This decorated WW1 pilot ace had sympathies for the Nazi cause, and there are allegations that Hermann Göring wanted him to be a part of the Luftwaffe structure. However, due to Udet's mental issues and addictions, he never got appointed. In the end, he apparently committed suicide in 1937, although there are theories that this was staged. It was known he really appreciated the idea of the dive bomber. How central would this concept be to a Luftwaffe where he has a high-ranking position?
DBWI: Udet has a role in the Luftwaffe
- Thread starter Changundramon
- Start date
Udet in Luftwaffe would butterfly away the Ural Bomber, Dornier Do 19.
Deleted member 1487
Really? From what little I can find about him he wasn't really much of a Nazi, had Jewish friends and connections outside the country. Wasn't there a theory that his 'suicide' was the result of refusing to join the Luftwaffe despite the pressure of Goering and that he might have known some dirt on Goering, who was trying to buy him off and control him with an appointment to the Luftwaffe?
Anyway if he had lived it's hard to say what would have happened, because its not clear where he would have ended up. I'm thinking as a test pilot given his history of work as a stunt pilot. Not sure if he would make much of a difference in that position, but he'd be alive...at least until he tries to do some stunt in a test aircraft and crashes. I doubt he'd get much more dive bombers through; the Luftwaffe had some anyway without him, but they were pretty much a technical dead end. Richthofen used them for CAS/ground attack, but they got phased out pretty quick after their flaws were exposed. The Bf110 was much better for the ground attack role anyway.
It never got built, so I'm not sure how it would have been butterflied away? You mean as a test bed for tactics? Not sure why they'd want to do that when the He177 was around the corner. Kesselring, who took over after Wever's death, wasn't keen on investing in anything in the strategic bomber category and neither was Goering, at least prior to the He177 being ready, but even they still ordered about a dozen as training aircraft.
Well, Göring wanted Udet in badly. Milch had actual Jewish blood in him, and he didn't die in a suspicious suicide. Maybe you're right though. I know Himmler hated people who smoked or did drugs. If someone acted against Udet, it was him.
The Bf-110 was indeed a versatile aircraft that had gone through many adaptations (torpedo bomber, night fighter, and a cannon platform for tank busting). A dive bomber focus means a very specific way of attacking targets, with specific adaptations needed to make it function mechanically. With Udet's less than ideal mental health, maybe he'd insist on something crazy like making all bombers into dive bombers?
Deleted member 1487
Well, Milch was bribing Goering and Hitler and was incredibly useful. Remember too he was 'fully aryanized' when they came up with the story about how Milch's 'aryan' mother was unfaithful to his Jewish father, so he was actually fully 'aryan' because mother was sleeping with a non-Jewish man on the side? They did whatever was necessary to keep him around.Well, Göring wanted Udet in badly. Milch had actual Jewish blood in him, and he didn't die in a suspicious suicide. Maybe you're right though. I know Himmler hated people who smoked or did drugs. If someone acted against Udet, it was him.
The Bf-110 was indeed a versatile aircraft that had gone through many adaptations (torpedo bomber, night fighter, and a cannon platform for tank busting). A dive bomber focus means a very specific way of attacking targets, with specific adaptations needed to make it function mechanically. With Udet's less than ideal mental health, maybe he'd insist on something crazy like making all bombers into dive bombers?
The Bf110 did do a fair bit of glide bombing, as it was proven that a steep glide was nearly as accurate as a 90 degree dive in combat and more surviveable on the pull out. Anyway they found it was more surviveable for dropping bombs accurately at low levels than dive bombing, but the Fw190F/G were the optimal fighter-bomber platform that could survive in a defended airspace.
I could see Udet recommending nutty stuff...but would the Luftwaffe officers tolerate him having any sort of authority beyond that of a propaganda figure? I could see why he was wanted as the surviving highly decorated fighter ace of WW1, but he had little modern experience with an air force, perhaps somewhat less even than Goering.