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 7 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- 8