Luftwaffe Pilot facts
While investigating facts about Luftwaffe Pilots and Luftwaffe Pilot Uniform, I found out little known, but curios details like:
American WWII pilot Charlie Brown was struggling to keep his damaged bomber airborne in the skies over Germany in 1943 when Luftwaffe ace Hanz Stigler flew alongside. Instead of firing due to how much damage the bomber had taken as he thought it would be dishonorable, Stigler gave a salute.
how many luftwaffe pilots died in ww2?
The luftwaffe planted buoys in the english channel for downed pilots to survive in, containing food, alcohol, clothing and games.
In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across. Here are 22 of the best facts about Luftwaffe Pilots Badge and Luftwaffe Pilot Watch I managed to collect.
what did luftwaffe pilots think of the spitfire?
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After a bombing run a damaged bomber was flying home when Luftwaffe pilot, was ordered to shoot it down. He refused as he saw it as dishonourable and flew with it to open sea, to prevent it being shot down. The two pilots met 40 years later and become friends for the rest of their lives.
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A Luftwaffe pilot escorted a damaged American B17 safely out of Germany during WW2
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Beate Uhse was a stuntwoman and Luftwaffe pilot in WWII, ferrying around planes and jet fighters. After the war she started a mail order business sending out pamphlets teaching young girls about the rhythm method, which became the world's first sex shop and later a €280 million business.
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The most complicated IED ever seen by the FBI was planted by a disgruntled former Luftwaffe pilot and Gulag prisoner after he lost all his money gambling in a casino. The FBI failed in defusing the bomb and the casino where it was planted was destroyed.
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James Howard. WW2 P-51 Mustang fighter pilot who defended his bombers, alone, against 30 Luftwaffe planes, even diving on them when he'd run out of ammunition, until they were driven away.
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Gp. Capt. Sir Douglas Bader, the legless WWII RAF flying ace, was known for his uncensored and often humorous opinions. Once on a visit to Munich some years after the war, he walked into a room full of ex-Luftwaffe pilots and said, "My God, I had no idea we left so many of you bastards alive!"
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When Luftwaffe pilot (and the most successful in aviation history) Erich Hartmann was taken P.O.W by the Soviets, he lied about throwing all his war medals away. In reality, he hid them at the bottom of a small stream, still there 10 years later.
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The German Luftwaffe operated 24 helicopters during WW2. Many of the craft's first missions were flown by a single pilot until later in the war.
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Goebbels" stepson, Harald Quandt, was a Luftwaffe pilot who was captured by the Americans in Italy in 1944. Quadt would later go on to become one of West Germany's leading post-war industrialists.
What is true about luftwaffe pilot?
You can easily fact check it by examining the linked well-known sources.
In WWII, the SS were breeding Angora rabbits in concentration camps to provide fur linings for the jackets of Luftwaffe pilots. Compared to the humans in the camps, the rabbits lived in luxury, each in their own elegant hutches.
A German Luftwaffe fighter pilot, after seeing a severely damaged B-17 bomber limping back to base, decided against firing on it and instead escorted it partially home. - source
On December 20th, 1943 a luftwaffe pilot by the name of Franz Stigler flying a BF 109 spared and escorted a heavily damaged American B 17f piloted by 2nd Lt. Charles "charlie" Brown out of German controlled airspace so he could make it back to base and land in England
During World War Two the RAF sent over a dozen pilots to fight the Luftwaffe in the USSR, all from De Gaulle's Free French detachment. - source
When is ludwig von drake?
About the Air battle over Niš(1944). US pilots misidentified Soviet air forces for Luftwaffe forces believed to be in the area. Engaging in ground attack and dogfighting the two sides suffered 71 casualties. The US lost 2 KIA, 1 MIA, the Soviets lost 31 KIA, 37 wounded.
How many luftwaffe pilots are still alive?
Franz Stigler, a Luftwaffe ace pilot escorted a crippled B-17 out of Germany because he didn't believe in "shooting at someone in a parachute".
The Polish Air Force put up a heck of a fight when the Germans invaded in 1939. Warsaw's Pursuit Brigade actually actually defeated the Luftwaffe in the first air battle of World War II and held out for a week, despite their obsolete bi-planes and fewer pilots
There is a Luftwaffe squadron named after Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, because when the Americans were training them, the pilot's tenacity made them remember the Mexican 201 squadron that fought in japan during WWII. (I was not able to find any translations for the article, sorry).
About Hans-Joachim Marseille. Playboy, Luftwaffe Pilot and Hilter antagonizer. One of 4 men to achieve triple ace in a day.
