Hanns Scharff - Luftwaffe Interrogator

[Dan Jones]

Last night while watching a documentary on Francis Gabreski, it mentioned that after he was captured he was interrogated by Luftwaffe officer Hans Scharff. Afterwards while reading about Mr Scharff on Wikipedia I found a claim that a US pilot that Scharff was interrogating was allowed at one point to fly a Luftwaffe aircraft. Not having read his book (yet) I found that a little hard to believe. Does anyone know if that is in fact what happened? Seems a little far-fetched to me.

Dan

[VaBeachEd]

True story. Scharff's book is titled "The Interrogator", and it's good read. He was raised in South Africa to German parents who went back to Germany at the beginning of the war. He was conscripted into the Wermacht as a private and was on his way to the Russian front when his wife managed to find a Luftwaffe general, whom she convinced that his talents were wasted as a soldier because he spoke perfect English.

He was transferred to the Luftwaffe, where he began interrogating captured American fighter pilots. In addition to Gabreski, he interrogated Gentile and Duane Beeson (Scharff says he got nothing from Gabby!) He turned out to be very, very good at his job, and got lots of info - because he was smart. He could basically trick pilots into giving up info by listening and watching, and using his wits. He never laid a finger on any of our POWs, nor caused them to be hurt.

He ultimately came to the US and became a master craftsman, specializing in mosaic tile. He actually created the mosaic in Cinderella's castle in Walt Disney World.

Kinda weird, ain't it?

Last edited by VaBeachEd on Thu Feb 14, 2013 8:18 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Dan Jones]

But allowed an allied pilot to fly a German airplane?

[tom d. friedman]

vee haff vays of makensee talk!!

[JimH]

Gentile? he was never shot down or captured...

jh

[henning]

possibly confused with Johnny Godfrey... Gentile's wingman.. who did come back in 44 from the states and was shot down by his own wingman...! nice account of the meeting with him and Scharff in Godfrey's book... the look of eagles.. ts a classic.
its quite a rare book but well worth a read if you can find a copy.
henning

[VaBeachEd]

Oops! My mistake -- I went back and looked at the book quickly. It was Duane Beeson, not Gentile, and he talked to Godfrey too. I guess I got my Mustang big-shots confused! The book also talks about letting the allied pilot fly the FW-190. As I recall, no ammo and not enough gas to go anywhere. Plus, the pilot gave his word that he wouldn't try to escape. Honor among warriors, I suppose. I think the book is available on Amazon.

[Richard W.]

Ed- It's been decades since I read my copy and I can't find anything about flying the Fw by thumbing through it.

Can you give me a page number? Thanks

[Noha307]

...not enough gas to go anywhere.

That's what I figured was the case. Reminds me of what the commies had to start doing after their pilots began defecting to the west.

What was the allied pilot's opinion? And for that matter, what was the reason for allowing him to do so? I'd guess it'd either be that the Germans wanted a comparison between fighters by someone who has flown them both or it was a case of "Yea, sure. I'll tell you more...if you let me fly that FW over there."

Now that I think about it, how hard would it be to learn to pilot it? Everything in the cockpit would be in another language.

[Cubs]

I can guess why they let him fly the plane, about the same guess as anybody else.....a common bond of aviation among colleagues, even at war or a kind of looky at what we got, this is why you are losing the war.

I read a book about Douglas Bader. After he was captured by the Germans, let him sit in the cockpit of a German fighter with the engine running, I think it was an FW190. Bader recalled in the book that he briefly thought about gunning the engine and taking off. Later, when he saw a photograph of the event, he noticed there was a German officer with a pistol pointed at Bader's head. I guess the Germans didn't trust him!

[k5083]

Honor among soldiers? Bond among aviators? Piffle.

I'm with Noha, I think it was an interrogation technique. Hoping he would say something useful about the 190 vs. the P-51, or just an extreme form of playing the "good cop" role.

August

[bombadier29]

Honor among soldiers? Bond among aviators? Piffle.

Are you saying in general? Or just in this particular instance?

[redvanner]

Honor among soldiers? Bond among aviators? Piffle.

I would not be so sure about that one.

I'm with Noha, I think it was an interrogation technique. Hoping he would say something useful about the 190 vs. the P-51, or just an extreme form of playing the "good cop" role.

August

It might well have been both. Why not let him fly a (somewhat endurance limited) Fw 190, and just maybe he might say something? If not, what is lost? Nothing. So what? Just a gamble maybe. In Hanns´ place I would have tried as well. Better than using force. Not for the POW, for me, lol.

Michael

[k5083]

Why not? Well, let's suppose for a moment that he was a true hero, a self-sacrificing soldier who would take the opportunity to advance his side's cause as much as he could. If they provided him with a parachute, he at the very least could have bailed out of the plane, getting one more "kill". If they did not, or if he wanted to maximize the damage at the cost of his own life, he could have crashed it into a row of parked planes, an ammo or fuel dump, etc. Think of the heads that would roll if any of this occurred.

I'll keep my general views on the honor of soldiers and the bond among aviators to myself, but I certainly don't think that the German personnel would bet all the lives and materiel that he could have taken out with even an unarmed 190 on them. There had to be more upside to justify that risk, and more/better intel seems the most likely.

August

[Ken]

Now that I think about it, how hard would it be to learn to pilot it? Everything in the cockpit would be in another language.

Bob Hoover did it as documented in "Forever Flying", only he didn't give it back.