The fighter pilots were lively, thirsty for action and quickly landed again after a successful fight - they are people of a very special kind," recalled German airman Klaus Deumling. "Since I did not fit such a character, I signed up for the calmer, more relaxed but no less endangered bomber pilots. I didn't just want to take off and land straight away: I wanted to fly long distances with navigation.
My subsequent flying career was not suitable for quickly achieving major awards but it became so interesting for me - both in terms of flying and especially technically in a way that I would never have dreamed of at the end of military school."
Deumling, who later flew in the Luftwaffe's reformed Kampfgeschwader 100 Wiking, demonstrated how being a Kampfflieger ('bomber airman') was not seen as a consolation prize for those who yearned to be a fighter pilot; rather, it was a treasured sanctuary for prospective airmen of a cool, curious and calculated nature. Such a dutiful and unwavering temperament, however, lent uncomfortably well to carrying out the demolition work that would help to realise the Nazi regime's most rapacious geopolitical ambitions.
Averaging between 18 and 21 years old, the Kampfflieger were rigorously selected, trained and primed for the bomber war - whether they were a pilot, Beobachter ('observer'), Bordfunker ('radio operator'), Bordmechanik ('flight mechanic') or Bordschütze ('air gunner'). By 1939, German bomber crews tended to be posted to operational units after receiving an average of 250 flying hours over 18 to 24 months; it took around twice as long to train a Kampfflieger pilot than it did a fighter pilot.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة Issue 141 من History of War.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
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هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة Issue 141 من History of War.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
THE RUHR POCKET
The world's largest industrial complex, the Ruhr was where Nazi Germany's war machine was forged. If the Allies could capture it the conflict in Europe would effectively be over
HITLER'S 'ALPINE FORTRESS
With the Rhine crossed and the Ruhr taken, Allied Supreme Commander Dwight D Eisenhower had to decide what came next. His orders would help shape the fate of Europe for decades to come
BLUNTING THE SULTAN'S SPEAR
During his 1532 invasion, Suleiman the Magnificent faced a seemingly simple obstacle in the small fortress of Koszeg, Hungary. What ensued was a bloody struggle between Ottoman firepower and imperial grit
BATTLE OF THE NILE NELSON vs NAPOLEON
In 1798, Britain's most celebrated admiral pursued the French across the Mediterranean, attempting to thwart General Bonaparte's mission to Egypt. The pursuit culminated in what was arguably the most strategically important naval battle of the Napoleonic Wars
FREDERICKSBURG
The Confederate invasion of the north had been repulsed in Maryland by the Army of the Potomac. President Abraham Lincoln now urged his military to seize the initiative and crush the Confederates in the east and capture their capital Richmond. It would culminate in another catastrophic defeat
REMAGEN GATEWAY TO THE REICH
On 7 March 1945 the Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine at Remagen was still standing - capturing it intact was vital to the Allied advance into Nazi Germany
A13 MK III CRUISER COVENANTER TANK
Plagued with mechanical issues, the Covenanter was envisioned as an improved cruiser design but never deployed for overseas service
INSIDE PICKETT'S CHARGE
On 3 July 1863 a Confederate regiment – the 19th Virginia Infantry – marched into the jaws of Hell in one of the most infamous events in American military history
Heroes of the Victoria Cross: MILTON FOWLER GREGG
On 28 September, 1918, this Royal Canadian Regiment officer led his men through uncut barbed wire into enemy trenches
MARCH 1945
To commemorate 80 years since the Second World War, History of War will be taking a look at some of the key events taking place during each month of the conflict
