945.

 

[Daddyisabar]

The Luftwaffe was by far the most Nazified branch of the services. Acts of Chivalry were few and far between. Allied crews were viewed “almost” as war criminals. Then came the post war rose colored glasses. My old history professor was in a Colonel in USAAF intelligence after the war and the priority was to gain as much technology, know-how and intelligence on the Red Menace as possible. We let a lot slide because there were those looking at reforming the Luftwaffe as soon as possible after the war. Events like the Fighter Pilots Conspiracy Legend were trumped up so we could quickly bring in a wide array of expert men to lead the new allied force. The U.S. was so far behind on the intelligence side we had to act quickly to catch up with the Brits and Soviets in a Cold War that had already begun in 1945.