Goering not qualified?

Of course during WWII Goering was the commander of Germay's Lutwaffe. But before he became that or any importnat position for that matter he was just a mere political speck with no military background at all. He was found by Hitler (who was wallowing in oblivion and poverty at the time) and together they made their historic trek to the Reichstag.

My question is how it is possible that a man with absolutely no military training could command such a mencing threat as the Lutwaffe?

I would personally say he got lucky and had good commanders as well under him, also he was Hitler's little b*#@$ and did everything he told him as well.

 

Of course during WWII Goering was the commander of Germay's Lutwaffe. But before he became that or any importnat position for that matter he was just a mere political speck with no military background at all. He was found by Hitler (who was wallowing in oblivion and poverty at the time) and together they made their historic trek to the Reichstag.

My question is how it is possible that a man with absolutely no military training could command such a mencing threat as the Lutwaffe?

I would personally say he got lucky and had good commanders as well under him, also he was Hitler's little b*#@$ and did everything he told him as well.

Er, I'm you may have been misinformed - Goering was a WW1 flying ace winning the Pour le Merite (one of Germanys highest awards) and taking over command of the Red Baron's squadron after the latter's death.

As to suitability to head the Luftwaffe under Hitler, yes this was mainly a political decision

 

During the first year of World War I Göring served with an infantry regiment in the Vosges region before he was hospitalized with rheumatoid arthritis. While recovering, his friend Bruno Loerzer convinced him to transfer to the Luftwaffe. Later that year, he flew as Loerzer's observer. He flew reconnaissance and bombing missions as an observer before training to become a fighter pilot in June to October 1915.
On completing his pilot's training course he was posted to Jagdstaffel 5 in October 1915. He was soon shot down and spent most of 1916 recovering from his injuries. On his return in February 1917 he joined Jagdstaffel 26, before being given his first command Jasta 27, in May 1917. Serving with Jastas 7, 5, 26 and 27, he claimed 21 air victories, being awarded the coveted Pour le Mérite in June 1918. On July 7, 1918, after the death of Wilhelm Reinhard, the successor of Rittmeister Manfred von Richthofen (The Red Baron), he was made commander of Jagdgeschwader Freiherr von Richthofen, Jagdgeschwader 1. He finished the war with 22 kills. His appointment as commander was not well received and he was the only veteran of Jagdgeschwader 1 never to have been invited to post-war reunions.<SUP class=noprint title="The text in the vicinity of this tag needs citation.">[citation needed]</SUP>
In June 1917, after a lengthy dogfight, Göring shot down a novice Australian pilot named Frank Slee. The battle is recounted flamboyantly in The Rise and Fall of Hermann Goering. Göring landed and met the Australian, and presented Slee with his Iron Cross. Years after, Slee gave Göring's Iron Cross to a friend, who later died on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day.<SUP class=noprint title="The text in the vicinity of this tag needs citation.">[citation needed]</SUP>

 

His appointment as commander was not well received and he was the only veteran of Jagdgeschwader 1 never to have been invited to post-war reunions


Interesting that he was unpopular even then.
A capable fighter pilot, but promoted due to his Nazi connections.

I do hope it is him, looks like him but a bit old for ww1? wasn't he a stunt pilot for a while?


It could be him - the stress of combat flying made many WW1 pilots look prematurely aged. I could post examples if you wish.

Adrian

 

I read that once he'd got his Blue Max & command of the Richtofen Jagdgeschwader, he stopped flying on operations & commanded from a desk. I don't know for sure, but this might have been a reason for his unpopularity.

On his military experience, whilst he was an experienced fighter pilot, he left the military in 1919 as a captain & rejoined in 1933 as a general. I don't think that he had the breadth of experience or staff training to command the Luftwaffe. He certainly seemed to lack the necessary knowledge and understanding of technical issues & of logistics.

 

THE FINAL SOB--FROM AN UNHAPPY REICHSMARSCHALL

Hermann Goering, long-time chief of the Luftwaffe, made the following remarks during the course of several interrogations:

"I knew first that the Luftwaffe was losing control of the air when the American long-range fighters were able to escort the bombers as far as Hanover. It was not long before they were getting to Berlin. We then knew we must develop the jet planes. Our plan for their early development was unsuccessful only because of your bombing attacks.

"Allied attacks greatly affected our training program, too. For instance, the attacks on oil retarded the training because our new pilots couldn't get sufficient training before they were put into the air.

"I am convinced that the jet planes would have won the war for us if we had had only four or five months' more time. Our underground installations were all ready. The factory at Kahla had a capacity of 1,000 to 1,200 jet airplanes a month. Now with 5,000 to 6,000 jets, the outcome would have been quite different.

"We could have trained sufficient pilots for the jet planes despite oil shortage, because we would have had underground factories for oil, producing a sufficient quantity for the jets. The transition to jets was very easy in training. The jet-pilot output was always ahead of the jet-aircraft production.

"Germany could not have been defeated by air power alone, using England as a base, without invasion -- because German industry was going underground, and our countermeasures would have kept pace with your bombing. But the point is, that if Germany were attacked in her weakened condition as now, then the air could do it alone. That is, the land invasion meant that so many workers had to be withdrawn from factory production and even from the Luftwaffe.

"We bombed cities in England instead of concentrating on aircraft and engine factories despite my original intention to attack only military targets and factories, because after the British attacked Hamburg our people were angry and I was ordered to attack indiscriminately.

"Allied precision bombing had a greater effect on the defeat of Germany than area bombing, because destroyed cities could be evacuated but destroyed industry was difficult to replace.

"Allied selection of targets was good, particularly in regard to oil. As soon as we started to repair an oil installation, you always bombed it again before we could produce one ton.

"We didn't concentrate on four-engined Focke-Wulf planes as heavy bombers after the Battle of Britain, because we were developing the He-177 and trying to develop the Me-264, which was designed to go to America and return. Because our production capacity was not so great as America's, we could not produce quickly everything we needed. Moreover, our plants were subject to constant bombing.

"If I had to design the Luftwaffe again, the first airplane I would develop would be the jet fighter, then the jet bomber. It is now a question of fuel. The jet fighter takes too much. The Me-264 awaited only the final solution of the fuel-consumption problem. According to my view the future airplane is one without fuselage (flying wing) equipped with turbine in combination with the jet and propeller.

"Before D-Day, the Allied attacks in Northern France hurt us the most because we were not able to rebuild in France as quickly as at home. The attacks on marshaling yards were most effective, next came low-level attacks on troops, then attacks on bridges. The low-flying planes had a terror effect and caused great damage to our communications. Also demoralizing were the umbrella fighters, which after escorting the bombers would swoop down and hit everything, including the jet planes in the process of landing.

"The Allies owe the success of the invasion to the air forces. They prepared the invasion; they made it possible; they carried it through.

"Without the U. S. Air Force the war would still be going on elsewhere, but certainly not on German soil."

 

On his military experience, whilst he was an experienced fighter pilot, he left the military in 1919 as a captain & rejoined in 1933 as a general. I don't think that he had the breadth of experience or staff training to command the Luftwaffe. He certainly seemed to lack the necessary knowledge and understanding of technical issues & of logistics.

Who would be the better candidate then? Erhard Milch? Hugo Sperrle? Ernst Udet? Remember the German Air Force was disbanded in 1918 and was refounded only in 1935, by Goering who was already a political heavyweight (so to speak) who also held a multitude of political and executive positions, therefore excellently poised to give prioirity to his newborn. Others might be more organizationally capable, but certainly wouldn't have the same leverage Hermann did.

 

He got enamoured with the trappings of power and the riches which he stashed at Karinhall. Isolated from his troops, frankly he didn't give a stuff. Look at Stalingrad/ Leningrad, if he thought anything of the troops there he would have told Hitler he couldn't supply them, insteading giving Hitler bull. A sign to me of someone who doesn't give a stuff, or is fightened stiff of him. Then his morphine addiction. He comes back as a general, in which time air tactics have moved on, he may have ok in command of a squadron but the big picture!!! - he had quite a few at Karinhall.